/peekaboo

name: peekaboo
description: "Capture screenshots, inspect UI elements, drive mouse/keyboard input, and manage macOS apps and windows with the Peekaboo CLI. Use when automating macOS UI interactions, taking annotated screenshots, clicking UI elements by ID, typing text, controlling app windows, or navigating menus and Dock items."
homepage: https://peekaboo.boo
metadata:
  {
    "bitterbot":
      {
        "emoji": "👀",
        "os": ["darwin"],
        "requires": { "bins": ["peekaboo"] },
        "install":
          [
            {
              "id": "brew",
              "kind": "brew",
              "formula": "steipete/tap/peekaboo",
              "bins": ["peekaboo"],
              "label": "Install Peekaboo (brew)",
            },
          ],
      },
  }

Peekaboo

Peekaboo is a full macOS UI automation CLI: capture/inspect screens, target UI elements, drive input, and manage apps/windows/menus. Commands share a snapshot cache and support `--json`/`-j` for scripting. Run `peekaboo` or `peekaboo <cmd> --help` for flags; `peekaboo --version` prints build metadata. Tip: run via `polter peekaboo` to ensure fresh builds.

Features (all CLI capabilities, excluding agent/MCP)

Core

• `bridge`: inspect Peekaboo Bridge host connectivity
• `capture`: live capture or video ingest + frame extraction
• `clean`: prune snapshot cache and temp files
• `config`: init/show/edit/validate, providers, models, credentials
• `image`: capture screenshots (screen/window/menu bar regions)
• `learn`: print the full agent guide + tool catalog
• `list`: apps, windows, screens, menubar, permissions
• `permissions`: check Screen Recording/Accessibility status
• `run`: execute `.peekaboo.json` scripts
• `sleep`: pause execution for a duration
• `tools`: list available tools with filtering/display options

Interaction

• `click`: target by ID/query/coords with smart waits
• `drag`: drag & drop across elements/coords/Dock
• `hotkey`: modifier combos like `cmd,shift,t`
• `move`: cursor positioning with optional smoothing
• `paste`: set clipboard -> paste -> restore
• `press`: special-key sequences with repeats
• `scroll`: directional scrolling (targeted + smooth)
• `swipe`: gesture-style drags between targets
• `type`: text + control keys (`--clear`, delays)

System

• `app`: launch/quit/relaunch/hide/unhide/switch/list apps
• `clipboard`: read/write clipboard (text/images/files)
• `dialog`: click/input/file/dismiss/list system dialogs
• `dock`: launch/right-click/hide/show/list Dock items
• `menu`: click/list application menus + menu extras
• `menubar`: list/click status bar items
• `open`: enhanced `open` with app targeting + JSON payloads
• `space`: list/switch/move-window (Spaces)
• `visualizer`: exercise Peekaboo visual feedback animations
• `window`: close/minimize/maximize/move/resize/focus/list

Vision

• `see`: annotated UI maps, snapshot IDs, optional analysis

Global runtime flags

• `--json`/`-j`, `--verbose`/`-v`, `--log-level <level>`
• `--no-remote`, `--bridge-socket <path>`

Quickstart (happy path)

peekaboo permissions
peekaboo list apps --json
peekaboo see --annotate --path /tmp/peekaboo-see.png
peekaboo click --on B1
peekaboo type "Hello" --return

Common targeting parameters (most interaction commands)

• App/window: `--app`, `--pid`, `--window-title`, `--window-id`, `--window-index`
• Snapshot targeting: `--snapshot` (ID from `see`; defaults to latest)
• Element/coords: `--on`/`--id` (element ID), `--coords x,y`
• Focus control: `--no-auto-focus`, `--space-switch`, `--bring-to-current-space`,

`--focus-timeout-seconds`, `--focus-retry-count`

Common capture parameters

• Output: `--path`, `--format png|jpg`, `--retina`
• Targeting: `--mode screen|window|frontmost`, `--screen-index`,

`--window-title`, `--window-id`

• Analysis: `--analyze "prompt"`, `--annotate`
• Capture engine: `--capture-engine auto|classic|cg|modern|sckit`

Common motion/typing parameters

• Timing: `--duration` (drag/swipe), `--steps`, `--delay` (type/scroll/press)
• Human-ish movement: `--profile human|linear`, `--wpm` (typing)
• Scroll: `--direction up|down|left|right`, `--amount <ticks>`, `--smooth`

Examples

See -> click -> type (most reliable flow)

peekaboo see --app Safari --window-title "Login" --annotate --path /tmp/see.png
peekaboo click --on B3 --app Safari
peekaboo type "user@example.com" --app Safari
peekaboo press tab --count 1 --app Safari
peekaboo type "supersecret" --app Safari --return

Target by window id

peekaboo list windows --app "Visual Studio Code" --json
peekaboo click --window-id 12345 --coords 120,160
peekaboo type "Hello from Peekaboo" --window-id 12345

Capture screenshots + analyze

peekaboo image --mode screen --screen-index 0 --retina --path /tmp/screen.png
peekaboo image --app Safari --window-title "Dashboard" --analyze "Summarize KPIs"
peekaboo see --mode screen --screen-index 0 --analyze "Summarize the dashboard"

Live capture (motion-aware)

peekaboo capture live --mode region --region 100,100,800,600 --duration 30 \
  --active-fps 8 --idle-fps 2 --highlight-changes --path /tmp/capture

App + window management

peekaboo app launch "Safari" --open https://example.com
peekaboo window focus --app Safari --window-title "Example"
peekaboo window set-bounds --app Safari --x 50 --y 50 --width 1200 --height 800
peekaboo app quit --app Safari

Menus, menubar, dock

peekaboo menu click --app Safari --item "New Window"
peekaboo menu click --app TextEdit --path "Format > Font > Show Fonts"
peekaboo menu click-extra --title "WiFi"
peekaboo dock launch Safari
peekaboo menubar list --json

Mouse + gesture input

peekaboo move 500,300 --smooth
peekaboo drag --from B1 --to T2
peekaboo swipe --from-coords 100,500 --to-coords 100,200 --duration 800
peekaboo scroll --direction down --amount 6 --smooth

Keyboard input

peekaboo hotkey --k