Puppeteer MCP

What is Puppeteer MCP?

Puppeteer MCP is a plugin/server that exposes browser automation capabilities through the Model Context Protocol, making web browsing, scraping, and automation accessible to LLMs and agent frameworks. It leverages the Puppeteer headless Chrome library, so models and agents can programmatically visit webpages, fill forms, click buttons, capture screenshots, and scrape data—all using standardized MCP endpoints.

How to Configure Puppeteer MCP

1. Install Node.js (if not already present).
2. Install the Puppeteer MCP server using npx or by cloning the repository:

   npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-puppeteer
   

   Or install as a dependency:

   npm install -g @modelcontextprotocol/server-puppeteer
   

3. Start the server:

   npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-puppeteer
   

   Optionally, you can pass environment variables or command-line arguments for custom configuration (such as access controls, sandbox settings, or headless options).
4. Configure your MCP client/agent application (such as Claude Desktop or another LLM host) to connect to the Puppeteer MCP server by specifying its command and any required arguments. Example (Claude Desktop JSON config):

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "puppeteer": {
         "command": "npx",
         "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-puppeteer"]
       }
     }
   }
   

5. Optionally, adjust security settings, network access, or set up authentication if exposing the MCP server remotely.

How to Use Puppeteer MCP

1. Discover available tools: Use your MCP client to query the tools/list endpoint to see which Puppeteer-based actions are available (such as puppeteer.navigate, puppeteer.evaluate, puppeteer.screenshot, etc.).
2. Invoke tools: Call the desired function through the MCP protocol by providing the appropriate parameters (for example, specifying a URL to navigate to or an element selector to click).
3. Automate sequences: Chain multiple Puppeteer tool calls to script complex workflows, like logging in to a website, navigating through multiple pages, scraping tables or graphs, and downloading files.
4. Retrieve and handle results: The output of each call will include relevant data such as page content, DOM snapshots, extracted values, or binary data (for screenshots, PDFs, etc.).
5. Integrate with other MCP tools: Combine Puppeteer MCP with other MCP servers (e.g., Filesystem, Memory, Database) for multi-step, multi-modal automation and data processing.

Key Features

• Headless browser automation: Seamlessly control Chrome/Chromium for full web interaction.
• Dynamic content access: Supports JavaScript-heavy, SPA, and interactive sites.
• Data extraction: Scrape structured/unstructured content with precise selectors.
• Action simulation: Click, type, select, scroll, and interact as a real user would.
• Resource capture: Take screenshots, generate PDFs, and extract rendered HTML or DOM fragments.
• Security & sandboxing: Fine-grained permissions prevent unsafe actions and ensure safe operation.
• Easy integration: Standardized MCP interface works out-of-the-box with leading LLM agents/apps.
• Scriptable sequences: Orchestrate complex workflows by chaining tool invocations.

Use Cases

• Automated web scraping: Extract product listings, news articles, public datasets, or social media posts.
• Dynamic data gathering: Capture data from JavaScript-rendered pages unavailable to basic HTTP requests.
• Form-filling and submission: Automate login, signup, or multi-step data entry processes.
• Visual regression & monitoring: Periodically screenshot or PDF high-value webpages for monitoring or record-keeping.
• Testing & QA: Run automated UI tests or regression checks from within your LLM workflow.
• Agent-enhanced browsing: Allow LLMs to “drive” the browser to research, summarize, or validate live web content during NLP tasks.

FAQ

1. Do I need prior Puppeteer knowledge to use the Puppeteer MCP server?
No. Tools are exposed as easy-to-use MCP endpoints with clear descriptions, so neither the user nor the LLM needs to know Puppeteer API details to trigger common browser actions.

2. How do I restrict what websites or actions the server is allowed to access?
You can configure allowed domains, blocklists, or safe-list actions via environment variables or command-line parameters. Always follow best practices for access control, especially in shared or production environments.

3. Can I use Puppeteer MCP to bypass captchas and login screens?
While Puppeteer MCP supports full browser actions (including form fill and navigation), it does not include native captcha-solving. However, you may use it to present captchas for human-in-the-loop solving, or leverage third-party plugins/services if desired.

4. What file types can Puppeteer MCP output?
You can extract HTML, plain text, screenshots (PNG/JPEG), PDFs, and arbitrary data scraped from the DOM.

5. Is it possible to automate multi-step workflows that depend on previous results?
Yes. You can chain multiple tool calls together in your agent or client logic, passing output from one step to another as needed.