High Risk →

press

Click/press a UI element. Finds the element by text, role, selector, or coordinates, then clicks it.

How to control press ↓

What press does on ScreenHand

AI agents invoke press to trigger actions in ScreenHand. What it does depends on the arguments the agent supplies, and its effects often reach beyond the immediate call — builds kicked off, notifications sent, workflows started.

High Risk

Why press needs a policy

This tool triggers UI interactions by clicking/pressing elements in native desktop applications. Clicking UI elements can trigger arbitrary application actions (submitting forms, confirming dialogs, launching processes, deleting items within apps), making it Execute-level with high severity since an AI agent could click destructive or sensitive UI controls across any application.

From the tool's definition 'Click/press a UI element. Finds the element by text, role, selector, or coordinates, then clicks it.'

Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access press gives an agent:

How to control press

PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and ScreenHand, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for press:

policy.json
{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "press": {
      "limits": [
        {
          "counter": "press_rate",
          "window": "minute",
          "max": 10,
          "scope": "grant"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

press stays usable, but rate-capped — a runaway agent can't fire it dozens of times a minute. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.

  1. Create a free account and register ScreenHand — nothing to install.
  2. Add this policy — paste it, or build it visually.
  3. Point your MCP client (Claude, Cursor, anything) at your gateway URL.
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Related tools and policies

Go deeper

Questions about press

What does the press tool do? +

Click/press a UI element. Finds the element by text, role, selector, or coordinates, then clicks it. It is categorised as a Execute tool in the ScreenHand MCP Server, which means it can trigger actions or run processes. Use rate limits and argument validation.

How do I enforce a policy on press? +

Register the ScreenHand MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for press: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches ScreenHand. Nothing to install.

What risk level is press? +

press is a Execute tool with high risk. Execute tools should be rate-limited and have argument validation enabled.

Can I rate-limit press? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the press rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.

How do I block press completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for press. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.

What MCP server provides press? +

press is provided by the ScreenHand MCP server (manushi4/screenhand). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.

Enforce policy on every ScreenHand tool call.

Start from ScreenHand, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.

Free to start. No card required.

89 ScreenHand tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.

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