Brave DevTools for agents

Full Chrome DevTools MCP parity, rebuilt for Brave.

brave-mcp gives Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, and other MCP clients direct access to Brave for browser automation, network and console debugging, performance analysis, screenshots, accessibility inspection, and memory profiling. A standalone brave-devtools CLI is included too.

Install in one command

Claude Code

claude mcp add brave-devtools --scope user -- npx -y brave-mcp@latest

Cursor

cursor --add-mcp '{"name":"brave-devtools","command":"npx","args":["-y","brave-mcp@latest"]}'

Codex

codex mcp add brave-devtools -- npx -y brave-mcp@latest

OpenCode

opencode mcp add brave-devtools -- npx -y brave-mcp@latest

Restart your client, then try this prompt:

Open my app in Brave. Find console errors and failed network requests, inspect the accessibility tree, run Lighthouse, and explain the highest-impact issue.

Why use this instead of Chrome DevTools MCP?

Use Chrome DevTools MCP when your target browser is Chrome. Use brave-mcp when your target browser is Brave and you want Brave-native discovery, profiles, channels, naming, and privacy defaults without giving up upstream features.

Tool reference | Changelog | Contributing | Troubleshooting | Design principles

Key features

• Get performance insights: Uses Chrome DevTools to record traces and extract actionable performance insights.
• Advanced browser debugging: Analyze network requests, take screenshots and check browser console messages (with source-mapped stack traces).
• Reliable automation. Uses puppeteer to automate actions in Brave and automatically wait for action results.

Disclaimers

brave-mcp exposes content of the browser instance to the MCP clients allowing them to inspect, debug, and modify any data in the browser or DevTools. Avoid sharing sensitive or personal information that you don't want to share with MCP clients.

brave-mcp officially supports the current Brave release. Beta and Nightly channels can be selected explicitly.

Performance tools may send trace URLs to the Google CrUX API to fetch real-user experience data. This helps provide a holistic performance picture by presenting field data alongside lab data. This data is collected by the Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX). To disable this, run with the --no-performance-crux flag.

Usage statistics

Usage statistics collection is disabled by default in this fork. It can be enabled explicitly with --usage-statistics, which uses the upstream Google Clearcut implementation:

"args": ["-y", "brave-mcp@latest", "--usage-statistics"]

When enabled, Google handles this data in accordance with the Google Privacy Policy. Collection remains disabled if BRAVE_DEVTOOLS_MCP_NO_USAGE_STATISTICS or CI is set.

Update checks

By default, the server periodically checks the npm registry for updates and logs a notification when a newer version is available. You can disable these update checks by setting BRAVE_DEVTOOLS_MCP_NO_UPDATE_CHECKS.

Requirements

• Node.js LTS version.
• Brave current release or newer.
• npm

Getting started

Add the following config to your MCP client:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brave-devtools": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "brave-mcp@latest"]
    }
  }
}

[!NOTE] Using brave-mcp@latest ensures that your MCP client will always use the latest version of the Brave DevTools MCP server.

If you are interested in doing only basic browser tasks, use the --slim mode:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brave-devtools": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "brave-mcp@latest", "--slim", "--headless"]
    }
  }
}

See Slim tool reference.

MCP Client configuration

amp mcp add brave-devtools -- npx brave-mcp@latest

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brave-devtools": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "brave-mcp@latest",
        "--browser-url=http://127.0.0.1:9222"
      ]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brave-devtools": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "brave-mcp@latest"]
    }
  }
}

claude mcp add brave-devtools --scope user npx brave-mcp@latest

/plugin marketplace add triuzzi/brave-devtools-mcp

/plugin install brave-devtools-mcp@brave-devtools-plugins

codex mcp add brave-devtools -- npx brave-mcp@latest

[mcp_servers.brave-devtools]
command = "cmd"
args = [
    "/c",
    "npx",
    "-y",
    "brave-mcp@latest",
]
env = { SystemRoot="C:\\Windows", PROGRAMFILES="C:\\Program Files" }
startup_timeout_ms = 20_000

cmd mcp add brave-devtools --scope user npx brave-mcp@latest

copilot

/mcp add

code --add-mcp '{"name":"io.github.triuzzi/brave-devtools-mcp","command":"npx","args":["-y","brave-mcp"],"env":{}}'

code --add-mcp '{"""name""":"""io.github.triuzzi/brave-devtools-mcp""","""command""":"""npx""","""args""":["""-y""","""brave-mcp"""]}'

devin mcp add brave-devtools -- npx brave-mcp@latest

droid mcp add brave-devtools "npx -y brave-mcp@latest"

