mcp-iyke
Every running Ikenga shell exposes an Iyke control bridge — a localhost RPC surface that lets external tools drive the live desktop UI: query the DOM, take screenshots, capture network activity, read the query cache, navigate panes, and switch modes. mcp-iyke is the MCP server that wraps that bridge, so any MCP-capable model — Claude, Cursor, a custom client — can control the shell as a set of tools.
It pairs with the iyke CLI, which speaks the same bridge for terminal-based control. Same surface, two front doors: the CLI for humans and scripts, the MCP server for models.
What it lets a model do
Section titled “What it lets a model do”With mcp-iyke connected, a model can:
- Inspect runtime state — read the rendered DOM and accessibility tree, the console logs, captured network requests, and the query cache of the running app.
- Drive the UI — navigate to a pane or route, switch modes, and take screenshots of the window or an individual pane.
- Read inside mini-app iframes — pull state out of a pkg’s iframe (for example, a storyboard cursor position) without that pkg exposing it explicitly.
How it drives a running shell
Section titled “How it drives a running shell”The shell starts its Iyke bridge on a localhost port and writes the port plus an auth token to a local control file when it launches. mcp-iyke reads that file, authenticates, and forwards each tool call to the bridge as an authenticated request against the live app.
Because the bridge runs inside the running shell, the model acts on the real, current UI state — the same DOM, IPC layer, and OS integration the user sees — not a headless copy.
How it ships
Section titled “How it ships”mcp-iyke is a long-lived MCP server pkg. The shell bundles a builtin copy, and a published version lives in ikenga-pkgs. Like every pkg, it’s Apache-2.0.
Two ways in
Section titled “Two ways in”| Front door | Use it for |
|---|---|
iyke CLI | Terminal and shell-script control of a running shell. Driving dev loops, smoke tests, one-off automation. |
mcp-iyke | Letting an MCP-capable model control the shell as tools — the agent inspects and drives its own workspace. |