MCP Chromium ARM64 Server

Cross-platform ARM64 browser automation via Chrome DevTools Protocol
Native Chromium control with 22 MCP tools for Linux, macOS, and Windows ARM64

🚀 Two Implementation Approaches Available

📦 Version Comparison

🎯 When to Use Which Version

Use Direct CDP (v1.3.0) if:

• ✅ You want maximum performance and minimum dependencies
• ✅ You need native ARM64 optimization
• ✅ You want direct Chrome DevTools Protocol control
• ✅ You're building production automation systems
• ✅ You want the latest features and fastest updates

Use Puppeteer-based (v1.2.0) if:

• ✅ You're migrating from existing Puppeteer code
• ✅ You prefer the Puppeteer API abstraction
• ✅ You need specific Puppeteer features not yet implemented in direct CDP
• ✅ You want to minimize changes to existing workflows

🔄 Switching Between Versions

# Switch to Direct CDP (recommended)
git checkout direct-chromium
npm install  # Only 89 packages

# Switch back to Puppeteer version
git checkout main  
npm install  # 163 packages

📚 Documentation & Specialized Guides

This repository includes multiple documentation approaches for different audiences:

🎯 For Developers & DevOps Engineers

📖 TECHNICAL README - Comprehensive technical documentation including:

• Architecture diagrams and API reference
• Performance benchmarks and optimization guides
• CI/CD integration examples and E2E testing workflows
• Advanced debugging and customization options

🍓 For Makers & Entrepreneurs

📖 RASPBERRY PI README - Budget-focused guide featuring:

• Complete $480 AI development setup
• No-code SaaS development workflows
• Real-world startup use cases and ROI analysis
• Global accessibility and maker movement focus

⚡ Quick Links

• Developers: Jump to Technical Documentation →
• Makers: Jump to Raspberry Pi Guide →
• Everyone: Continue reading for universal setup and usage

✨ Core Features

🤖 Native ARM64 Browser Automation

• Direct Chrome DevTools Protocol implementation
• 22 comprehensive MCP tools for complete browser control
• Optimized for Raspberry Pi and Apple Silicon architectures
• No dependency on broken x86_64 Puppeteer binaries

⚡ High Performance Architecture

• Only 2 dependencies (ws + MCP SDK) vs 163 packages in Puppeteer
• Lower memory usage and faster startup times
• Direct WebSocket communication with Chrome
• Comprehensive logging and audit capabilities

🛠️ Enterprise-Ready Development

• Full debugging suite with console/network monitoring
• Accessibility, SEO, and performance audits built-in
• CI/CD integration examples and E2E testing workflows
• Cross-platform compatibility (Linux ARM64, macOS Apple Silicon)

💰 Affordable Innovation Platform

• Complete AI development setup for under $500
• Same capabilities as $50K+ enterprise workstations
• Global accessibility for makers and startups worldwide
• No recurring cloud costs - own your infrastructure

🚀 Universal Quick Start

Prerequisites

# Install system dependencies
sudo apt update
sudo apt install chromium-browser nodejs npm python3

# Verify Chromium works
chromium-browser --version

Installation

git clone https://github.com/nfodor/mcp-chromium-arm64
cd mcp-chromium-arm64
npm install
chmod +x *.py *.sh

Quick Test (One-Liner)

# Verify it works immediately after install:
python3 -c "import sys; sys.path.append('.'); import arm64_browser; print('[OK] ARM64 Browser Works!' if 'error' not in arm64_browser.navigate('https://example.com').lower() else '[FAIL] Failed')"

Expected Result: [OK] ARM64 Browser Works!

