Stagehand MCP Server - Local Mode

Run Stagehand browser automation locally without cloud services. A fork of the official @browserbasehq/mcp-server-browserbase with LOCAL mode support.

Why This Fork?

The official Browserbase MCP server only supports cloud mode, requiring a paid Browserbase subscription. However, Stagehand itself fully supports local browser execution.

This fork unlocks that capability:

| Feature | Official Version | This Fork | |---------|-----------------|-----------| | Browser execution | Browserbase Cloud only | Local Headless Chrome | | Required credentials | BROWSERBASE_API_KEY + PROJECT_ID | Only LLM API key | | Cost | Browserbase subscription | Free (bring your own LLM key) | | Network requirement | Internet required | Works offline/intranet | | Auto screenshots | ❌ | ✅ After each action |

Use Cases

• Local development - Test browser automation without cloud costs
• Self-hosted AI agents - Run on your own servers
• Air-gapped environments - No external cloud dependency
• CI/CD pipelines - Automated testing without cloud API limits

Quick Start

Using npx (Recommended)

npx stagehand-mcp-local

Add to Claude Code

claude mcp add stagehand-local \
  -e STAGEHAND_ENV=LOCAL \
  -e OPENAI_API_KEY=your_key \
  -- npx stagehand-mcp-local

Add to Cursor / VS Code

Add to your MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "stagehand-local": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["stagehand-mcp-local"],
      "env": {
        "STAGEHAND_ENV": "LOCAL",
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "your_openai_key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Installation

npm (Global)

npm install -g stagehand-mcp-local

From Source

git clone https://github.com/weijiafu14/stagehand-mcp-local.git
cd stagehand-mcp-local
pnpm install
pnpm build

Configuration

Environment Variables

| Variable | Description | Default | Required | |----------|-------------|---------|----------| | STAGEHAND_ENV | Set to LOCAL for local mode | BROWSERBASE | Yes | | OPENAI_API_KEY | OpenAI API key | - | One of these | | GEMINI_API_KEY | Google Gemini API key | - | is required | | ANTHROPIC_API_KEY | Anthropic API key | - | for Stagehand | | HEADLESS | Run browser headless | true | No | | SCREENSHOT_ENABLED | Enable auto screenshots | true | No | | SCREENSHOT_DIR | Screenshot save directory | /tmp/stagehand-screenshots | No |

CLI Options

All original Browserbase MCP server options are supported:

npx stagehand-mcp-local --browserWidth 1920 --browserHeight 1080 --experimental

| Flag | Description | |------|-------------| | --browserWidth <width> | Browser viewport width (default: 1024) | | --browserHeight <height> | Browser viewport height (default: 768) | | --modelName <model> | LLM model for Stagehand (default: gemini-2.0-flash) | | --experimental | Enable experimental Stagehand features |

Available MCP Tools

Once connected, your AI assistant can use these tools:

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | browserbase_session_create | Create a new browser session | | browserbase_session_close | Close the current session | | browserbase_stagehand_navigate | Navigate to a URL | | browserbase_stagehand_act | Perform actions (click, type, etc.) | | browserbase_stagehand_extract | Extract data from page | | browserbase_stagehand_observe | Find interactive elements | | browserbase_screenshot | Take a screenshot | | browserbase_stagehand_agent | Run autonomous agent task |

Auto Screenshots

In LOCAL mode, screenshots are automatically captured after each action for debugging and visualization:

Action performed: Click the login button
[SCREENSHOT:/tmp/stagehand-screenshots/default/1702012345678.jpg]

Parse the screenshot path programmatically:

const match = output.match(/\[SCREENSHOT:(.+?)\]/);
if (match) {
  const screenshotPath = match[1];
  // Use the screenshot...
}

System Requirements

macOS / Windows

Playwright will download Chromium automatically.

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

# Install browser dependencies
apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
  chromium libatk1.0-0 libatk-bridge2.0-0 libcups2 \
  libdrm2 libxkbcommon0 libxcomposite1 libxdamage1 \
  libxfixes3 libxrandr2 libgbm1 libasound2 \
  libpango-1.0-0 libcairo2

# Install Playwright browsers
npx playwright install chromium

Docker

FROM node:20

RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
  chromium libatk1.0-0 libatk-bridge2.0-0 libcups2 \
  libdrm2 libxkbcommon0 libxcomposite1 libxdamage1 \
  libxfixes3 libxrandr2 libgbm1 libasound2 \
  libpango-1.0-0 libcairo2 \
  && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

ENV PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=/ms-playwright
RUN npx playwright install chromium

ENV STAGEHAND_ENV=LOCAL

Switching Between Modes

You can switch back to Browserbase cloud mode anytime:

{
  "env": {
    "STAGEHAND_ENV": "BROWSERBASE",
    "BROWSERBASE_API_KEY": "your_key",
    "BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID": "your_project_id",
    "GEMINI_API_KEY": "your_gemini_key"
  }
}

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Credits

This project is a fork of @browserbasehq/mcp-server-browserbase by Browserbase, Inc.

Built with:

• Stagehand - AI browser automation framework
• Model Context Protocol - LLM integration standard
• Playwright - Browser automation

License

Apache-2.0 - See LICENSE for details.

Original work: Copyright 2025 Browserbase, Inc. Modifications: Copyright 2025 weijiafu14