Cua Driver vs interactive-mcp

A side-by-side comparison of two Productivity servers — tools, transport, auth, maintenance, and copy-paste config for each.

	Cua Driver Background computer-use MCP server that drives native macOS, Windows, and Linux desktop apps without stealing focus. Unverified stdio (local) No auth Rust	interactive-mcp Local MCP server that puts a human in the loop: ask the user questions and send OS notifications mid-task. Unverified stdio (local) No auth Stale TypeScript
Category	Productivity	Productivity
Language	Rust	TypeScript
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	None	None
GitHub stars	19k	348
Last commit	1 month ago	8 months ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/trycua/cua/main/libs/cua-driver/scripts/install.sh)"`	`npx -y interactive-mcp`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

Pick Cua Driver if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you need the broadest set of tools.

Pick interactive-mcp if you prefer its approach (local mcp server that puts a human in the loop: ask the user questions and send os notifications mid-task).

Add Cua Driver

Install / run

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/trycua/cua/main/libs/cua-driver/scripts/install.sh)"

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cua-driver": {
      "command": "cua-driver",
      "args": [
        "mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Add interactive-mcp

Install / run

npx -y interactive-mcp

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "interactive-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "interactive-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

FAQ

Cua Driver or interactive-mcp — which is better?

Pick Cua Driver if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you need the broadest set of tools. Pick interactive-mcp if you prefer its approach (local mcp server that puts a human in the loop: ask the user questions and send os notifications mid-task).

Can I use both Cua Driver and interactive-mcp?

Yes — MCP clients let you enable multiple servers at once. Add both configs to your client's mcpServers and use whichever tool fits the task.

Do Cua Driver and interactive-mcp work with Claude, Cursor and Windsurf?

Both do. Copy the per-client config below into Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Windsurf.

View Cua Driver →View interactive-mcp →More comparisons →