使用说明
Chrome Bridge
By frsorrentino · npm
chrome-bridge-mcp· not affiliated with other projects named "chrome-bridge".
Claude Code drives the Chrome you are already using — signed in, with your extensions and your cookies. 69 tools: navigation, forms, DOM inspection, network mocking, visual regression, audits, performance traces and the WebMCP tools a page declares. Self-hosted, local-only, no paid plan, works on ChromeOS.
Measured against the official Claude in Chrome extension on the same tasks (paired runs, 17/10/2026, Claude Code 2.1.302, n=5 per task, medians):
| Task | Chrome Bridge | Claude in Chrome | Fewer turns | Lower cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fill a form | 3 turns · $0.043 | 15 turns · $0.236 | 5.0× | 5.5× |
| Find one row in a 1,500-row table | 3 turns · $0.039 | 6 turns · $0.154 | 2.0× | 3.9× |
| Debug a broken page | 6 turns · $0.091 | 31 turns · $0.559 | 5.2× | 6.1× |
15 correct answers out of 15, against 14. Method, every run and the caveats in docs/EFFICIENCY.md.
Quickstart
- In a Claude Code session:From a shell, the same:
/plugin install chrome-bridge --marketplace frsorrentino/chrome-bridgeclaude plugin install chrome-bridge --marketplace frsorrentino/chrome-bridge. - Add the extension from the Chrome Web Store.
- Restart Claude Code.
Then ask for something like "open localhost:3000, run an accessibility audit
and find the Sign Up button": Claude Code calls navigate, audit and
find_text. Because navigate already returns element refs,
click(ref="n1") follows with no discovery turn in between.
For execute_js, enable Allow user scripts in chrome://extensions →
Chrome Bridge → Details.
The plugin registers the MCP server from npm together with the recipes skill. Requires Node.js 18+ and Chrome 135+.
Older Claude Code, from source, Windows, Chrome 135-137, one path only
Older Claude Code. The one-command install needs Claude Code 2.1.275+ in a
session and 2.1.292+ from a shell. Before that, add the marketplace first:
/plugin marketplace add frsorrentino/chrome-bridge, then
/plugin install chrome-bridge@chrome-bridge (from a shell:
claude plugin marketplace add frsorrentino/chrome-bridge, then
claude plugin install chrome-bridge@chrome-bridge).
From source:
git clone https://github.com/frsorrentino/chrome-bridge.git
cd chrome-bridge && ./install.sh
Then open chrome://extensions, enable Developer mode, click Load
unpacked, select the extension/ folder, and restart Claude Code.
install.sh registers the MCP server with --scope user; by hand:
claude mcp add --scope user chrome-bridge node /path/to/server/index.js.
On ChromeOS/Crostini use the Web Store extension instead: an unpacked one is
dropped on every reboot, because the container isn't mounted when Chrome
starts.
Windows. install.sh does not run from PowerShell or cmd: use the plugin
with the Web Store extension, or run install.sh from Git Bash. The plugin's
error log hooks run in Git Bash, as Claude Code runs every hook, and need
Python 3.8+ as python3, python or py (the Microsoft Store python3 alias
is skipped); without Python they stay silent and the tools work the same. For
launch mode see CHROME_BRIDGE_BROWSER below: Google Chrome cannot load the
extension there, Microsoft Edge can.
Chrome 135-137. execute_js needs Developer Mode instead of the Allow
user scripts toggle.
One path only. The plugin and install.sh would register the same server
twice, and so would a plugin added from the Anthropic
directory on claude.ai (it reaches Claude Code as
chrome-bridge@synced) next to a marketplace install. In claude.ai chat the
plugin loads only the recipes skill: the tools need Claude Code, or Cowork
running on your computer, where the local MCP server can start. Clients that
read Agent Plugins 1.0 get the same from
plugin.json + mcp.json.