Test & Demo

# Quick demo with immediate visible results (30 seconds)
python3 instant_demo.py

# Or comprehensive demo showing all capabilities (2-3 minutes)
./run_demo.sh

Test the Setup

# Test MCP server directly
echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"tools/list","id":1}' | node index.js

# Test Python wrapper
python3 simple_browser.py

🛠️ Developer Guide & Debugging

🔧 Available MCP Tools (22 total)

Core Browser Control

• navigate - Navigate to URLs with full page loading
• screenshot - Capture PNG screenshots (full page or viewport)
• click - Click elements by CSS selector with precise positioning
• fill - Fill input fields with text or values
• hover - Hover over elements for dropdown/tooltip interactions
• select - Select dropdown options by value
• evaluate - Execute JavaScript and return results
• get_content - Extract page HTML or plain text content

Advanced Functionality

• get_console_logs - Retrieve browser console output
• get_console_errors - Get console error messages only
• get_network_logs - Monitor all network requests/responses
• get_network_errors - Track failed network requests (4xx/5xx)
• wipe_logs - Clear all stored logs from memory
• get_selected_element - Get info about currently focused element

Audit & Analysis Tools

• run_accessibility_audit - Check alt text, labels, headings, contrast
• run_performance_audit - Measure load times, memory usage, resources
• run_seo_audit - Validate title, meta description, H1 tags, canonical
• run_best_practices_audit - Check HTTPS, deprecated HTML, viewport
• run_nextjs_audit - Next.js specific optimization checks
• run_debugger_mode - Comprehensive debugging information
• run_audit_mode - Run all audits together with summary
• close_browser - Clean shutdown of chromium process

🐛 Debugging & Development

Direct MCP Testing

# Test individual tools directly
echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"navigate","arguments":{"url":"https://example.com"}}}' | node index.js

echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":2,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"evaluate","arguments":{"script":"document.title"}}}' | node index.js

echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":3,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"screenshot","arguments":{"name":"debug.png"}}}' | node index.js

Chrome DevTools Protocol Debugging

# Manual CDP connection test
node -e "
const { WebSocket } = require('ws');
const { spawn } = require('child_process');

const chrome = spawn('/usr/bin/chromium-browser', [
  '--headless', '--remote-debugging-port=9227'
]);

setTimeout(() => {
  fetch('http://localhost:9227/json')
    .then(r => r.json())
    .then(tabs => {
      console.log('Available tabs:', tabs.length);
      const ws = new WebSocket(tabs[0].webSocketDebuggerUrl);
      ws.on('open', () => {
        console.log('CDP WebSocket connected!');
        ws.send(JSON.stringify({id: 1, method: 'Runtime.evaluate', params: {expression: '2+2'}}));
      });
      ws.on('message', (data) => {
        console.log('CDP Response:', JSON.parse(data));
        chrome.kill();
        process.exit(0);
      });
    });
}, 2000);
"

Performance Monitoring

# Monitor system resources during operation
htop &
echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"navigate","arguments":{"url":"https://httpbin.org/delay/5"}}}' | time node index.js

# Check memory usage
ps aux | grep chromium
free -h

Network Debugging

# Check if debugging port is accessible
curl -s http://localhost:9222/json | jq '.[] | {id, title, type}'

# Monitor WebSocket traffic (install websocat)
websocat ws://localhost:9222/devtools/page/[TAB_ID] --text -v

🔍 Common Debugging Scenarios

1. WebSocket Connection Issues

# Symptoms: "CDP command timeout" errors
# Check if chrome debugging port is running
lsof -i :9222

# Test manual connection
node -e "
const { WebSocket } = require('ws');
const ws = new WebSocket('ws://localhost:9222/devtools/browser');
ws.on('open', () => console.log('✓ WebSocket OK'));
ws.on('error', (e) => console.log('✗ WebSocket Error:', e.message));
setTimeout(() => process.exit(0), 2000);
"

2. Chrome Process Issues

# Symptoms: Browser won't start or hangs
# Kill any stuck processes
pkill -f chromium-browser
pkill -f remote-debugging-port

# Test chrome startup manually
timeout 10s /usr/bin/chromium-browser --headless --remote-debugging-port=9223 --no-sandbox

# Check chrome logs
journalctl --user -u chromium --since "1 hour ago"

3. Element Selection Problems

# Debug CSS selectors interactively
echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"evaluate","arguments":{"script":"document.querySelectorAll(\"button\").length"}}}' | node index.js

# Get element information
echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"evaluate","arguments":{"script":"document.querySelector(\"#mybutton\") ? \"found\" : \"not found\""}}}' | node index.js

