An MCP web browser your agents can afford to use

How do I add the MCP server?

# Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport http vessel https://your-vessel/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer KEY"
# Gemini CLI
gemini mcp add --transport http vessel https://your-vessel/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer KEY"
# Cursor / Windsurf / Claude Desktop (mcp.json)
{ "mcpServers": { "vessel": { "url": "https://your-vessel/mcp", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer KEY" } } } }
# Codex (config.toml)
[mcp_servers.vessel] url = "https://your-vessel/mcp" http_headers = { Authorization = "Bearer KEY" }

How do ChatGPT and claude.ai connect?

Both support custom connectors with OAuth. Enter https://your-vessel/mcp; CrawlGenie runs a full OAuth 2.1 authorization server (PKCE, dynamic client registration, consent page) and mints a revocable key named after the platform. From then on, "use vessel to read this PDF" or "watch r/SaaS for mentions of Acme" costs a fraction of the platform's own browsing, and the Token savings page shows the saving per connector.

Which tools does the MCP server expose?

Reading: web_answer (one URL, page or document, passages for a question), web_research (search or compare given URLs under one token budget), browser_extract_text with q, browser_snapshot with max_tokens. Data: vessel_extract (61 extractors), knowledge_add and knowledge_search. Acting: browser_navigate, click, type, select, scroll, tabs, screenshots, routines, profiles, secrets. Help: vessel_help answers questions about CrawlGenie itself from the docs.

Why are the token numbers lower than other browser MCPs?

Three reasons: the snapshot is interactive-only and ranked (3–8k tokens instead of 50–180k of HTML or a full tree), re-observations return deltas (tens of tokens), and reading tools return passages instead of pages. On an 18-step task the measured total was 95,279 tokens against 2,163,834 for raw HTML; question focus kept 1,493 of 27,611 on a long article.

Is it safe to give a chat product a browser?

Policies are enforced on the server, not in the prompt: domain allow-lists, approvals before anything that pays, sends or deletes, a secrets vault the model never reads, PII redaction, an SSRF guard, per-key quotas, and signed agent identity so sites know who is browsing. Every session has a timeline with screenshots and can be taken over by a person.

Related: integrations guide · security model · web scraping for LLMs · Browserbase alternative.