Parallels Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for managing Parallels Desktop virtual machines.

Features

This MCP server provides tools to interact with Parallels Desktop VMs:

• list_vms - List all virtual machines
• get_vm_info - Get detailed information about a specific VM
• get_vm_status - Get the current status of a VM
• start_vm - Start a virtual machine
• stop_vm - Stop a virtual machine (with optional force flag)
• suspend_vm - Suspend a virtual machine
• resume_vm - Resume a suspended virtual machine
• reset_vm - Reset (restart) a virtual machine
• exec_vm_command - Execute a command inside a running VM

Prerequisites

• macOS with Parallels Desktop installed
• Node.js 16 or higher
• prlctl command-line tool (comes with Parallels Desktop)

Installation

From npm

# Install globally
npm install -g parallels-mcp-server

# Or use with npx (no installation needed)
npx parallels-mcp-server

From source

# Clone the repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd parallels-mcp-server

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the project
npm run build

Usage

With Claude Desktop

After installation, add this to your Claude Desktop configuration (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "parallels": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["parallels-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Or if you have it installed globally:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "parallels": {
      "command": "parallels-mcp-server"
    }
  }
}

With VS Code

The server is already configured in .vscode/mcp.json and ready to use!

Development

# Run in development mode with tsx
npm run dev

Example Usage

Once connected to an MCP client, you can use the tools like this:

Available Tools

list_vms

Lists all Parallels Desktop virtual machines on your system.

Parameters: None

Example:

Use the list_vms tool

get_vm_info

Get detailed information about a specific virtual machine including configuration, hardware specs, and network settings.

Parameters:

• vm (required): VM name or UUID

Example:

Use get_vm_info with vm="MyVM"

get_vm_status

Get the current operational status of a virtual machine (running, stopped, suspended, etc.).

Parameters:

• vm (required): VM name or UUID

Example:

Use get_vm_status with vm="MyVM"

start_vm

Start a stopped or suspended virtual machine.

Parameters:

• vm (required): VM name or UUID

Example:

Use start_vm with vm="MyVM"

stop_vm

Stop a running virtual machine gracefully or forcefully.

Parameters:

• vm (required): VM name or UUID
• force (optional): Boolean - if true, performs a hard shutdown (kill)

Examples:

# Graceful shutdown
Use stop_vm with vm="MyVM"

# Force shutdown
Use stop_vm with vm="MyVM" and force=true

suspend_vm

Suspend a running virtual machine, saving its current state to disk.

Parameters:

• vm (required): VM name or UUID

Example:

Use suspend_vm with vm="MyVM"

resume_vm

Resume a suspended virtual machine from its saved state.

Parameters:

• vm (required): VM name or UUID

Example:

Use resume_vm with vm="MyVM"

reset_vm

Restart a virtual machine (equivalent to pressing the reset button).

Parameters:

• vm (required): VM name or UUID

Example:

Use reset_vm with vm="MyVM"

exec_vm_command

Execute a command inside a running virtual machine.

Parameters:

• vm (required): VM name or UUID
• command (required): Command to execute

Example:

Use exec_vm_command with vm="MyVM" and command="ls -la /home"

Note: The VM must be running and Parallels Tools must be installed for command execution to work.

Security Notes

• This server has direct access to your Parallels VMs via prlctl
• Be careful when executing commands inside VMs
• The server requires Parallels Desktop to be installed and properly configured
• Commands are executed with your current user permissions

Troubleshooting

Command not found: prlctl

Ensure Parallels Desktop is installed and the command-line tools are in your PATH. You can verify by running:

prlctl --version

VM not found

• Check the VM name is correct (case-sensitive)
• Use list_vms to see available VMs
• You can use either the VM name or UUID

Command execution fails

• Ensure the VM is running
• Verify Parallels Tools are installed in the guest OS
• Check that the command syntax is correct for the guest OS

Permission denied

The server runs with your user permissions. Ensure you have access to Parallels Desktop and the VMs.

FAQ

Q: Does this work on Windows or Linux?
A: No, this server is macOS-only as it requires Parallels Desktop, which is a macOS application.

Q: Can I use this with other MCP clients besides Claude Desktop?
A: Yes! Any MCP-compatible client can use this server.

Q: Is it safe to publish this to npm?
A: Yes, but make sure to update the author information and repository URL in package.json before publishing.

Q: How do I find my VM's UUID?
A: Use the list_vms tool or run prlctl list -a in the terminal.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

Support

For issues and feature requests, please use the GitHub issue tracker.

• The server runs with the same permissions as the user running it

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues:

1. Verify Parallels Desktop is installed: which prlctl
2. Test that you can run prlctl commands manually: prlctl list -a
3. Check the server logs (errors are logged to stderr)
4. Make sure the build directory exists and contains index.js

License

MIT