Webtools MCP Server

⚠️ IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: This software has been developed with the assistance of AI technology. It is provided as-is and should NOT be used in production environments without thorough testing and validation. The code may contain errors, security vulnerabilities, or unexpected behavior. Use at your own risk for research, learning, or development purposes only.

A Model Context Protocol server providing comprehensive web analysis tools including HTML extraction, markdown conversion, screenshot capabilities, debug console, advanced performance analysis, and Lighthouse-powered web audits for performance, accessibility, SEO, and more.

Prerequisites

• Node.js: Version 14 or higher

• Chrome/Chromium: Automatically provided by Puppeteer

  • The server will use Puppeteer's bundled Chrome

  • No need to install Chrome separately

Related MCP server: URLpipe MCP server

Features

Core Tools

• webtool_gethtml: Raw HTML content extraction

  • JavaScript rendering support

  • Proxy support

  • Automatic retries

• webtool_readpage: Markdown conversion

  • Clean content extraction

  • Link preservation

  • Image handling

  • Custom selector support

• webtool_screenshot: Screenshot capture

  • Full page screenshots

  • Element-specific capture

  • Device emulation

  • Custom viewport settings

• webtool_debug: Debug console

  • Console output capture

  • Network request monitoring

  • Error tracking

  • Performance metrics

  • Layout thrashing detection

• webtool_lighthouse: Comprehensive Web Audit

  • Performance analysis

  • Accessibility testing

  • SEO evaluation

  • Best practices review

  • Progressive Web App assessment

  • Device emulation support

Performance Analysis Tools

• webtool_performance_trace: Advanced Performance Analysis

  • Layout thrashing detection

  • CSS variables impact analysis

  • JavaScript execution timeline with layout correlation

  • Long task breakdown and attribution

  • Memory and DOM size analysis

  • Resource loading optimization

• webtool_network_monitor: Network Activity Analysis

  • Detailed request and response analysis

  • Resource timing information

  • Waterfall visualization data

  • Optimization recommendations

  • Third-party request analysis

  • Cache analysis

• webtool_coverage_analysis: Code Coverage Analysis

  • JavaScript and CSS coverage analysis

  • Unused code identification

  • Code splitting recommendations

  • Third-party code analysis

• webtool_web_vitals: Core Web Vitals Analysis

  • LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) analysis

  • CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) analysis

  • FID/INP (First Input Delay/Interaction to Next Paint) analysis

  • TTFB (Time to First Byte) analysis

  • Element-specific analysis

• webtool_performance_test: Cross-device and Network Testing

  • Multi-device testing

  • Network condition simulation

  • Comparative analysis

  • Baseline comparison

  • Device-specific recommendations

MCP Prompts

• analyze-website: Comprehensive Website Analysis

  • Performance, accessibility, SEO, and UX analysis

  • Device type selection (mobile/desktop)

  • Detailed recommendations tailored to device type

  • Complete analysis report with actionable insights

• get-website-content: Content Extraction

  • Main content extraction from any webpage

  • Clean markdown conversion

  • Removal of navigation, ads, and non-essential elements

  • Preservation of important formatting and structure

• screenshot-website: Screenshot Capture

  • Visual representation of webpage

  • Full page capture

  • Simple URL-based interface

• technical-performance-analysis: Technical Performance Analysis

  • Detailed technical analysis of performance bottlenecks

  • Code examples and optimization suggestions

  • Focus area selection (JavaScript, rendering, resources, network)

  • Performance metrics with severity assessment

  • Actionable, code-level recommendations

Installation

You can install the package globally:

npm install -g @bschauer/webtools-mcp-server

Or use it directly with npx:

npx @bschauer/webtools-mcp-server

Quick Start

For Claude Desktop Users

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "webtools": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@bschauer/webtools-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "ENABLED_TOOLS": "BASIC"
      }
    }
  }
}

This configuration uses only basic tools and reduces token usage by 89%.

