@raultov/browser-control-mcp 0.5.0-beta.8 → 0.6.0-beta.9

package/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -10,6 +10,74 @@ from a copy of its code: entries describe the differences from that release.
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [0.6.0-beta.9] - 2026-10-31
+
+Public **BETA**. Spends fewer tokens and answers what the agent needs, after
+a side-by-side study with Playwright MCP and chrome-devtools-mcp (now in the
+README): `get_network_logs` and `get_console_logs` answer one line per entry
+(details on demand), `snapshot` no longer repeats table text, input actions
+wait for the page to settle, and `profile_page_performance` explains its
+numbers with `insights`. Behaviour changes: the two log tools answer text
+instead of JSON unless `include_details: true`, layout tables leave only
+their content in `snapshot`, and input actions take ~50 ms more when the
+page does not react.
+
+### Added
+
+- `profile_page_performance` takes `insights: true`: what explains the
+  numbers, read in the page with the Web Performance APIs on both browsers:
+  the document's TTFB, server time and compression, the LCP element with
+  its breakdown (TTFB, load delay, load, render delay), layout-shift
+  culprits, render-blocking requests, the slowest requests and the scripts
+  of long animation frames (at most 5 each), and `findings` from the web.dev
+  thresholds (LCP over 2.5 s, CLS over 0.1, a slow server, an uncompressed
+  document, render-blocking requests). Firefox reports no layout shifts,
+  render-blocking status or long frames: those are `null`, with notes. The
+  reply grows from ~60 to ~600-700 tokens on Wikipedia. (#22)
+
+### Changed
+
+- `click_element`, `hover`, `fill_input`, `fill_form` and `press_key` wait
+  for the page to settle before answering: until the DOM stays unchanged for
+  50 ms (style changes aside) and the requests the action started finished,
+  at most 1 s, on both browsers. They answered in 1-2 ms, before the page
+  reacted, so a read right after a click that fetches data saw the old page.
+  An action nothing reacts to now takes ~50 ms and keeps its reply; one the
+  page reacts to adds how (`The page reacted (the DOM changed, 1 request(s))
+  and settled after 134 ms.`), or that it was still changing after 1 s. Not
+  done when the action left a dialog open or the page paused. (#21)
+- `snapshot` and `find_in_snapshot` no longer print a table's text two or
+  three times. A table without headers (`th`, `thead`, `caption`,
+  `summary`) and without a role is layout: its `table`, `row` and `cell`
+  lines are left out and only their content stays, as in Chrome's
+  accessibility tree. A cell is named by its content only when that content
+  is plain text (folded into the name, up to 100 characters); a cell with
+  links or controls keeps them as children, unnamed. Hacker News went from
+  ~8 500 to ~4 500 tokens. (#20)
+- `get_console_logs` answers one line per message by default: `[level]
+  text @ url:line` (lines from 1), repeats in a row folded (`[x3]`),
+  uncaught errors marked (`Uncaught ...`) with up to 5 stack lines
+  indented; `include_details: true` keeps the previous JSON. A page with
+  six messages went from ~550 to ~150 tokens. (#19)
+- `get_network_logs` answers one line per request by default (`id METHOD
+  url => status [type]`, oldest first), then one per WebSocket frame with a
+  payload preview: ~100 tokens for a page of four requests instead of ~2 250.
+  The new `request_id` shows one request's headers and body;
+  `include_details: true` (now off by default) keeps the previous JSON with
+  every request's details. (#18)
+
+### Fixed
+
+- `get_console_logs` previews objects and arrays as the console shows
+  them (`hello {n: 1, s: 'x'} [1, 2, 3]`): Chrome printed `Object`, Firefox
+  `Object(3) Array(3)`. On Chrome a `console.*` call keeps its location
+  (`url`, `line_number`), which was always empty, and `undefined`
+  arguments are printed. (#19)
+- `get_network_logs` no longer lists the browser's own requests: a freshly
+  launched Chrome logged its new-tab page (`chrome://resources/...`, `data:`
+  images) before the first navigation. `chrome://`, `devtools://`, `data:`,
+  `about:` and extension URLs are not logged. (#18)
+
 ## [0.5.0-beta.8] - 2026-10-31
 
 Public **BETA**. Closes the rest of the Playwright MCP comparison: the new

package/README.md

@@ -11,12 +11,62 @@ It is the successor of
 from a copy of its code) and complements Playwright MCP or
 chrome-devtools-mcp with runtime JavaScript debugging on both browsers.
 