# Either MCP only:
gemini mcp add brave-devtools npx brave-mcp@latest
# Or as a Gemini extension (MCP+Skills):
gemini extensions install --auto-update https://github.com/triuzzi/brave-devtools-mcp

gemini mcp add -s user brave-devtools npx brave-mcp@latest

grok mcp add brave-devtools npx brave-mcp@latest

mcp-proxy --transport streamablehttp --port 8080 -- npx -y brave-mcp@latest

[[mcp_servers]]
name = "brave-devtools"
transport = "stdio"
command = "npx"
args = ["brave-mcp@latest"]

{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "brave-devtools": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["npx", "-y", "brave-mcp@latest"]
    }
  }
}

qodercli mcp add brave-devtools -- npx brave-mcp@latest

qodercli mcp add -s user brave-devtools -- npx brave-mcp@latest

Your first prompt

Enter the following prompt in your MCP Client to check if everything is working:

Check the performance of https://developers.chrome.com

Your MCP client should open the browser and record a performance trace.

[!NOTE] The MCP server will start the browser automatically once the MCP client uses a tool that requires a running browser instance. Connecting to the Brave DevTools MCP server on its own will not automatically start the browser.

Tools

If you run into any issues, checkout our troubleshooting guide.

• Input automation (10 tools)
  • click
  • drag
  • fill
  • fill_form
  • handle_dialog
  • hover
  • press_key
  • type_text
  • upload_file
  • click_at
• Navigation automation (6 tools)
  • close_page
  • list_pages
  • navigate_page
  • new_page
  • select_page
  • wait_for
• Emulation (2 tools)
  • emulate
  • resize_page
• Performance (3 tools)
  • performance_analyze_insight
  • performance_start_trace
  • performance_stop_trace
• Network (2 tools)
  • get_network_request
  • list_network_requests
• Debugging (8 tools)
  • evaluate_script
  • get_console_message
  • lighthouse_audit
  • list_console_messages
  • take_screenshot
  • take_snapshot
  • screencast_start
  • screencast_stop
• Memory (13 tools)
  • take_heapsnapshot
  • close_heapsnapshot
  • compare_heapsnapshots
  • get_heapsnapshot_class_nodes
  • get_heapsnapshot_details
  • get_heapsnapshot_dominators
  • get_heapsnapshot_duplicate_strings
  • get_heapsnapshot_edges
  • get_heapsnapshot_object_details
  • get_heapsnapshot_retainers
  • get_heapsnapshot_retaining_paths
  • get_heapsnapshot_summary
  • query_heapsnapshot_objects
• Extensions (5 tools)
  • install_extension
  • list_extensions
  • reload_extension
  • trigger_extension_action
  • uninstall_extension
• Third-party (2 tools)
  • execute_3p_developer_tool
  • list_3p_developer_tools
• WebMCP (2 tools)
  • execute_webmcp_tool
  • list_webmcp_tools
• Progressive Web Apps (4 tools)
  • get_os_app_state
  • install_pwa
  • launch_pwa
  • uninstall_pwa

Configuration

The Brave DevTools MCP server supports the following configuration option:

• --autoConnect/ --auto-connect If specified, automatically connects to a Brave instance running locally from the user data directory identified by the channel parameter (default channel is release). Requires remote debugging to be enabled via brave://inspect/#remote-debugging.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

• --browserUrl/ --browser-url, -u Connect to a running, debuggable Brave instance (e.g. http://127.0.0.1:9222). For more details see: https://github.com/triuzzi/brave-devtools-mcp#connecting-to-a-running-brave-instance.

  • Type: string
  • Default: false

• --wsEndpoint/ --ws-endpoint, -w WebSocket endpoint to connect to a running Brave instance (e.g., ws://127.0.0.1:9222/devtools/browser/). Alternative to --browserUrl.

  • Type: string
  • Default: false

• --wsHeaders/ --ws-headers Custom headers for WebSocket connection in JSON format (e.g., '{"Authorization":"Bearer token"}'). Only works with --wsEndpoint.

