- Run
npx chrome-devtools-mcp@latest --helpto test if the MCP server runs on your machine. - Make sure that your MCP client uses the same npm and node version as your terminal.
- When configuring your MCP client, try using the
--yesargument tonpxto auto-accept installation prompt. - Find a specific error in the output of the
chrome-devtools-mcpserver. Usually, if your client is an IDE, logs would be in the Output pane.
Start the MCP server with debugging enabled and a log file:
DEBUG=* npx chrome-devtools-mcp@latest --log-file=/path/to/chrome-devtools-mcp.log
Using .mcp.json to debug while using a client:
{
"mcpServers": {
"chrome-devtools": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"chrome-devtools-mcp@latest",
"--log-file",
"/path/to/chrome-devtools-mcp.log"
],
"env": {
"DEBUG": "*"
}
}
}
}This usually indicates either a non-supported Node version is in use or that the
npm/npx cache is corrupted. Try clearing the cache, uninstalling
chrome-devtools-mcp and installing it again. Clear the cache by running:
rm -rf ~/.npm/_npx # NOTE: this might remove other installed npx executables.
npm cache clean --forceThis indicates that the browser could not be started. Make sure that no Chrome instances are running or close them. Make sure you have the latest stable Chrome installed and that your system is able to run Chrome.
When connecting DevTools inside a VM to Chrome running on the host, any domain is rejected by Chrome because of host header validation. Tunneling the port over SSH bypasses this restriction. In the VM, run:
ssh -N -L 127.0.0.1:9222:127.0.0.1:9222 <user>@<host-ip>Point the MCP connection inside the VM to http://127.0.0.1:9222 and DevTools
will reach the host browser without triggering the Host validation.