Scout

Browser automation MCP server with 84 tools. Pure CDP, DOM diffing, vision hybrid.

Quick Install

Automated & IDE Setup

Copy the AI prompt to install this server into Claude Code, Cursor, or another agent — or use 1-click editor setup below.

Add to Cursor Add to VS Code

Manual Client & Custom JSON ConfigExpand JSON ▾

Client Config & Setup

Choose your client or environment

Target File:~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scout-2": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "scout-2"
      ]
    }
  }
}

💡 Paste the JSON block into your client's configuration file under mcpServers, then restart the application.

Documentation Overview

Scout

Browser automation, one binary. The simpler alternative to Playwright — no Node, no Python, no runtime. Drive a real browser from Go, any shell, any AI agent (built-in MCP server), or a chat UI.

A single statically-linked scout binary gives you a CLI, an 87-tool MCP server (so any MCP-aware agent — Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline, custom — has a browser), a conversational chat UI, and a Go library with Gin-like middleware composition. Same engine, four access points.

bash

brew install --cask klarlabs-studio/tap/scout-mcp

vs. Playwright

	Scout	Playwright
Install	one ~15 MB binary	npm + ~600 MB browser cache
Runtime dep	none (static)	Node.js always; Python/Java/.NET as wrappers
Drive from	Go, any shell, MCP, chat UI	TS/JS first-class; others lag
AI-agent native	built-in `scout mcp serve`	separate `playwright-mcp` project
Token-aware extraction	DOM diff, distillation, observation budgets (50–80% fewer tokens)	not provided
Action playbooks	record & replay deterministic JSON	codegen produces a script you maintain
Container deploy	drop into `scratch` or `distroless`	carry Node + browser binaries
CDP access	direct WebSocket, zero abstraction	internal protocol over CDP

Quick Start

bash

# CLI — visible browser, one-shot commands
scout observe https://example.com          # structured page snapshot
scout markdown https://news.ycombinator.com # page as compact markdown
scout screenshot https://github.com         # save screenshot
scout extract https://example.com h1        # extract element text
scout frameworks https://react.dev          # detect React, Vue, etc.

# MCP Server — give AI agents browser superpowers
claude mcp add scout -- scout mcp serve

# Browser UI — conversational browser automation
scout ui serve --provider=ollama --model=mistral
cd ui && npm install && npm run dev  # open http://localhost:3000

Install

bash

# Homebrew
brew install --cask klarlabs-studio/tap/scout-mcp

# Direct binary
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/klarlabs-studio/scout/main/install.sh | bash

# Go
go install go.klarlabs.de/scout/cmd/scout@latest

# As a library
go get go.klarlabs.de/scout

MCP Server — 77 Tools

Run scout mcp serve and any MCP-aware agent has a browser. No second project to install, no Node runtime, no Python interpreter — the binary is the server. Configure in any MCP client:

Terminal

claude mcp add scout -- scout mcp serve           # Claude Code

config.json

{"mcpServers": {"scout": {"command": "scout", "args": ["mcp", "serve"]}}}

Tool Categories

Category	Tools
Navigation	`navigate`, `observe`, `observe_diff`, `observe_with_budget`
Interaction	`click`, `click_label`, `click_text`, `type`, `hover`, `double_click`, `right_click`, `select_option`, `scroll_to`, `scroll_by`, `focus`, `drag_drop`, `dispatch_event`
Forms	`fill_form`, `fill_form_semantic` (checkbox/radio + state echo), `discover_form`
Extraction	`extract`, `extract_all`, `extract_table`, `auto_extract`, `scroll_and_collect`, `markdown`, `readable_text`, `accessibility_tree`
Capture	`screenshot`, `annotated_screenshot`, `pdf`
Network	`enable_network_capture`, `network_requests`
Tabs	`open_tab`, `switch_tab`, `close_tab`, `list_tabs`
Frameworks	`wait_spa`, `detect_frameworks`, `component_state`, `app_state`
Playback	`start_recording`, `stop_recording`, `save_playbook`, `replay_playbook`
Video	`start_screen_recording`, `stop_screen_recording`
Smart Helpers	`check_readiness`, `suggest_selectors`, `session_history`
Vision	`hybrid_observe`, `find_by_coordinates`
Batch	`execute_batch`
Iframe	`switch_to_frame`, `switch_to_main_frame`
Trace	`start_trace`, `stop_trace`
Cookies	`cookies_list`, `cookies_clear`, `cookies_set`, `dismiss_cookies`
Diagnostics	`detect_dialog`, `detect_auth_wall`, `console_errors` (incl. network 4xx/5xx), `failed_requests`, `compare_tabs`, `upload_file`
Utility	`has_element`, `wait_for`, `configure`, `set_viewport`, `web_vitals`, `select_by_prompt`

All tools have MCP annotations (ReadOnly, OpenWorld, ClosedWorld, Idempotent) for smart auto-approval. Read-only tools like observe, extract, and screenshot run without permission prompts.

