toolpiper

ToolPiper MCP Server for macOS

400+ Model Context Protocol tools, all running on-device. ToolPiper is a native macOS app that turns your Mac into a local AI platform: bundled inference (llama.cpp on Metal, Apple Intelligence, speech on the Neural Engine), an OpenAI-compatible API at localhost:9998, and a built-in MCP server that exposes the whole machine to any MCP client: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, or your own scripts.

No cloud required for local models. No Docker. No Python. No API keys. Your prompts, files and outputs stay on your Mac, and you can check what ToolPiper connects to yourself: lsof -i -P | grep ToolPiper while it runs.

• Website: https://modelpiper.com/toolpiper
• Download: https://modelpiper.com/download (free; the full local model runner has no caps and needs no account)
• Docs: https://modelpiper.com/docs/toolpiper
• Tool catalog: https://modelpiper.com/mcp-tools
• Community: https://github.com/ModelPiper/modelpiper-community

This repository is the official home for ToolPiper's MCP server manifest (server.json), the Claude Code plugin (plugins/toolpiper), and the setup guides. The ToolPiper app itself is not open source, but its privacy claims do not ask for trust: every byte of network traffic is observable on your own machine. Open-source siblings live in this org: PiperSR (ANE super-resolution model), FluidAudio, mlx-audio-swift.

Quick start

Install ToolPiper, launch it once, then connect any MCP client over Streamable HTTP. Loopback connections need no auth: no token, no OAuth step.

Download the disk image from modelpiper.com/download, or install with Homebrew:

brew tap modelpiper/tap
brew trust modelpiper/tap
brew install --cask toolpiper

The trust line is required once: Homebrew 6 refuses casks from taps outside its own until you trust them.

Claude Code, as a plugin (one server entry, nothing to configure by hand):

claude plugin marketplace add ModelPiper/toolpiper
claude plugin install toolpiper@modelpiper

Claude Code, as a manual server:

claude mcp add --transport http toolpiper http://127.0.0.1:9998/mcp

Codex, as a plugin:

codex plugin marketplace add ModelPiper/toolpiper
codex plugin add toolpiper@modelpiper

Or as a manual server: codex mcp add toolpiper --url http://127.0.0.1:9998/mcp. Codex signs in to ToolPiper once; approve ToolPiper's consent page when it appears.

Any other MCP client, in its server configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "toolpiper": { "type": "http", "url": "http://127.0.0.1:9998/mcp" }
  }
}

Claude Desktop, as a one-click extension: download toolpiper-1.0.0.mcpb from Releases and double-click it; Claude Desktop shows its install sheet. The JSON block above does not apply to Claude Desktop, whose config file runs local stdio servers only. Source, build script and privacy statement: desktop-extension/. It is a small Node.js forwarder that relays Claude Desktop's stdio to the same loopback server, and it serves the directory profile: the catalog minus every tool that uses an AI model to generate images, video or audio.

Installing with an AI agent? Point it at llms-install.md.

What's in the catalog

400+ tools, 5 resources, and 5 workflow prompts. Names follow <category>_<action> (vision_ocr, system_window_snap, browser_assert). The live catalog, with per-tool documentation, is at modelpiper.com/mcp-tools.

Category	Examples	What it covers
Core AI	chat, audio_transcribe, audio_speak, text_embed	Local LLM inference, speech-to-text and text-to-speech on the Neural Engine, embeddings
Apple frameworks + RAG	vision_ocr, image_analyze, text_analyze, rag_query	Apple Vision OCR, image analysis, natural-language analysis, hybrid HNSW + BM25 document search
Browser automation	browser_snapshot, browser_action, browser_assert, browser_intercept	Chrome via CDP: AX-tree snapshots, self-healing selectors, network mocking, Web Vitals, coverage
Testing	test_run, test_save, test_export	Saved browser test sessions, fast replay, Playwright/Cypress export
System actions	system_*	Windows, Spaces, clipboard (with OCR'd history), audio, displays, Finder, Calendar, Reminders, Contacts, notifications, processes, network, Bluetooth, Shortcuts, and more
Video creator	video_record, video_render, video_edit_timeline	Screen-recorded screenplays, non-destructive timeline editing, OTIO/FCP XML/EDL export
Outreach	hn_search, reddit_search, github_compare, gsc_analytics	HN, Reddit, GitHub, Google Search Console
Model management	model_search, model_download, model_load	Search HuggingFace, download GGUF/CoreML, load/unload
Routing + integrations	endpoint_set, endpoint_recommend, claude_code_install	Switch inference endpoints per session, Claude Code helper install

Resources: toolpiper://status, toolpiper://models, toolpiper://backends, toolpiper://tests, toolpiper://categories Prompts: setup-model, audit-page, create-test, voice-over, research-topic

Category and profile filtering

Don't want the whole catalog in context? Pass category or profile as a query parameter on the /mcp URL. Both the tool list and the server instructions trim to match:

# Just LLM inference (core category)
claude mcp add --transport http toolpiper "http://127.0.0.1:9998/mcp?category=core"

# Web dev workflow (automation profile: core + browser + testing)
claude mcp add --transport http toolpiper "http://127.0.0.1:9998/mcp?profile=automation"

Transport

Transport	Endpoint	Auth
Streamable HTTP	POST http://127.0.0.1:9998/mcp (plus GET /mcp, the SSE channel for tools/list_changed)	None for loopback peers, enforced at the kernel socket, so Host/Origin spoofing cannot widen it. LAN and remote peers present Authorization: Bearer.

Streamable HTTP is the only transport. ToolPiper has no stdio server, and older guides that described one are obsolete.

Privacy

Your prompts, files and outputs stay on your Mac when you use local models. ToolPiper contacts our servers for update checks, a license check when you're signed in and a daily activity count, and it can send optional usage counts. You can turn the last two off in Settings, and none of them include your content. There are no crash uploads, and local use needs no account. Everything else is traffic you ask for: model downloads from HuggingFace, a cloud provider you add, and tools that explicitly target the web. You can watch it yourself:

lsof -i -P | grep ToolPiper

You will see update, license and activity requests to modelpiper.com hosts, optional usage counts to PostHog if you leave them on, plus any downloads or providers you chose, and none of them carry your content. Full policy: modelpiper.com/privacy.

Requirements and pricing

• macOS 26 or later on Apple Silicon
• Free: the full local model runner and every speech feature (transcription, text to speech, dictation). No caps, no account.
• Paid plans add more of the catalog. The current ladder is at modelpiper.com/pricing.

FAQ

Is this the same as "ToolPipe"? No. ToolPiper (this page, modelpiper.com) is the macOS MCP server by ModelPiper. Unrelated projects with similar names exist in some directories.

What does the MIT license in this repo cover? The contents of this repository: the server manifest, the Claude Code plugin, and the setup guides. The ToolPiper app itself is proprietary.

Does it work without an internet connection? Yes. Inference, speech, vision, RAG, and system tools are all on-device. You only need the network to download models.

Can other machines connect? Loopback is zero-config. LAN and remote access go through bearer-token auth.

I already added ToolPiper with claude mcp add. Do I need the plugin? No. Claude Code keeps your manual toolpiper server and skips the plugin's copy while the manual one exists, so nothing doubles up. The plugin is for a fresh setup, or if you remove the manual entry.