How to Set Up Puppeteer MCP

Overview

The Puppeteer MCP enables:

• Navigate to any URL
• Click elements, fill forms, submit
• Take screenshots (full page or element)
• Extract text and data from pages
• Handle JavaScript-heavy SPAs

Prerequisites

• openclaw installed and running
• Option A: Node.js 18+ with Chrome/Chromium installed
• Option B: Docker (recommended for avoiding dependency issues)

Method 1: NPX (Local Node.js)

Simplest if you have Chrome installed locally.

{
  "Puppeteer": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "@anthropics/mcp-server-puppeteer"]
  }
}

Dependency Check

Run this to verify Chrome is findable:

npx puppeteer browsers install chrome

Method 2: Docker (Recommended)

Avoids all local dependency issues. Chrome runs inside the container.

{
  "Puppeteer": {
    "command": "docker",
    "args": [
      "run", "-i", "--rm",
      "--cap-add=SYS_ADMIN",
      "ghcr.io/anthropics/mcp-server-puppeteer"
    ]
  }
}

Verify Setup

1. Run openclaw status — Puppeteer MCP should show as "running"
2. Test: "Go to https://example.com and take a screenshot"
3. Test: "Navigate to https://news.ycombinator.com and list the top 5 headlines"

Common Errors

Windows / WSL2 Notes

• On Windows, run openclaw in WSL2 for best compatibility
• Docker Desktop with WSL2 backend works well
• Native Windows may require additional Chrome path config

Security Considerations

• Puppeteer can access any website—use responsibly
• Don't automate login to sensitive accounts without understanding risks
• Docker isolates the browser from your host system
• Consider running in a separate network namespace for production

Example Prompts

• "Go to https://github.com/trending and list the top 3 repos"
• "Screenshot the homepage of https://example.com"
• "Fill out the contact form on https://example.com/contact with name 'Test' and email '[email protected]'"
• "Extract all product prices from https://example-store.com/products"

When to Use Puppeteer vs Fetch

Related MCPs