ax_read

MCP tool from Nova by bigduu

Canonical ax:read: read semantic labels, text, values, roles, actions, state, and optional bounds through macOS Accessibility or Windows UIA, without a screenshot. Returns an ephemeral snapshot/node protocol and explicit coverage/status.

How to use it

ax_read is exposed by the Nova MCP server. Add the server to your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf and others), and the ax_read tool becomes available to the model automatically. See the full listing for setup details and every tool this server provides.

Install Nova

$npx -y @bigduu/nova --version

FULL NOVA LISTING

Other tools in Nova (8)

ax_activate

Activate an exact actionable node from a fresh axread; rejects stale snapshot IDs and reports route=ax\

batch_actions

Run a sequence of input actions in one call.

click_mark

Compatibility action for the latest numbered mark; prefer generation-safe axactivate.

ocr

Recognize on-screen text via Apple Vision (on-device, no model files). Returns each text line with a clickable center — read and click text on canvas/Electron/game surfaces where marks are empty. CJK + Latin.

read_ui

Compatibility alias backed by the same axread traversal and cache generation.

screenshot

Capture the whole display or a single window= — use for layout, icons, colors, images, canvas, and visual verification after semantic/OCR paths.

wait

Pause for a specified number of seconds.

zoom_region

Magnify a rectangle of the last screenshot at native resolution — reads small targets on surfaces with no Accessibility tree.