  • Type: string
  • Default: false

• --headless Whether to run in headless (no UI) mode.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

• --executablePath/ --executable-path, -e Path to a custom Brave executable. Can also be set via BRAVE_PATH.

  • Type: string
  • Default: false

• --isolated If specified, creates a temporary user-data-dir that is automatically cleaned up after the browser is closed. Defaults to false.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

• --userDataDir/ --user-data-dir Path to the user data directory for Brave. Default is $HOME/.cache/brave-devtools-mcp/brave-profile$CHANNEL_SUFFIX_IF_NON_RELEASE

  • Type: string
  • Default: false

• --channel Specify a different Brave channel. The default is the release channel.

  • Type: string
  • Choices: release, beta, nightly
  • Default: false

• --logFile/ --log-file Path to a file to write debug logs to. Set the env variable DEBUG to * to enable verbose logs. Useful for submitting bug reports.

  • Type: string
  • Default: false

• --viewport Initial viewport size for Brave instances started by the server. For example, 1280x720. In headless mode, max size is 3840x2160px.

  • Type: string
  • Default: false

• --proxyServer/ --proxy-server Proxy server configuration for Brave passed as --proxy-server when launching the browser. See https://www.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/network-settings/ for details.

  • Type: string
  • Default: false

• --acceptInsecureCerts/ --accept-insecure-certs If enabled, ignores errors relative to self-signed and expired certificates. Use with caution.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

• --pageIdRouting/ --page-id-routing Require pageId on page-scoped tools and route requests by page ID (useful for concurrent agent sessions). Use --no-page-id-routing to disable.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: true

• --experimentalDevtools/ --experimental-devtools Whether to enable automation over DevTools targets

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

• --experimentalVision/ --experimental-vision Whether to enable coordinate-based tools such as click_at(x,y). Usually requires a computer-use model able to produce accurate coordinates by looking at screenshots.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

• --memoryDebugging/ --memory-debugging, -experimentalMemory Whether to enable memory debugging tools.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

• --experimentalStructuredContent/ --experimental-structured-content Whether to output structured formatted content.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

• --experimentalIncludeAllPages/ --experimental-include-all-pages Whether to include all kinds of pages such as webviews or background pages as pages.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

• --experimentalScreencast/ --experimental-screencast Exposes experimental screencast tools (requires ffmpeg). Install ffmpeg https://www.ffmpeg.org/download.html and ensure it is available in the MCP server PATH.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

• --experimentalFfmpegPath/ --experimental-ffmpeg-path Path to ffmpeg executable for screencast recording.

  • Type: string
  • Default: false

• --categoryExperimentalWebmcp/ --category-experimental-webmcp Set to true to enable debugging WebMCP tools. Requires a recent Brave version with the following flags: --enable-features=WebMCP,DevToolsWebMCPSupport

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

• --braveArg/ --brave-arg Additional arguments for Brave. Only applies when Brave is launched by brave-devtools-mcp.

  • Type: array
  • Default: false

• --blockedUrlPattern/ --blocked-url-pattern Restricts browser's network access by blocking specified URL patterns (uses https://urlpattern.spec.whatwg.org/). Silently detaches from targets with blocked URLs upon connection, and blocks runtime requests (including navigations and subresources). Accepts an array of patterns.

  • Type: array
  • Default: false

• --allowedUrlPattern/ --allowed-url-pattern Restricts browser's network access by allowing only specified URL patterns (uses https://urlpattern.spec.whatwg.org/). Requires a recent Brave version. Silently detaches from targets with unallowed URLs upon connection, and blocks runtime requests (including navigations and subresources). Accepts an array of patterns.

  • Type: array
  • Default: false

• --ignoreDefaultBraveArg/ --ignore-default-brave-arg Explicitly disable default arguments for Brave. Only applies when Brave is launched by brave-devtools-mcp.