Why it takes fewer turns
- Refs, not screenshots.
navigatereturns the page's interactive elements as short refs (n1,n2…), so the next call is the click, not a screenshot and a coordinate guess. - One call for a whole form.
fill_formfills N fields and submits in the same call. - Filtering on the server.
extract_tablewithwhereandcolumnsreturns the matching rows of a 1,500-row table, not the table. - Debugging starts with the answer.
navigatereports the first console error mapped to its source line and the failed requests with their status;get_css_stylesnames the rule behind a style and flags undefined CSS variables. - Deferred loading. 22 stay in context; the rest of the 46 in the
default set wait behind Claude Code's tool search (2.1.285+), and loading
one mid-session does not invalidate the prompt cache. The other 23, in seven
optional groups, switch on mid-session with
get_status({enable: [...]}), no restart.
Your browser, your login
No blank profile, no debugging port, no cloud browser. The extension runs in your Chrome, so every site you are signed into is already open to the agent: webmail, the hosting panel, a back office, a staging site behind basic auth. Tabs the agent opens are marked as its own and closed when the session ends; your tabs stay yours. Several Claude Code sessions share the same browser: the second one becomes a relay on the first one's bridge.
WebMCP. When a page declares its own tools through
WebMCP, navigate and
get_interactives say so in one line, webmcp_tools lists them and
webmcp_call runs one, with a timeout. Needs the WebMCP flag or origin trial
in Chrome; get_status reports whether it is on.
Limits you can set. upload_file refuses keys and credentials
(~/.ssh, .env*, *.pem, …) and --read-root fences it to one directory;
--write-root fences every path the model writes; --no-js removes arbitrary
JavaScript. The agent never types credentials: for a login, a 2FA code or a
choice, handoff shows a banner in the page and waits for you.
Compared
| Chrome Bridge | Claude in Chrome | Chrome DevTools MCP | Playwright MCP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChromeOS / Crostini | Yes (real host) | No | Container only | Container only |
| Tools | 69 (46 default, 22 always loaded) | 22 | 29 default (56 with flags) | 24 core (71 total) |
| Requires paid plan | No | Yes (Pro+) | No | No |
| WebMCP (tools the page declares) | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Network mocking | Yes (stub/headers) | No | No | Yes |
| Visual regression | Yes (screenshot_diff) |
No | No | No |
| Audits (a11y/SEO/sec) | Yes (one call, report on disk) | No | Lighthouse | No |
| Performance trace | Yes (perf_trace, lighthouse) |
No | Yes | Playwright trace only |
| Screen recording | Yes (screencast, mp4/webm) |
Yes (GIF) | Partial | Yes (video) |
| Heap snapshot | Yes (launch mode) | No | Yes | No |
| Breakpoints | No | No | Yes | No |
| Headless / CI | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Codex for Chrome (OpenAI, May 2026) sits in the Claude in Chrome column: an
official extension with the debugger permission, macOS and Windows only,
the ChatGPT app required. Claude in Chrome documents Linux desktop since
September 2026; ChromeOS and WSL stay out. Competitor tool counts measured on
2026-09-01 and 2026-09-11 (docs/analisi-2026-09-11-concorrenti.md); WebMCP, recording and
tracing rows checked in their documentation on 2026-10-28.
Using it
The skill in skills/chrome-bridge/SKILL.md
is what makes the tools discoverable: recipes with the phrase that triggers
each one ("verify the email arrives", "test the checkout with a test card",
"which plugin slows the page", "what fires before consent"), the tool sequence,
and the zero-token CLI commands the model would otherwise never see.
install.sh copies it to ~/.claude/skills/chrome-bridge; do the same by
hand for other clients.
Beyond the MCP tools, two lanes keep work away from the model entirely.
CLI — batch operations, piped through grep or jq before anything reaches
the context:
chrome-bridge navigate --url https://example.com
chrome-bridge read_console --level error | head -20
chrome-bridge assert --selector "#success" --text "Done"
chrome-bridge replay --file ./recordings/login.jsonl
Launch mode — a dedicated Chromium instance with an ephemeral profile, for isolated sessions or CI:
node server/index.js --launch --headless
It looks for Chromium, Microsoft Edge, Brave and last Google Chrome in their
standard paths on Linux, macOS and Windows; CHROME_BRIDGE_BROWSER picks
another binary. Google Chrome 137+ ignores --load-extension, so the
extension never connects in it: use Chromium, Edge, Brave or Chrome for
Testing.
