Firewatch MCP

Firewatch MCP is a Model Context Protocol server for automating Firefox via WebDriver BiDi (through Selenium WebDriver). It works with Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline and other MCP clients.

Repository: https://github.com/janthmueller/firewatch-mcp

Independent fork: Firewatch MCP is an independent fork of Mozilla's Firefox DevTools MCP. It is not an official Mozilla product and is published separately under the firewatch-mcp package name.

Stability note: Firewatch MCP is still unstable on 1.x. APIs, tools, config keys, and behavior can still change, and breaking changes may still happen when upgrading.

Firewatch MCP builds on the upstream project with a few practical additions:

extract_text for rendered or DOM text extraction from the full page or a scoped region
packaged npm distribution under firewatch-mcp
independent Firewatch plugin/config surface for MCP clients
fork-specific improvements around Firefox automation, page inspection, and extraction workflows

Note: This MCP server requires a local Firefox browser installation and cannot run on cloud hosting services like glama.ai. Use npx firewatch-mcp@latest to run locally, or use Docker with the provided Dockerfile.

Requirements

Node.js ≥ 20.19.0
Firefox 100+ installed (auto‑detected, or pass --firefox-path)

Install and use with Claude Code (npx)

Recommended: use npx so you always run the latest published version from npm.

Option A — Claude Code CLI

claude mcp add firewatch npx firewatch-mcp@latest

Pass options either as args or env vars. Examples:

# Headless + viewport via args
claude mcp add firewatch npx firewatch-mcp@latest -- --headless --viewport 1280x720

# Or via environment variables
claude mcp add firewatch npx firewatch-mcp@latest \
  --env START_URL=https://example.com \
  --env FIREFOX_HEADLESS=true

Option B — Edit Claude Code settings JSON

Add to your Claude Code config file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/Code/mcp_settings.json
Linux: ~/.config/claude/code/mcp_settings.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\Code\mcp_settings.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "firewatch": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "firewatch-mcp@latest", "--headless", "--viewport", "1280x720"],
      "env": {
        "START_URL": "about:home"
      }
    }
  }
}

Option C — Helper script (local dev build)

npm run setup
# Choose Claude Code; the script saves JSON to the right path

Try it with MCP Inspector

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector npx firewatch-mcp@latest --start-url https://example.com --headless

Then call tools like:

list_pages, select_page, navigate_page
extract_text for rendered or DOM text from the page or a scoped region
take_snapshot then click_by_uid / fill_by_uid
- use collectorMaxTextLength and formatterMaxTextLength to control per-node text truncation
- omit the values for default compact previews, set them to null for uncapped node text
- pass uid to zoom into a previously discovered subtree root while keeping unchanged UIDs stable
list_network_requests (always‑on capture), get_network_request
screenshot_page, list_console_messages

CLI options

You can pass flags or environment variables (names on the right):

--firefox-path — absolute path to Firefox binary
--headless — run without UI (FIREFOX_HEADLESS=true)
--viewport 1280x720 — initial window size
--profile-path — use a specific Firefox profile
--firefox-arg — extra Firefox arguments (repeatable)
--start-url — open this URL on start (START_URL)
--accept-insecure-certs — ignore TLS errors (ACCEPT_INSECURE_CERTS=true)
--connect-existing — attach to an already-running Firefox instead of launching a new one (CONNECT_EXISTING=true)
--marionette-port — Marionette port for connect-existing mode, default 2828 (MARIONETTE_PORT)
--pref name=value — set Firefox preference at startup via moz:firefoxOptions (repeatable)
--enable-script — enable the evaluate_script tool, which executes arbitrary JavaScript in the page context (ENABLE_SCRIPT=true)
--enable-privileged-context — enable privileged context tools: list/select privileged contexts, evaluate privileged scripts, get/set Firefox prefs, and list extensions. Requires MOZ_REMOTE_ALLOW_SYSTEM_ACCESS=1 (ENABLE_PRIVILEGED_CONTEXT=true)

Note on --pref: When Firefox runs in automation, it applies RecommendedPreferences that modify browser behavior for testing. The --pref option allows overriding these defaults when needed.

Connect to existing Firefox

Use --connect-existing to automate your real browsing session — with cookies, logins, and open tabs intact:

# Start Firefox with Marionette enabled
firefox --marionette

# Run the MCP server
npx firewatch-mcp --connect-existing --marionette-port 2828

Or set marionette.enabled to true in about:config (or user.js) to enable Marionette on every launch.

