MCP server Pointer

Pointer

Let any agent drive your real Chrome tab, with a pointer you can watch.

Agents often need a page that is already open in your browser, signed in as you. Pointer lets them use your own Chrome through a small local hub and an extension, and shows every move on screen.

• Works with any agent. One MCP server for Claude Code, Cursor, OpenCode and Codex, plus a CLI.
• You can watch. A cursor slides to each target with a label like click · Sign Up. Each agent gets its own colour and tab group.
• You stay where you are. The agent works in background tabs and never steals your focus.
• You can stop it. Press Esc or Alt+Shift+S, click in its tab, or use the Stop button. It must ask you before it goes on.
• Real input. Clicks and keys go through chrome.debugger, so pages react as they would to a person.
• Few tokens. Every action reports only what changed on screen. A six-step Wikipedia task used about 2,400 tokens of tool output.

Install

Easiest: let your agent do it. Paste this into Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, or any agent that can run shell commands:

Set up Pointer (https://github.com/longvo2k/pointer) so you can drive my Chrome. Follow its README.

1. Install the command. If Node 18+ is installed, run `npm install -g @longvo2k/pointer`.
   Otherwise read https://raw.githubusercontent.com/longvo2k/pointer/main/install.sh, then run it
   with POINTER_NO_OPEN=1. Ask me before it changes my shell's PATH.
2. Run `pointer setup --no-open` and use the MCP config it prints to add Pointer as an MCP server
   in this agent (for Claude Code: `claude mcp add pointer -- <command and args it prints>`).
3. If this agent reads Agent Skills (SKILL.md), link the `skills/pointer` folder of the install
   into your skills folder (for Claude Code: ~/.claude/skills/pointer).
4. Open https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/pointer/jckadbekhgkcnjkjcoaecjjkpkkgamjl in my
   Chrome and ask me to click "Add to Chrome". Wait until I say it is done.
5. Run `pointer status` and check it says "Extension: connected". If not, read
   https://github.com/longvo2k/pointer/blob/main/docs/troubleshooting.md and tell me what you need.
6. Tell me what you set up, and whether I need to restart this session to load Pointer's tools.

By hand:

1. Add the extension from the Chrome Web Store.
2. Install the command: npm install -g @longvo2k/pointer (Node 18+), or curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/longvo2k/pointer/main/install.sh | POINTER_NO_OPEN=1 bash.
3. Connect your agent. For Claude Code: claude mcp add pointer -- pointer-mcp. For other agents, run pointer setup, which prints the config with your paths.
4. Check it: pointer status should say "Extension: connected".

The install guide covers the installer, other MCP clients, the agent skill, loading the extension unpacked, uninstalling, and working from a checkout.

How the agent uses it

Look once, then act by ref and read what changed:

snapshot  →  click e31  →  fill e40 "ada@example.com"

clicked button "Code" → https://github.com/microsoft/vscode
changes in view:
+ button "Clone with HTTPS" [ref=e286]
+ link "Download ZIP" [ref=e292]

Job	Tools
Browsers	browser_status, browsers_list, browser_use
Tabs	tabs_list, tab_open, tab_select, tab_close, tab_focus
Read	snapshot, find, read_text, screenshot, wait_for
Act	click, hover, fill, press, scroll, navigate, upload, dialog
Check	verify, viewport, layout, console, network
Talk to you	say, stop, resume

The same tools work from the shell: pointer open example.com, pointer snap, pointer click e14. Run pointer help for the list.

With several Chrome profiles, pointer browsers lists them by name and email, and pointer use Work switches, opening the profile if it is closed.

The usage guide covers every tool, the CLI, profiles, what Pointer draws on the page, the settings (including the Classic and Sketch looks) and environment variables.

Examples

Real runs: OpenCode with a DeepSeek model drives Pointer in Chrome.

"Test the signup flow — pick the Scale plan, use ada@example.com and team Lovelace Labs, create the workspace, and check the invite link is shown. Report pass/fail per step."

"Users say the Reports page stays empty after clicking Load reports. Find the root cause from the console and network."

"On Wikipedia, search for Model Context Protocol, open the article, and give me a 3-bullet summary."

Security and privacy

• No outside servers. Pointer talks only to 127.0.0.1. No accounts, analytics or telemetry.
• No code execution tool. No eval, and no tool runs JavaScript you pass in.
• Web pages cannot reach it. The hub refuses cross-site requests, DNS rebinding, and pages pretending to be the extension.
• Blocked sites. List sites like your bank in the settings, and agents cannot open or read them.
• One runtime dependency (ws), and plain source you can read.

Page text and screenshots go to the agent you connected, and from there to its AI provider. See SECURITY.md and PRIVACY.md.

grep -rnE "https?://[A-Za-z0-9]" bin lib extension | grep -v 127.0.0.1 | grep -v w3.org/2000/svg  # outside URLs: none
grep -rnE "\beval\(|new Function" bin lib extension                  # dynamic code: none
npm ls --omit=dev --all                                               # dependencies: ws only

w3.org/2000/svg is the SVG namespace for the cursor icon, not a request. CI runs the same checks on every push.

Help

Something not working? See troubleshooting. To contribute, see CONTRIBUTING.md and run npm test before sending a change.

License

MIT. See LICENSE. The Sketch look ships two fonts under the SIL Open Font License 1.1: Caveat and Patrick Hand by Patrick Wagesreiter (licences in extension/fonts/).

Pointer was written from scratch. Its approach was inspired by ofershap/real-browser-mcp.