MarkView vs Cua Driver

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

	MarkView Native macOS markdown preview MCP server — Claude writes markdown, MarkView renders it live in a real native window. Unverified stdio (local) No auth Swift	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	Swift	Rust
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	None	None
GitHub stars	34	19k
Last commit	26 days ago	12 hours ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope user markview -- npx mcp-server-markview`	`/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/trycua/cua/main/libs/cua-driver/scripts/install.sh)"`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

Pick MarkView if you prefer its approach (native macos markdown preview mcp server — claude writes markdown, markview renders it live in a real native window).

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

Add MarkView

Install / run

claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope user markview -- npx mcp-server-markview

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "markview": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-server-markview"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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

MarkView or Cua Driver — which is better?

Pick MarkView if you prefer its approach (native macos markdown preview mcp server — claude writes markdown, markview renders it live in a real native window). Pick Cua Driver if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you need the broadest set of tools.

Can I use both MarkView 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 MarkView and Cua Driver work with Claude, Cursor and Windsurf?

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

View MarkView →View Cua Driver →More comparisons →