MCP

ShiftDesk for AI assistants

With the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an AI assistant such as Claude can use a remote computer through ShiftDesk: it looks at the screen, clicks, types and, where it is allowed, runs terminal commands. On Pro, Team and Enterprise.

What an assistant can do

Open programs, fill in forms and go through settings on a remote computer, the way a person would.
Check a computer for you: see what is on the screen, read error messages, take screenshots.
Run commands on computers that allow it (Team and Enterprise): read logs, check disk space and settings, run scripts.
Work through many computers in a row: connect, do the job, disconnect, on to the next.
Work next to you: a terminal-only session runs beside your own session on the same computer, without taking your screen, mouse or keyboard.

Connect your assistant

Install ShiftDesk on the computer where the assistant runs and open it once to accept the licence agreement. The connector does not connect before that.
Add ShiftDesk to the assistant as an MCP server: the ShiftDesk program with the argument --mcp. The examples below are for Claude.
The first time the assistant connects, a browser window opens: sign in with your ShiftDesk account (Pro or higher) and choose Link device. The connector is not a computer of its own - it takes no address and never appears in your list of computers.
Ask the assistant to connect to a computer by its ShiftDesk address or its local network address, with the computer's password if you have it.

Claude Code

Windows

claude mcp add shiftdesk -- "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\ShiftDesk\ShiftDesk.exe" --mcp

macOS

claude mcp add shiftdesk -- /Applications/ShiftDesk.app/Contents/MacOS/ShiftDesk --mcp

Linux

claude mcp add shiftdesk -- ~/ShiftDesk.AppImage --mcp

Claude Desktop

In claude_desktop_config.json (Settings › Developer › Edit config):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "shiftdesk": {
      "command": "/Applications/ShiftDesk.app/Contents/MacOS/ShiftDesk",
      "args": ["--mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Any other MCP client that starts servers over standard input and output works the same way. Use the path where ShiftDesk is on that computer: on Windows the installed copy is in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\ShiftDesk.

Tools

The assistant gets these tools. Coordinates are pixels of the last screenshot.

connect	Connects to a computer: its ShiftDesk address or local network address, an optional password, and the mode (the screen, or a terminal only).
screenshot	Takes a picture of the remote screen, at most 1568 pixels on its longer side.
click	Clicks a point of the screenshot: left, right or middle button, once or twice.
move	Moves the pointer without clicking.
drag	Presses at one point, drags to another and lets go.
scroll	Turns the mouse wheel at a point.
type	Types text, in any language.
key	Presses keys and shortcuts, such as ctrl+c, alt+f4 or cmd+space.
switch_screen	Shows another monitor of the remote computer.
run_command	Runs a command and returns its output and exit code (Team and Enterprise).
status	Tells whether a session is open, to which computer, its screens and whether terminal access is on.
disconnect	Ends the session.

Terminal access (Team and Enterprise)

run_command runs one command and returns its output (up to 64 KB) and exit code: PowerShell on Windows, zsh on macOS and sh on Linux, as the signed-in user and never as administrator. Nobody can answer a question it asks, so a command must not wait for input. It stops after a time limit of 1 to 600 seconds (60 unless the assistant sets another).

It works only on computers where Settings › Access › Let AI assistants run terminal commands is turned on.
A terminal-only session ("mode": "terminal") has no screen, mouse or keyboard, and can run next to a person's session on the same computer.
The computer lists every command under the session, and its Terminal checkbox stops terminal access for that session.

Safety

The person at the remote computer sees the request as … · AI agent (MCP) and has to accept it, unless the assistant was given the computer's password.
A computer set up for unattended access lets an assistant in with nobody at it. Give its password only to assistants you trust.
The server refuses AI sessions from Free accounts and logs every session, like any other.
The connector never accepts incoming connections and is not visible on the local network.