4. Memory and Performance Issues

# Monitor memory during operation
watch -n 1 'ps aux | grep -E "(chromium|node)" | grep -v grep'

# Chrome memory debugging
echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"evaluate","arguments":{"script":"JSON.stringify(performance.memory)"}}}' | node index.js

🎯 Advanced Debugging Features

Enable Verbose Logging

# Set environment variables for detailed output
export DEBUG=puppeteer:*
export NODE_ENV=development

# Run with detailed Chrome logs
/usr/bin/chromium-browser --headless --enable-logging --log-level=0 --remote-debugging-port=9222

CDP Message Tracing

# Create debug version with message logging
cp index.js debug-index.js

# Add to sendCDPCommand method:
# console.log('→ CDP:', JSON.stringify(command));
# console.log('← CDP:', JSON.stringify(response));

node debug-index.js

Integration with Browser DevTools

# Connect regular Chrome DevTools to the headless instance
# 1. Start the MCP server
# 2. Open regular Chrome/Chromium
# 3. Navigate to: chrome://inspect
# 4. Click "Configure..." and add localhost:9222
# 5. Click "inspect" on the page you want to debug

📊 Performance Benchmarks

Startup Time Comparison

# Direct CDP (v1.3.0)
time echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"evaluate","arguments":{"script":"Date.now()"}}}' | node index.js

# Puppeteer version (v1.2.0)  
git checkout main
time echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"evaluate","arguments":{"script":"Date.now()"}}}' | node index.js

Memory Usage Monitoring

# Before operation
free -h && ps aux | grep -E "(chromium|node)" | grep -v grep

# During operation (run in another terminal)
watch -n 1 'echo "=== $(date) ===" && free -h && echo && ps aux | grep -E "(chromium|node)" | grep -v grep'

🚨 Error Codes & Solutions

🔧 Customization & Extension

Adding New MCP Tools

// In index.js, add to tools array:
{
  name: 'my_custom_tool',
  description: 'My custom functionality',
  inputSchema: {
    type: 'object',
    properties: {
      param: { type: 'string', description: 'Parameter description' }
    },
    required: ['param']
  }
}

// Add to switch statement in CallToolRequestSchema handler:
case 'my_custom_tool':
  return await this.myCustomTool(args.param);

// Implement the method:
async myCustomTool(param) {
  await this.ensureChromium();
  const result = await this.sendCDPCommand('Page.navigate', { url: param });
  return { content: [{ type: 'text', text: `Custom result: ${result}` }] };
}

Chrome Launch Options

// Modify in startChromium() method:
const customArgs = [
  '--headless',
  '--no-sandbox',
  '--disable-extensions',
  '--disable-plugins',
  '--disable-background-timer-throttling',
  '--disable-backgrounding-occluded-windows',
  '--disable-renderer-backgrounding',
  '--remote-debugging-port=9222',
  '--window-size=1920,1080',        // Custom viewport
  '--user-agent=CustomUA/1.0',      // Custom user agent
  '--disable-web-security',         // For CORS testing
  '--allow-running-insecure-content' // For mixed content
];

🌐 Cross-Platform ARM64 Compatibility

Platform Support Matrix

macOS Apple Silicon Setup

Prerequisites

# Install Homebrew if not already installed
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

# Install Node.js and Chromium
brew install node chromium --no-quarantine

Required Code Changes

Currently, the server is optimized for Linux ARM64. For macOS compatibility, modify index.js:

// Detect platform and set appropriate chrome path
function getChromePath() {
  const platform = process.platform;
  
  switch(platform) {
    case 'linux':
      return '/usr/bin/chromium-browser';
    case 'darwin': // macOS
      // Try multiple possible paths
      const macPaths = [
        '/Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome',
        '/Applications/Chromium.app/Contents/MacOS/Chromium',
        '/opt/homebrew/bin/chromium'
      ];
      
      for (const path of macPaths) {
        if (require('fs').existsSync(path)) {
          return path;
        }
      }
      throw new Error('Chrome/Chromium not found on macOS');
    case 'win32':
      return 'C:\\Program Files\\Google\\Chrome\\Application\\chrome.exe';
    default:
      throw new Error(`Unsupported platform: ${platform}`);
  }
}

