Puppeteer MCP Server

This MCP server provides browser automation capabilities through Puppeteer, allowing interaction with both new browser instances and existing Chrome windows.

Acknowledgment

This project is an experimental implementation inspired by @modelcontextprotocol/server-puppeteer. While it shares similar goals and concepts, it explores alternative approaches to browser automation through the Model Context Protocol.

Features

- Navigate web pages
- Take screenshots
- Click elements
- Fill forms
- Select options
- Hover elements
- Execute JavaScript
- Smart Chrome tab management:
- Connect to active Chrome tabs
- Preserve existing Chrome instances
- Intelligent connection handling

Project Structure

``
/
├── src/
│ ├── config/ # Configuration modules
│ ├── tools/ # Tool definitions and handlers
│ ├── browser/ # Browser connection management
│ ├── types/ # TypeScript type definitions
│ ├── resources/ # Resource handlers
│ └── server.ts # Server initialization
├── index.ts # Entry point
└── README.md # Documentation
`

Installation

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`bash
npm install -g puppeteer-mcp-server
`

You can also run it directly without installation using npx:

`bash
npx puppeteer-mcp-server
`

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1. Clone this repository or download the source code
2. Install dependencies:

`bash
npm install
`

3. Build the project:

`bash
npm run build
`

4. Run the server:

`bash
npm start
`

MCP Server Configuration

To use this tool with Claude, you need to add it to your MCP settings configuration file.

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Add the following to your Claude Desktop configuration file (located at %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json on Windows or ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS):

#### If installed globally via npm:

`json
{
"mcpServers": {
"puppeteer": {
"command": "puppeteer-mcp-server",
"args": [],
"env": {}
}
}
}
`

#### Using npx (without installation):

`json
{
"mcpServers": {
"puppeteer": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "puppeteer-mcp-server"],
"env": {}
}
}
}
`

#### If installed from source:

`json
{
"mcpServers": {
"puppeteer": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["path/to/puppeteer-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
"env": {
"NODE_OPTIONS": "--experimental-modules"
}
}
}
}
`

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Add the following to your Claude VSCode extension MCP settings file (located at %APPDATA%\Code\User\globalStorage\saoudrizwan.claude-dev\settings\cline_mcp_settings.json on Windows or ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/saoudrizwan.claude-dev/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json on macOS):

#### If installed globally via npm:

`json
{
"mcpServers": {
"puppeteer": {
"command": "puppeteer-mcp-server",
"args": [],
"env": {}
}
}
}
`

#### Using npx (without installation):

`json
{
"mcpServers": {
"puppeteer": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "puppeteer-mcp-server"],
"env": {}
}
}
}
`

#### If installed from source:

`json
{
"mcpServers": {
"puppeteer": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["path/to/puppeteer-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
"env": {
"NODE_OPTIONS": "--experimental-modules"
}
}
}
}
`

For source installation, replace path/to/puppeteer-mcp-server with the actual path to where you installed this tool.

Usage

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The server will launch a new browser instance by default.

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To connect to an existing Chrome window:

1. Close any existing Chrome instances completely

2. Launch Chrome with remote debugging enabled:
`bash
# Windows
"C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --remote-debugging-port=9222

# macOS
/Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome --remote-debugging-port=9222

# Linux
google-chrome --remote-debugging-port=9222
`

3. Navigate to your desired webpage in Chrome

4. Connect using the puppeteer_connect_active_tab tool:
`json
{
"targetUrl": "https://example.com", // Optional: specific tab URL
"debugPort": 9222 // Optional: defaults to 9222
}
`

The server will:
- Detect and connect to the Chrome instance running with remote debugging enabled
- Preserve your Chrome instance (won't close it)
- Find and connect to non-extension tabs
- Provide clear error messages if connection fails

Available Tools

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Connect to an existing Chrome instance with remote debugging enabled.
- Optional:
- targetUrl - URL of the specific tab to connect to
- debugPort - Chrome debugging port (default: 9222)

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Navigate to a URL.
- Required: url - The URL to navigate to

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Take a screenshot of the current page or a specific element.
- Required: name - Name for the screenshot
- Optional:
- selector - CSS selector for element to screenshot
- width - Width in pixels (default: 800)
- height - Height in pixels (default: 600)

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Click an element on the page.
- Required: selector - CSS selector for element to click

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Fill out an input field.
- Required:
- selector - CSS selector for input field
- value - Text to enter

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Use dropdown menus.
- Required:
- selector - CSS selector for select element
- value - Option value to select

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Hover over elements.
- Required: selector - CSS selector for element to hover

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Execute JavaScript in the browser console.
- Required: script - JavaScript code to execute

Security Considerations

When using remote debugging:
- Only enable on trusted networks
- Use a unique debugging port
- Close debugging port when not in use
- Never expose debugging port to public networks

Logging and Debugging

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The server implements comprehensive logging using Winston:

- Location: logs/ directory
- File Pattern: mcp-puppeteer-YYYY-MM-DD.log`
- Log Rotation:
- Daily rotation
- Maximum size: 20MB per file
- Retention: 14 days
- Automatic compression of old logs

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- DEBUG: Detailed debugging information
- INFO: General operational information
- WARN: Warning messages
- ERROR: Error events and exceptions

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- Server startup/shutdown events
- Browser operations (launch, connect, close)
- Navigation attempts and results
- Tool executions and outcomes
- Error details with stack traces
- Browser console output
- Resource usage (screenshots, console logs)

Error Handling

The server provides detailed error messages for:
- Connection failures
- Missing elements
- Invalid selectors
- JavaScript execution errors
- Screenshot failures

Each tool call returns:
- Success/failure status
- Detailed error message if failed
- Operation result data if successful

All errors are also logged to the log files with:
- Timestamp
- Error message
- Stack trace (when available)
- Context information

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read our Contributing Guidelines for details on how to submit pull requests, report issues, and contribute to the project.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.