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Show HN: Browser AI – Use Playwright Without Blowing Up Your Context Window
Hey HN! I built Browser AI after getting frustrated with the official Playwright MCP server in Claude Code. If you've used it, you know the pain:
- 20+ separate tools that Claude has to juggle (click, fill, navigate, wait_for_selector, etc.)
- Context window explosions from verbose screenshot data and DOM snapshots
- Constant tool selection errors where Claude picks the wrong tool or forgets parameters
Browser AI wraps Playwright MCP with a single natural language interface. Instead of Claude managing dozens of tools, you get one: browser_ai.execute. Just tell it what you want in plain English:
"Go to news.ycombinator.com and click on the first comment link"
"Fill out the login form with test@example.com and submit"
"Take a screenshot of the pricing table"
The magic: Browser AI uses Claude (via your Claude Code subscription) to interpret your commands and translate them into the right Playwright calls. This means:
- 80% less context usage: No more massive tool definitions or snapshot data in your conversation
- Actually works: The subagent handles tool selection, so Claude doesn't have to
- OAuth auth: Uses your existing Claude Code subscription, no separate API keys needed
- Smart error recovery: If something fails, you get helpful feedback, not cryptic Playwright errors
Technical details:
- Built with TypeScript and the MCP SDK
- Uses AI SDK
- Open source (MIT)
Installation is two lines:
npx @qckfx/browser-ai --auth
claude mcp add browser-ai -- npx --yes @qckfx/browser-ai@latest
I've been using this for web scraping and E2E test writing, and it's completely changed how I work with browser automation in Claude Code. Would love to hear if this solves similar pain points for others!
GitHub: https://github.com/qckfx/browser-ai https://github.com/qckfx/browser-ai
npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@qckfx/browser-ai https://www.npmjs.com/package/@qckfx/browser-ai
- Oras 1y agoWhy limited to Claude though? Can't the MCP server used by other LLMs?
- chw9e 1y agoYea it can be, but you will pay Anthropic API price. If you already use Claude code on a subscription then you can reuse your subscription for this MCP, making it effectively free
- chw9e 1y agoIt also has its own cli if you just want to run it alone too
- Oras 1y agoI meant why I can't use with OpenaI, DeepSeek, ... etc. Why you're limiting it to Claude?
- chw9e 1y agoOh, I just picked Anthropic’s Sonnet4 to start because it’s really good at agentic stuff and because of the subscription benefits. I will add more model support soon - any models you particularly want to see? I’m also hoping to test out RL on the tools to get a fine-tuned model specifically for browser automation eventually.
- Oras 1y agoOpenAI models and DeepSeek, that would be great