RawTrace

RawTrace MCP is a local MCP server that wraps Playwright and Chrome DevTools Protocol to record raw DOM mutation and network event streams while an AI coding agent interacts with a web page.

It is designed for building and debugging complex Playwright automations where post-click snapshots are not enough.

Warning

RawTrace MCP records raw browser data by design. It may capture cookies, authorization headers, request bodies, response bodies, tokens, personal information, WebSocket messages, hidden form values, and DOM text. Treat every trace as sensitive. Do not commit traces to GitHub. Use only on systems and accounts you are authorized to inspect.

RawTrace does not silently mask, redact, or omit sensitive fields by default. Every monitor_start call must include:

{
  "acknowledgeRawCapture": true
}

Install

npm install -g rawtrace-mcp

For local development:

npm install
npm run build
node dist/cli.js

MCP Configuration

Stdio is the default transport:

[mcp_servers.rawtrace]
type = "stdio"
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "rawtrace-mcp"]
startup_timeout_sec = 120

Codex example:

[mcp_servers.rawtrace]
type = "stdio"
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "rawtrace-mcp"]
startup_timeout_sec = 120

Claude Code example:

claude mcp add rawtrace -- npx -y rawtrace-mcp

Local development:

[mcp_servers.rawtrace]
type = "stdio"
command = "node"
args = ["C:\\path\\to\\rawtrace-mcp\\dist\\cli.js"]
startup_timeout_sec = 120

Streamable HTTP:

rawtrace-mcp --transport http --host 127.0.0.1 --port 3757

HTTP binds to 127.0.0.1 by default. Binding to a non-loopback host requires --unsafe-remote and --auth-token.

After changing MCP client configuration, restart the client or start a new session. The tools should appear with the server name you configured, for example rawtrace.browser_get_elements, rawtrace.monitor_start, and rawtrace.monitor_search_events. RawTrace currently exposes 59 tools; if only a subset appears, verify that Node.js is at least 22, npx -y rawtrace-mcp starts successfully, and the MCP client can read its configuration file.

Tools

RawTrace MCP currently exposes 59 MCP tools:

• Browser lifecycle and tabs: browser_launch, browser_attach_cdp, browser_close, browser_list_tabs, browser_new_tab, browser_switch_tab, browser_close_tab.
• Navigation: browser_navigate, browser_reload, browser_go_back, browser_go_forward.
• Page observation: browser_get_state, browser_snapshot, browser_get_dom, browser_get_elements, browser_optimize_selector, browser_get_accessibility, browser_get_forms, browser_screenshot, browser_screenshot_annotated, browser_get_network.
• Browser actions: browser_click, browser_type, browser_press, browser_hover, browser_scroll, browser_select_option, browser_check, browser_fill_form, browser_wait, browser_poll_until, browser_observe_action_result, browser_wait_for_response, browser_wait_for_response_body, browser_handle_dialog.
• Files, downloads, and environment: browser_upload_file, browser_wait_for_download, browser_get_downloads, browser_set_viewport, browser_grant_permissions, browser_set_geolocation.
• Raw trace tools: monitor_start, monitor_stop, monitor_list_sessions, monitor_get_manifest, monitor_get_summary, monitor_read_events, monitor_search_events, monitor_search_bodies, monitor_read_artifact, monitor_export.
• Dangerous page execution: browser_eval.
• Credential and browser state tools: browser_get_cookies, browser_set_cookies, browser_clear_cookies, browser_get_storage, browser_set_storage, browser_export_storage_state, browser_import_storage_state.

Inspection tools that read raw page content, forms, response bodies, downloads, screenshots, or trace artifacts require acknowledgeRawCapture: true, the same safety acknowledgment used by monitor_start. browser_snapshot, browser_poll_until, browser_observe_action_result, and browser_screenshot_annotated can return or save raw page text, input values, element metadata, screenshots, and before/after diffs. browser_eval also requires acknowledgeDangerousEval: true; browser_observe_action_result requires the same dangerous acknowledgment when its action is eval. If eval times out, RawTrace closes the timed-out page and switches to another or new page, because browser-side JavaScript evaluation cannot be safely canceled in place.

Credential/state tools require both acknowledgeRawCapture: true and acknowledgeCredentialAccess: true; browser_launch requires the same acknowledgments when using storageStatePath. Applying Playwright storageState clears existing cookies, localStorage, and IndexedDB before importing the new state. For CDP-connected browsers or explicit userDataDir profiles, browser_launch({ storageStatePath }) and browser_import_storage_state also require acknowledgeStorageStateOverwrite: true.

browser_upload_file requires acknowledgeFileAccess: true. browser_grant_permissions requires acknowledgePermissionChange: true. browser_set_geolocation requires acknowledgeLocationAccess: true. These acknowledgments are separate so a caller cannot accidentally treat raw capture consent as file, permission, or location consent.

When no monitor is running, large DOM/text, snapshots, screenshots, eval results, response bodies, and storageState artifacts are written under rawtrace-traces/inspections/. When a monitor is active, large raw values are written under the trace bodies/ directory and returned by reference. monitor_read_artifact can read only files inside a trace session directory and rejects path traversal such as ../.

Trace Output

Trace bundles are written under rawtrace-traces/ by default:

trace_2026-06-14T064500Z_ab12cd34/
  manifest.json
  actions.ndjson
  dom.ndjson
  network.ndjson
  cookies.ndjson
  websocket.ndjson
  console.ndjson
  frames.ndjson
  bodies/
  snapshots/

The stable v1 trace schema is documented in docs/trace-schema-v1.md.

monitor_read_events returns at most 1000 events per call. Use offset/limit pagination for browsing or monitor_search_events when looking for a specific endpoint, DOM text, or event type. Search includes inline event fields and DOM htmlRef/textRef artifacts; it does not expand network request or response body files by default. Use monitor_search_bodies when you want to search raw request or response body files, and monitor_read_artifact when you need to read a specific bodyRef, htmlRef, textRef, or snapshot from the trace directory.

Development

npm install
npm run typecheck
npm run lint
npm test

Integration tests launch Chromium. If your environment does not already have Playwright browsers installed, run:

npx playwright install chromium

Scope

RawTrace MCP is a raw event recorder for automation development. It is not an AI decision-making agent, selector-healing system, CAPTCHA solver, anti-bot bypass tool, cloud browser service, or cross-browser recorder.

The public open-source surface for v1 is the rawtrace-mcp CLI, MCP tools, and documented trace schema. Internal TypeScript modules are not a stable library API and are not covered by SemVer compatibility promises yet.