PinchTab
About
High-performance browser automation bridge and multi-instance orchestrator with advanced stealth injection and real-time dashboard.
Details
- Author
- pinchtab
- Downloads
- 334
- Categories
- Productivity
Jump to
- Token-efficient text extraction (~800 tokens per page)
- Headless or headed browser modes
- Multi-instance with isolated profiles
- Self-contained 12MB binary, no external dependencies
- Accessibility-first with stable element references
- ARM64-optimized including Raspberry Pi support
Setting up with Highlight
This MCP is not yet compatible with Highlight’s one-click setup. However, you can still use it with Highlight by following these steps:
- Download and install Highlight from highlightai.com/download
- Navigate to the plugins tab and select "Add Custom Plugin"
-
Configure the plugin with the settings below
Plugin Name
PinchTabCommand (node, npx, python, etc.)Please refer to the README for specific instructions on how to obtain API keys or other required environment variables.
- Enable "Start Automatically" if you want the plugin to start when Highlight launches
From the repository
Install via curl, npm, or Docker, then run pinchtab to start the server on http://localhost:9867. Control the browser using CLI commands (e.g., pinchtab nav, pinchtab click) or the HTTP API directly. For MCP integration, configure the SMCP plugin (see plugins/README.md for environment variables and paths).
Claude Desktop / Cursor
Paste into your MCP client config file to install this server.
{
"mcpServers": {
"pinchtab": {
"pinchtab": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run",
"-d",
"\\"
]
}
}
}
}McpServers
{
"pinchtab": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run",
"-d",
"\\"
]
}
}What is PinchTab?
PinchTab is a standalone HTTP server that gives AI agents direct control over Chrome.
It has two runtime roles:
- pinchtab or pinchtab server — the full control-plane server
- pinchtab bridge — a single-instance bridge runtime
Most users only need the full server. It manages profiles, instances, routing, and the web dashboard. The bridge mode is the thin per-instance runtime used behind the scenes for managed child instances.
Process Model
PinchTab is server-first:
- start pinchtab for the full control plane
- let the server manage profiles and instances
- let each managed instance run behind a lightweight pinchtab bridge runtime
In practice:
- Server is the public product entrypoint
- Bridge is the per-instance runtime for one browser
- Attach is the advanced path for registering an externally managed Chrome
Primary Usage
The primary user journey is:
1. install Pinchtab
2. run pinchtab
3. point your agent or tool at http://localhost:9867
4. let Pinchtab act as your local browser service
That is the default “replace the browser runtime” scenario.
Most users should not need to think about pinchtab bridge directly.
Key Features
- CLI or Curl — Control via command-line or HTTP API
- Token-efficient — 800 tokens/page with text extraction (5-13x cheaper than screenshots)
- Headless or Headed — Run without a window or with visible Chrome
- Multi-instance — Run multiple parallel Chrome processes with isolated profiles
- Self-contained — 12MB binary, no external dependencies
- Accessibility-first — Stable element refs instead of fragile coordinates
- ARM64-optimized — First-class Raspberry Pi support with automatic Chromium detection
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