Runtime Configuration

Switch between headless and visible browser without restarting, and opt into local-dev workflows (loopback, private IPs):

Code

Agent: configure(headless: false)                        → browser window appears
Agent: navigate("https://...")                           → watch it work
Agent: configure(headless: true)                         → back to headless
Agent: configure(allow_private_ips: true)                → unlock localhost / 192.168.* / 10.*
Agent: navigate("http://127.0.0.1:4173/")                → drive your local dev server

The MCP server also reads SCOUT_ALLOW_PRIVATE_IPS=1 at startup as a one-shot toggle for trusted environments.

Screen Recording (video)

Record the active page as a video. Pure CDP — works in headless, no Playwright needed. Recording survives navigate, open_tab, and switch_tab calls in between, so a multi-page demo lands as one continuous clip:

Code

Agent: start_screen_recording({ width: 1280, height: 800, fps: 15, format: "webm" })
Agent: navigate("https://example.com")
Agent: click("#cta")
Agent: navigate("https://example.com/dashboard")   # recording continues across pages
Agent: stop_screen_recording()
       → { path: "/tmp/scout-rec-XXX.webm", format: "webm", encoder: "ffmpeg",
           frame_count: N, duration_ms: N }

If ffmpeg is on PATH, the result is encoded to WebM (libvpx-vp9) or MP4 (libx264). If not, scout returns the raw JPEG frames directory plus an ffmpeg concat list so you can encode offline. The result is always a file path, never base64 — never enters your LLM token budget.

Realistic FPS: ~10–15 on typical pages, capped at 30. Implementation polls Page.captureScreenshot (CDP Page.startScreencast events are silently dropped under --headless=new Chrome).

Browser UI

A conversational browser automation interface. Type natural language, watch the browser respond in real-time.

bash

# Start the AG-UI server (Go backend)
scout ui serve --provider=ollama --model=mistral    # local, no API key
scout ui serve --provider=claude                     # needs ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
scout ui serve --provider=openai --model=gpt-4o     # needs OPENAI_API_KEY
scout ui serve --provider=groq --base-url=https://api.groq.com/openai --model=llama-3.3-70b-versatile

# Start the Vue frontend
cd ui && npm install && npm run dev                  # http://localhost:3000

The UI streams AG-UI protocol events over SSE:

Chat panel with markdown rendering and quick-action pills
Live browser viewport with screenshot streaming and URL bar
Activity timeline showing tool calls in real-time
Stop button to cancel mid-stream

The Go server handles the agentic loop: LLM decides which scout tools to call, executes them, streams browser state deltas back to the frontend. Supports any OpenAI-compatible endpoint via --base-url.

Agent Package (Go)

High-level Go API for callers that want to embed scout in a program. Structured output, auto-wait, goroutine-safe. Most users reach scout through the CLI or MCP server above — this section is for the Go-library path.

session, _ := agent.NewSession(agent.SessionConfig{Headless: true})
defer session.Close()

// Navigate and observe
session.Navigate("https://example.com")
obs, _ := session.Observe()               // links, inputs, buttons, text + action costs

// DOM diff — only what changed (saves 50-80% tokens)
session.Click("#submit")
_, diff, _ := session.ObserveDiff()
// diff.Classification: "modal_appeared"
// diff.Summary: "Modal/dialog appeared: Login required"

// Semantic form filling — no CSS selectors
session.FillFormSemantic(map[string]string{
    "Email": "user-example", "Password": "secret",
})

// Visual grounding — click by number, not selector
result, _ := session.AnnotatedScreenshot()  // numbered labels on elements
session.ClickLabel(7)                        // click element [7]

// Multi-tab coordination
session.OpenTab("pricing", "https://example.com/pricing")
session.SwitchTab("default")

// Framework detection (19 frameworks)
frameworks, _ := session.DetectedFrameworks() // ["react", "nextjs"]
state, _ := session.ComponentState("#app")    // read React/Vue state

Read the full README →View source on GitHub →

Related MCP Servers

View all in Developer Tools View all alternatives

Reviews

No reviews yet — be the first to share how this listing worked for you.

Frequently Asked Questions about Scout

Add the following block to your claude_desktop_config.json under mcpServers: "mcpServers": { "scout": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "Scout"] } }

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Technical Specs & Signals

CategoryDeveloper Tools

32Quality signal: Emerging · 32/100How this signal is calculated ▾

Server availabilityNot measured

Not scored for repo-hosted servers — we can't reach the running server, only its GitHub page. Hosted MCP endpoints are health-checked live.

Verified ownership10/20

Documentation & tools11/30

Adoption & activity3/15

Community engagement0/10

A guidance signal from public completeness & health data — not a user rating. New listings start lower and rise as they add docs, get verified, and grow adoption. Signals we can't observe for a listing are skipped, not counted against it.