-> **Status: BETA (0.5.0-beta.8).** This version contains known bugs and differences
+> **Status: BETA (0.6.0-beta.9).** This version contains known bugs and differences
 > between Chrome and Firefox (see [Limitations and TODO](#limitations-and-todo))
 > and parts that have not been verified (see [Untested](#untested)). Tool
 > replies may change in incompatible ways before 1.0. Please report problems
 > in the [issues](https://github.com/raultov/browser-control-mcp/issues).
 
+💬 Questions, ideas or feedback: join us on [Discord](https://discord.gg/TunAHQZ8K).
+
+## Comparison with Playwright MCP and chrome-devtools-mcp
+
+Measured on 2026-10-31 with browser-control-mcp built from the current
+sources, `@playwright/mcp` 0.0.83 and `chrome-devtools-mcp` 1.12.0, driven by
+the same stdio client through the same tasks on Chrome 156 (headless,
+Linux). Every outcome was checked in the page, not taken from the reply.
+Tokens are estimated as characters / 4 for every server.
+
+**What each one can do**
+
+| | browser-control-mcp | Playwright MCP | chrome-devtools-mcp |
+| --- | --- | --- | --- |
+| JavaScript debugger (breakpoints, call frames, stepping, script search) | **✓ Chrome and Firefox** (pause on load: Chrome) | ✗ | ✗ |
+| Firefox | **✓ next to Chrome, same tools** | ✓ one browser per server | ✗ |
+| Several browsers and instances at once | **✓** | ✗ | ✗ |
+| Selectors | CSS, snapshot refs, `host >>> inner` into shadow roots and iframes | CSS, snapshot refs | snapshot refs only |
+| Snapshot of a long page | **bounded at 50 000 characters**, `find_in_snapshot` searches the rest | unbounded | unbounded |
+| Waits for the page to react after an action | ✓ ~50 ms when nothing reacts | ✓ ~500 ms | ✓ ~200 ms |
+| Clicking a covered or hidden element | **fails at once, naming the overlay** | fails after a 5 s timeout | reports success (the overlay gets the click) |
+| Mock requests, offline mode | ✓ | ✓ | offline only |
+| PDF | ✓ file or inline | ✓ file | ✗ |
+| Cookies and web storage | ✓ values hidden unless asked | ✓ values shown | ✗ |
+| Secrets masked in output (`--secrets`) | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
+| Performance | vitals + insights (LCP breakdown, layout shifts, render-blocking, long scripts) | trace file | trace + insights, Lighthouse |
+| Heap snapshots, CSS styles, screencast | ✗ | video, tracing | ✓ |
+| Generates Playwright test code | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
+| Telemetry | **none** | none found | usage statistics on by default; traced URLs sent to CrUX |
+| Single native binary (no Node.js) | **✓** | ✗ | ✗ |
+
+**Measured**
+
+| Task | browser-control-mcp | Playwright MCP | chrome-devtools-mcp |
+| --- | --- | --- | --- |
+| Tool list in context, default tools | 6 040 tokens | 5 330 tokens | 7 770 tokens |
+| Tool list in context, every opt-in tool on | 9 500 tokens | 12 040 tokens | not measured (optional categories) |
+| Snapshot of Hacker News | **4 588 tokens** | 12 356 tokens | 6 869 tokens |
+| Snapshot of Wikipedia "Web browser" | **12 643 tokens** (cut, searchable) | 34 349 tokens | 27 656 tokens |
+| Snapshot of MDN `<input>` | **12 625 tokens** (cut, searchable) | 158 077 tokens | 76 654 tokens |
+| Log in step by step (8 calls) | **298 tokens, 1.8 s** | 521 tokens, 2.4 s | 364 tokens, 2.6 s |
+| Log in with `fill_form` (5 calls) | **321 tokens, 1.6 s** | 428 tokens, 1.9 s | 352 tokens, 2.0 s |
+| Click, median | 52 ms | 531 ms | 234 ms |
+| Evaluate JavaScript, median | **0 ms** | 504 ms | 204 ms |
+| Navigate (local page), median | **13 ms** | 31 ms | 119 ms |
+| Full-page screenshot of a 31 700 px page | cut at 16 384 px, with a note | 3.3 MB image in the reply | saved to a file |
+| Navigation to an unknown host | error | error | success with the error in the text |
+| Navigate, then read the console (log, warning, errors) | 249 tokens | 191 tokens | 117 tokens |
+| Navigate, then read the network log (3 requests) | 168 tokens | 48 tokens | 54 tokens |
+
 ## Supported browsers
 
