Skip to content
Get packs

Browser Harness

Lets Claude Code, Codex or Cursor control your own logged-in Chrome browser.

GitHub Download v0.1.13
Stars
18.8k
Forks
1.9k
Licence
MIT
Language
Python
Last update
4 days ago
Type
Dev tool

What it is

Browser Harness connects a coding agent such as Claude Code, Codex or Cursor to your real Chrome browser, so it can open pages, click, type, read and download while logged in as you. It talks to Chrome over the DevTools Protocol, and the agent writes any helper it is missing as it works. People use it for personal, logged-in browser tasks that an agent would otherwise be blocked from.

  • Download your latest videos or files from a site where you are logged in
  • Fill in forms or upload files in your running Chrome through the agent
  • Let the agent build reusable helper functions for repeated browser tasks

Great for

  • Developers who already use Claude Code, Codex or Cursor and want the agent to act in their own logged-in Chrome
  • People automating personal tasks on sites where they are signed in, such as downloading their own content
  • Users comfortable approving remote debugging access in their browser
  • Anyone wanting an MCP-based connection via browser-harness-mcp

Not ideal for

  • Repeatable automated tests of your own app: the README points to Playwright for isolated CI tests in a clean browser
  • Users who do not want an agent with access to their personal logins, since it drives the whole running browser
  • Anyone needing many parallel browsers at scale: the README points to Browser Use Cloud for that
Step-by-step guide: how to use Browser HarnessInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs
Browser Harness alternativesBrowser Harness vs Browser UseBrowser Harness vs PinchTab

How to get it

  1. 1

    See the README

    You'll need: uv · Python 3.12 · Chrome 144+ for the remote debugging toggle described in the README

    Install or upgrade via the setup prompt

    Paste the setup prompt from the README into Claude Code or Codex

    Clone the repository

    git clone https://github.com/browser-use/browser-harness
  2. 2

    Run it

    • Paste the setup prompt into Claude Code or Codex
    • Answer whether to enable local browser recordings (default is no)
    • Open chrome://inspect/#remote-debugging and tick the checkbox when the agent asks
    • Click Allow in Chrome when prompted
    • Give the agent a browser task
  3. 3

    Get the most out of it

    • Use the MCP server browser-harness-mcp to connect any MCP client, per docs/MCP.md
    • Use the Cursor MCP config in the README to add it to .cursor/mcp.json
    • Read SKILL.md to understand the browser workflow the agent follows
    • Let the agent write reusable helpers in its local workspace, as the README describes
    • Use Browser Use Cloud for parallel or proxied browser work

Downloads

Source code (.zip)main branch · straight from GitHubRelease v0.1.13Release notes and sourceOfficial website & docsbrowser-harness.com

Strengths

  • Uses your existing Chrome session, so logins are already in place
  • Setup is one prompt pasted into a coding agent, per the README
  • MIT licensed and open source

Trade-offs

  • Gives the agent access to the whole browser, so it suits trusted, personal use
  • Benchmark results in the README were run by the project's maintainers on a cloud browser and show no clear winner over alternatives
  • Setup depends on enabling remote debugging in chrome://inspect and approving access

How it compares

ProjectStarsTypeLevelUpdatedBest for
browser-harness (this)18.8kDev toolbeginner4 days agoDevelopers who already use Claude Code, Codex or Cursor and want the agent to act in their own logged-in Chrome
browser-use120kLibraryintermediate4 days agoPython developers who want to prototype an AI agent that operates websites
web-ui16.6kAppintermediate1 months agoPeople who want to try browser-automation AI agents without writing code
stagehand25.9kLibraryintermediate6 days agoDevelopers building browser agents that must work on sites they do not control
pinchtab10.5kDev toolintermediate9 days agoDevelopers building AI agents that need to browse and extract page content
ego-lite21.3kAppbeginner4 days agoDevelopers who use Claude Code, Codex, or similar agent CLIs and want them to act in a logged-in browser

Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.