AIPex Browser Control

AIPex is a Chrome extension that exposes 30+ browser automation tools over the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Once connected, the agent can control any Chrome tab using natural language — clicking, typing, navigating, capturing screenshots, downloading content, and more.

Architecture:

Agent (MCP client) ──stdio──▶ aipex-mcp-bridge ──WebSocket──▶ AIPex Chrome Extension ──▶ Browser APIs

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the user wants to:

• Navigate to URLs, click links, fill forms, or interact with any web page
• Automate multi-step browser workflows
• Extract or download data from web pages
• Capture screenshots of browser tabs
• Manage multiple tabs across browser windows
• Perform browser-assisted testing (accessibility, UX, regression)

Prerequisites

• AIPex Chrome extension installed (available on the Chrome Web Store or via developer build)
• Node.js >= 18 installed on the local machine

The user is assumed to have AIPex installed. The agent only needs to complete the two connection steps below.

Step 1: Register the MCP Server

Add the following to the agent's MCP configuration. No manual installation is needed —

npx

aipex-mcp-bridge

Cursor (

.cursor/mcp.json

)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "aipex-browser": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "aipex-mcp-bridge"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop (

claude_desktop_config.json

)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "aipex-browser": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "aipex-mcp-bridge"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code (CLI)

claude mcp add aipex-browser -- npx -y aipex-mcp-bridge

VS Code Copilot (

.vscode/mcp.json

)

{
  "servers": {
    "aipex-browser": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "aipex-mcp-bridge"]
    }
  }
}

Windsurf (

mcp_config.json

)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "aipex-browser": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "aipex-mcp-bridge"]
    }
  }
}

Custom port (optional)

The bridge listens on

localhost:9223

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "aipex-browser": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "aipex-mcp-bridge", "--port", "9224"]
    }
  }
}

Then use

ws://localhost:9224

Step 2: Connect the AIPex Extension to the Bridge

After the MCP server is registered and running:

1. Open Chrome and click the AIPex extension icon
2. Go to Options (or right-click the icon → "Extension options")
3. Find the WebSocket Connection section
4. Enter:

   ws://localhost:9223

5. Click Connect

The bridge and extension will handshake, and all browser tools will become available to the agent.

Verifying the connection: If only a single tool called

check_aipex_connection

Tool Usage Strategy (IMPORTANT)

Always follow this priority order to minimize token cost and latency:

Priority 1 —

search_elements

(always try first)

Query the page's accessibility tree to find elements and get their UIDs. Fast, cheap, requires no screenshot.

search_elements(tabId, "{button,input,textarea,select,a}*")

Priority 2 — UID-based interaction (preferred)

Use UIDs returned by

search_elements

• click(tabId, uid)

  — click any element

• fill_element_by_uid(tabId, uid, value)

  — type into inputs

• hover_element_by_uid(tabId, uid)

  — reveal menus or tooltips

Priority 3 —

capture_screenshot

+

computer

(high-cost fallback only)

Use only when

search_elements

1. capture_screenshot(sendToLLM=true)

   — see the page

2. computer(action, coordinate)

   — click/type at pixel coordinates

Standard Workflow

get_all_tabs()
  → search_elements(tabId, "<pattern>")
  → click(tabId, uid)  OR  fill_element_by_uid(tabId, uid, value)
  → [capture_screenshot(sendToLLM=true) to verify if needed]

Available Tool Categories

Key tools by category:

get_all_tabs

switch_to_tab

create_new_tab

close_tab

search_elements

click

fill_element_by_uid

computer

get_page_metadata

scroll_to_element

highlight_element

capture_screenshot

capture_tab_screenshot

download_text_as_markdown

download_image

request_intervention

list_interventions

To load complete parameter schemas and examples for every tool:

read_skill_reference("aipex-browser", "references/tools-reference.md")

Common Patterns

Navigate to a URL and click a button

create_new_tab("https://example.com")
→ search_elements(tabId, "*[Ss]ubmit*")
→ click(tabId, uid)

Fill a login form

get_all_tabs()
→ search_elements(tabId, "{input,textbox}*")
→ fill_element_by_uid(tabId, emailUid, "user@example.com")
→ fill_element_by_uid(tabId, passwordUid, "secret")
→ search_elements(tabId, "*[Ll]ogin*")
→ click(tabId, uid)

Extract page content to markdown

get_page_metadata()
→ download_text_as_markdown(content, "page-extract")

Visual verification

capture_screenshot(sendToLLM=true)

Troubleshooting

check_aipex_connection

--port 9224

ws://localhost:9224

search_elements

capture_screenshot(sendToLLM=true)

computer