  • Type: array
  • Default: false

• --categoryEmulation/ --category-emulation Set to false to exclude tools related to emulation.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: true

• --categoryPerformance/ --category-performance Set to false to exclude tools related to performance.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: true

• --categoryNetwork/ --category-network Set to false to exclude tools related to network.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: true

• --categoryExtensions/ --category-extensions Set to true to include tools related to extensions. This feature is only supported with a pipe connection; autoConnect, browserUrl, and wsEndpoint are not supported.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

• --categoryExperimentalThirdParty/ --category-experimental-third-party Set to true to enable third-party developer tools exposed by the inspected page itself

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

• --categoryPwa/ --category-pwa Set to true to include tools for automating Progressive Web Apps (install, launch, uninstall, and OS state). This feature is only supported with a pipe connection; autoConnect, browserUrl, and wsEndpoint are not supported.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

• --performanceCrux/ --performance-crux Set to false to disable sending URLs from performance traces to CrUX API to get field performance data.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: true

• --usageStatistics/ --usage-statistics Usage statistics collection is disabled by default in this fork.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

• --screenshotFormat/ --screenshot-format Override the default output format used by take_screenshot when the caller does not specify one. JPEG and WebP are ~3-5x smaller than PNG, which helps reduce context size in AI conversations. Unset preserves the existing default ("png").

  • Type: string
  • Choices: jpeg, png, webp
  • Default: false

• --screenshotQuality/ --screenshot-quality Override the default compression quality (0-100) used by take_screenshot for JPEG and WebP when the caller does not specify one. Lower values mean smaller files. Ignored for PNG. Unset preserves the Puppeteer default.

  • Type: number
  • Default: false

• --screenshotMaxWidth/ --screenshot-max-width Maximum width in pixels for screenshots. If the captured image is wider, it is downscaled (preserving aspect ratio) before being returned. Reduces context size in AI conversations. Unset means no resize.

  • Type: number
  • Default: false

• --screenshotMaxHeight/ --screenshot-max-height Maximum height in pixels for screenshots. If the captured image is taller, it is downscaled (preserving aspect ratio) before being returned. Can be combined with --screenshot-max-width; the smaller scale factor wins. Unset means no resize.

  • Type: number
  • Default: false

• --slim Exposes a "slim" set of 3 tools covering navigation, script execution and screenshots only. Useful for basic browser tasks.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

• --redactNetworkHeaders/ --redact-network-headers If true, redacts some of the network headers considered sensitive before returning to the client.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

• --allowUnrestrictedPaths/ --allow-unrestricted-paths If set, disables the default path restriction that applies when the MCP client does not negotiate the roots capability. By default, file-writing tools are restricted to the OS temp directory when no roots are configured. Use this only when connecting a trusted local client that does not implement MCP roots and requires access to paths outside the temp directory.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

Pass them via the args property in the JSON configuration. For example:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brave-devtools": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "brave-mcp@latest",
        "--channel=nightly",
        "--headless=true",
        "--isolated=true"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Connecting via WebSocket with custom headers

You can connect directly to a Brave WebSocket endpoint and include custom headers (e.g., for authentication):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brave-devtools": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "brave-mcp@latest",
        "--wsEndpoint=ws://127.0.0.1:9222/devtools/browser/<id>",
        "--wsHeaders={\"Authorization\":\"Bearer YOUR_TOKEN\"}"
      ]
    }
  }
}

To get the WebSocket endpoint from a running Brave instance, visit http://127.0.0.1:9222/json/version and look for the webSocketDebuggerUrl field.

You can also run npx brave-mcp@latest --help to see all available configuration options.

Concepts

Concurrent sessions

Most MCP clients start one Brave DevTools MCP server per conversation. By default, the server runs with --pageIdRouting enabled, making pageId a required parameter on page-scoped tools (such as click, fill, navigate_page, take_snapshot, etc.) so multiple agents or subagents sharing a server instance can route tool calls directly to the specific tab they are working with.

For evaluate_script, pageId is required by default for targeting pages, but becomes optional when --categoryExtensions is enabled so that serviceWorkerId can be specified instead to evaluate inside an extension background service worker.

To disable this behavior and default to the currently selected page, pass --no-page-id-routing.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brave-devtools": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "brave-mcp@latest"]
    }
  }
}

If you run multiple independent MCP client sessions and want each session to launch its own temporary Brave profile, also pass --isolated. This avoids sharing the default Brave DevTools MCP user data directory between those server instances.

User data directory

By default, brave-mcp starts the Brave release channel using the following user data directory:

• Linux / macOS: $HOME/.cache/brave-devtools-mcp/brave-profile
• Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.cache\brave-devtools-mcp\brave-profile

For non-release channels, the channel name is appended to the directory name, for example brave-profile-nightly.

