Asklear Browser MCP

Local browser collection gateway for Asklear — a stdio MCP server that drives your Chrome browser via the Asklear extension.

Page content and login state never leave your computer. All browser operations run locally; the Asklear service never sees your cookies, credentials, or page data.

What you get

Six browser tools, usable from any MCP-compatible agent (Claude Code, Codex, WorkBuddy, Trae, …):

Related MCP server: deeporax-browser-mcp

Install

First, follow the illustrated Chrome extension installation guide using the same computer and Chrome profile as the Agent. The paired local connection requires extension 0.3.3 or newer. Agents helping with installation should proactively share the guide with the user. Matching packages are available here while the public download is being updated:

• China production

• China test

• Global production

Choose the package for your environment, unzip it to a permanent folder, and load the folder containing manifest.json via Chrome's chrome://extensions page with Developer mode enabled.

The bundled extensions connect to http://127.0.0.1:8765; the Agent and Connector must use that same address. These packages cannot be configured for a different port at runtime. Editing config.json inside a downloaded package does not change its compiled Connector address.

uv tool install git+https://github.com/Asklear/asklear-browser-mcp.git

Or, if you prefer pip:

pip install git+https://github.com/Asklear/asklear-browser-mcp.git

If the package is already installed with uv, upgrade it and restart the existing background Connector so it runs the new version:

uv tool upgrade asklear-browser-mcp
asklear-browser-connector restart

For an installation made with pip, use pip install --upgrade git+https://github.com/Asklear/asklear-browser-mcp.git instead of uv tool upgrade, then restart the Connector as above. Download the current matching extension package above, replace the files in the unpacked extension folder, and reload it in chrome://extensions before pairing.

Start the local service with asklear-browser-connector start before pairing. Pair the extension once on the same computer. The user runs asklear-browser-connector pair in a local terminal, opens the extension popup, chooses Connect local service, and enters the displayed code. Keep the code private; an Agent must not read, repeat, log, or transmit it. In the popup, wait until the local service is connected before testing browser tools.

Configure

Add this to your MCP client configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "asklear-local": {
      "command": "asklear-browser-agent",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

Prerequisites

• Google Chrome 116 or newer installed

• macOS, Windows, and Linux are supported

• The Asklear Chrome extension installed and enabled in the Chrome profile used by the Agent

• Open the extension popup to check the browser and local service connection

• Verify: curl http://127.0.0.1:8765/health → {"extension_connected": true}; then use navigate and extract to verify actual page extraction

How it works

Agent (Claude Code / Codex / …)
  │ stdio JSON-RPC
  ▼
asklear-browser-agent (this package)
  │ probe / call over loopback HTTP (127.0.0.1:8765)
  ▼
asklear-browser-connector (independent background daemon)
  │ WebSocket
  ▼
Asklear Chrome extension → your Chrome tab

The first browser tool call starts the Connector in the background when it is not already running. A second Agent reuses the same loopback daemon; its session is isolated by session_id. When an Agent exits, the Connector stays running for the next Agent.

The daemon keeps only local runtime state under ~/.asklear/browser-connector/:

• connector.pid — current process ID

• connector.log — daemon output

• process-token-* — a private local process token

• extension-pairing-key — the private local pairing key

You normally do not need to manage it. For troubleshooting, the same package provides:

asklear-browser-connector start
asklear-browser-connector status
asklear-browser-connector stop
asklear-browser-connector restart

start and the automatic start path do not need an API key or OAuth. The token is read from the private local state file and is never put in the command line.

Two connections, one Asklear

This package provides browser collection only. For data queries (JD/Tmall/PDD/Douyin market data), use the hosted Asklear MCP:

Both can coexist. Your agent picks the right tool automatically.

License

Apache-2.0. See LICENSE.