chrome-dev-mcp

●An MCP server for Web Frontend development in Chrome.

●This project focuses on Chrome runtime debugging.

Why This Exists

●Currently, chrome-devtools-mcp is still focused more on browser automation and inspection than full runtime debugging, though it is clearly moving toward exposing more DevTools capabilities, as described in this Let your Coding Agent debug your browser session with Chrome DevTools MCP.

●Meanwhile, the underlying debugging capabilities are already available through tools such as chrome-remote-interface and @jridgewell/trace-mapping.

●This project exists as a faster, independent implementation focused specifically on making Chrome runtime debugging usable for AI agents before similar functionality is officially available in chrome-devtools-mcp.

Architectural difference from chrome-devtools-mcp

●chrome-devtools-mcp runs DevTools SDK models (TargetManager, DebuggerModel, NetworkManager, etc.) directly in Node.js via chrome-devtools-frontend's /mcp/mcp.js entrypoint, backed by a Puppeteer CDP connection — capabilities that go beyond what the raw Chrome DevTools Protocol exposes directly.

●That approach comes with trade-offs: chrome-devtools-frontend is a very large package (it mirrors the entire Chrome DevTools frontend codebase), and the approach relies on the internal structure of the DevTools page remaining stable across Chrome versions.

●This project takes the opposite approach: plain CDP via chrome-remote-interface, no DevTools SDK, minimal dependencies. The result is a lightweight server that is easy to install, audit, and extend.

Related MCP server: @nimbus21.ai/chrome-devtools-mcp

Limitations

■ Connects to the currently active Chrome tab (the visible page target in the Chrome window). If multiple Chrome windows are open, the first visible tab found is used. Iframes, workers, and service workers are not supported at present.

■ Not designed to run alongside chrome-devtools-mcp. Both register overlapping tool names and maintain independent debugger state against the same Chrome target, which causes confusion for the AI and potential state conflicts.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 22+

• Google Chrome

Usage

Chrome

▲Launch Chrome with remote debugging enabled.

chrome.exe --remote-debugging-port=9222 --user-data-dir=C:\chrome-debug-profile
# --user-data-dir can be any empty directory; it keeps the debug session isolated from your normal Chrome profile.

▲Verify remote debugging is active by opening http://localhost:9222/json in a browser — it should return a JSON list of debuggable targets.

▲Open the page you want to debug.

▲This MCP server will connect to the currently active tab in the Chrome window.

Claude Code configuration

Through npm package

With a fixed version

▲Install npm package globally.

npm install -g chrome-dev-mcp

▲Add the server to Claude Code's MCP.

claude mcp add --transport stdio chrome-dev -- chrome-dev-mcp

▲Claude Code's config(~/.claude.json) will look like this:

"mcpServers": {
  "chrome-dev": {
    "type": "stdio",
    "command": "chrome-dev-mcp",
    "args": [],
    "env": {}
  }
},

Always use the latest version

▲Add the server to Claude Code's MCP.

claude mcp add --transport stdio chrome-dev -- npx -y chrome-dev-mcp@latest
# '-y' is not supportted at 20260522. We may change the config below directory.

▲Claude Code's config(~/.claude.json) will look like this:

"mcpServers": {
  "chrome-dev": {
    "type": "stdio",
    "command": "npx",
    "args": [
      "-y",
      "chrome-dev-mcp@latest"
    ],
    "env": {}
  }
},

Through local project

▲Clone this project to local.

▲Add the server to Claude Code's MCP.

claude mcp add --transport stdio chrome-dev -- node "path/to/chrome-dev-mcp/dist/index.js"

▲Claude Code's config(~/.claude.json) will look like this:

"mcpServers": {
  "chrome-dev": {
    "type": "stdio",
    "command": "node",
    "args": ["path/to/chrome-dev-mcp/dist/index.js"],
    "env": {}
  }
}

Validation

●run claude mcp list, and it will print chrome-dev: xxxxx - ✓ Connected.

MCP Tools

Page inspection

Console

Debugger

Typical debugging workflow

◆Bring Chrome to the desired state manually — navigate to a specific route, trigger a flow, or pause at a breakpoint.

◆Ask the AI what you want to investigate, and it will call get_debugger_state, get_scope_variables, etc. automatically when needed.

◆To share a specific DOM element with the AI during debugging, select it in the Elements panel, then run this in the DevTools console:

window.$0 = $0;

The AI can then call get_inspected_element to read its tag, attributes, and HTML.

# Example sequence Claude might use
get_debugger_state          → { paused: true, callStack: [{ functionName: "handleClick", url: "...", lineNumber: 42 }] }
get_scope_variables         → [{ name: "event", type: "object", value: "MouseEvent" }, ...]
evaluate_at_frame           → expression: "dropTargets.map(t => t.id)"  →  ["list-1", "list-2"]

evaluate_at_frame runs in the paused frame's scope and can read local variables, whereas evaluate_js runs in the global scope and cannot.

Development

●Install dependencies by pnpm install, and then:

pnpm dev          # development (tsx watch)
pnpm build        # tsc type-check + compile to dist/
pnpm start        # run compiled build
pnpm test         # run vitest