// Update startChromium method
async startChromium() {
  const chromePath = getChromePath();
  const platform = process.platform;
  
  // Platform-specific arguments
  const baseArgs = [
    '--headless',
    '--disable-extensions',
    '--disable-plugins',
    `--remote-debugging-port=${debuggingPort}`,
    '--no-first-run',
    '--disable-gpu',
    '--window-size=1280,720'
  ];
  
  // Add Linux-specific sandbox flags
  if (platform === 'linux') {
    baseArgs.push('--no-sandbox', '--disable-setuid-sandbox');
  }
  
  // Add macOS-specific flags if needed
  if (platform === 'darwin') {
    baseArgs.push('--disable-dev-shm-usage');
  }
  
  chromiumProcess = spawn(chromePath, baseArgs);
  // ... rest of method
}

macOS-Specific Issues & Solutions

1. "Chromium is damaged" Error

# Remove quarantine flag if downloading manually
sudo xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Chromium.app

# Or install via Homebrew with no-quarantine flag
brew install chromium --no-quarantine

2. Chrome vs Chromium Choice

# Option 1: Use Google Chrome (recommended)
# Download from: https://www.google.com/chrome/
# Path: /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome

# Option 2: Use Chromium via Homebrew
brew install chromium --no-quarantine
# Path: /opt/homebrew/bin/chromium

3. Permission Issues

# Ensure Chrome has required permissions
# System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy tab
# Grant Camera, Microphone access if needed for specific use cases

Testing Cross-Platform Compatibility

Quick Platform Detection Test

node -e "
console.log('Platform:', process.platform);
console.log('Architecture:', process.arch);
const fs = require('fs');

const paths = {
  linux: '/usr/bin/chromium-browser',
  darwin: '/Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome',
  win32: 'C:\\\\Program Files\\\\Google\\\\Chrome\\\\Application\\\\chrome.exe'
};

const chromePath = paths[process.platform];
console.log('Expected Chrome path:', chromePath);
console.log('Chrome exists:', fs.existsSync(chromePath));
"

Cross-Platform MCP Test

# Test basic functionality across platforms
echo '{\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"id\":1,\"method\":\"tools/call\",\"params\":{\"name\":\"evaluate\",\"arguments\":{\"script\":\"navigator.platform\"}}}' | node index.js

# Should return the current platform

Windows ARM64 Considerations

While untested, Windows ARM64 support would need:

// Windows-specific chrome path detection
case 'win32':
  const winPaths = [
    'C:\\Program Files\\Google\\Chrome\\Application\\chrome.exe',
    'C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Google\\Chrome\\Application\\chrome.exe',
    process.env.LOCALAPPDATA + '\\Google\\Chrome\\Application\\chrome.exe'
  ];
  // Similar path checking logic...

Performance Differences

Contribution Needed

We welcome contributions for full cross-platform support!

• macOS testers: Test the proposed changes on Apple Silicon
• Windows ARM64: Test on Surface Pro X or similar devices
• Performance optimization: Platform-specific optimizations
• Installation scripts: Automated setup for each platform

Claude CLI Integration

Prerequisites

# Install Claude Code CLI if you haven't already
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Add to Claude CLI

# From the project directory after cloning
claude mcp add chromium-arm64 "$(pwd)/mcp-wrapper.sh" --scope user

Verify Connection

claude mcp list
# Should show: chromium-arm64: /path/to/mcp-wrapper.sh - ✓ Connected

⚠️ Important: Restart Claude After Adding

You MUST start a new Claude session after adding the MCP server:

# Exit current session if in one
exit
# Start fresh session
claude

Using in Claude CLI

Ask Claude to use the chromium-arm64 tools:

List available MCP servers and use chromium-arm64 to navigate to https://example.com

Take a screenshot using the chromium-arm64 tool

Use chromium-arm64 to click the button with selector #submit

Fill the email field using chromium-arm64 with test@example.com

Be explicit to avoid Playwright/Puppeteer:

• "Use chromium-arm64 to navigate..."
• "Using the chromium-arm64 tool, take a screenshot"
• "Open a browser" (might try broken Playwright)
• "Take a screenshot" (might try broken Puppeteer)

Success Example

When working correctly, you'll see:

You: Use chromium-arm64 to navigate to https://httpbin.org/json and show me what you see

Claude: I'll navigate to https://httpbin.org/json using the chromium-arm64 tool.

