How to let Claude browse the web in a real browser

To let Claude browse the web in a real browser, connect Claude Code or Claude Desktop to a browser MCP server, or install Anthropic's Claude in Chrome extension. Either way Claude gets tools to open pages, read them and act on them, and you can watch it work. This guide shows the MCP route with Kitsuvo, our free browser for Mac and Windows, step by step, and explains when Claude in Chrome is the better fit.

What are the ways to let Claude use a browser?

Route	Where Claude works	Profile	Needs
Claude in Chrome	Your Google Chrome, from a side panel, Cowork or Claude Code	Your own Chrome	A paid Claude plan; Chrome only, per Anthropic's help page
Claude Code + browser MCP server	A browser the server controls	Depends on the server	Claude Code and the server installed locally
Claude Desktop + browser MCP server	Same, from the desktop app	Depends on the server	Claude Desktop and the server installed locally

Claude in Chrome suits tasks on sites where you are already signed in, with you watching. An MCP server suits work you want kept apart from your own logins, or a browser other than Chrome. For the wider picture of servers, see what is a browser MCP server?

Step 1: Install Kitsuvo

Download Kitsuvo from kitsuvo.com for Windows (x64) or Mac (Apple silicon or Intel) and open it once. On a Mac, check the chip under Apple menu → About This Mac: Apple M-series chips take the Apple silicon download. The Mac installers are signed and notarized by Apple. The Windows installer is not code-signed, so Windows may ask you to confirm the first time you run it; the install guide explains each prompt.

You don't need an account, an API key or a subscription for the browser or its MCP tools.

Step 2: Add Kitsuvo to Claude Code

Claude Code adds local servers with claude mcp add. Everything after -- is the command Claude Code runs. Use --scope user so the browser is available in every project, not just the current folder.

On a Mac, with Kitsuvo in Applications:

claude mcp add --scope user kitsuvo -- "/Applications/Kitsuvo.app/Contents/MacOS/kitsuvo" mcp --separate-profile
claude mcp list

On Windows, use the full path to kitsuvo.exe in the folder you installed it to:

claude mcp add --scope user kitsuvo -- "C:\path\to\Kitsuvo\kitsuvo.exe" mcp
claude mcp list

claude mcp list should show Kitsuvo as connected. On Mac 0.2.14, --separate-profile gives Claude its own persistent browser profile; leave it out and Claude uses your normal Kitsuvo profile, including its sign-ins. On Windows, run the executable with --help to see the profile options your build supports. Connect your LLM always has the current command. If an entry named kitsuvo already exists, inspect it with claude mcp get kitsuvo rather than adding a second one.

Step 2, alternative: add Kitsuvo to Claude Desktop

The simplest route is Kitsuvo's Claude Desktop extension. Download it from Connect your LLM, open Settings → Extensions → Advanced settings in Claude Desktop and install the package. Set the executable path to /Applications/Kitsuvo.app/Contents/MacOS/kitsuvo on a Mac, or your installed kitsuvo.exe on Windows, then restart Claude Desktop and enable the extension.

To configure it by hand instead: Claude Desktop reads local servers from claude_desktop_config.json. Open it from the Claude menu: Settings → Developer → Edit Config. The file lives at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on a Mac and %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json on Windows, according to the MCP local servers guide. Add Kitsuvo inside mcpServers, keeping any servers already there:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kitsuvo": {
      "command": "/Applications/Kitsuvo.app/Contents/MacOS/kitsuvo",
      "args": ["mcp", "--separate-profile"]
    }
  }
}

On Windows, set command to your kitsuvo.exe path, with each backslash doubled as JSON requires, and use the profile options its --help lists. Quit Claude Desktop completely and reopen it. If the server doesn't appear, the MCP logs are in ~/Library/Logs/Claude on a Mac and %APPDATA%\Claude\logs on Windows.

Step 3: Check that Claude can browse

Start a new conversation and ask something small and harmless:

Open https://example.com in Kitsuvo. Tell me the page title and the first sentence.
Then show me Kitsuvo's report for the page. Don't submit anything.

Claude should ask to use the browser tools; approve them. A Kitsuvo window opens with an Agent mode bar across the top, the page loads, and Claude answers from the page it read. Copying a configuration doesn't prove it works; this test does.

What can Claude do in the browser?

• Read and compare pages. "Open these two documentation pages in separate tabs and compare their supported platforms, quoting each."
• Fill in forms you review. "Fill the contact form with these details but stop before sending."
• Check a layout. "Open my site at a phone size and at desktop width and list anything that overflows." Kitsuvo's browser_resize tool takes a device name or a size.
• Vet sources. "Search for reviews of this product and tell me which results Kitsuvo hid as likely AI-built, and why." kitsuvo_report lists the evidence behind each score, which Claude can quote. Scores are estimates, not proof.

More tasks to try, with the data each one shares, are on browse with your LLM.

What does Claude see, and what stays on your computer?

Claude receives what the tools return: page text, accessibility snapshots, screenshots where supported, and Kitsuvo's reports. That goes to Anthropic as part of your conversation, under your Claude plan's terms. Kitsuvo's own detection runs on your computer and doesn't need Claude at all.

Which profile Claude uses is your choice. With --separate-profile, the agent works in its own Kitsuvo profile, so Claude doesn't get your cookies, history or bookmarks. Without it, on Mac 0.2.14 Claude uses your normal Kitsuvo profile and can reach the sites you are signed in to there. Kitsuvo never reads or scripts sign-in pages and never types into password fields unless you start it with --allow-sensitive. Pages can still contain text aimed at the model, so keep approvals on for anything that sends, buys or deletes. Press Stop in the Agent mode bar to cut automation off.

What if Claude can't see the tools?

• "Failed to connect" in claude mcp list: run the same path with --help in a terminal. If that fails, the path is wrong.
• Server added but missing in a project: you added it with the default local scope in another folder. Re-add it with --scope user.
• Claude Desktop shows nothing: check the JSON is valid, the path is absolute, and that you fully quit the app before reopening.
• Old configuration from Kitsune or Unvibe: Kitsuvo used to have those names. Change any kitsune mcp command to the kitsuvo executable.

The same server works with other MCP clients such as Codex and Cursor; the connection guide has their settings.