# Chrome Bridge
An MCP server + Chrome extension that lets AI assistants interact with your actual Chrome window. Unlike Playwright or Puppeteer which launch isolated browsers, Chrome Bridge connects to the browser you already have open — with your authenticated sessions, extensions, and state all available.
## How It Works
The Chrome extension maintains a persistent WebSocket connection to the MCP server (localhost:9229). When Claude calls a tool — navigate, click, screenshot — the MCP server forwards the command over the WebSocket to the extension, which executes it in the active tab and returns the result. Your session cookies, IndexedDB state, and service workers are all live.
AI Client (Claude Code) ──stdio──▶ MCP Server (Node.js)
└── WebSocket (localhost:9229) ──▶ Chrome Extension (MV3)
└── Active Tab
└── Your sessions & cookies## Screenshots
❯ browser_navigate url=https://internal.company.com/dashboard ✓ Navigated · title: Engineering Dashboard ❯ browser_screenshot ✓ Screenshot saved (1440×900, 187 KB) Shows: sprint board with 14 open tickets ❯ browser_read_page ✓ DOM snapshot: 3,241 nodes Detected: React app, authenticated as you@company.com
❯ browser_click selector=#new-ticket-btn ✓ Clicked #new-ticket-btn ❯ browser_type selector=#title-input text=Fix login redirect ✓ Typed 19 chars into #title-input ❯ browser_evaluate code=document.querySelector("#priority").value ✓ Result: "medium" ❯ browser_press_key key=Enter ✓ Form submitted · ticket #1842 created
## Features
- +Works with your existing Chrome window
- +Access SSO-protected internal tools
- +Screenshot, DOM snapshot, JS evaluation
- +Mouse, keyboard, and scroll control
- +Zero browser launch overhead
- +Localhost WebSocket — no data leaves your machine
## vs. The Field
| Feature | Chrome Bridge | Playwright MCP | Puppeteer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uses your real browser | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Existing logins & cookies | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| No binary download | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| MCP protocol native | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Sub-second startup | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Headless / CI support | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
## Installation
Install the MCP server
The server runs locally and communicates with the extension over WebSocket. No build step required.
npx -y @web4w3/install chrome-bridge
Load the Chrome extension
Open chrome://extensions, enable Developer Mode, click Load unpacked, and select the extension/ folder.
⚠ The extension badge turns green when it is connected to the MCP server.
Add to Claude Code config
Register the MCP server so Claude Code can connect to it.
{
"mcpServers": {
"chrome-bridge": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@web4w3/install", "chrome-bridge"]
}
}
}