Browser Use▌
by kontext-dev
Async browser automation server using GPT-4o for remote web navigation, extraction, and tasks. Ideal for Selenium softwa
Provides an async browser automation server using OpenAI's GPT-4o model, enabling remote web navigation, content extraction, and task execution with configurable browser contexts.
Both formats append explainx.ai attribution and the canonical URL for this MCP server listing.
best for
- / AI assistants that need web browsing capabilities
- / Automating repetitive web tasks
- / Data extraction from websites
- / Testing web applications
capabilities
- / Control web browsers programmatically
- / Navigate websites and interact with page elements
- / Extract data from web pages
- / Automate form submissions and clicks
- / Take screenshots of web content
what it does
Connects MCP clients like Claude or Cursor to a web browser for automated browsing tasks. Uses your existing LLM configuration without requiring additional API keys.
about
Browser Use is a community-built MCP server published by kontext-dev that provides AI assistants with tools and capabilities via the Model Context Protocol. Async browser automation server using GPT-4o for remote web navigation, extraction, and tasks. Ideal for Selenium softwa It is categorized under browser automation.
how to install
You can install Browser Use in your AI client of choice. Use the install panel on this page to get one-click setup for Cursor, Claude Desktop, VS Code, and other MCP-compatible clients. This server runs locally on your machine via the stdio transport.
license
MIT
Browser Use is released under the MIT license. This is a permissive open-source license, meaning you can freely use, modify, and distribute the software.
readme
browser-use-mcp-server
<div align="center">An MCP server that enables AI agents to control web browsers using browser-use.
</div>🌐 Want to Vibe Browse the Web? Open-source AI-powered web browser - Vibe Browser.
🔗 Managing multiple MCP servers? Simplify your development workflow with agent-browser
Prerequisites
- uv - Fast Python package manager
- Playwright - Browser automation
- mcp-proxy - Required for stdio mode
# Install prerequisites
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
uv tool install mcp-proxy
uv tool update-shell
Environment
Create a .env file:
OPENAI_API_KEY=your-api-key
CHROME_PATH=optional/path/to/chrome
PATIENT=false # Set to true if API calls should wait for task completion
Installation
# Install dependencies
uv sync
uv pip install playwright
uv run playwright install --with-deps --no-shell chromium
Usage
SSE Mode
# Run directly from source
uv run server --port 8000
stdio Mode
# 1. Build and install globally
uv build
uv tool uninstall browser-use-mcp-server 2>/dev/null || true
uv tool install dist/browser_use_mcp_server-*.whl
# 2. Run with stdio transport
browser-use-mcp-server run server --port 8000 --stdio --proxy-port 9000
Client Configuration
SSE Mode Client Configuration
{
"mcpServers": {
"browser-use-mcp-server": {
"url": "http://localhost:8000/sse"
}
}
}
stdio Mode Client Configuration
{
"mcpServers": {
"browser-server": {
"command": "browser-use-mcp-server",
"args": [
"run",
"server",
"--port",
"8000",
"--stdio",
"--proxy-port",
"9000"
],
"env": {
"OPENAI_API_KEY": "your-api-key"
}
}
}
}
Config Locations
| Client | Configuration Path |
|---|---|
| Cursor | ./.cursor/mcp.json |
| Windsurf | ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json |
| Claude (Mac) | ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json |
| Claude (Windows) | %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json |
Features
- Browser Automation: Control browsers through AI agents
- Dual Transport: Support for both SSE and stdio protocols
- VNC Streaming: Watch browser automation in real-time
- Async Tasks: Execute browser operations asynchronously
Local Development
To develop and test the package locally:
-
Build a distributable wheel:
# From the project root directory uv build -
Install it as a global tool:
uv tool uninstall browser-use-mcp-server 2>/dev/null || true uv tool install dist/browser_use_mcp_server-*.whl -
Run from any directory:
# Set your OpenAI API key for the current session export OPENAI_API_KEY=your-api-key-here # Or provide it inline for a one-time run OPENAI_API_KEY=your-api-key-here browser-use-mcp-server run server --port 8000 --stdio --proxy-port 9000 -
After making changes, rebuild and reinstall:
uv build uv tool uninstall browser-use-mcp-server uv tool install dist/browser_use_mcp_server-*.whl
Docker
Using Docker provides a consistent and isolated environment for running the server.
