@bytesbrains/mcp-textbrowser

MCP server — text-first headless browser for Claude Code and any MCP host. DOM + OCR text maps. Zero image tokens by default. 5-15x cheaper than screenshot-based browser MCPs.

browser_navigate(url)             → DOM elements + OCR text   (~200 tokens)
browser_navigate(url, visual=true) → text + PNG               (use for layout/color only)

Why

Every screenshot-based browser MCP sends a PNG to the AI on every action. At 1280×800 that's ~1,300 image tokens per page — 5-15x more expensive than reading the same content as text.

mcp-textbrowser captures a screenshot for OCR, extracts the text, then discards the image. Only structured DOM elements and OCR text reach the model. Switch to visual=true only when you genuinely need pixels (layout checks, color, design review).

| Mode | Tokens per action | When to use | |---|---|---| | text-only (default) | ~150–400 | Everything: navigation, forms, data extraction, workflows | | visual=true | ~1,500–3,000 | Layout, colors, CSS, design review |

Install

Step 1 — install Chromium (one-time, ~130MB):

npx playwright install chromium

Step 2 — add the MCP server:

Claude Code (CLI) — one command

claude mcp add textbrowser -- npx -y @bytesbrains/mcp-textbrowser

That's it. Restart Claude Code and the tools are ready.

Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (Mac) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "textbrowser": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@bytesbrains/mcp-textbrowser"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop.

Manual (any MCP host)

Use command: npx, args: ["-y", "@bytesbrains/mcp-textbrowser"] in your host's MCP server config.

Tools

| Tool | What it does | |---|---| | browser_navigate | Open a URL, return page context | | browser_click | Click by CSS selector / XPath / visible text | | browser_type | Fill an input field | | browser_scroll | Scroll page or element into view | | browser_screenshot | Capture current page context | | browser_read | Read current page without navigating | | browser_evaluate | Run JS in the page (safe DOM ops only) |

All tools default to text-only — pass visual: true to any tool to also receive the PNG.

Example output

Page: https://example.com/
Title: Example Domain
Viewport: 1280x800

Elements (3 interactive of 14 total):
  [1] <a> href="https://iana.org/domains/example" bbox=(133,175,254,195)
      text: "More information..."

OCR (full page screenshot):
Example Domain
This domain is for use in illustrative examples in documents.
You may use this domain in literature without prior coordination or asking for permission.

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• Chromium: npx playwright install chromium (one-time, ~130MB)

License

MIT © BytesBrains

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