DOMShell MCP Server

DOMShell

           | |
        ___|_|___
       |___|_|___|
       |   | |   |
       |___|_|___|
        /  | |  \
       /   | |   \
      |____|_|____|
      |           |
      |  DOMSHELL |
      |           |
      |___________|
      |###########|
      |###########|
       \#########/
        \_______/
 
  ██   ██ ██ ███████
  ██   ██ ██   ███
  ███████ ██   ██
  ██░░░██ ██   ██
  ██   ██ ██   ██
  ░░   ░░ ░░   ░░
   ███████ ██   ██ ███████
     ███   ███████ ██░░░░░
     ███   ██░░░██ █████
     ███   ██   ██ ██░░░
     ███   ██   ██ ███████
     ░░░   ░░   ░░ ░░░░░░░
   ██████   ██████  ███    ███  ██
   ██   ██ ██    ██ ████  ████  ██
   ██   ██ ██    ██ ██ ████ ██  ██
   ██   ██ ██    ██ ██  ██  ██  ░░
   ██████   ██████  ██      ██  ██
   ░░░░░░   ░░░░░░  ░░      ░░  ░░

The browser is your filesystem. A Chrome Extension that lets AI agents (and humans) browse the web using standard Linux commands — ls, cd, cat, grep, click — via a terminal in the Chrome Side Panel.

Install from Chrome Web Store | npm package | Read the blog post | Project home

DOMShell maps the browser into a virtual filesystem. Windows and tabs become top-level directories (~). Each tab's Accessibility Tree becomes a nested filesystem where container elements are directories and buttons, links, and inputs are files. Navigate Chrome the same way you'd navigate /usr/local/bin.

Why

AI agents that interact with websites typically rely on screenshots, pixel coordinates, or brittle CSS selectors. DOMShell takes a different approach: it exposes the browser's own Accessibility Tree as a familiar filesystem metaphor.

This means an agent can:

• Browse tabs with ls ~/tabs/ and switch with cd ~/tabs/123 instead of guessing which tab is active
• Explore a page with ls and tree instead of parsing screenshots
• Navigate into sections with cd navigation/ instead of guessing coordinates
• Act on elements with click submit_btn instead of fragile DOM queries
• Read content with cat or bulk-extract with text instead of scraping innerHTML
• Search for elements with find --type combobox instead of writing selectors

The filesystem abstraction is deterministic, semantic, and works on any website — no site-specific adapters needed.

Installation

Chrome Web Store (Recommended)

Install DOMShell directly from the Chrome Web Store. No build step required.

From Source

git clone https://github.com/apireno/DOMShell.git
cd DOMShell
npm install
npm run build

Load into Chrome

1. Open chrome://extensions/
2. Enable Developer mode (toggle in top right)
3. Click Load unpacked
4. Select the dist/ folder
5. Click the DOMShell icon in your toolbar — the side panel opens

Usage

Getting Started

Open any webpage, then open the DOMShell side panel. You'll see a terminal:

╔══════════════════════════════════════╗
║   DOMShell v1.1.0                    ║
║   The browser is your filesystem.    ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════╝

Type 'help' to see available commands.
Type 'tabs' to see open browser tabs, then 'cd tabs/<id>' to enter one.

dom@shell:~$

You start at ~ (the browser root). Jump straight to the active tab with here, or explore:

dom@shell:~$ ls
  windows/       (2 windows)
  tabs/          (5 tabs)

dom@shell:~$ here
✓ Entered tab 123
  Title: Google
  URL:   https://google.com
  AX Nodes: 247

Browsing Tabs and Windows

# List all open tabs
dom@shell:~$ tabs
  ID     TITLE                       URL                        WIN
  123    Google                       google.com                 1
  124    GitHub - apireno             github.com/apireno         1
  125    Wikipedia                    en.wikipedia.org                 2

# Switch to a tab by ID
dom@shell:~$ cd tabs/125
✓ Entered tab 125
  Title: Wikipedia
  URL:   https://en.wikipedia.org
  AX Nodes: 312

# You're now inside the tab's DOM tree
dom@shell:~$ pwd
~/tabs/125

# Go back to browser level
dom@shell:~$ cd ~
dom@shell:~$

# Or use substring matching
dom@shell:~$ cd tabs/github
✓ Entered tab 124 (GitHub - apireno)

# List windows (shows tabs grouped under each window)
dom@shell:~$ windows
Window 1 (focused)
├── *123   Google                        google.com
├──  124   GitHub - apireno              github.com/apireno
└──  125   Wikipedia                     en.wikipedia.org

Window 2
├── *126   Stack Overflow                stackoverflow.com
└──  127   MDN Web Docs                  developer.mozilla.org

# Browse a specific window's tabs
dom@shell:~$ cd windows/2
dom@shell:~/windows/2$ ls
  ID     TITLE                       URL
  125    Wikipedia                    en.wikipedia.org
  126    LinkedIn