# apireno/DOMShell [Health: Active]

**Category:** 📂 Browser Automation  
**Repository:** https://github.com/apireno/DOMShell  
**GitHub Stars:** 59  
**npm Downloads (last month):** 474  
**Views:** 4  
**Installs:** 0  
**Upvotes:** 0  
**Directory Page:** https://allmcps.com/mcp/apireno-domshell

## Description
Browse the web using filesystem commands (ls, cd, grep, click). 38 MCP tools map Chrome's Accessibility Tree to a virtual filesystem via a Chrome Extension.

## Claude Desktop Quick Installation
Install path detected from listing signals. Uses `npx` (confidence: high):

```json
"mcpServers": {
  "domshell": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y","@apireno/domshell"]
  }
}
```

## Documentation

## What apireno/DOMShell MCP server does

The apireno/DOMShell MCP server gives an AI agent a filesystem-style interface to Chrome. Browser windows and tabs appear under the virtual root, while each tab exposes its Accessibility Tree as nested directories and files. Container elements become directories; controls such as links, buttons, and inputs become addressable entries.

This design supports semantic interaction without requiring a custom adapter for each website. An agent can list tabs, enter a tab by ID or matching text, inspect page sections, read content, search for elements by type, and activate controls. The available interface includes 38 MCP tools, with familiar operations such as `ls`, `cd`, `pwd`, `cat`, `grep`, `click`, `find`, and `text`.

## How it works

The Chrome Extension provides the browser-side connection and includes a terminal in Chrome’s Side Panel. The agent starts at `~`, the browser root, then moves through paths such as `~/tabs/123`. Inside a tab, filesystem navigation follows the page’s Accessibility Tree rather than raw HTML or screen coordinates.

Directory listings can show element roles and metadata such as link URLs. Listings can also be filtered by type, counted, and paginated. The `tabs` and `windows` commands expose browser structure, while `open` creates a tab and `navigate` changes the current tab’s URL. `here` enters the active tab directly.

Sessions can run in shared mode or in an isolated Chrome tab group. An MCP connection receives its own agent group by default, and separate sessions have separate lanes and cursors. A client can pass a `group_id` to `domshell_execute` to create or reuse a lane, which supports concurrent work or handoff between agents.

## Setup and configuration

The apireno/DOMShell MCP server requires Chrome and its companion extension. The recommended setup is to install the extension from the Chrome Web Store. To build from source, clone the repository, run `npm install`, and run `npm run build`. Then open `chrome://extensions/`, enable Developer mode, choose Load unpacked, and select the generated `dist/` directory.

After installation, open a webpage and launch the DOMShell icon to open the Side Panel terminal. MCP clients connect through the DOMShell package and extension setup. The README specifically describes support for Claude Desktop connections and automatic creation of an agent tab group for each MCP session.

## Tools and capabilities

The apireno/DOMShell MCP server supports:

- Listing and switching between Chrome tabs and windows.
- Exploring page structure through Accessibility Tree directories.
- Reading page content with `cat` or bulk extraction with `text`.
- Searching for elements with `grep` and `find --type`.
- Activating links, buttons, and other controls with `click`.
- Opening new URLs and navigating the current tab.
- Filtering, counting, paginating, and displaying metadata in listings.
- Creating, attaching to, detaching from, listing, and closing isolated tab groups.

## Limitations and notes

The browser starts in shared mode unless an isolated group is created. Shared mode operates on the general browser, so an agent may interact with existing tabs. Isolated groups keep agent activity in a marked tab group, but groups remain open after an MCP session disconnects unless they are closed.

The interface is based on Chrome’s Accessibility Tree. Pages with incomplete or unusual accessibility information may expose less structure than their visual presentation suggests. The provided setup instructions target Chrome and do not document other browsers.

_Full upstream README: https://allmcps.com/mcp/apireno-domshell/readme_