navigate_history

Navigate browser history backward or forward to test web application flows, automate navigation sequences, or control browsing direction during automation tasks.

Instructions

Navigate history back/forward. UIDs become stale.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`direction`	Yes	back or forward

Implementation Reference

src/tools/utilities.ts:119-140 (handler)

Handler function that implements the navigate_history tool logic: validates direction ('back' or 'forward'), gets Firefox instance, calls navigateBack() or navigateForward(), and returns success or error response.

export async function handleNavigateHistory(args: unknown): Promise<McpToolResponse> {
  try {
    const { direction } = args as { direction: 'back' | 'forward' };

    if (!direction || (direction !== 'back' && direction !== 'forward')) {
      throw new Error('direction parameter is required and must be "back" or "forward"');
    }

    const { getFirefox } = await import('../index.js');
    const firefox = await getFirefox();

    if (direction === 'back') {
      await firefox.navigateBack();
    } else {
      await firefox.navigateForward();
    }

    return successResponse(`✅ ${direction}`);
  } catch (error) {
    return errorResponse(error as Error);
  }
}

src/tools/utilities.ts:33-47 (schema)

Tool definition object for 'navigate_history' including name, description, and inputSchema for MCP validation (requires 'direction' as 'back' or 'forward').

export const navigateHistoryTool = {
  name: 'navigate_history',
  description: 'Navigate history back/forward. UIDs become stale.',
  inputSchema: {
    type: 'object',
    properties: {
      direction: {
        type: 'string',
        enum: ['back', 'forward'],
        description: 'back or forward',
      },
    },
    required: ['direction'],
  },
};

src/index.ts:145-145 (registration)
Registration of the navigate_history handler in the toolHandlers Map used by the MCP server.
```
['navigate_history', tools.handleNavigateHistory],
```
src/index.ts:189-189 (registration)
Registration of the navigateHistoryTool schema in the allTools array returned by ListToolsRequest.
```
tools.navigateHistoryTool,
```
src/tools/index.ts:76-80 (registration)
Re-export of navigateHistoryTool and handleNavigateHistory from utilities.ts for central import in src/index.ts.
```
navigateHistoryTool,
setViewportSizeTool,
handleAcceptDialog,
handleDismissDialog,
handleNavigateHistory,
```

firefox-devtools-mcp