Browserless MCP Server

MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for Browserless.io — expose the Browserless smart scraper API to LLM clients like Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, and Windsurf.

Quick Start

Get an API token from browserless.io (free tier available), then point your MCP client at the hosted server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "browserless": {
      "url": "https://mcp.browserless.io/mcp?token=your-token-here"
    }
  }
}

No local install — see Configuration for per-client snippets.

Tools

Skills

The server ships with a built-in library of Skills — on-demand recipes the agent can load to handle tricky page mechanics. Skills auto-inject into `browserless_agent` responses when their triggers fire (e.g. the agent hits a cookie banner), and can also be loaded manually via the `browserless_skill` tool.

Load a skill explicitly:

{
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "browserless_skill",
    "arguments": { "id": "cookie-consent" },
  },
}

Residential proxy (`browserless_agent`)

Pass a top-level `proxy` object on `browserless_agent` to route the session through residential IPs. Use this when targets IP-block datacenter traffic.

{
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "browserless_agent",
    "arguments": {
      "method": "goto",
      "params": { "url": "https://example.com" },
      "proxy": {
        "proxy": "residential",
        "proxyCountry": "us",
        "proxySticky": true,
      },
    },
  },
}

> Note: `proxyCountry` / `proxyState` / `proxyCity` / `proxySticky` / `proxyLocaleMatch` / `proxyPreset` require either `proxy: "residential"` or `externalProxyServer` to be set. The MCP rejects this combination at validation time; without it, the API would silently ignore them.

The `proxy` object is read once at session creation. To change it, call `close` and start a new session — the agent client keys sessions on the proxy fingerprint, so passing a different config will land on a fresh WebSocket.

Configuration

The server is hosted at `https://mcp.browserless.io/mcp`. Authenticate via headers (preferred) or a `?token=` query parameter.

Installing via an AI agent? See install.md for agent-readable setup instructions.

Using headers (recommended for clients that support them):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "browserless": {
      "url": "https://mcp.browserless.io/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer your-token-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Using URL query parameters (for clients like Claude.ai custom connectors that only accept a URL):

https://mcp.browserless.io/mcp?token=your-token-here

To connect to a specific Browserless regional endpoint, add the `x-browserless-api-url` header or the `browserlessUrl` query parameter:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "browserless": {
      "url": "https://mcp.browserless.io/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer your-token-here",
        "x-browserless-api-url": "https://production-lon.browserless.io"
      }
    }
  }
}

https://mcp.browserless.io/mcp?token=your-token-here&browserlessUrl=https://production-lon.browserless.io

When both headers and query parameters are present, headers take precedence.

Claude Desktop

Add to your `claude_desktop_config.json`:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "browserless": {
      "url": "https://mcp.browserless.io/mcp?token=your-token-here"
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Add to your Cursor MCP settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "browserless": {
      "url": "https://mcp.browserless.io/mcp?token=your-token-here"
    }
  }
}

VS Code

Add to your VS Code settings (`settings.json`):

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "browserless": {
        "url": "https://mcp.browserless.io/mcp",
        "headers": {
          "Authorization": "Bearer your-token-here"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Add to your Windsurf MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "browserless": {
      "url": "https://mcp.browserless.io/mcp?token=your-token-here"
    }
  }
}

Self-Hosting

The server can also be run locally — useful for air-gapped deployments or pointing at a self-hosted Browserless instance. Clone this repo and build the Docker image:

docker build -f docker/Dockerfile -t browserless-mcp .

docker run \
  -e BROWSERLESS_TOKEN=your-token \
  -e BROWSERLESS_API_URL=https://your-browserless-instance.example.com \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  browserless-mcp

Then point your MCP client at `http://localhost:8080/mcp` using the same header/query-parameter auth as above.

Self-hosted environment variables

MCP Resources

MCP Prompts

Development

npm install
npm run build
npm test
npm run coverage

Tests

The test suite uses Mocha with Chai and Sinon. Specs live alongside the code in `test/` (`test/lib/`, `test/tools/`, `test/prompts/`, `test/resources/`, `test/integration/`) and run against the compiled output in `build/`.

• `npm test` — compiles TypeScript and runs every `*.spec.js` under `build/test/`. No external services or `BROWSERLESS_TOKEN` are required; the API client is stubbed.
• `npm run coverage` — runs the suite under c8 with the thresholds configured in `package.json` (lines ≥ 80%, branches ≥ 70%, functions ≥ 80%).

Tests run automatically on every pull request via the Test workflow on Node 24. PRs must keep the suite green before they can merge.

API Token

Get your API token at browserless.io. The token authenticates all requests to the Browserless API.

License

SSPL-1.0