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More in 💻 Developer Tools →Best MCP servers for Developers →Alternatives to Scout →Install in Claude Desktop Install in Cursor Install in VS Code

Scout

Browser automation MCP server with 84 tools. Pure CDP, DOM diffing, vision hybrid.

Quick Install

Automated & IDE Setup

Copy the AI prompt to install this server into Claude Code, Cursor, or another agent — or use 1-click editor setup below.

Add to Cursor Add to VS Code

Manual Client & Custom JSON ConfigExpand JSON ▾

Client Config & Setup

Choose your client or environment

Target File:~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scout-2": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "scout-2"
      ]
    }
  }
}

💡 Paste the JSON block into your client's configuration file under mcpServers, then restart the application.

Documentation Overview

Scout

bash

brew install --cask klarlabs-studio/tap/scout-mcp

vs. Playwright

	Scout	Playwright
Install	one ~15 MB binary	npm + ~600 MB browser cache
Runtime dep	none (static)	Node.js always; Python/Java/.NET as wrappers
Drive from	Go, any shell, MCP, chat UI	TS/JS first-class; others lag
AI-agent native	built-in `scout mcp serve`	separate `playwright-mcp` project
Token-aware extraction	DOM diff, distillation, observation budgets (50–80% fewer tokens)	not provided
Action playbooks	record & replay deterministic JSON	codegen produces a script you maintain
Container deploy	drop into `scratch` or `distroless`	carry Node + browser binaries
CDP access	direct WebSocket, zero abstraction	internal protocol over CDP

Quick Start

bash

# CLI — visible browser, one-shot commands
scout observe https://example.com          # structured page snapshot
scout markdown https://news.ycombinator.com # page as compact markdown
scout screenshot https://github.com         # save screenshot
scout extract https://example.com h1        # extract element text
scout frameworks https://react.dev          # detect React, Vue, etc.

# MCP Server — give AI agents browser superpowers
claude mcp add scout -- scout mcp serve

# Browser UI — conversational browser automation
scout ui serve --provider=ollama --model=mistral
cd ui && npm install && npm run dev  # open http://localhost:3000

Install

bash

# Homebrew
brew install --cask klarlabs-studio/tap/scout-mcp

# Direct binary
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/klarlabs-studio/scout/main/install.sh | bash

# Go
go install go.klarlabs.de/scout/cmd/scout@latest

# As a library
go get go.klarlabs.de/scout

MCP Server — 77 Tools

Run scout mcp serve and any MCP-aware agent has a browser. No second project to install, no Node runtime, no Python interpreter — the binary is the server. Configure in any MCP client:

Terminal

claude mcp add scout -- scout mcp serve           # Claude Code

config.json

{"mcpServers": {"scout": {"command": "scout", "args": ["mcp", "serve"]}}}

Tool Categories

Category	Tools
Navigation	`navigate`, `observe`, `observe_diff`, `observe_with_budget`
Interaction	`click`, `click_label`, `click_text`, `type`, `hover`, `double_click`, `right_click`, `select_option`, `scroll_to`, `scroll_by`, `focus`, `drag_drop`, `dispatch_event`
Forms	`fill_form`, `fill_form_semantic` (checkbox/radio + state echo), `discover_form`
Extraction	`extract`, `extract_all`, `extract_table`, `auto_extract`, `scroll_and_collect`, `markdown`, `readable_text`, `accessibility_tree`
Capture	`screenshot`, `annotated_screenshot`, `pdf`
Network	`enable_network_capture`, `network_requests`
Tabs	`open_tab`, `switch_tab`, `close_tab`, `list_tabs`
Frameworks	`wait_spa`, `detect_frameworks`, `component_state`, `app_state`
Playback	`start_recording`, `stop_recording`, `save_playbook`, `replay_playbook`
Video	`start_screen_recording`, `stop_screen_recording`
Smart Helpers	`check_readiness`, `suggest_selectors`, `session_history`
Vision	`hybrid_observe`, `find_by_coordinates`
Batch	`execute_batch`
Iframe	`switch_to_frame`, `switch_to_main_frame`
Trace	`start_trace`, `stop_trace`
Cookies	`cookies_list`, `cookies_clear`, `cookies_set`, `dismiss_cookies`
Diagnostics	`detect_dialog`, `detect_auth_wall`, `console_errors` (incl. network 4xx/5xx), `failed_requests`, `compare_tabs`, `upload_file`
Utility	`has_element`, `wait_for`, `configure`, `set_viewport`, `web_vitals`, `select_by_prompt`

Runtime Configuration

Switch between headless and visible browser without restarting, and opt into local-dev workflows (loopback, private IPs):

Code

Agent: configure(headless: false)                        → browser window appears
Agent: navigate("https://...")                           → watch it work
Agent: configure(headless: true)                         → back to headless
Agent: configure(allow_private_ips: true)                → unlock localhost / 192.168.* / 10.*
Agent: navigate("http://127.0.0.1:4173/")                → drive your local dev server

The MCP server also reads SCOUT_ALLOW_PRIVATE_IPS=1 at startup as a one-shot toggle for trusted environments.

