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Rod MCP Server

by aliwatters

Rod MCP Server

Browser automation for AI agents via the Model Context Protocol.

Built on Rod — a fast, reliable Go library for controlling Chromium browsers.

Release License: MIT Go


Rod MCP gives AI agents (Claude, Cursor, etc.) full browser control — navigate pages, fill forms, click buttons, take screenshots, generate PDFs, and more. It works in two modes:

  • Text mode (default): Uses accessibility snapshots for structured, token-efficient interaction

  • Vision mode: Uses screenshots with coordinate-based clicking for visual AI models

Quick Start

Install

One-command build from source (no dotfiles required):

git clone https://github.com/aliwatters/rod-mcp.git && cd rod-mcp && ./install.sh

This builds the binary and installs it to ~/.local/bin/rod-mcp. Re-running is a no-op unless HEAD changed; use --force or FORCE_REBUILD=1 to rebuild. Set INSTALL_PREFIX to change the install root.

Or via go install:

go install github.com/aliwatters/rod-mcp@latest

Or download a pre-built binary for your platform.

Configure your MCP client

Claude Desktop (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rod-mcp": {
      "command": "rod-mcp",
      "args": ["--headless", "--no-banner", "--compact-snapshot"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code (~/.claude/settings.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rod-mcp": {
      "command": "rod-mcp",
      "args": ["--headless", "--no-banner", "--compact-snapshot"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rod-mcp": {
      "command": "rod-mcp",
      "args": ["--headless", "--no-banner", "--compact-snapshot"]
    }
  }
}

That's it. Your AI agent can now browse the web.

Tools

Navigation

Tool

Description

rod_navigate

Navigate to a URL

rod_go_back

Go back in browser history

rod_go_forward

Go forward in browser history

rod_reload

Reload the current page

Page Interaction (Text Mode)

Tool

Description

rod_snapshot

Capture accessibility snapshot of the page

rod_click

Click an element by ref or accessible name/role

rod_hover

Hover over an element by ref or accessible name/role

rod_fill

Type text into an input field by ref or accessible name/role

rod_selector

Select an option in a dropdown by ref or accessible name/role

Semantic targeting: rod_click, rod_hover, rod_fill, and rod_selector accept name (accessible name, substring match) and role (ARIA role filter) as alternatives to ref. This enables one-step interactions without calling rod_snapshot first — e.g., rod_click(element="Login button", name="Login", role="button").

Page Interaction (Vision Mode)

Tool

Description

rod_vision_click

Click at x,y coordinates

rod_vision_fill

Click at coordinates and type text

Media

Tool

Description

rod_screenshot

Take a PNG screenshot

rod_pdf

Generate a PDF of the page

Browser Control

Tool

Description

rod_evaluate

Execute JavaScript in the browser

rod_close_browser

Close the browser

rod_set_headers

Set HTTP headers for requests

rod_resize

Set viewport size and device emulation

rod_handle_dialog

Handle JavaScript dialogs (alert, confirm, prompt)

rod_configure

Change headless mode or CDP endpoint at runtime

Tabs

Tool

Description

rod_tab_new

Open a new tab

rod_tab_list

List all open tabs

rod_tab_select

Switch to a tab

rod_tab_close

Close a tab

Accessibility

Tool

Description

rod_a11y_audit

Audit page accessibility — find missing labels, heading order issues, WCAG violations

Debugging

Tool

Description

rod_wait_for

Wait for a selector or text to appear

rod_console_messages

Capture browser console output

rod_network_requests

Capture network requests

rod_response_body

Get the response body of a captured network request

Input

Tool

Description

rod_press

Press a keyboard key

rod_scroll

Scroll the page or an element

rod_drag

Drag and drop elements

rod_file_upload

Upload files to a file input

State & Storage

Tool

Description

rod_cookies

Get, set, or delete cookies

rod_storage

Inspect localStorage and sessionStorage

rod_permissions

Grant or reset browser permissions

Network

Tool

Description

rod_intercept

Intercept, mock, block, or fail network requests

rod_websocket

List WebSocket connections and inspect frames

Performance

Tool

Description

rod_performance

Get page performance metrics and Core Web Vitals

rod_coverage

Start/stop CSS and JS code coverage collection

Configuration

CLI Flags

--config, -c       Path to config file (default: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/rod-mcp/rod-mcp.yaml, or ~/.config/rod-mcp/rod-mcp.yaml)
--headless, -hl    Run browser without GUI
--vision, -vs      Enable vision mode (coordinate-based tools)
--compact-snapshot  Reduce snapshot size for fewer tokens
--output-dir       Directory for screenshots and PDFs
--omit-images      Don't include base64 images in responses
--cdp-endpoint     Connect to an existing browser via CDP
--chrome-debug-port  Launch Chrome with remote debugging on this port
--user-data-dir    Clone a Chrome profile directory (inherits cookies/sessions)
--clone-domains    Comma-separated domains to clone cookies for (e.g. "localhost,*.clerk.dev")
--no-clone         Use profile directly instead of cloning (locks your main Chrome)
--clone-all        Clone ENTIRE profile including passwords, history, extensions (slow!)
--no-banner        Suppress the startup banner