Pair it with session_record + replay for smoke tests with no model in the
loop. In launch mode execute_js falls back to new Function when the
user-script toggle isn't available.
Tools
69 in total. core (46 tools: every tool used in 101 real sessions, plus the
two WebMCP tools) loads by default, 22 of them always in context; the other 23
sit in seven optional caps that the agent switches on mid-session with
get_status({enable: ["visual"]}), with no restart (--caps still sets them
at startup).
| Group | N | What's in it |
|---|---|---|
| Core & Navigation | 13 | tabs, windows, navigate, screenshot, tile_windows |
| Interaction | 11 | click, fill_form, upload_file, dialogs, clipboard |
| DOM & Inspection | 12 | read_page, extract, extract_table, query_dom, get_css_styles, watch_dom |
| Debugging & Network | 8 | execute_js, console, network log, mocking, track_events |
| WebMCP | 2 | webmcp_tools, webmcp_call: the tools a page declares |
| Visual & Responsive | 5 | screenshot_diff, viewport and zoom, media emulation |
| Audits | 2 | audit (a11y, keyboard, SEO, security, links, vitals, css, resources, cache in one call), cookie_audit |
| State, Storage & Files | 10 | storage, fixtures, MHTML, capture_downloads (exports saved with no "Save as" dialog), recording, assert |
| Motion & Performance | 6 | animations, frames (long frames, CLS, INP), perf_trace, screencast, lighthouse and heap_snapshot (launch mode) |
Every tool, with the notes that matter: docs/TOOLS.md.
How it works
Claude Code <--stdio--> MCP Server <--WebSocket :8765--> Chrome Extension
(server/) (extension/, MV3)
The Node.js server handles the protocol and tool logic; the MV3 extension
executes commands through Chrome APIs. User scripts (execute_js) run via
chrome.userScripts.execute().
Configuration and security
Environment variables, each with a matching CLI flag
| Variable | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
CHROME_BRIDGE_PORT |
8765 |
|
CHROME_BRIDGE_HOST / --host |
127.0.0.1 |
0.0.0.0 only where the browser lives outside the container (ChromeOS/Crostini port-forward) — and only with a token |
CHROME_BRIDGE_TOKEN |
unset | Required on both ext_init and relay_init. Strongly recommended whenever the bind isn't loopback |
CHROME_BRIDGE_CAPS / --caps |
core |
core, audits, visual, network, storage, dom, files, all. Optional caps can also be switched on at runtime with get_status({enable}) |
CHROME_BRIDGE_ALWAYS_LOAD / --always-load |
22 most used tools | Tools kept in context when the client loads the server whole; the others carry _meta['anthropic/alwaysLoad'] = false and wait behind tool search (Claude Code 2.1.285+). all loads every tool; a comma list picks them |
CHROME_BRIDGE_NO_JS / --no-js |
unset | No arbitrary JavaScript in the page: execute_js and modify_dom leave the schema, wait_for(condition=function) and javascript:/data: URLs are refused. get_status reports js_evaluation |
CHROME_BRIDGE_READ_ROOT / --read-root |
unset | Where upload_file may read from. Unset: any file except keys and credentials (~/.ssh, ~/.aws, ~/.gnupg, .env*, id_*, *.pem, *.key, …), symlinks resolved first. Set: only files under this directory, whatever their name — the way to upload a certificate key on purpose |
CHROME_BRIDGE_BROWSER |
unset | Launch mode only: the browser binary, e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe. Unset: the first of Chromium, Edge, Brave, Google Chrome found in the standard paths (on Linux Chromium, then Google Chrome). Google Chrome 137+ cannot load the extension |
CHROME_BRIDGE_OBSERVE |
unset | off stops the local error log below. The plugin sets hook: its hooks keep the log and the server stays out of it |
CHROME_BRIDGE_WRITE_ROOT / --write-root |
unset | Every path the model chooses (save_to, output_path, exports) must be under this directory, checked before the browser does any work; the server's own state under ~/.config/chrome-bridge stays writable. The CLI is your shell and is not restricted |
The bridge binds loopback, accepts extension connections only from a
chrome-extension:// origin, and — when a token is set — requires it on both
handshakes. Without one, any local process could act as a relay and reach
execute_js inside your authenticated browser session. Secondary MCP instances
connect via loopback and are acknowledged with relay_init_ok, so a foreign
process holding the port fails fast instead of timing out per command.
