MCP Helium Browser

What mcp-helium-browser does

mcp-helium-browser adapts the Chrome DevTools MCP server to work with the Helium browser. It provides an MCP interface for controlling Helium through Chrome DevTools, allowing an MCP-compatible agent to interact with a Helium browser session using browser-control capabilities.

The project is published as an installable alias for helium-devtools-mcp. It is a fork of chrome-devtools-mcp with the browser-launch behavior changed for Helium.

How it works

The patched build changes the default browser target from the usual Chrome setup to Helium when the stable channel is selected. At runtime, the launcher first supports an explicit executable path and can also use the HELIUM_EXECUTABLE environment variable.

When no custom path is supplied, the launcher checks platform-specific default locations. On macOS, it looks under the Helium application bundle. On Windows, it uses the Helium installation location under the local application-data directory. On Linux, it checks common system and optional installation paths, including /usr/bin/helium, /usr/local/bin/helium, and /opt/helium/helium.

The server communicates with Helium through Chrome DevTools rather than through a Helium-specific automation protocol. This makes the browser choice the main distinction from the upstream Chrome DevTools server.

Setup and configuration

Install the mcp-helium-browser alias according to the MCP client’s server configuration process. Helium must be available on the machine running the server. If it is installed in a nonstandard location, set HELIUM_EXECUTABLE to the browser binary or pass an explicit executable path through the server’s launch configuration.

The default stable channel is redirected to Helium by the patched build. The beta, canary, and dev channels retain their upstream behavior, as do configurations that provide an explicit --executablePath value.

Tools and capabilities

• Control the Helium browser through Chrome DevTools.
• Launch the stable channel as Helium by default.
• Select a custom Helium binary through HELIUM_EXECUTABLE.
• Use an explicit executable path when the default detection paths do not apply.

Limitations and notes

The Helium-specific behavior is concentrated in browser startup and executable discovery. Non-default channels are not redirected to Helium by this patch, and an explicit executable path takes precedence over automatic selection. The binary must be installed and accessible to the process running the MCP server.