OpenBrowser

openbrowser.buildingopen.org

Give AI your browser. Check email, review PRs, read LinkedIn messages, search Google, see your calendar -- all from one setup. No API keys. No OAuth. No per-service config.

Log into Chrome once, and AI tools like Claude, Cursor, and others can browse the web as you.

<p align="center"> <a href="https://github.com/buildingopen/openbrowser/blob/main/openbrowser-demo.mp4"> <img src="openbrowser-demo-thumb.png" alt="OpenBrowser Demo" width="480"> </a> </p>

npx openbrowser setup     # One-time setup (~2 min)
npx openbrowser login     # Log into Google, GitHub, LinkedIn
npx openbrowser inbox     # AI reads your unread emails

macOS + Linux. Works standalone or as an MCP server for Claude, Cursor, and other AI tools.

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Install

npm install -g openbrowser-ai

Or use directly:

npx openbrowser-ai <command>

Both openbrowser and openbrowser-ai work as CLI names.

Quick Start

# 1. Set up OpenBrowser (~2 min, one time)
openbrowser setup

# 2. Log into your accounts
openbrowser login

# 3. See which accounts are connected
openbrowser status

# 4. Try it out
openbrowser inbox                   # Read your unread emails
openbrowser prs                     # Check your open pull requests
openbrowser calendar                # See today's meetings and events
openbrowser search "AI agent frameworks 2026"

What Your AI Can Do

openbrowser inbox                    # Read your unread emails
openbrowser prs                      # Check your open pull requests
openbrowser calendar                 # See today's meetings and events
openbrowser search "your query"      # Search Google as you
openbrowser issues                   # Check issues assigned to you
openbrowser notifications            # Read your GitHub notifications
openbrowser linkedin                 # See your LinkedIn notifications
openbrowser profile                  # Get your LinkedIn profile
openbrowser messages                 # Read your LinkedIn messages
openbrowser recipe list              # See all 9 recipes

All recipes work through the browser by default. 6 of 9 also have faster API paths that work without the browser (GitHub via token, Gmail via IMAP, Calendar via API). See API-first setup for details.

Commands

openbrowser setup      # One-time setup (~2 min)
openbrowser login      # Log into your accounts
openbrowser status     # See which accounts are connected
openbrowser start      # Start the browser
openbrowser stop       # Stop the browser
openbrowser restart    # Restart the browser
openbrowser doctor     # Diagnose connection issues

Connect to AI Tools

OpenBrowser includes a built-in MCP server so AI tools can use your browser directly.

Add this to your Claude Desktop settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openbrowser": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["openbrowser-ai", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

The MCP server provides 31 tools: session management, full browser control, and all 9 recipes.

How It Works

OpenBrowser keeps Chrome running in the background with your real login sessions. When your AI needs to check email or review a PR, it connects to that browser and browses as you.

1. Setup installs Chrome as a background process that starts automatically
2. Login opens Chrome so you can sign into your accounts normally
3. Sessions persist across restarts -- no need to log in again
4. Recipes connect to the running browser, open pages, and extract structured data
5. MCP server gives AI tools direct access to sessions, browser control, and recipes

Requirements

• Node.js >= 22.6
• Google Chrome or Chromium
• macOS or Linux (Windows not supported)

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Advanced

API-First Setup (Optional)

6 of 9 recipes can skip the browser entirely if you set env vars. This is faster and works on machines without a display.

GitHub (prs, issues, notifications):

gh auth login              # easiest
# or: export GITHUB_TOKEN="ghp_..."

Gmail (inbox):

export GMAIL_USER="you@gmail.com"
export GMAIL_APP_PASSWORD="xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx"

Google Calendar (calendar):

export GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN="ya29...."
# or: export GOOGLE_CALENDAR_API_KEY="AIza..."

Custom Accounts

Track sessions beyond the built-in Google/GitHub/LinkedIn:

openbrowser domain add slack.com d lc --label Slack
openbrowser domain list
openbrowser domain remove slack.com

Output Format

All commands support --format json|text. Default: text when interactive (TTY), JSON when piped.

{
  "command": "recipe:prs",
  "version": "0.4.0",
  "timestamp": "2026-03-03T00:00:00.000Z",
  "success": true,
  "data": { "prs": [...], "total": 1 },
  "summary": "1 open PR"
}

Programmatic API (SDK)

import { OpenBrowser } from 'openbrowser-ai';

const ob = new OpenBrowser();
const status = await ob.getStatus();
const prs = await ob.runRecipe('prs');
const browser = await ob.connect(); // Direct Playwright CDP handle

Configuration

Config file: ~/.openbrowser/config.json

{
  "cdpPort": 9222,
  "profileDir": "~/.openbrowser/chrome-profile",
  "timezone": "Europe/Berlin"
}

Linux Headless

On headless Linux servers, openbrowser login uses a virtual display with VNC so you can log in remotely. Requires xvfb and x11vnc:

apt install xvfb x11vnc

License

MIT