 | Browser | Protocol | Validated with |
@@ -72,7 +122,7 @@ see the note.
 | `emulate` | ✓ | partial | `emulation` group; `width`/`height`, `device_scale_factor`, `mobile` (touch), `color_scheme`, `reduced_motion`, `forced_colors`, `media` (`print`), `reset`; answers what the page now sees; Firefox: viewport and device pixel ratio only (BiDi has no media or touch emulation yet; those options fail naming them) |
 | `wait_for` | ✓ | ✓ | waits (checking every 100 ms, at most 30 s) until a visible text appears or is gone, a selector is `visible` / `hidden` / `attached` / `detached`, or the URL contains a text; a dialog or debugger pause ends the wait at once |
 | `inspect_dom` | ✓ | ✓ | includes open shadow roots and same-origin iframes (cross-origin ones are noted); at most 100 000 characters without `query` (cut in the page) |
-| `snapshot` | ✓ | ✓ | outline of the page: role, name, states, value and a ref (`e12`) per element, through open shadow roots and same-origin iframes; at most 50 000 characters (`selector` and `depth` narrow it); the same JavaScript on both browsers |
+| `snapshot` | ✓ | ✓ | outline of the page: role, name, states, value and a ref (`e12`) per element, through open shadow roots and same-origin iframes; tables without headers (`th`, `thead`, `caption`) are layout and leave only their content, and a cell is named by its text only when it holds nothing else; at most 50 000 characters (`selector` and `depth` narrow it); the same JavaScript on both browsers |
 | `find_in_snapshot` | ✓ | ✓ | `text` (case-insensitive) or `regex` over the whole outline; matching lines under their ancestors, at most 20 |
 | `save_pdf` | ✓ | ✓ | `files` group; prints the tab as the browser's print does (`landscape`, `print_background`, `scale` 0.1–2, `page_ranges` like `1-3, 5`); with `path` (an absolute `.pdf` under the upload roots) writes the file and answers `{path, bytes, pages}`, else returns the PDF as an embedded `application/pdf` resource (at most 5 MB); Chrome `Page.printToPDF`, Firefox `browsingContext.print` |
 | `capture_screenshot` | ✓ | ✓ | `format` `png`, `jpeg` (or `jpg`) or `webp`; `full_page` at most 16 384 px per side (a text note says when cut) |
@@ -86,15 +136,15 @@ see the note.
 | `evaluate_js` | ✓ | ✓ | `value` at most 100 000 characters (`truncated: true`); Chrome stops a script after 8 s, Firefox cannot (a looping tab is closed with `close_tab`) |
 | `cookies` | ✓ | ✓ | `storage` group; `get` / `set` / `delete`: the cookies sent to the page (or `url`) or of a `domain`; values hidden unless `show_values: true` (Chrome `Network.*Cookie*`, Firefox BiDi `storage.*` in the tab's partition) |
 | `web_storage` | ✓ | ✓ | `storage` group; `get` / `set` / `delete` / `clear` on the page's `localStorage` or `sessionStorage`; values hidden unless `show_values: true` |
-| `get_console_logs` | ✓ | ✓ | a message keeps at most 10 000 characters; Firefox: page errors, CSS warnings and platform messages need the debugger port |
-| `get_network_logs` | ✓ | ✓ | a failed request has `error`, a binary body `response_body_encoding: "base64"`; bodies at most 64 000 characters, none over 2 MB; a WebSocket payload keeps 64 000 (`payload_len` is the whole); Firefox: WebSocket frames need the debugger port |
+| `get_console_logs` | ✓ | ✓ | one line per message, oldest first: `[level] text @ url:line` (lines from 1), objects and arrays previewed as the console shows them (`{n: 1}`, `[1, 2, 3]`), repeats in a row folded (`[x3]`), uncaught errors marked with up to 5 stack lines indented; `include_details: true` gives the JSON with every field; a message keeps at most 10 000 characters; Firefox: page errors, CSS warnings and platform messages need the debugger port |
+| `get_network_logs` | ✓ | ✓ | one line per request, oldest first (`id METHOD url => status [type]`, or `failed: <reason>` / `pending`), then one per WebSocket frame (payload preview); `request_id` shows one request's headers and body, `include_details: true` every request's as JSON (a binary body has `response_body_encoding: "base64"`; bodies at most 64 000 characters, none over 2 MB; a WebSocket payload keeps 64 000, `payload_len` is the whole); the browser's own requests (`chrome://`, `devtools://`, `data:`, `about:`, extensions) are not logged; Firefox: WebSocket frames need the debugger port |
 | `mock_route` | ✓ | ✓ | `network` group; requests whose URL matches a glob (`*`, `?`, `\` escapes) get a mocked `status`, `body` (text, at most 1 MB), `content_type` and `headers` without reaching the network; the latest matching route wins; at most 50 routes per tab, kept until `remove_route` or the tab closes (Chrome `Fetch`, not while `enable_proxy_auth` is active; Firefox a `network` intercept) |
 | `list_routes` | ✓ | ✓ | `network` group; the tab's routes with the `hits` each answered |
 | `remove_route` | ✓ | ✓ | `network` group; one route by id, or all |
 | `set_offline` | ✓ | ✓ | `network` group; requests fail as without a network and `navigator.onLine` is false, until set back (Chrome `Network.emulateNetworkConditions`, Firefox `emulation.setNetworkConditions`); mocked routes still answer; Chrome still serves what its HTTP cache holds, as an offline browser does, Firefox fails every request |
 | `get_custom_events` | ✓ | partial | `raw` group; `{events, total, truncated}`, the newest `limit` events; `clear` removes the returned ones; params over 64 000 characters of JSON are replaced by `{truncated, characters}`; Firefox: events of the modules subscribed with `send_bidi_command` |
 | `get_performance_metrics` | ✓ | partial | `perf` group; Firefox: `Nodes`, `Frames`, `Resources`, `TransferSize` from the Web Performance APIs (no Performance domain), plus a note |
-| `profile_page_performance` | ✓ | partial | `perf` group; Firefox: FCP, LCP, DCL and Load from the Web Performance APIs; no trace, so `total_blocking_time_ms` and `top_long_tasks` are `null` |
+| `profile_page_performance` | ✓ | partial | `perf` group; `insights: true` adds what explains the numbers, read with the Web Performance APIs (same JavaScript on both): the document's TTFB, server time and compression, the LCP element and its breakdown (TTFB, load delay, load, render delay), layout-shift culprits, render-blocking requests, the slowest requests and the scripts of long animation frames (at most 5 each), plus `findings` from the web.dev thresholds; Firefox: FCP, LCP, DCL and Load; no trace, so `total_blocking_time_ms` and `top_long_tasks` are `null`, and its insights have no layout shifts, render-blocking requests or long frames (`null`, with notes) |
 | `set_breakpoint` | ✓ | partial | Firefox: by URL only (no `script_id` / `script_hash`) |
 | `remove_breakpoint` | ✓ | ✓ | |
 | `resume` | ✓ | ✓ | |
@@ -111,6 +161,16 @@ see the note.
 | `webmcp_get_invocation` | ✓ | ✗ | needs `--enable-webmcp` |
 | `webmcp_list_invocations` | ✓ | ✗ | needs `--enable-webmcp` |
 