What is not protected: page content reaches the model unfiltered, so a
hostile page's text is untrusted input. get_storage, session_fixture, HAR
exports and screenshots are not redacted and may carry cookies, tokens or
personal data. Don't point the automation at pages holding secrets you wouldn't
paste into a chat.
Threat model
chrome-bridge gives an AI agent your real, logged-in browser. Scanners that
rate MCP servers by capability flag it, correctly, for code execution
(execute_js), requests that carry your cookies (http_request) and reading
private page data (get_storage, get_tabs). Those are the product, not bugs.
What matters is who can reach them and what a hostile page can make the agent
do with them.
- Who can connect: see above — loopback bind,
chrome-extension://origin check,CHROME_BRIDGE_TOKENon both handshakes. - Launch mode also opens a DevTools port on 127.0.0.1 (chosen by the
system), for
lighthouseandheap_snapshot. CDP has no authentication: any local process can drive that dedicated browser while it runs. Its profile is temporary and holds nothing of yours; your own Chrome never gets a port. - The debugger bar is the signal.
click/press_keywithtrusted,emulate_media via: "debugger",perf_traceandscreencastattachchrome.debuggerto one tab only for that work; Chrome shows its "started debugging this browser" bar meanwhile, and cancelling it ends the work. - The real risk is prompt injection. A page can ask the agent to run JavaScript, send a request with your cookies, submit a form or upload a file. Treat every page you automate as untrusted input, and review what the agent proposes on sites that hold money or credentials.
- Reduce the surface:
--caps core(the default) exposes the smallest set;--no-jsremoves arbitrary JavaScript;--write-rootfences every path the model writes;upload_filerefuses keys and credentials, and--read-rootfences it to one directory. For sessions that matter, automate in a separate Chrome profile. --no-jsis not a sandbox:inject_cssstays, and CSS attribute selectors withurl()can leak attribute values to a remote host.- What leaves your machine is what the browser sends on the agent's behalf. chrome-bridge itself has no telemetry; the error log below stays local unless you approve an issue.
Local error log
When one of its own tools fails, chrome-bridge adds a line to a local file,
${XDG_STATE_HOME:-~/.local/state}/claude-observe/chrome-bridge.jsonl (mode
0600, in a 0700 folder), in the claude-observe
format (the plugin's copy is in observe/). With the plugin, a PostToolUseFailure hook writes it; with the npm
server alone, the server does. The same error seen again is one line with a
count.
- Kept: the tool name, the error text after scrubbing (your home folder
becomes
~; emails, URL queries, secrets and typed values are removed), the names of the parameters and the length of text values, the chrome-bridge version, the OS, the name of the working folder and of the Claude Code config folder. With the plugin, also the Claude Code and model versions, the session id and the names of the last three tools called. - Never kept: parameter values — no URLs, selectors, typed text or page content.
- Nothing leaves your computer unless you say yes. With the plugin, once
a few errors have piled up (or one has waited a few days, or one is marked
as a defect), a line at the end of a turn tells you so, and Claude may offer,
at a natural moment, to send them as one GitHub issue: it shows you the
anonymized text first, then asks with buttons (from your GitHub, or not now)
and sends only what you chose.
/chrome-bridge:observe senddoes the same on demand;list,markandaddread and triage the log. The server alone never sends or offers anything. - Security observations (a read or write outside the perimeter, a secret
exposed, unwanted code execution, data leaving the computer) never enter a
public issue:
/chrome-bridge:observe send --securityprepares a private vulnerability report for the maintainers, see SECURITY.md. - Turn it off:
{"enabled": false}in~/.config/claude-observe/config.json(every plugin that uses claude-observe), orCHROME_BRIDGE_OBSERVE=offfor the server. Keep the log but stop the offers:{"propose": false}.
