interactive-mcp vs Cua Driver

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

	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	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
Category	Productivity	Productivity
Language	TypeScript	Rust
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	None	None
GitHub stars	348	19k
Last commit	7 months ago	12 hours ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`npx -y interactive-mcp`	`/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/trycua/cua/main/libs/cua-driver/scripts/install.sh)"`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

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).

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

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"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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"
      ]
    }
  }
}

FAQ

interactive-mcp or Cua Driver — which is better?

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

Can I use both interactive-mcp and Cua Driver?

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

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

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