Lately I found MCP to be much more than a coding tool. For example, I implemented it in my more complex macOS apps [0] like rcmd, Clop, Lunar, so they can be configured by natural language.
So even with a local Qwen and Pi you can now say things like:
Set up Clop to optimise any PNG that I drop in my website assets folder and convert to a webp with the same name near it
Get Crank to start Time Machine backups immediately when I connect my HDD and notify me when the backup is done.
I want to be able to hold rcmd and fuzzy search and focus cmux agent panes
BetterTouchTool has a great MCP which can create native SwiftUI views and bind them to hotkeys, trackpad gestures etc. It can leverage its immense macOS automation tools and private APIs to let agents do Computer Use.
You would need a much more capable coding model to code those tools from scratch and get the same fail-safe logic that the apps have honed over the years.
Like, since MCP, Crank [1] has fully replaced my use of crontab, launchd, scattered scripts I run once a week. Not that it could not do that before, but it's so much simpler now to just describe the automation and have it happen reliably and visible in the UI. The friction is gone.
Nothing in there is innovative or unattainable, Clop uses open source tools behind the scenes anyway so obviously you can replicate it with scripts.
But this is for people that already use the app, researchers, writers, students, people that aren't necessarily comfortable with a terminal. And given Clop already implements the basics: an efficient file events watcher, tuned encoders for the Mac silicon, fail safe backups and UI for seeing the result and interacting with it in real time, it has advantages over trying to do it yourself.
I'm not intending to denigrate your tool. I'm just commenting on the "look at how we go full circle" aspect.
I will point out that the shell script way uses less resources than an LLM making a tool call. But I understand that these scenarios are not necessarily meant for the same user.
Oh for sure, I would prefer to have the automations as invisible things running at the system level, doing exactly what I want and nothing else, not wasting resources on UIs and event watchers I might not need. I would get rid of my own apps if that was easy to do.
But it seems we need to waste some resources to get some usability in return.
alin23 · · focus · HN ↗
So even with a local Qwen and Pi you can now say things like:
BetterTouchTool has a great MCP which can create native SwiftUI views and bind them to hotkeys, trackpad gestures etc. It can leverage its immense macOS automation tools and private APIs to let agents do Computer Use.You would need a much more capable coding model to code those tools from scratch and get the same fail-safe logic that the apps have honed over the years.
Like, since MCP, Crank [1] has fully replaced my use of crontab, launchd, scattered scripts I run once a week. Not that it could not do that before, but it's so much simpler now to just describe the automation and have it happen reliably and visible in the UI. The friction is gone.
[0] <a href="https://reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1wkv0dy/mcp_in_macos_apps_are_they_useful_for_you/" rel="nofollow">https://reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1wkv0dy/mcp_in_macos_a...
[1] <a href="https://lowtechguys.com/crank" rel="nofollow">https://lowtechguys.com/crank
asveikau · · focus · HN ↗
This seems like exactly the sort of thing I've done with shell scripts or even makefiles.
alin23 · · focus · HN ↗
But this is for people that already use the app, researchers, writers, students, people that aren't necessarily comfortable with a terminal. And given Clop already implements the basics: an efficient file events watcher, tuned encoders for the Mac silicon, fail safe backups and UI for seeing the result and interacting with it in real time, it has advantages over trying to do it yourself.
asveikau · · focus · HN ↗
I will point out that the shell script way uses less resources than an LLM making a tool call. But I understand that these scenarios are not necessarily meant for the same user.
alin23 · · focus · HN ↗
Oh for sure, I would prefer to have the automations as invisible things running at the system level, doing exactly what I want and nothing else, not wasting resources on UIs and event watchers I might not need. I would get rid of my own apps if that was easy to do.
But it seems we need to waste some resources to get some usability in return.
weego · · focus · HN ↗