Config File

Create a config at $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/rod-mcp/rod-mcp.yaml (or ~/.config/rod-mcp/rod-mcp.yaml; one is generated automatically there on first run):

mode: text                    # text or vision
headless: false               # run without GUI
browserBinPath: ""            # path to Chrome/Chromium (auto-detected)
browserTempDir: ./rod/browser # browser profile directory
noSandbox: false              # disable Chrome sandbox
proxy: ""                     # proxy URL (e.g. socks5://localhost:1080)
compactSnapshot: false        # reduce tokens in snapshots
outputDir: ""                 # screenshot/PDF output (default: OS temp)
imageResponses: allow         # allow or omit inline base64 images
userDataDir: ""               # Chrome profile to clone (e.g. ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome)
cloneDomains:                 # domains to clone cookies for (empty = all cookies)
  - "localhost"
  - "*.clerk.dev"

# Inject HTTP headers globally
extraHTTPHeaders:
  Authorization: "Bearer my-token"

# Inject headers for specific domains (supports wildcards)
domainHeaders:
  "*.example.com":
    X-Custom-Header: "value"

Connecting to an Existing Browser

To control an already-running Chrome instance (useful for authenticated sessions):

Option A — Clone your Chrome profile (cookies, sessions, auth) for specific domains:

# macOS — clone only cookies for your app's domains
rod-mcp --user-data-dir "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome" \
        --clone-domains "localhost,*.clerk.dev,*.stripe.com"

# Linux
rod-mcp --user-data-dir "$HOME/.config/google-chrome" \
        --clone-domains "localhost,*.myapp.com"

# Clone all cookies (no domain filter)
rod-mcp --user-data-dir "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome"

By default, --user-data-dir clones the profile to a temp directory (cleaned up on exit) so your main Chrome stays usable. Cookies are decrypted from Chrome's encrypted database using your macOS Keychain and injected via CDP — no need to quit your main browser.

Note: Cookie decryption currently requires macOS (reads "Chrome Safe Storage" from Keychain) and sqlite3 in PATH. On other platforms, use --no-clone as a workaround.

# Use profile directly without cloning (Chrome must not be running)
rod-mcp --user-data-dir "..." --no-clone

# ⚠️  Clone EVERYTHING — passwords, history, extensions, all browser data
# This is slow for large profiles and copies sensitive data to a temp directory
rod-mcp --user-data-dir "..." --clone-all

Option B — Let rod-mcp launch Chrome with debugging enabled:

rod-mcp --chrome-debug-port 9222

Option C — Launch Chrome yourself, then connect:

  1. Launch Chrome with remote debugging:

    google-chrome --remote-debugging-port=9222
  2. Connect rod-mcp:

    rod-mcp --cdp-endpoint http://127.0.0.1:9222

    Or use rod_configure at runtime to switch to a CDP endpoint.

Docker

docker build -t rod-mcp .
docker run -i --rm rod-mcp

The container runs headless with Chromium. Mount a custom config:

docker run -i --rm -v ./rod-mcp.yaml:/app/rod-mcp.yaml:ro rod-mcp

Or use Docker Compose:

docker compose up --build

Building from Source

git clone https://github.com/aliwatters/rod-mcp.git
cd rod-mcp
go build -o rod-mcp .

Prerequisites

  • Go 1.23+

  • Chrome or Chromium

Project Structure

rod-mcp/
├── main.go          # Entry point
├── cmd.go           # CLI flags and commands
├── server.go        # MCP server setup and tool registration
├── runner.go        # Server lifecycle
├── tools/           # All MCP tool implementations
│   ├── browser.go   #   evaluate, close, headers, resize, dialog
│   ├── configure.go #   runtime reconfiguration
│   ├── debug.go     #   wait_for, console, network
│   ├── input.go     #   keyboard, file upload
│   ├── media.go     #   screenshot, PDF
│   ├── navigation.go#   navigate, back, forward, reload
│   ├── snapshot.go  #   text mode: snapshot, click, hover, fill, selector
│   ├── tabs.go      #   tab management
│   └── vision.go    #   vision mode: coordinate click/fill
├── types/           # Config, context, snapshot, logging
├── utils/           # Shared utilities
├── banner/          # Startup banner
└── assets/          # Logo images

License

MIT - see LICENSE

A
license - permissive license
-
quality - not tested
C
maintenance

Maintenance

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