[Uses chromium-arm64.navigate tool]

The page displays a JSON object with a slideshow structure containing:
- Author: "Yours Truly"
- Date: "date of publication"
- Title: "Sample Slide Show"
...

Usage Examples

Python API

import simple_browser

# Navigate to any website
result = simple_browser.browser_navigate("https://example.com")
print(result)  # "Successfully navigated to https://example.com"

# Take a screenshot
screenshot = simple_browser.browser_screenshot("homepage.png")
print(screenshot)  # "Screenshot saved to /tmp/homepage.png"

# Execute JavaScript
title = simple_browser.browser_evaluate("document.title")
print(title)  # Website title

# Extract page content
content = simple_browser.browser_get_content("text")
print(content[:100])  # First 100 chars of page text

MCP Tools (via Claude Code)

Once configured, use these tools directly in Claude Code:

• navigate - Go to URLs
• screenshot - Capture page images
• click - Click elements by CSS selector
• fill - Fill form fields
• evaluate - Execute JavaScript
• get_content - Extract page HTML/text
• close_browser - Clean shutdown

🎯 Key Use Cases

🧪 For Testing & QA Teams

• End-to-end SaaS testing with autonomous AI agents
• Visual regression detection and cross-device compatibility
• 24/7 continuous validation on budget hardware

🚀 For Startups & Makers

• Complete $480 AI development setup (see Raspberry Pi Guide)
• No-code SaaS development with AI-powered testing
• Competitive analysis and market research automation

🛠️ For DevOps & Developers

• CI/CD integration with comprehensive audit tools
• Performance benchmarking and accessibility testing
• Advanced debugging with console/network monitoring

📖 Full examples and detailed guides available in the specialized documentation.

🏗️ Architecture

graph TB
    A[Claude Code] --> B[MCP Protocol]
    B --> C[ARM64 Browser Server]
    C --> D[System Chromium]
    D --> E[Web Pages]
    
    F[Python Tools] --> C
    G[Direct CLI] --> C

🔧 Troubleshooting & Advanced Usage

For detailed troubleshooting guides, debugging tools, and advanced configuration:

📖 Quick References

• Common Issues: See Technical Documentation →
• Performance Tuning: See Technical Documentation →
• Cross-Platform Setup: See Technical Documentation →
• Complete Hardware Setup: See Raspberry Pi Guide →

Quick Fixes

# Test MCP server directly
echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"tools/list","id":1}' | node index.js

# Verify browser installation
chromium-browser --version

# Check Claude MCP integration
claude mcp list

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions to democratize AI access for developers worldwide.

Areas for Contribution:

• 📱 Mobile browser support (Android/iOS testing)
• 🔧 Additional MCP tools and integrations
• ⚡ Performance optimizations for smaller devices
• 📚 Tutorial content and use-case examples

Development Setup:

git clone https://github.com/nfodor/mcp-chromium-arm64
cd mcp-chromium-arm64
npm install
# Ready to use - no development server needed!

📜 License

MIT License - feel free to use in commercial projects!

🙏 Acknowledgments

• 🤖 Anthropic for Claude Code and MCP protocol
• 🍓 Raspberry Pi Foundation for democratizing computing
• 🌐 Chromium Project for ARM64 browser support
• 👥 Open Source Community for making this possible

📞 Support & Community

• 🐛 Issues: GitHub Issues
• 💬 Discussions: GitHub Discussions
• 📧 Email: github@fodor.app
• 📁 Repository: github.com/nfodor/mcp-chromium-arm64

⭐ Star this repo if it helps democratize AI development!
Every star helps more developers discover accessible AI solutions

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