# Build the Docker image
docker build -t browser-use-mcp-server .
# Run the container with the default VNC password ("browser-use")
# --rm ensures the container is automatically removed when it stops
# -p 8000:8000 maps the server port
# -p 5900:5900 maps the VNC port
docker run --rm -p8000:8000 -p5900:5900 browser-use-mcp-server
# Run with a custom VNC password read from a file
# Create a file (e.g., vnc_password.txt) containing only your desired password
echo "your-secure-password" > vnc_password.txt
# Mount the password file as a secret inside the container
docker run --rm -p8000:8000 -p5900:5900 \
-v $(pwd)/vnc_password.txt:/run/secrets/vnc_password:ro \
browser-use-mcp-server
Note: The :ro flag in the volume mount (-v) makes the password file read-only inside the container for added security.
VNC Viewer
# Browser-based viewer
git clone https://github.com/novnc/noVNC
cd noVNC
./utils/novnc_proxy --vnc localhost:5900
Default password: browser-use (unless overridden using the custom password method)
Example
Try asking your AI:
open https://news.ycombinator.com and return the top ranked article
Support
For issues or inquiries: cobrowser.xyz
Star History
<div align="center"> <picture> <source media="(prefers-color-scheme: dark)" srcset="https://api.star-history.com/svg?repos=co-browser/browser-use-mcp-server&type=Date&theme=dark" /> <source media="(prefers-color-scheme: light)" srcset="https://api.star-history.com/svg?repos=co-browser/browser-use-mcp-server&type=Date" /> <img alt="Star History Chart" src="https://api.star-history.com/svg?repos=co-browser/browser-use-mcp-server&type=Date" /> </picture> </div>FAQ
- What is the Browser Use MCP server?
- Browser Use is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server profile on explainx.ai. MCP lets AI hosts (e.g. Claude Desktop, Cursor) call tools and resources through a standard interface; this page summarizes categories, install hints, and community ratings.
- How do MCP servers relate to agent skills?
- Skills are reusable instruction packages (often SKILL.md); MCP servers expose live capabilities. Teams frequently combine both—skills for workflows, MCP for APIs and data. See explainx.ai/skills and explainx.ai/mcp-servers for parallel directories.
- How are reviews shown for Browser Use?
- This profile displays 46 aggregated ratings (sample rows for discoverability plus signed-in user reviews). Average score is about 4.7 out of 5—verify behavior in your own environment before production use.
Use Cases▌
Web Research & Information Gathering
Fetch and extract information from websites automatically
Example
Research competitor pricing, scrape product reviews, monitor news mentions
Automate 5-10 hours/week of manual web research
Content Monitoring & Alerts
Track website changes, new content, price updates
Example
Monitor competitor blog for new posts, track stock availability, watch for pricing changes
Stay informed without manual checking, never miss important updates
Data Extraction & Aggregation
Extract structured data from multiple websites
Example
Compile product listings from 10 e-commerce sites, aggregate job postings, collect real estate data
Build datasets 100x faster than manual copying
API-less Integration
Interact with services that don't offer APIs
Example
Check form submissions, validate website functionality, test user flows
Automate interactions with any website, even without API
Implementation Guide▌
Prerequisites
- ›Claude Desktop or Cursor with MCP support
- ›Understanding of web scraping ethics and robots.txt
- ›Rate limiting awareness to avoid overwhelming target sites
- ›Knowledge of legal restrictions on data collection
Time Estimate
20-40 minutes including configuration and testing
Installation Steps
- 1.Install web automation MCP server via npm or pip
- 2.Configure allowed domains and rate limits in MCP config
- 3.Test with simple fetch: 'Get content from example.com'
- 4.Progress to extraction: 'Extract all product prices from this page'
- 5.Set up monitoring: 'Check this URL daily for changes'
- 6.Parse structured data: 'Create CSV from this table'
- 7.Respect robots.txt and rate limits always
Troubleshooting
- ⚠403 Forbidden: Website blocks bots—respect their wishes, use official API instead