Troubleshooting
Symptoms and fixes
| Symptom | Cause / fix |
|---|---|
Chrome extension not connected |
Extension disabled, or its port differs from the server's. The error names the actual host/port; check them in the popup (⚙). |
| Port 8765 already in use | Expected: a second MCP session becomes a relay and shares the one bridge. Set CHROME_BRIDGE_PORT for a separate one. |
Port N is held by a process that is not chrome-bridge |
Something else owns the port. Free it or change CHROME_BRIDGE_PORT. |
execute_js fails |
Enable Allow user scripts in chrome://extensions → Chrome Bridge → Details (Chrome 138+; on 135-137 enable Developer Mode). |
read_console returns note=Instrumentation not loaded |
The page was opened before the extension, "Capture console & metrics" is off, or the page isn't injectable (chrome://). Reload it. |
Screenshot times out, or image readback failed |
A minimized or fully covered window stops producing frames; captures fail after 10 s. Bring the window forward. |
wait_for/scroll return page_hidden: true, pages stop updating |
Same cause: Chrome does not render a hidden page and slows its timers (after a few minutes, to one wake-up per minute). get_page_info reports visibility. Bring the window on screen, or create_tab with new_window and bounds. |
screenshot presets says NOT APPLIED |
Presets resize the window; they do not emulate a phone (no device pixel ratio, UA or touch). The window manager enforces a minimum width, and no window exceeds the screen (e.g. at most a 1536×686 viewport on a 1536×864 ChromeOS screen). For phone emulation use emulate_media with device (via debugger), or a headless browser for larger viewports. |
type_text returns mismatch: true |
The field rejected the value. Events from an extension have isTrusted: false, and some widgets (date pickers, search boxes with tokenizers) discard them. Try mode: 'keys', then the site's own controls (the calendar buttons), or handoff. |
[media removed: request limit] instead of a screenshot |
Written by the MCP client, not by the bridge: too many images in one request. Use save_to, or element_screenshot with region and a small scale. |
| Commands work, then stop | The MV3 service worker restarted and in-memory state (network log, diff baselines, HTTP auth) was reset. Re-run the monitoring call. |
| Extension dropped on every ChromeOS reboot | Install from the Web Store instead of Load unpacked. |
| Tool missing from the list | It's in an opt-in group. Check get_status → caps_available, then set CHROME_BRIDGE_CAPS=all. |
claude mcp get shows no command, arguments or environment |
Expected with the plugin: since Claude Code 2.1.285 it hides them for stdio servers that plugins provide (variable names stay). get_status reports the server and extension versions, mode, host, port and caps; /mcp shows the connection. |
Popup says «In attesa: un altro browser è collegato», get_status lists refused_browsers |
Two browsers with the extension reach the same port. The one already connected keeps the bridge; the other retries every 15 s and takes over when the first disconnects. get_status → browser names the connected one. Before this, the last one to connect took over silently. |
Documentation
- docs/TOOLS.md — all 69 tools, by group
- docs/CAPABILITIES.md — what the bridge gets past and what it does not, one dated state per wall
- docs/EFFICIENCY.md — the benchmark and the design behind it
- docs/misure/2026-10-token-cache-vs-claude-in-chrome.md — the 17/10 paired set and the prompt-cache breakdown (Italian)
- docs/PERFORMANCE.md — latency per tool on the real path,
npm run bench:latency - bench/RESULTS.md — raw runs and inclusion rule
- CHANGELOG.md
Tests
npm test (Chrome-free, ~22s) · npm run test:e2e (needs Chrome and a
connected extension; with a bridge already on 8765:
CHROME_BRIDGE_PORT=8799 node test/test-devtools.js --launch, which opens
its own Chromium with extension/) · npm run measure (schema cost) ·
npm run bench:latency (milliseconds per tool, launches its own Chromium,
writes docs/PERFORMANCE.md).
Related projects
- agent-webbridge — drives several Chrome profiles at once, with parallel tabs
- awb-recipes — community-maintained, dated per-site recipes for automating logged-in websites
License
MIT