For Claude Code Users

# Install with token optimization
claude mcp add webtools-basic --env ENABLED_TOOLS=BASIC -- npx -y @bschauer/webtools-mcp-server@latest

Test Your Installation

Once configured, you can ask Claude:

• "Please extract the main content from https://example.com"

• "Take a screenshot of https://google.com"

• "Analyze the performance of https://news.ycombinator.com"

Token Usage Optimization

By default, all tools are loaded (~10.3k tokens). You can reduce token usage by enabling only the tools you need:

Configuration Options

1. Environment Variable: ENABLED_TOOLS=<preset|tools>

2. CLI Argument: --tools=<preset|tools>

Available Presets

Individual Tools Available:

• webtool_gethtml - Raw HTML extraction

• webtool_readpage - Markdown conversion

• webtool_screenshot - Screenshot capture

• webtool_debug - Debug console + network monitoring

• webtool_lighthouse - Lighthouse audits

• webtool_performance_trace - Performance tracing

• webtool_coverage_analysis - Code coverage analysis

• webtool_web_vitals - Core Web Vitals metrics

• webtool_network_monitor - Network activity analysis

• webtool_performance_test - Cross-device performance testing

Examples

# Use only basic tools (90% token reduction)
ENABLED_TOOLS=BASIC npx @bschauer/webtools-mcp-server

# Use performance tools only
npx @bschauer/webtools-mcp-server --tools=PERFORMANCE

# Use web + debugging tools
ENABLED_TOOLS=DEBUG npx @bschauer/webtools-mcp-server

# Use specific individual tools
npx @bschauer/webtools-mcp-server --tools=webtool_gethtml,webtool_readpage,webtool_screenshot

# Show all available options
npx @bschauer/webtools-mcp-server --help

# Use environment variable with any command
export ENABLED_TOOLS=WEB
npx @bschauer/webtools-mcp-server

Claude Desktop Integration

Basic Configuration (All Tools)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "webtools": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@bschauer/webtools-mcp-server@latest"]
    }
  }
}

Token-Optimized Configurations

Basic Tools Only (89% Token Reduction)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "webtools-basic": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@bschauer/webtools-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "ENABLED_TOOLS": "BASIC"
      }
    }
  }
}

Web Content + Screenshots

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "webtools-web": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@bschauer/webtools-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "ENABLED_TOOLS": "WEB"
      }
    }
  }
}

Performance Analysis Only

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "webtools-perf": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@bschauer/webtools-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "ENABLED_TOOLS": "PERFORMANCE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Custom Tool Selection

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "webtools-custom": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@bschauer/webtools-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "ENABLED_TOOLS": "webtool_gethtml,webtool_readpage,webtool_screenshot,webtool_debug"
      }
    }
  }
}

Using CLI Arguments (Alternative)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "webtools": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@bschauer/webtools-mcp-server@latest", "--tools=BASIC"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code Integration

Claude Code provides a simplified command-line interface for adding MCP servers:

Basic Installation (All Tools)

# Install with all tools (default)
claude mcp add webtools -- npx -y @bschauer/webtools-mcp-server@latest

Token-Optimized Installations

# Basic tools only (89% token reduction)
claude mcp add webtools-basic --env ENABLED_TOOLS=BASIC -- npx -y @bschauer/webtools-mcp-server@latest

# Web content + screenshots
claude mcp add webtools-web --env ENABLED_TOOLS=WEB -- npx -y @bschauer/webtools-mcp-server@latest

# Performance analysis only
claude mcp add webtools-perf --env ENABLED_TOOLS=PERFORMANCE -- npx -y @bschauer/webtools-mcp-server@latest

# Debug tools
claude mcp add webtools-debug --env ENABLED_TOOLS=DEBUG -- npx -y @bschauer/webtools-mcp-server@latest

# Custom tool selection
claude mcp add webtools-custom --env ENABLED_TOOLS=webtool_gethtml,webtool_readpage,webtool_screenshot -- npx -y @bschauer/webtools-mcp-server@latest

Using CLI Arguments (Alternative Approach)

# Using --tools parameter instead of environment variable
claude mcp add webtools-basic -- npx -y @bschauer/webtools-mcp-server@latest --tools=BASIC
claude mcp add webtools-perf -- npx -y @bschauer/webtools-mcp-server@latest --tools=PERFORMANCE

Managing Your Installation

# List all MCP servers
claude mcp list

# Get details about the webtools server
claude mcp get webtools-basic

# Remove a server
claude mcp remove webtools-basic

# Check server status in Claude Code
/mcp

Project-Wide Installation (Team Sharing)

# Install for the entire project team
claude mcp add webtools-basic --scope project --env ENABLED_TOOLS=BASIC -- npx -y @bschauer/webtools-mcp-server@latest

# This creates a .mcp.json file in your project root that can be committed to version control

Configuration

Create a configuration file at ~/.mcp/webtools-mcp-server.config.json:

{
  "proxy": {
    "enabled": false,
    "url": "http://your-proxy-server:port",
    "timeout": 10000
  },
  "browser": {
    "ignoreSSLErrors": false,
    "defaultViewport": {
      "width": 1920,
      "height": 1080
    }
  },
  "devices": {
    "mobile": {
      "width": 375,
      "height": 812,
      "deviceScaleFactor": 3,
      "isMobile": true,
      "hasTouch": true,
      "isLandscape": false,
      "userAgent": "Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 15_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/15.0 Mobile/15E148 Safari/604.1"
    },
    "tablet": {
      "width": 768,
      "height": 1024,
      "deviceScaleFactor": 2,
      "isMobile": true,
      "hasTouch": true,
      "isLandscape": false,
      "userAgent": "Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; CPU OS 15_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/15.0 Mobile/15E148 Safari/604.1"
    },
    "desktop": {
      "width": 1920,
      "height": 1080,
      "deviceScaleFactor": 1,
      "isMobile": false,
      "hasTouch": false,
      "isLandscape": true,
      "userAgent": "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/122.0.0.0 Safari/537.36"
    }
  },
  "networkConditions": {
    "Slow 3G": {
      "downloadThroughput": 500000,
      "uploadThroughput": 300000,
      "latency": 400
    },
    "Fast 3G": {
      "downloadThroughput": 1500000,
      "uploadThroughput": 750000,
      "latency": 300
    },
    "4G": {
      "downloadThroughput": 4000000,
      "uploadThroughput": 2000000,
      "latency": 100
    },
    "WiFi": {
      "downloadThroughput": 10000000,
      "uploadThroughput": 5000000,
      "latency": 20
    },
    "Fiber": {
      "downloadThroughput": 100000000,
      "uploadThroughput": 50000000,
      "latency": 5
    }
  }
}

Environment Variables

You can also configure the server using environment variables:

• USE_PROXY: Enable proxy support (true/false)

• PROXY_URL: Proxy server URL

• PROXY_TIMEOUT: Proxy timeout in milliseconds

• IGNORE_SSL_ERRORS: Ignore SSL certificate errors by default for all tools (true/false) - useful for development environments like DDEV

Tool Usage Examples

HTML Content Extraction

webtool_gethtml({
  url: "https://example.com",
  useJavaScript: true,
  useProxy: false,
  ignoreSSLErrors: false,
});

Page Reading (Markdown Conversion)

webtool_readpage({
  url: "https://example.com",
  useJavaScript: true,
  useProxy: false,
  selector: "main",
  ignoreSSLErrors: false,
});

Screenshot Capture

webtool_screenshot({
  url: "https://example.com",
  selector: ".content",
  useProxy: false,
  deviceConfig: {
    width: 1920,
    height: 1080,
    deviceScaleFactor: 1,
    isMobile: false,
  },
});

Debug Console

webtool_debug({
  url: "https://example.com",
  captureConsole: true,
  captureNetwork: true,
  captureErrors: true,
  captureLayoutThrashing: true, // Enable layout thrashing detection
  timeoutMs: 15000,
});

// Focus on layout thrashing detection

webtool_debug({
  url: "https://example.com",
  captureConsole: false,
  captureNetwork: false,
  captureErrors: true,
  captureLayoutThrashing: true,
  timeoutMs: 15000,
});

Lighthouse Web Audit

webtool_lighthouse({
  url: "https://example.com",
  categories: ["performance", "accessibility", "best-practices", "seo", "pwa"],
  device: "mobile", // or "desktop"
  ignoreSSLErrors: false,
});

// Run specific category audits only

webtool_lighthouse({
  url: "https://example.com",
  categories: ["performance", "seo"], // Only performance and SEO
  device: "desktop",
});

Advanced Performance Analysis

webtool_performance_trace({
  url: "https://example.com",
  timeoutMs: 15000,
  captureCPUProfile: true,
  captureNetworkActivity: true,
  captureJSProfile: true,
  captureRenderingPerformance: true,
  captureMemoryProfile: true,
  deviceConfig: {
    width: 1920,
    height: 1080,
    deviceScaleFactor: 1,
    isMobile: false,
  },
});

// Focus on specific performance aspects

webtool_performance_trace({
  url: "https://example.com",
  captureRenderingPerformance: true, // Focus on layout and rendering
  captureMemoryProfile: true, // Include memory analysis
  deviceConfig: {
    width: 375,
    height: 812,
    deviceScaleFactor: 3,
    isMobile: true,
  },
});

Network Activity Analysis

webtool_network_monitor({
  url: "https://example.com",
  timeoutMs: 15000,
  waitAfterLoadMs: 2000,
  includeThirdParty: true,
  disableCache: true,
  captureHeaders: true,
  captureTimings: true,
  deviceName: "mobile", // Use predefined device
  networkConditionName: "4G", // Use predefined network condition
});

