Problem Statement
The "Control Chrome" MCP integration (developed by Anthropic) currently only supports macOS. It relies on Chrome's AppleScript API, which is macOS-exclusive.
Windows users cannot install or use this integration. The Requirements section in Claude Desktop's MCP marketplace shows a warning icon next to "macOS" with the note: "This extension may not work correctly until all requirements are met."
This means Windows users are completely locked out of the ability to control Chrome through Claude Desktop — including critical tools like execute_javascript, get_page_content, open_url, and tab management.
Given that Windows has the largest desktop OS market share, this is a significant gap in MCP functionality that affects a large portion of Claude Desktop users.
(Previously filed as anthropics/claude-code#29821, which was closed as it was not the correct repository.)
Proposed Solution
Replace or supplement the AppleScript-based approach with a cross-platform alternative. The most viable options are:
- Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) — Cross-platform, no OS-specific API needed. This is the most straightforward approach since the MCP already requires Node.js >= 16.0.0.
-
- Puppeteer / Playwright — Node.js-based, works on all platforms out of the box.
-
- Native Messaging API — Chrome's built-in extension communication mechanism.
A CDP-based approach would enable Windows (and Linux) support with minimal architectural changes, without breaking existing macOS functionality.
Alternatives Considered
No response
Area
MCP Connector (adding/managing servers)
Priority
Critical - Blocking my MCP server development
Additional Context
No response
Problem Statement
The "Control Chrome" MCP integration (developed by Anthropic) currently only supports macOS. It relies on Chrome's AppleScript API, which is macOS-exclusive.
Windows users cannot install or use this integration. The Requirements section in Claude Desktop's MCP marketplace shows a warning icon next to "macOS" with the note: "This extension may not work correctly until all requirements are met."
This means Windows users are completely locked out of the ability to control Chrome through Claude Desktop — including critical tools like
execute_javascript,get_page_content,open_url, and tab management.Given that Windows has the largest desktop OS market share, this is a significant gap in MCP functionality that affects a large portion of Claude Desktop users.
(Previously filed as anthropics/claude-code#29821, which was closed as it was not the correct repository.)
Proposed Solution
Replace or supplement the AppleScript-based approach with a cross-platform alternative. The most viable options are:
A CDP-based approach would enable Windows (and Linux) support with minimal architectural changes, without breaking existing macOS functionality.
Alternatives Considered
No response
Area
MCP Connector (adding/managing servers)
Priority
Critical - Blocking my MCP server development
Additional Context
No response