Summary
Drives your local Chrome via CDP with a clever profile snapshot system: it copies your real Chrome cookies and login state to a temp directory, so agents can navigate Gmail or internal dashboards without touching your actual profile. Ships a shared broker process that multiple MCP clients connect to over a Unix socket, avoiding the overhead of launching Chrome per session. Exposes navigate, evaluate, screenshot, click, fill, and tab management tools. The tradeoff is clear: you get access to your logged-in sessions without credential uploads, but you're letting the LLM execute JavaScript in a browser that sees your session tokens. Broker idles out after 10 minutes and cleans up the temp profile.
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browser-mcp-cdp
A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that drives your real local Chrome via the Chrome DevTools Protocol. Designed for agents that need access to your logged-in sessions (Gmail, internal dashboards, banking, etc.) without uploading credentials to a cloud service.
Why another browser MCP?
Different tradeoffs from the alternatives:
| browser-mcp-cdp | Playwright MCP | Chrome DevTools MCP | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Browser | Your local Chrome | Managed Playwright Chromium | Your local Chrome |
| Login state | ✅ Snapshot of your profile (cookies, logins, IndexedDB) | ❌ Fresh profile | ✅ Real profile (modifies it) |
| Profile isolation | ✅ Copy-on-start, real profile untouched | N/A | ⚠️ Direct attach |
| Multi-client | ✅ Shared broker across MCP clients | ❌ Per-client | ❌ Per-client |
| Dependencies | Node only (no Playwright download) | Playwright + browsers | Node only |
The profile snapshot pattern means you can ask an agent to "check my email" — it sees your Gmail logged in — but the agent's actions never modify your real Chrome profile. Each session gets a disposable copy.
Install
claude mcp add browser -- npx -y browser-mcp-cdp
Or add manually to ~/.claude.json / Claude Desktop config:
{
"mcpServers": {
"browser": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "browser-mcp-cdp"]
}
}
}
Requires Node 18+ and Google Chrome installed.
Tools
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
browser_navigate | Load a URL, return final URL + title |
browser_evaluate | Run JS in the page, return result |
browser_screenshot | PNG of current page |
browser_click | Click via CSS selector |
browser_click_at | Click at pixel coordinates (pierces iframes / overlays) |
browser_fill | Set value on input/textarea/select |
browser_wait_for | Wait for a selector to appear |
browser_get_url | Current URL |
browser_get_text | Visible text of page or element |
browser_get_html | outerHTML of page or element |
browser_scroll | Scroll by (x, y) pixels |
browser_tabs | List open tabs |
browser_new_tab | Open a new tab |
Environment variables
| Var | Default |
|---|---|
BROWSER_MCP_CHROME_PATH | Auto-detected per OS |
BROWSER_MCP_CHROME_PROFILE_ROOT | OS-standard Chrome profile dir |
BROWSER_MCP_BROKER_SOCKET_PATH | ~/.browser-mcp/broker.sock |
BROWSER_MCP_BROKER_LOCK_PATH | ~/.browser-mcp/broker.lock |
BROWSER_MCP_BROKER_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MS | 600000 (10 min) |
How it works
- First MCP client connection spawns a broker subprocess (detached).
- Broker copies your Chrome profile's cookies/local storage/login data to a temp dir.
- Broker launches Chrome with
--user-data-dir=<temp>and--remote-debugging-port. - Subsequent MCP clients connect to the same broker over a Unix socket → they share one Chrome.
- Broker exits after
BROKER_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MSof no activity; temp profile is deleted.
Security
This server lets an LLM execute arbitrary JavaScript in a browser that is logged into your accounts. Only use with models and prompts you trust. Profile snapshotting limits damage (no persistent mutations to your real Chrome), but the agent can read cookies, session tokens, and any data visible to logged-in you for the duration of the session.
License
MIT
Featured
Keep your Mac awake while Claude Code and 40+ AI agents run. Sleeps when they're idle.
One time payment $9 →Integrate web data into your AI product. One API to scrape website & brand data.
Get API Key Now →Agent, run crypto. Access onchain data & trade routes via 1inch.
Install now →On Capafy, your Skill runs online 24/7 as an agent product, and you get paid every time someone uses it.
Start earning →Categories
Registryactive
Packagebrowser-mcp-cdp
TransportSTDIO
UpdatedApr 23, 2026