+After `click_element`, `hover`, `fill_input`, `fill_form` and `press_key`
+the server waits for the page to settle before answering: until its DOM
+stays unchanged for 50 ms (style changes, often animations, aside) and the
+requests the action started finished, at most 1 s, on both browsers. An
+action nothing reacts to costs those 50 ms and keeps its reply; otherwise
+the reply adds `The page reacted (the DOM changed, 1 request(s)) and settled
+after 134 ms.`, or says the page was still changing after 1 s. A click that
+navigates waits for the new page's requests. Use `wait_for` for anything
+slower (a timer, a long request).
+
 The JavaScript debugger tools on Firefox need its debugger (RDP) port: on by
 default for a launched Firefox, `--firefox-rdp-port` for an attached one. The
 same port gives Firefox's WebSocket frames and the console messages BiDi does
@@ -547,7 +607,7 @@ incompatible:
 - Firefox debugger: tabs are mapped to the debugger through Firefox's Remote
   Agent (verified on Firefox 157 only); a Firefox without it answers the
   debugger tools with an error instead of guessing a tab.
-- `get_network_logs` with response bodies has no total size limit (each
+- `get_network_logs` with `include_details: true` has no total size limit (each
   Firefox body is capped at 2 MB): use `url_filter` on busy pages.
 - The Docker image is amd64 only.
 

package/npm-shrinkwrap.json

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
       "hasInstallScript": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "name": "@raultov/browser-control-mcp",
-      "version": "0.5.0-beta.8"
+      "version": "0.6.0-beta.9"
     },
     "node_modules/detect-libc": {
       "engines": {
@@ -48,5 +48,5 @@
     }
   },
   "requires": true,
-  "version": "0.5.0-beta.8"
+  "version": "0.6.0-beta.9"
 }

package/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "artifactDownloadUrls": [
-    "https://github.com/raultov/browser-control-mcp/releases/download/v0.5.0-beta.8"
+    "https://github.com/raultov/browser-control-mcp/releases/download/v0.6.0-beta.9"
   ],
   "author": "raultov <raultov@protonmail.com>",
   "bin": {
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@
       "zipExt": ".tar.xz"
     }
   },
-  "version": "0.5.0-beta.8",
+  "version": "0.6.0-beta.9",
   "volta": {
     "node": "18.14.1",
     "npm": "9.5.0"