How to Set Up Vibium MCP in Claude Code

Vibium ships with a built-in MCP server, so you can give Claude Code a real browser with one command: claude mcp add vibium -- npx -y vibium mcp. Once connected, Claude can navigate pages, click, type, and take screenshots as part of its normal tool use — no custom integration code. Vibium is an AI-native browser automation engine built on WebDriver BiDi, distributed as a single Go binary that auto-downloads Chrome for Testing, created by Jason Huggins, co-creator of Selenium and Appium. This guide covers the exact claude mcp commands, how to verify the connection, the 22 browser tools Claude gains, and the common fixes when a browser will not launch.

What is MCP?

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that lets AI agents call external tools through one consistent interface. Because Vibium exposes an MCP server out of the box, Claude Code can drive a browser the same way it reads files or runs commands.

Prerequisites

Claude Code CLI installed:
- macOS: brew install --cask claude-code
- npm: npm install -g @anthropic/claude-code
Vibium available via npx (no separate install needed — npx -y vibium mcp fetches it), or a locally built clicker binary.

Add the Vibium MCP server

Claude Code registers MCP servers with claude mcp add. The recommended command uses npx:

claude mcp add vibium -- npx -y vibium mcp

If you built the clicker binary locally, point at it directly instead:

claude mcp add vibium -- /path/to/clicker mcp

Everything after -- is the server launch command, so any Vibium flags go there too — for example, a custom screenshot directory:

claude mcp add vibium -- npx -y vibium mcp --screenshot-dir ./screenshots

Verify the connection

List configured MCP servers and check Vibium reports healthy:

claude mcp list

You should see it connected:

Checking MCP server health...

vibium: npx -y vibium mcp - ✓ Connected

⚠️ Tool discovery happens on startup. After adding or changing an MCP server, start a new Claude Code session before the Vibium tools become available.

Use it

Start a fresh session and just ask:

"Open example.com, take a screenshot, and tell me the main heading."

Claude calls the Vibium MCP tools in sequence — browser_launch, browser_navigate, browser_screenshot, then browser_quit — to open Chrome, load the page, capture the screenshot, and read the content back. Chrome for Testing downloads automatically on first run, so the initial call may take a moment longer.

The 22 Vibium MCP tools

On startup Claude discovers the full tool set with schemas. The Vibium MCP server exposes 22 browser tools:

Tool	Description
`browser_launch`	Start a browser session (visible by default)
`browser_navigate`	Navigate to a URL
`browser_get_url`	Get current page URL
`browser_get_title`	Get current page title
`browser_get_text`	Get text content (page or element)
`browser_get_html`	Get HTML content (inner or outer)
`browser_find`	Find element info (tag, text, bounding box)
`browser_find_all`	Find all matching elements
`browser_evaluate`	Execute JavaScript in the browser
`browser_screenshot`	Capture a screenshot
`browser_click`	Click an element by CSS selector
`browser_type`	Type text into an element
`browser_hover`	Hover over an element
`browser_scroll`	Scroll page or element
`browser_keys`	Press key or key combination
`browser_select`	Select a dropdown option
`browser_wait`	Wait for an element state
`browser_new_tab`	Open a new tab
`browser_list_tabs`	List all open tabs
`browser_switch_tab`	Switch to a tab by index or URL
`browser_close_tab`	Close a tab
`browser_quit`	Close the browser session

Remove or re-add

To remove the server:

claude mcp remove vibium

Then confirm it is gone with claude mcp list.

Troubleshooting

Tools do not appear. Discovery only runs at startup — quit and start a new Claude Code session after any config change.
Browser fails to launch. Force a Chrome for Testing install: npx -y vibium install.
Server not responding. Test the launch command directly in a terminal: npx -y vibium mcp should start and wait for input (Ctrl+C to exit). If that fails, the issue is Vibium or Node, not Claude Code.

Why this matters

Browser access turns an AI coding agent into one that can verify its own work — open the app it just built, check the UI, and confirm a flow actually works. That feedback loop is exactly what Vibium was designed for. Vibium is Jason Huggins' free, open-source project (vibium.com, github.com/VibiumDev/vibium); learnvibium.com is an independent learning hub and did not create Vibium.

Next steps

Frequently asked questions

Does Vibium have an MCP server?

Yes. Vibium ships with a built-in Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, so AI agents like Claude Code can use a real browser as a tool without any extra glue code.

How do I connect Vibium to Claude Code?

Run 'claude mcp add vibium -- npx -y vibium mcp', start a new Claude Code session, then ask Claude to perform a browser task. Verify it with 'claude mcp list'.

Do I need to install Chrome for Vibium?

No. Vibium downloads Chrome for Testing automatically the first time the MCP server launches a browser. If it fails to launch, force an install with 'npx -y vibium install'.

How many browser tools does Vibium expose to Claude Code?

Vibium's MCP server exposes 22 browser tools — including browser_launch, browser_navigate, browser_click, browser_type, browser_evaluate, browser_screenshot, and browser_quit — discovered automatically on startup.

Vibium is created by Jason Huggins. This is an independent tutorial — see the official Vibium site and GitHub repo for canonical docs.