Open Browser CLI

CLI tool to control your real Chrome browser from the terminal — same cookies, login sessions, extensions, and bookmarks. No sandboxed profiles.

Companion to open-browser-mcp. Uses the same Chrome extension and WebSocket protocol, but as a direct CLI instead of an MCP server — no token overhead from tool registrations.

Architecture

Terminal / Claude Code Skill
        |  shell command
  open-browser-cli (Node.js)
        |  WebSocket (localhost:9877)
  Chrome Extension (same as open-browser-mcp)
        |  chrome.debugger CDP + content scripts
  Your Real Browser

Install

npm install -g open-browser-cli

Prerequisites

The Open Browser Bridge Chrome extension must be installed in Chrome. Install from the Chrome Web Store or load manually from the open-browser-mcp repository's extension/ folder.

The CLI and MCP server share the same extension and WebSocket port. Only one can run at a time.

Usage

# Start a session (required first step)
open-browser session

# Navigate
open-browser navigate https://github.com

# See what's on the page
open-browser snapshot

# Interact
open-browser click @e5
open-browser type @e2 "hello world"
open-browser key Enter

# Read content
open-browser read
open-browser markdown

# Screenshot
open-browser screenshot --full-page

# JSON output for scripting
open-browser snapshot --json

Commands

Session & Navigation

session                         Create browser session (required first)
navigate <url>                  Navigate to URL [--wait networkIdle]
close                           Close active tab [--tab-id N]
back                            Go back in history
forward                         Go forward in history

Input & Interaction

click <ref>                     Click element [--button right] [--count 2]
type <ref> <text>               Type text [--slowly]
hover <ref>                     Hover over element
drag <source> <target>          Drag element to target
select <ref> <value>            Select dropdown option
key <key>                       Press key (Enter, Tab, Ctrl+A, etc.)
upload <ref> <file...>          Upload files to input

Reading & Inspection

snapshot                        Get interactive elements with @eN refs
read                            Read page content [--format html] [--offset N] [--limit N]
markdown                        Read as markdown [--full] [--no-links] [--images]
find <query>                    Search by CSS selector or text
js <code>                       Execute JavaScript
console                         Read console messages [--pattern "error"]

Verification

verify element <selector>       Check element is visible
verify text <text>              Check text exists on page
verify list <item1> <item2>     Check all items visible
verify value <selector> <val>   Check element has value

Mouse & Coordinates

mouse click <x> <y>             Click at coordinates [--human-like] [--button right]
mouse move <x> <y>              Move mouse [--human-like]
mouse drag <x1> <y1> <x2> <y2> Drag between points [--steps 8]

Tabs

tabs                            List all tabs
tab create [url]                Create new tab
tab switch <id>                 Switch to tab by ID

Screenshots & Media

screenshot                      Capture screenshot [--full-page] [--clip x,y,w,h] [--filename name.png]
pdf                             Save page as PDF [--landscape]
captcha-screenshot              Screenshot captcha area [--padding 20]
resize <width> <height>         Resize browser window

Captcha

solve-captcha                   Detect and click captcha [--x N --y N]
captcha-tiles                   Analyze tile challenge grid [--detailed]
batch-click <targets...>        Click multiple refs/coords [--human-like]

Batch Operations

batch '<json>'                  Execute multiple actions as JSON array

Network & Storage

network                         Read network requests [--url-pattern "api"] [--status 200]
cookies                         Read cookies [--urls url1,url2]
set-cookie <name> <val> <dom>   Set cookie [--path /] [--secure] [--http-only]
clear-storage                   Clear storage [--type cookies]
block-urls <pattern...>         Block URL patterns

Device Emulation

emulate                         Emulate mobile [--width 375] [--height 812] [--network "Slow 3G"]
geolocation <lat> <lng>         Set GPS coordinates [--accuracy 100]

DevTools & Performance

a11y-tree                       Get accessibility tree
trace start                     Start performance trace [--categories "..."]
trace stop                      Stop trace and get results
locator <ref>                   Generate CSS/XPath/aria locators
memory                          Memory and performance snapshot
audit-a11y                      Run accessibility audit

Timing & Waiting

wait                            Wait for time or selector [--time 1000] [--selector ".done"]
wait-text <text>                Wait for text to appear [--timeout 10000]
scroll                          Scroll page [--down 500] [--ref @e15] [--selector ".footer"]

Dialogs

dialog accept                   Accept JS dialog [--text "response"]
dialog dismiss                  Dismiss JS dialog

Script Injection

inject <script>                 Inject persistent JS (runs before every page load)
inject --remove <identifier>    Remove injected script

Screen Recording

screencast start                Start recording [--interval 1000]
screencast stop                 Stop and save frames

Domain Permissions

domain-mode <mode>              Set mode: approval, allow_all, strict [--scope global]
domains allow <domain...>       Pre-approve domains [--scope global]
domains block <domain...>       Block domains
domains remove <domain...>      Remove domain rules

Global Flags

| Flag | Default | Description | |------|---------|-------------| | --json | — | Output JSON instead of human-readable text | | --port <N> | 9877 | WebSocket port (must match extension) | | --timeout <ms> | 60000 | Request timeout in milliseconds | | --help, -h | — | Show help | | --version, -v | — | Show version |

Domain Permissions

The Chrome extension prompts for approval when navigating to new domains. Domain configs are stored at:

• Project: {cwd}/.open-browser-mcp/domains.json
• Global: ~/.open-browser-mcp/domains.json

Localhost URLs are always allowed.

License

MIT