The user data directory is not cleared between runs and is reused for subsequent runs with the same channel. Only one browser can use it at a time. Set the isolated option to true to use a temporary user data directory instead which will be cleared automatically after the browser is closed.

Connecting to a running Brave instance

By default, the Brave DevTools MCP server will start a new Brave instance with a dedicated profile. This might not be ideal in all situations:

• If you would like to maintain the same application state when alternating between manual site testing and agent-driven testing.
• When the MCP needs to sign into a website. Some accounts may prevent sign-in when the browser is controlled via WebDriver (the default launch mechanism for the Brave DevTools MCP server).
• If you're running your LLM inside a sandboxed environment, but you would like to connect to a Brave instance that runs outside the sandbox.

In these cases, start Brave first and let the Brave DevTools MCP server connect to it. There are two ways to do so:

• Automatic connection: best for sharing state between manual and agent-driven testing.
• Manual connection via remote debugging port: best when running inside a sandboxed environment.

Automatically connecting to a running Brave instance

Step 1: Set up remote debugging in Brave

In Brave, do the following to set up remote debugging:

1. Navigate to brave://inspect/#remote-debugging to enable remote debugging.
2. Follow the dialog UI to allow or disallow incoming debugging connections.

Step 2: Configure Brave DevTools MCP server to automatically connect to a running Brave instance

To connect the brave-mcp server to the running Brave instance, use --autoConnect command line argument for the MCP server.

The following code snippet is an example configuration for gemini-cli:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brave-devtools": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["brave-mcp@latest", "--autoConnect"]
    }
  }
}

Step 3: Test your setup

Make sure your browser is running. Open gemini-cli and run the following prompt:

Check the performance of https://developers.chrome.com

[!NOTE] The autoConnect option requires the user to start Brave. If the user has multiple active profiles, the MCP server connects to Brave's default profile and can access all open windows for that profile.

The Brave DevTools MCP server will try to connect to your running Brave instance. It shows a dialog asking for user permission.

Clicking Allow results in the Brave DevTools MCP server opening developers.chrome.com and taking a performance trace.

Manual connection using port forwarding

You can connect to a running Brave instance by using the --browser-url option. This is useful if you are running the MCP server in a sandboxed environment that does not allow starting a new Brave instance.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to connect to a running Brave instance:

Step 1: Configure the MCP client

Add the --browser-url option to your MCP client configuration. The value of this option should be the URL of the running Brave instance. http://127.0.0.1:9222 is a common default.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brave-devtools": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["brave-mcp@latest", "--browser-url=http://127.0.0.1:9222"]
    }
  }
}

Step 2: Start the Brave browser

[!WARNING] Enabling the remote debugging port opens up a debugging port on the running browser instance. Any application on your machine can connect to this port and control the browser. Make sure that you are not browsing any sensitive websites while the debugging port is open.

Start the Brave browser with the remote debugging port enabled. Make sure to close any running Brave instances before starting a new one with the debugging port enabled. The port number you choose must be the same as the one you specified in the --browser-url option in your MCP client configuration.

Use a dedicated user data directory when enabling the remote debugging port so your regular browsing profile and data are not exposed to the debugging session.

macOS

/Applications/Brave\ Browser.app/Contents/MacOS/Brave\ Browser --remote-debugging-port=9222 --user-data-dir=/tmp/brave-profile-release

Linux

/usr/bin/brave-browser --remote-debugging-port=9222 --user-data-dir=/tmp/brave-profile-release

Windows

"C:\Program Files\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe" --remote-debugging-port=9222 --user-data-dir="%TEMP%\brave-profile-release"

Step 3: Test your setup

After configuring the MCP client and starting the Brave browser, you can test your setup by running a simple prompt in your MCP client:

Check the performance of https://developers.chrome.com

Your MCP client should connect to the running Brave instance and receive a performance report.

If you hit VM-to-host port forwarding issues, see the “Remote debugging between virtual machine (VM) and host fails” section in docs/troubleshooting.md.

For more details on remote debugging, see the Chromium DevTools documentation.

Debugging Chrome on Android

Please consult these instructions.

Known limitations

See Troubleshooting.

Integrating as a browser subagent

If you are developing agentic tooling and want to provide an integrated browser subagent as part of your product, we recommend building on top of Brave DevTools for agents.

For a reference implementation, see the Gemini CLI browser agent documentation.