--- title: MCP browsers description: When a routine needs a real browser, which options a cloud run can reach, which only work on your own machine, and what RoutineOS has and has not tested. sidebar: order: 3 --- ## What it is Some sources need a browser: pages built by JavaScript, sites that block plain fetches, pages behind a login. An MCP browser is a browser exposed to Claude through an MCP server, so a run can open a page, read it and act on it. ## Why it exists A routine that only fetches HTML misses what a browser would see, and a routine that drives your own logged-in browser cannot run in the cloud. Choosing the browser is a design decision with security and cost consequences, so RoutineOS makes it explicit. ## How it works ### Local or hosted The deciding question for a routine is where the browser runs. - **Local browsers** run on your machine. A cloud scheduled task cannot reach them: local MCP servers are not available to a cloud task unless added as a connector or declared in a committed `.mcp.json` ([docs](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/web-scheduled-tasks), fetched 2026-10-30), and a browser on your laptop is not on the run's network either way. This is an inference from the docs, not a tested result. - **Hosted browsers** run in a provider's cloud and are reached as a remote MCP server or an HTTP API. A run can reach one through a connector, or directly if the host is on the environment's allowlist. RoutineOS has not run a call from a routine to any of them. ### The options Figures below are each vendor's own headline at fetch time (2026-10-30) and change often. None is a RoutineOS recommendation. | Option | Where it runs | MCP | Pricing headline | Source | |---|---|---|---|---| | Claude in Chrome | Your own Chrome, through an extension | Built-in `claude-in-chrome` server for Claude Code | Needs a direct Anthropic plan; no separate fee found | [docs](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/chrome) | | Playwright MCP | Local (npx, Docker, standalone HTTP) | Yes, by Microsoft | Free, open source | [repo](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-mcp) | | Chrome DevTools MCP | Local, launches Chrome | Yes, by the ChromeDevTools org | Free | [repo](https://github.com/ChromeDevTools/chrome-devtools-mcp) | | Browserbase | Hosted | Hosted Streamable HTTP, built on Stagehand | Free tier; Developer $20/mo; Startup $99/mo | [docs](https://docs.browserbase.com/integrations/mcp/introduction), [pricing](https://www.browserbase.com/pricing) | | Steel | Hosted or self-hosted | `steel-mcp-server` | Launch $0/mo plus usage; Scale $250/mo | [repo](https://github.com/steel-dev/steel-mcp-server), [pricing](https://steel.dev/pricing) | | Hyperbrowser | Hosted API; the MCP server runs locally via npx with an API key | Yes | Free 5,000 credits; paid from $30/mo | [repo](https://github.com/hyperbrowserai/mcp), [pricing](https://www.hyperbrowser.ai/pricing) | | Cloudflare Browser Run (formerly Browser Rendering) | Hosted | `https://browser.mcp.cloudflare.com/mcp` | Free 10 min/day; Paid 10 hr/mo then $0.09/hr | [docs](https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/), [pricing](https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/pricing/) | | browser-use | Python library, local or its hosted cloud | Unverified | Library free | [repo](https://github.com/browser-use/browser-use) | | Anchor Browser | Hosted | Has an MCP integration page | Not on the page fetched | [docs](https://docs.anchorbrowser.io/) | Two notes from the sources: the Playwright MCP README says it "is not a security boundary", and Chrome DevTools MCP collects usage statistics by default (opt out with `--no-usage-statistics`). The Steel README says its hosted `mcp.steel.dev` is not live yet. ### What RoutineOS has seen - A pilot fetched SEEK pages through the Cloudflare Browser connector's `get_url_markdown` and was served a bot challenge instead of results (`seek-bot-challenge-via-browser-connector`, pilot-verified). A hosted browser is not a way past a site's bot protection, and a routine should not try to make it one. - A run's direct network access behaves like an allowlist, and `api.cloudflare.com` was blocked in a pilot (`sandbox-allowlist`). Reaching a hosted browser as a connector avoids that, because connector traffic goes through Anthropic's servers. ### Declaring a browser A hosted browser is an `[[integration]]` like any other: `kind = "connector"` if added on claude.ai, `kind = "mcp"` if declared in `.mcp.json`, with `direction = "read"` unless it fills forms or clicks buttons that change something. A browser that submits anything is a write and needs a gate. Any API key is a network secret, never an environment variable. ## Worked example Hiring Signals does not need a browser. Its prompt asks for facts read from job pages, and a plain fetch or web search covers public postings. If a board renders listings only in JavaScript, the design would add a hosted browser as a read connector, probe one board page from a report-only run, and record the result in `risks.md`. If the probe returns a bot challenge, as SEEK did, the board is dropped from the design, not worked around. ## Common pitfalls - **Designing a cloud routine around Claude in Chrome.** It is your own browser on your own machine. - **Treating a hosted browser as a scraper licence.** Respect each site's terms and bot protection. - **A browser with write access and no gate.** Clicking "submit" is a send. - **Quoting vendor prices as fixed.** They are snapshots. ## Related - [Connectors and MCP](/infrastructure/connectors-and-mcp) - [Scheduling and Claude cloud routines](/infrastructure/scheduling#network-reachability) - [Compute sandboxes](/infrastructure/compute-sandboxes)