Can See

can-see

[npm version] [npm downloads] [license] [node]

MCP server that lets AI agents see and interact with terminal/CLI applications through virtual terminals and PNG screenshots.

Built for Claude Code and any MCP-compatible agent.

Why?

Some things are easier to show than describe. When debugging a TUI app, an interactive CLI wizard, or anything with visual terminal output, can-see lets the agent see exactly what you see — colors, layout, cursor position, and all.

How it works

1. Launch a CLI app in a virtual terminal (node-pty + @xterm/headless)
2. Screenshot the terminal as a PNG image (rendered via node-canvas)
3. Send keys/text to interact with the app
4. Screenshot again to see the result
5. Close the session when done

Installation

npm install -g can-see

Prerequisites

can-see depends on node-canvas (Cairo) and node-pty, which require native compilation. Most systems will need:

• Windows: Visual Studio Build Tools (C++ workload) — npm install --global windows-build-tools or install from Visual Studio Installer
• macOS: Xcode Command Line Tools — xcode-select --install
• Linux: sudo apt install build-essential libcairo2-dev libjpeg-dev libpango1.0-dev libgif-dev librsvg2-dev

Configuration

Claude Code

Add to your project's .mcp.json:

{  "mcpServers": {    "can-see": {      "command": "npx",      "args": ["-y", "can-see"]    }  }}

Or if installed globally:

{  "mcpServers": {    "can-see": {      "command": "can-see"    }  }}

Other MCP clients

can-see uses stdio transport. Point your MCP client at the can-see binary or npx -y can-see.

Tools

Supported keys

Enter, Tab, Escape, Backspace, Space, Up, Down, Left, Right, Home, End, Delete, PageUp, PageDown, Ctrl+A through Ctrl+Z.

Environment variables

Example usage

From an MCP-connected agent:

Agent: I'll launch your app to see what's happening.→ launch("node", ["app.js"])  → sessionId: "abc-123"
Agent: Let me wait for the app to start.→ wait_for_text("abc-123", "Ready")  → Found "Ready" after 1200ms
Agent: Let me read the current output.→ read_text("abc-123")  → "Welcome to MyApp\nReady\n> "
Agent: I can see the prompt. Let me select option 2.→ send_keys("abc-123", ["Down", "Enter"])
Agent: Waiting for the screen to settle.→ wait_for_idle("abc-123")  → Terminal idle for 520ms
Agent: Let me check the result.→ screenshot("abc-123")  → [PNG image showing result]
Agent: Done, closing the session.→ close("abc-123")

Changelog

0.5.0

New tools:

• wait_for_exit — wait for process exit, get exit code and signal
• close_all — kill all active sessions at once
• get_process_status — distinguish "app is idle" from "app has exited"
• screenshot_text_region — find text in viewport, capture surrounding area as PNG

Enhancements:

• launch accepts env parameter for custom environment variables
• wait_for_idle supports excludePattern (regex) for dynamic row exclusion in stableMs mode
• stop_recording returns frameCount and durationMs metadata alongside GIF
• get_cell_info supports compact option for reduced output ({char, fg, bold} only)

Bug fixes:

• Fixed wait_for_text and wait_for_color race condition where text/color present in the final buffer was missed when the process exited simultaneously
• Added mutual exclusion validation when both stableMs and idleMs are passed to wait_for_idle

License

MIT