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chrome-cdp

pasky/chrome-cdp-skill

Lightweight Chrome DevTools Protocol CLI for inspecting and interacting with local browser tabs via WebSocket.

What is chrome-cdp?

Control a local Chrome browser session through the Chrome DevTools Protocol without Puppeteer. Use this to take screenshots, inspect page structure, evaluate JavaScript, click elements, and navigate—with explicit user approval required for each new tab.

  • Take screenshots of the current viewport (with DPR-aware coordinate conversion)
  • Capture accessibility tree snapshots and full-page HTML
  • Evaluate JavaScript expressions and run raw CDP commands
  • Click elements by CSS selector or pixel coordinates
  • Type text into focused inputs, including cross-origin iframes
  • Navigate to URLs and wait for page load

How to install chrome-cdp

npx skills add https://github.com/pasky/chrome-cdp-skill --skill chrome-cdp
Prerequisites
  • Chrome, Chromium, Brave, Edge, or Vivaldi with remote debugging enabled (chrome://inspect/#remote-debugging)
  • Node.js 22 or later
  • Optionally: CDP_PORT_FILE environment variable if DevToolsActivePort is in a non-standard location
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How to use chrome-cdp

  1. 1.Enable remote debugging in your browser at chrome://inspect/#remote-debugging
  2. 2.Run `scripts/cdp.mjs list` to see all open tabs and their targetIds
  3. 3.Use the targetId prefix from the list output with any command (e.g., `scripts/cdp.mjs shot <target>`)
  4. 4.Approve the "Allow debugging" modal that appears once per tab
  5. 5.Run subsequent commands without further approval; the daemon keeps the session alive for 20 minutes

Use cases

Good for
  • Debug a live webpage by taking screenshots and inspecting the DOM
  • Automate form filling and interaction on a page open in your browser
  • Extract structured data from a dynamic page using JavaScript evaluation
  • Monitor network performance and resource timing during page load
  • Test accessibility by capturing and analyzing the accessibility tree
Who it's for
  • Web developers debugging live pages
  • QA engineers automating browser-based testing
  • Data extraction and web scraping tasks
  • Accessibility auditors
  • Anyone needing to interact with a running Chrome instance programmatically

chrome-cdp FAQ

Do I need Puppeteer?

No. chrome-cdp connects directly via WebSocket and works with 100+ tabs instantly without Puppeteer overhead.

How do I handle high-DPI (Retina) screenshots?

Screenshots are saved at native resolution. Divide screenshot pixel coordinates by the DPR (printed by `shot`) to get CSS pixels for `clickxy` and other commands.

Can I type text in cross-origin iframes?

Yes. Use `click` or `clickxy` to focus the input first, then `type` to insert text—`eval` does not work in cross-origin iframes.

What happens if the DOM changes between eval calls?

Avoid index-based selectors across multiple calls. Instead, collect all data in a single `eval` or use stable CSS selectors that don't depend on DOM order.

How long does the daemon stay active?

The background daemon auto-exits after 20 minutes of inactivity, so you do not need to manually stop it.

Full instructions (SKILL.md)

Source of truth, from pasky/chrome-cdp-skill.


name: chrome-cdp description: Interact with local Chrome browser session (only on explicit user approval after being asked to inspect, debug, or interact with a page open in Chrome)

Chrome CDP

Lightweight Chrome DevTools Protocol CLI. Connects directly via WebSocket — no Puppeteer, works with 100+ tabs, instant connection.

Prerequisites

  • Chrome (or Chromium, Brave, Edge, Vivaldi) with remote debugging enabled: open chrome://inspect/#remote-debugging and toggle the switch
  • Node.js 22+ (uses built-in WebSocket)
  • If your browser's DevToolsActivePort is in a non-standard location, set CDP_PORT_FILE to its full path

Commands

All commands use scripts/cdp.mjs. The <target> is a unique targetId prefix from list; copy the full prefix shown in the list output (for example 6BE827FA). The CLI rejects ambiguous prefixes.

List open pages

scripts/cdp.mjs list

Take a screenshot

scripts/cdp.mjs shot <target> [file]    # default: screenshot-<target>.png in runtime dir

Captures the viewport only. Scroll first with eval if you need content below the fold. Output includes the page's DPR and coordinate conversion hint (see Coordinates below).

Accessibility tree snapshot

scripts/cdp.mjs snap <target>

Evaluate JavaScript

scripts/cdp.mjs eval <target> <expr>

Watch out: avoid index-based selection (querySelectorAll(...)[i]) across multiple eval calls when the DOM can change between them (e.g. after clicking Ignore, card indices shift). Collect all data in one eval or use stable selectors.

Other commands

scripts/cdp.mjs html    <target> [selector]   # full page or element HTML
scripts/cdp.mjs nav     <target> <url>         # navigate and wait for load
scripts/cdp.mjs net     <target>               # resource timing entries
scripts/cdp.mjs click   <target> <selector>    # click element by CSS selector
scripts/cdp.mjs clickxy <target> <x> <y>       # click at CSS pixel coords
scripts/cdp.mjs type    <target> <text>         # Input.insertText at current focus; works in cross-origin iframes unlike eval
scripts/cdp.mjs loadall <target> <selector> [ms]  # click "load more" until gone (default 1500ms between clicks)
scripts/cdp.mjs evalraw <target> <method> [json]  # raw CDP command passthrough
scripts/cdp.mjs open    [url]                  # open new tab (each triggers Allow prompt)
scripts/cdp.mjs stop    [target]               # stop daemon(s)

Coordinates

shot saves an image at native resolution: image pixels = CSS pixels × DPR. CDP Input events (clickxy etc.) take CSS pixels.

CSS px = screenshot image px / DPR

shot prints the DPR for the current page. Typical Retina (DPR=2): divide screenshot coords by 2.

Tips

  • Prefer snap --compact over html for page structure.
  • Use type (not eval) to enter text in cross-origin iframes — click/clickxy to focus first, then type.
  • Chrome shows an "Allow debugging" modal once per tab on first access. A background daemon keeps the session alive so subsequent commands need no further approval. Daemons auto-exit after 20 minutes of inactivity.