Code Coverage Analysis

webtool_coverage_analysis({
  url: "https://example.com",
  timeoutMs: 15000,
  waitAfterLoadMs: 2000,
  includeThirdParty: true,
  disableCache: true,
  deviceName: "desktop",
});

Core Web Vitals Analysis

webtool_web_vitals({
  url: "https://example.com",
  timeoutMs: 15000,
  waitAfterLoadMs: 3000,
  interactWithPage: true,
  deviceName: "mobile",
  networkConditionName: "4G",
});

Cross-device and Network Testing

webtool_performance_test({
  url: "https://example.com",
  timeoutMs: 30000,
  devices: ["desktop", "mobile", "tablet"],
  networkConditions: ["WiFi", "4G", "3G"],
  tests: ["web_vitals", "network", "coverage"],
  compareResults: true,
  baselineDevice: "desktop",
  baselineNetwork: "WiFi",
  includeScreenshots: true,
});

Response Format

All tools return responses in the following format:

{
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "..." // Markdown formatted report
    }
  ]
}

For screenshots:

{
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "image",
      "data": "...", // Base64 encoded PNG
      "mimeType": "image/png"
    }
  ]
}

For Lighthouse audits:

{
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "..." // Markdown formatted report with audit results
    }
  ]
}

Best Practices

1. Start with basic HTML retrieval before using advanced analysis

2. Use JavaScript rendering only when necessary (slower but more complete)

3. Set appropriate timeouts for complex pages

4. Use selectors to target specific page sections when possible

5. Enable proxy support only when needed for geo-restricted content

6. For Lighthouse audits, specify only the categories you need to improve performance

7. Check errors carefully - they often contain helpful troubleshooting tips

8. When using device emulation, match real device specifications for accurate results

9. For large websites, focus on specific pages rather than entire sites

10. Use the debug tool to understand JavaScript errors before applying fixes

11. For performance testing, start with the baseline device and network condition

12. Compare results across different devices and network conditions to identify device-specific issues

13. Use the performance test framework to identify optimization opportunities for specific scenarios

14. Focus on Core Web Vitals metrics for the best user experience improvements

15. Use code coverage analysis to identify unused code and optimize bundle size

Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions:

Chrome Installation

• Note: Chrome is now automatically installed via Puppeteer - no additional steps required

• If you encounter any Chrome-related issues, try reinstalling the package with npm install -g @bschauer/webtools-mcp-server

Connection Problems

• Issue: Cannot connect to website

• Solution: Check URL format, website availability, or try with proxy enabled

SSL Certificate Issues

• Issue: SSL certificate errors with DDEV or local development sites

• Solution: Set IGNORE_SSL_ERRORS=true environment variable or use ignoreSSLErrors=true parameter for individual tools

• Note: For production sites, ensure proper SSL certificate configuration instead of bypassing SSL checks

JavaScript Rendering Issues

• Issue: Page content missing when using JavaScript rendering

• Solution: Increase timeout, check for navigation errors in debug output

Screenshot Problems

• Issue: Blank or incomplete screenshots

• Solution: Ensure selectors are correct, increase viewport size, check debug console

Lighthouse Audit Timeouts

• Issue: Lighthouse audit times out

• Solution: Increase timeout setting, reduce categories, try with a faster connection

Proxy Connection Failures

• Issue: Cannot connect through proxy

• Solution: Verify proxy URL, check proxy connection timeout, ensure proxy is operational

Layout Thrashing Detection Issues

• Issue: No layout thrashing events detected

• Solution: Ensure captureLayoutThrashing is set to true, increase timeoutMs, try with different pages

Performance Test Framework Issues

• Issue: Performance test framework times out

• Solution: Reduce the number of devices and network conditions, increase timeout, run tests individually

Network Monitor Issues

• Issue: Network monitor shows incomplete data

• Solution: Increase waitAfterLoadMs, ensure captureTimings is set to true, check for CORS issues

Code Coverage Analysis Issues

• Issue: Code coverage analysis shows no results

• Solution: Ensure the page loads JavaScript, increase waitAfterLoadMs, check for script loading errors

Security Considerations

• This tool can access arbitrary websites - use responsibly

• The proxy feature should be used with caution and in compliance with applicable laws

• SSL certificate checking should remain enabled unless absolutely necessary

• Website owners may detect and block automated access

• Some websites prohibit scraping in their Terms of Service

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

MIT

Author

bschauer