WebView Interaction Tools

Comprehensive tools for interacting with your Tauri application's webview, including gestures, keyboard input, screenshots, and JavaScript execution.

webview_interact

Perform various interaction gestures on webview elements.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
action	string	Yes	Action: 'click', 'double-click', 'long-press', 'scroll', 'swipe', 'focus'
selector	string	No	CSS selector or ref ID (e.g., ref=e3) for the element to interact with
x	number	No	X coordinate for direct coordinate interaction
y	number	No	Y coordinate for direct coordinate interaction
duration	number	No	Duration in ms (default: 500ms for long-press, 300ms for swipe)
scrollX	number	No	Horizontal scroll amount in pixels (positive = right)
scrollY	number	No	Vertical scroll amount in pixels (positive = down)
fromX	number	No	Starting X coordinate for swipe
fromY	number	No	Starting Y coordinate for swipe
toX	number	No	Ending X coordinate for swipe
toY	number	No	Ending Y coordinate for swipe

Example

// Click an element by selector
{
  "tool": "webview_interact",
  "action": "click",
  "selector": "#submit-button"
}

// Long press at coordinates
{
  "tool": "webview_interact",
  "action": "long-press",
  "x": 100,
  "y": 200,
  "duration": 1000
}

// Scroll an element
{
  "tool": "webview_interact",
  "action": "scroll",
  "selector": ".content-area",
  "scrollY": 200
}

// Swipe gesture
{
  "tool": "webview_interact",
  "action": "swipe",
  "fromX": 200,
  "fromY": 100,
  "toX": 200,
  "toY": 400,
  "duration": 500
}

// Focus an element
{
  "tool": "webview_interact",
  "action": "focus",
  "selector": "#username-input"
}

webview_screenshot

Capture a screenshot of the current viewport (visible area) of the webview.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
format	string	No	Image format: 'png', 'jpeg' (default: 'jpeg')
quality	number	No	JPEG quality 0-100 (default: 80, only for jpeg format)
filePath	string	No	File path to save the screenshot to instead of returning base64
windowId	string	No	Window label to target (defaults to 'main')
maxWidth	number	No	Maximum width in pixels. Images wider than this will be scaled down proportionally
allowScreenCapture	boolean	No	Allow an interactive OS screen-sharing prompt if native and html2canvas capture fail (default: false)

Example

// Take a PNG screenshot (returns base64)
{
  "tool": "webview_screenshot",
  "format": "png"
}

// Save screenshot to a file
{
  "tool": "webview_screenshot",
  "format": "png",
  "filePath": "/path/to/screenshot.png"
}

// Take a screenshot with max width constraint (useful for reducing token usage)
{
  "tool": "webview_screenshot",
  "maxWidth": 800
}

// Explicitly allow the interactive Screen Capture API fallback
{
  "tool": "webview_screenshot",
  "allowScreenCapture": true
}

Response

Returns a base64-encoded image, or if filePath is provided, returns the path where the screenshot was saved.

The Screen Capture API fallback is disabled by default because it opens an operating-system permission prompt and may share more than the target webview. Set allowScreenCapture only when that interactive fallback is desired.

Environment Variable

You can set a default maxWidth for all screenshots using the TAURI_MCP_SCREENSHOT_MAX_WIDTH environment variable. The tool parameter takes precedence over the environment variable.

On macOS, native screenshots may bring a fully occluded Tauri window forward so WKWebView can paint a fresh frame. Set TAURI_MCP_NO_FOREGROUND=1 to disable that behavior.

# Set default max width to 800 pixels
export TAURI_MCP_SCREENSHOT_MAX_WIDTH=800

# Never foreground the Tauri window for screenshots
export TAURI_MCP_NO_FOREGROUND=1

TIP

This only captures what is currently visible. Scroll content into view before taking screenshots if you need to capture specific elements.

webview_keyboard

Type text or send keyboard events to the webview.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
action	string	Yes	Action: 'type', 'press', 'down', 'up'
selector	string	No	CSS selector or ref ID (e.g., ref=e3) for element to type into (required for 'type' action)
text	string	No	Text to type (required for 'type' action)
key	string	No	Key to press (required for 'press/down/up' actions, e.g., 'Enter', 'Escape')
modifiers	string[]	No	Modifier keys: ['Control', 'Alt', 'Shift', 'Meta']

Example

// Type text into an input
{
  "tool": "webview_keyboard",
  "action": "type",
  "selector": "#username",
  "text": "Hello World"
}

// Send keyboard shortcut
{
  "tool": "webview_keyboard",
  "action": "press",
  "key": "s",
  "modifiers": ["Control"]
}

webview_wait_for

Wait for specific conditions in the webview.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
type	string	Yes	What to wait for: 'selector', 'text', 'ipc-event'
value	string	Yes	CSS selector/ref ID, text content, or IPC event name to wait for
timeout	number	No	Timeout in milliseconds (default: 5000ms)

Example

// Wait for element to appear
{
  "tool": "webview_wait_for",
  "type": "selector",
  "value": "#loading-complete",
  "timeout": 10000
}

// Wait for text to appear
{
  "tool": "webview_wait_for",
  "type": "text",
  "value": "Success!"
}

webview_execute_js

Execute JavaScript code in the webview context.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
script	string	Yes	JavaScript code to execute
args	array	No	Arguments to pass to the script

Script Format

Scripts can be any valid JavaScript. If you need a return value, it must be JSON-serializable:

• Side effects only: console.log('hello'), document.body.classList.add('dark')
• Simple expressions: document.title, 5 + 3, window.location.href
• Statements with return: const x = 5; return x * 2;
• Async operations: const res = await fetch('/api'); return await res.json();
• IIFE (Immediately Invoked Function Expression): (() => { return 5; })()

Returning Values from Functions

If you want to return a value from a function, use an IIFE: (() => { return 5; })() not () => { return 5; }. Bare function definitions are not JSON-serializable and will return null.

Example

// Get page data (simple expression)
{
  "tool": "webview_execute_js",
  "script": "document.title + ' - ' + window.location.href"
}

// Async operation
{
  "tool": "webview_execute_js",
  "script": "const res = await fetch('/api/data'); return await res.json();"
}

// IIFE for complex logic
{
  "tool": "webview_execute_js",
  "script": "(() => { const items = document.querySelectorAll('li'); return items.length; })()"
}

Response

Returns the result of the JavaScript execution as a JSON string. Non-serializable values (like functions or DOM elements) will return null.

webview_get_styles

Get computed CSS styles for elements.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
selector	string	Yes	CSS selector or ref ID (e.g., ref=e3) for element(s) to get styles from
properties	string[]	No	Specific CSS properties to retrieve (if omitted, returns all)
multiple	boolean	No	Get styles for all matching elements (default: false)

Example

// Get specific styles
{
  "tool": "webview_get_styles",
  "selector": "#my-element",
  "properties": ["color", "background-color", "font-size"]
}

Response

Returns a JSON string with the computed styles.

Common Patterns

Dismissing the Keyboard

To dismiss the on-screen keyboard, use webview_execute_js:

{
  "tool": "webview_execute_js",
  "script": "document.activeElement?.blur()"
}