BiDi-dependent features (console events, network events) are not available in connect-existing mode; all other features work normally.

Warning: Do not leave Marionette enabled during normal browsing. It sets navigator.webdriver = true and changes other browser fingerprint signals, which can trigger bot detection on sites protected by Cloudflare, Akamai, etc. Only enable Marionette when you need MCP automation, then restart Firefox normally afterward.

Tool overview

Pages: list/new/navigate/select/close
Text Extraction: extract rendered or DOM text from the page, selector, or UID
Snapshot/UID: take/resolve/clear
Input: click/hover/fill/drag/upload/form fill
Network: list/get (ID‑first, filters, always‑on capture)
Console: list/clear
Screenshot: page/by uid (with optional saveTo for CLI environments)
Script: evaluate_script
Privileged Context: list/select privileged ("chrome") contexts, evaluate_privileged_script (requires MOZ_REMOTE_ALLOW_SYSTEM_ACCESS=1)
WebExtension: install_extension, uninstall_extension, list_extensions (list requires MOZ_REMOTE_ALLOW_SYSTEM_ACCESS=1)
Firefox Management: get_firefox_info, get_firefox_output, restart_firefox, set_firefox_prefs, get_firefox_prefs
Utilities: accept/dismiss dialog, history back/forward, set viewport

Screenshot optimization for Claude Code

When using screenshots in Claude Code CLI, the base64 image data can consume significant context. Use the saveTo parameter to save screenshots to disk instead:

screenshot_page({ saveTo: "/tmp/page.png" })
screenshot_by_uid({ uid: "abc123", saveTo: "/tmp/element.png" })

The file can then be viewed with Claude Code's Read tool without impacting context size.

Local development

If you use Nix, enter a dev shell with the required local tools:

nix-shell
npm ci

The shell provides Node.js, npm, Firefox, and geckodriver.

npm install
npm run build

# Run with Inspector against local build
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/index.js --headless --viewport 1280x720

# Or run in dev with hot reload
npm run inspector:dev

Testing

npm run test:run          # all tests once (unit + integration)
npm test                  # watch mode

See docs/testing.md for full details on running specific test suites, the e2e scenario coverage, and known issues.

Troubleshooting

Firefox not found: pass --firefox-path "/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox" (macOS) or the correct path on your OS.
First run is slow: Selenium sets up the BiDi session; subsequent runs are faster.
Stale UIDs after navigation: take a fresh snapshot (take_snapshot) before using UID tools.
Windows 10: Error during discovery for MCP server 'firewatch': MCP error -32000: Connection closed
- Solution 1 Call using cmd (For more info https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers/issues/1082#issuecomment-2791786310)
```
"mcpServers": {
  "firewatch": {
    "command": "cmd",
    "args": ["/c", "npx", "-y", "firewatch-mcp@latest"]
  }
}
```
  The Key Change: On Windows, running a Node.js package via npx often requires the cmd /c prefix to be executed correctly from within another process like VSCode's extension host. Therefore, "command": "npx" was replaced with "command": "cmd", and the actual npx command was moved into the "args" array, preceded by "/c". This fix allows Windows to interpret the command correctly and launch the server.
- Solution 2 Instead of another layer of shell you can write the absolute path to npx:
```
"mcpServers": {
  "firewatch": {
    "command": "C:\\nvm4w\\nodejs\\npx.ps1",
    "args": ["-y", "firewatch-mcp@latest"]
  }
}
```
  Note: The path above is an example. You must adjust it to match the actual location of npx on your machine. Depending on your setup, the file extension might be .cmd, .bat, or .exe rather than .ps1. Also, ensure you use double backslashes (\\) as path delimiters, as required by the JSON format.

Issues and Contributing

Firewatch MCP issues are tracked in this repository:

Open a Firewatch MCP issue

Upstream Firefox DevTools MCP issues are tracked on Bugzilla under product: Developer Infrastructure, component: AI for Development.

For questions and discussion about the upstream project, join the #firefox-devtools-mcp Matrix room.

Upstream

Firewatch MCP is derived from Mozilla's Firefox DevTools MCP:

Upstream repository: https://github.com/mozilla/firefox-devtools-mcp
Firewatch MCP repository: https://github.com/janthmueller/firewatch-mcp

Some historical changelog entries, test fixtures, or issue references may still point to the upstream project where that context is part of the project history.

Author

Maintained by Jan Th Mueller as an independent fork of Mozilla's Firefox DevTools MCP.

firewatch-mcp

Quick Install