Formula 0.17.8 · 4 November 2026 · MIT

The page can run your script. On macOS it still cannot see `window.TAURI`.

A CLI for deep inspection and interaction with Tauri v2 desktop apps, and the plugin that embeds an MCP server and opens the localhost socket the page connects to.

Install the CLI

Tap brew tap dickwu/tap

Install brew install dickwu/tap/tauri-connector

Formula 0.17.8 installs tauri-connector and tauri-connector-mcp on macOS and Linux.

window.__TAURI__is absent in this content world

Page JavaScript CLI :9555 · MCP :9556

The injected script cannot see the Tauri object.

tauri-plugin-mcp-bridge injects JavaScript that sends results back through window.__TAURI__. On macOS, WKWebView runs that script in an isolated content world. The object is not there. execute_js, DOM snapshots, and console tools wait until they time out.

tauri-connector is the drop-in replacement that does not use that object for the return path. A small script in the page opens a WebSocket to the plugin on 127.0.0.1. Scripts and results travel on that socket. The MCP server runs inside the plugin and starts when the app starts.

Two ways back, sharing one deadline.

The plugin tries the socket first. Both paths share one request id and one deadline. A timeout or a JavaScript error after the script has been dispatched is not run a second time. The caller gets an explicit failure, or an uncertain outcome.

Primary

WebSocket bridge

The bridge listens on 127.0.0.1, ports 9300–9400. The page runs the script and returns the result on the socket. This path does not need window.__TAURI__.

Fallback

window.eval and a Tauri event

Used only when the socket confirms the script was not dispatched. The plugin can inject the script with window.eval and take the result from a Tauri event. Set app.withGlobalTauri to true in tauri.conf.json for this path.

Install the CLI. The plugin lives in the app.

Homebrew puts the command-line tools on your PATH. It does not register the plugin inside a Tauri app. Do these in order.

Tap dickwu/tap

Tap brew tap dickwu/tap
Install tauri-connector

Install brew install dickwu/tap/tauri-connector

The formula installs tauri-connector and tauri-connector-mcp. tauri-connector --version prints 0.17.8.
03
Point the CLI at an app that includes the plugin

Add the tauri-plugin-connector crate and register it. The README quick start keeps that dependency behind a dev-connector Cargo feature, so a normal release build does not compile the plugin.

Run the app. The CLI uses 127.0.0.1 and port 9555 unless --host, --port, TAURI_CONNECTOR_HOST, TAURI_CONNECTOR_PORT, or a nearby .connector.json says otherwise. Embedded MCP is at http://127.0.0.1:9556/mcp. tauri-connector doctor checks the project and prints a fix for each missing piece.
```
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tauri-connector": {
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:9556/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

Other ways to install the same CLI

From crates.io, pinned to the formula version:

Cargo cargo install connector-cli --version 0.17.8 --locked

Or build it from the repo with cargo build -p connector-cli --release. The binary is target/release/tauri-connector.

The agent skill is separate from the CLI: npx skills add dickwu/tauri-connector.

Take a snapshot, then use the ref.

tauri-connector snapshot -i prints a tree with role, name, ref, and React component name, and stitches portals back under their trigger. Later commands address those refs. The same tools are on the embedded MCP server and the CLI.

tauri-connector snapshot -i
- complementary [component=MainMenu]
  - menu [ref=e6, component=InheritableContextProvider]
    - menuitem [ref=e7, component=LegacyMenuItem]
      - img "calendar" [ref=e21]
  - main [component=MainMenu]
    - heading "Task Centre" [level=1, ref=e103]
    - textbox "Search..." [ref=e16]
    - combobox "Status" [ref=e50, component=InternalSelect, expanded=true]:
      - listbox "Status options" [portal]:
        - option "Active" [selected, ref=e51]
        - option "Inactive" [ref=e52]

tauri-connector click @e51
tauri-connector fill @e16 "aspirin"

Example from the project README, not a live app. In that output, click @e51 clicks the Active option and fill @e16 fills the search box. Refs stay usable across later CLI calls.

tauri-connector doctor checks the plugin dependency, registration, permissions, withGlobalTauri, @zumer/snapdom, and .mcp.json, and prints a fix for each missing piece.

tauri-connector screenshot captures the window with xcap. When xcap is unavailable it falls back to snapdom, which runs in the page with no CDN.

The CLI also drags, types, presses keys, reads logs, and calls IPC commands. The CLI reference and the MCP reference list every command.

Workflow run, get, cancel, and resume need a host token of at least 32 bytes. Without one, inspection still runs in debug mode.

Questions

What does the Homebrew formula install?

The formula tauri-connector 0.17.8 installs two binaries, tauri-connector and tauri-connector-mcp. It does not add the plugin to your app. The app still depends on the tauri-plugin-connector crate.

Which systems have Homebrew bottles?

The formula publishes macOS bottles for Apple silicon and Intel, and Linux bottles for arm64 and x86_64.

Why replace tauri-plugin-mcp-bridge?

tauri-plugin-mcp-bridge sends JavaScript results through window.__TAURI__. On macOS, WKWebView runs that injected script in an isolated content world where window.__TAURI__ does not exist, so execute_js, DOM snapshots, and console tools time out. tauri-connector carries scripts and results on a WebSocket the page opens to 127.0.0.1.

Where does a running app listen?

By default the CLI WebSocket is ws://127.0.0.1:9555 and the embedded MCP server is http://127.0.0.1:9556/mcp. The internal bridge listens on 127.0.0.1 in the range 9300-9400. The plugin builder and environment variables can select other ports.

When does a workflow call need a token?

Without a host token, the plugin runs in debug mode: discovery, status, runtime health, rich screenshots, the element picker, and IPC capture work unauthenticated. Workflow run, get, cancel, and resume need a token of at least 32 bytes. Once the host sets that token, those inspection calls require it too. A shorter value is ignored.

Does upgrading the CLI upgrade the plugin in an app?

No. Updating only the CLI cannot update the embedded plugin. Change the plugin crate in the app and rebuild it.

Is tauri-connector free?

Yes. It is free and open source under the MIT license. The source is at https://github.com/dickwu/tauri-connector.

How does an MCP client connect?

When the app is running, point the client at http://127.0.0.1:9556/mcp. The embedded server starts with the app. The standalone tauri-connector-mcp binary can attach over the WebSocket instead. npx skills add dickwu/tauri-connector installs the agent skill.

The page can run your script. On macOS it still cannot see window.__TAURI__.