- ⚠Rate limit errors: Slow down requests, add delays between fetches
- ⚠Stale data: Target site changed HTML structure—update selectors
- ⚠Timeout errors: Site is slow or blocking—increase timeout, try different user agent
- ⚠JavaScript-rendered content: Use headless browser MCP servers for dynamic sites
Best Practices▌
✓ Do
- +Check robots.txt and respect crawl rules
- +Rate limit requests: 1-2 requests/second maximum
- +Use official APIs when available instead of scraping
- +Identify your bot with descriptive user agent
- +Cache results to minimize repeated requests
- +Handle errors gracefully with retries and fallbacks
- +Validate extracted data for accuracy
✗ Don't
- −Don't scrape sites that explicitly forbid it (robots.txt, ToS)
- −Don't overwhelm servers with rapid requests—use rate limiting
- −Don't scrape personal data without consent and legal basis
- −Don't ignore copyright on extracted content
- −Don't assume HTML structure is stable—handle changes
- −Don't use scraped data for commercial purposes without permission
💡 Pro Tips
- ★Use CSS selectors or XPath for robust data extraction
- ★Set up monitoring alerts for extraction failures (structure changed)
- ★Implement exponential backoff for retries on failures
- ★Store raw HTML for reprocessing if extraction logic changes
- ★Combine with data analysis tools for insights from extracted data
- ★Consider using official APIs or RSS feeds as more stable alternatives
Technical Details▌
Architecture
MCP server handles HTTP requests, HTML parsing, JavaScript rendering (if headless browser), and returns structured data to Claude.
Protocols
- HTTP/HTTPS
- WebSocket (for real-time sites)
- Puppeteer/Playwright (for JavaScript sites)
Compatibility
- Static HTML sites
- JavaScript-rendered SPAs (with headless browser)
- REST APIs
- GraphQL endpoints
When to Use This▌
✓ Use When
Use for research automation, content monitoring, data aggregation from multiple sources, and when official APIs don't exist. Best for read-only information gathering.
✗ Avoid When
Avoid for sites with APIs (use API instead), sites that explicitly forbid scraping, when data is copyrighted, or for login-required content without proper authorization.
Integration▌
- →Scheduled monitoring with change detection
- →Multi-source data aggregation pipelines
- →Fallback to web scraping when API rate limits hit
- →Headless browser for JavaScript-heavy sites
Discussion
Product Hunt–style comments (not star reviews)- No comments yet — start the thread.
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Ratings
4.7★★★★★46 reviews- ★★★★★Ganesh Mohane· Dec 20, 2024
I recommend Browser Use for teams standardizing on MCP; the explainx.ai page compares cleanly with sibling servers.
- ★★★★★Henry Jackson· Dec 16, 2024
According to our notes, Browser Use benefits from clear Model Context Protocol framing — fewer ambiguous “AI plugin” claims.
- ★★★★★James Khanna· Dec 12, 2024
Browser Use is a well-scoped MCP server in the explainx.ai directory — install snippets and categories matched our Claude Code setup.
- ★★★★★Sofia Jain· Nov 19, 2024
According to our notes, Browser Use benefits from clear Model Context Protocol framing — fewer ambiguous “AI plugin” claims.
- ★★★★★Sakshi Patil· Nov 11, 2024
According to our notes, Browser Use benefits from clear Model Context Protocol framing — fewer ambiguous “AI plugin” claims.
- ★★★★★James Malhotra· Nov 7, 2024
I recommend Browser Use for teams standardizing on MCP; the explainx.ai page compares cleanly with sibling servers.
- ★★★★★Nikhil Brown· Nov 3, 2024
We wired Browser Use into a staging workspace; the listing’s GitHub and npm pointers saved time versus hunting across READMEs.
- ★★★★★Nikhil Thomas· Oct 26, 2024
We evaluated Browser Use against two servers with overlapping tools; this profile had the clearer scope statement.
- ★★★★★Sofia Kapoor· Oct 22, 2024
Browser Use reduced integration guesswork — categories and install configs on the listing matched the upstream repo.
- ★★★★★Sofia Huang· Oct 10, 2024
Browser Use is among the better-indexed MCP projects we tried; the explainx.ai summary tracks the official description.
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