Screen Recording (video)

Code

Agent: start_screen_recording({ width: 1280, height: 800, fps: 15, format: "webm" })
Agent: navigate("https://example.com")
Agent: click("#cta")
Agent: navigate("https://example.com/dashboard")   # recording continues across pages
Agent: stop_screen_recording()
       → { path: "/tmp/scout-rec-XXX.webm", format: "webm", encoder: "ffmpeg",
           frame_count: N, duration_ms: N }

Realistic FPS: ~10–15 on typical pages, capped at 30. Implementation polls Page.captureScreenshot (CDP Page.startScreencast events are silently dropped under --headless=new Chrome).

Browser UI

A conversational browser automation interface. Type natural language, watch the browser respond in real-time.

bash

# Start the AG-UI server (Go backend)
scout ui serve --provider=ollama --model=mistral    # local, no API key
scout ui serve --provider=claude                     # needs ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
scout ui serve --provider=openai --model=gpt-4o     # needs OPENAI_API_KEY
scout ui serve --provider=groq --base-url=https://api.groq.com/openai --model=llama-3.3-70b-versatile

# Start the Vue frontend
cd ui && npm install && npm run dev                  # http://localhost:3000

The UI streams AG-UI protocol events over SSE:

Chat panel with markdown rendering and quick-action pills
Live browser viewport with screenshot streaming and URL bar
Activity timeline showing tool calls in real-time
Stop button to cancel mid-stream

Agent Package (Go)

session, _ := agent.NewSession(agent.SessionConfig{Headless: true})
defer session.Close()

// Navigate and observe
session.Navigate("https://example.com")
obs, _ := session.Observe()               // links, inputs, buttons, text + action costs

// DOM diff — only what changed (saves 50-80% tokens)
session.Click("#submit")
_, diff, _ := session.ObserveDiff()
// diff.Classification: "modal_appeared"
// diff.Summary: "Modal/dialog appeared: Login required"

// Semantic form filling — no CSS selectors
session.FillFormSemantic(map[string]string{
    "Email": "user-example", "Password": "secret",
})

// Visual grounding — click by number, not selector
result, _ := session.AnnotatedScreenshot()  // numbered labels on elements
session.ClickLabel(7)                        // click element [7]

// Multi-tab coordination
session.OpenTab("pricing", "https://example.com/pricing")
session.SwitchTab("default")

// Framework detection (19 frameworks)
frameworks, _ := session.DetectedFrameworks() // ["react", "nextjs"]
state, _ := session.ComponentState("#app")    // read React/Vue state

Read the full README →View source on GitHub →

Related MCP Servers

View all in Developer Tools View all alternatives

Reviews

No reviews yet — be the first to share how this listing worked for you.

Frequently Asked Questions about Scout

Add the following block to your claude_desktop_config.json under mcpServers: "mcpServers": { "scout": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "Scout"] } }

AllMCPs Directory Badge

Full Badge Customizer

Showcase your server listing on GitHub or your project documentation. Embed this dynamic SVG badge to highlight official listing status and live engagement.

Badge Style:

Live Dynamic SVG Preview

Markdown (GitHub README)

[![AllMCPs](https://allmcps.com/api/badge/scout-2?style=directory)](https://allmcps.com/mcp/scout-2)

HTML Embed

<a href="https://allmcps.com/mcp/scout-2"><img src="https://allmcps.com/api/badge/scout-2?style=directory" alt="Scout on AllMCPs" /></a>

Technical Specs & Signals

CategoryDeveloper Tools

32Quality signal: Emerging · 32/100How this signal is calculated ▾

Server availabilityNot measured

Not scored for repo-hosted servers — we can't reach the running server, only its GitHub page. Hosted MCP endpoints are health-checked live.

Verified ownership10/20

Documentation & tools11/30

Adoption & activity3/15

Community engagement0/10

★ Spotlight Slot

Feature Your MCP Server

Get maximum visibility for your server across our directory, search results, and detail pages.

Spotlight Your Server

Own this project?

Free dofollow backlink: add your website and place the AllMCPs badge on it — no claim needed. We detect it automatically and keep it verified as long as the badge stays live.

Claim & get free dofollow

Share & Embed

Add our SVG badge (dark/light directory styles) or embeddable widget to your site.

Explore more

More in 💻 Developer Tools →Best MCP servers for Developers →Alternatives to Scout →Install in Claude Desktop Install in Cursor Install in VS Code