podium-mcp — Claude Code MCP server: what it does, how to install
Controls iOS and Android environments through structured UI trees rather than vision prompts. Helps agents run mobile test flows and debug React Native.
claude mcp add podium-mcp -- npx -y podium-mcpWhat podium-mcp does
This server bundles 51 tools under a unified stdio endpoint. It avoids passing screenshots to language models. Instead, the tool provides compact element hierarchies, keeping token usage low during lengthy test runs. It drives native UI actions through idb or Maestro fallbacks, collects HTTP traffic from WKWebView, and inspects React Native via CDP.
Executables launch directly via execFile without a shell. The server handles tool errors as structured data without crashing the session. It also inspects WebGL scenes in engines like Pixi or Three.js as addressable objects.
The runtime requires Node.js version 22 or higher on the host. Missing local binaries like adb or Xcode tools cause related features to degrade gracefully.
What it helps with
- run mobile test suites on iOS simulators and Android hardware
- capture Metro logs and component state for React Native apps via CDP
- read DOM nodes and record network traffic inside WKWebView
- interact with canvas and WebGL game engines without visual snapshots
Example prompts for the agent
- Launch the app on an active iOS simulator and inspect network calls inside WKWebView
- Execute tap actions on the Android login screen and return the element hierarchy
- Check Metro console output and locate recent React Native crash traces
How to install podium-mcp
Platform CLI
claude mcp add podium-mcp -- npx -y podium-mcpPlatform CLI
codex mcp add podium-mcp -- npx -y podium-mcpConfig file
{
"mcpServers": {
"podium-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"podium-mcp"
]
}
}
}Config file
{
"servers": {
"podium-mcp": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"podium-mcp"
]
}
}
}Platform CLI
gemini mcp add podium-mcp npx -y podium-mcpStep by step, with commands for each platform: How to add an MCP server to Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI and more
Questions about podium-mcp
How to install podium-mcp in Claude Code?
Run claude mcp add podium-mcp -- npx -y podium-mcp in your terminal. This registers the server using stdio transport.
Why does podium-mcp avoid screenshot-based automation?
Feeding bitmap images into multimodal models on each step inflates prompt tokens quickly. Supplying raw UI hierarchies keeps token usage compact across long interactive test runs.
What are the system requirements for podium-mcp?
The runtime requires Node.js version 22 or higher, along with host platform utilities such as adb for Android or Xcode tools for iOS.
