| name | chrome-health-check |
| description | Quickly checks whether the Claude in Chrome MCP connection is working and reports the status. Use when the user says "is chrome connected?", "check chrome", "chrome status", "test chrome connection", "is the chrome extension working?", or any variation of wanting to know if Chrome is reachable before starting browser-based work. Also use proactively before running Chrome automation tasks if there's any doubt the connection is live.
|
Chrome Connection Health Check
Run a quick connection test. If broken, diagnose the root cause and fix it.
Step 1: Test the connection
Call tabs_context_mcp with createIfEmpty: false.
If successful (returns tab info or "no tab group exists"):
→ Report: "✅ Chrome is connected and ready." Stop here.
If it returns "No Chrome extension connected after discovery":
→ Report: "❌ Chrome extension not connected — diagnosing now…"
→ Before assuming Chrome is closed, run Step 1b to distinguish "Chrome closed" from "extension not paired".
→ Then proceed to Step 2.
Step 1b: Distinguish closed vs. unpaired Chrome
Even when tabs_context_mcp fails, Chrome may be running — the extension just isn't paired to this session. Run these two checks before escalating.
Check A: Control_Chrome tab list
Call mcp__Control_Chrome__list_tabs (no args needed).
- Returns a list of tabs → Chrome IS running. The extension is simply not paired to this session. Tell the user: "Chrome is open but the Claude extension isn't connected — please click the Claude extension icon in your Chrome toolbar and hit Connect." Stop here unless they need more help.
- Returns error or empty → Chrome may actually be closed → proceed to Step 2.
⚠️ Important (observed 2026-05-03): Control_Chrome.list_tabs and open_url succeed even with no Claude-in-Chrome connection. However, get_page_content and execute_javascript will still fail with "Google Chrome is not running." This is a known limitation of Control_Chrome's DOM layer — it does NOT mean Chrome is closed. Trust list_tabs for the liveness check.
Check B: Computer-use screenshot (visual backup)
If computer-use is available, call mcp__computer-use__request_access for Google Chrome, then take a screenshot. Chrome will be granted as read-tier (visible but not clickable). A screenshot showing the Chrome window with tabs confirms Chrome is running regardless of tool errors.
Chrome is always read-only via computer-use (tier "read") — you can see the screen but cannot click or type. For actual browser interaction, the Claude-in-Chrome extension must be connected.
Step 2: Diagnose — Account Mismatch (most common cause)
The #1 root cause is an account mismatch between the Desktop App and the Chrome extension. The bridge WebSocket is namespaced per user UUID — if the two sides use different accounts, they can never find each other.
Check Desktop App account
python3 -c "
import glob, re
pattern = '/Users/*/Library/Application Support/Claude/Local Storage/leveldb/*.ldb'
for f in glob.glob(pattern):
try:
data = open(f,'rb').read().decode('utf-8','ignore')
email = re.search(r'[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}', data)
uid = re.search(r'[0-9a-f]{8}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{12}', data)
if email: print('Desktop email:', email.group())
if uid: print('Desktop UUID:', uid.group())
except: pass
"
Also check the bridge URL in the log:
grep "Connecting to bridge" ~/Library/Logs/Claude/main.log | tail -3
Check extension account
Navigate to: chrome-extension://fcoeoabgfenejglbffodgkkbkcdhcgfn/options.html
The top-right shows the logged-in email. Compare it with the Desktop App account.
If they match → accounts are correct, skip to Step 3b.
If they differ → account mismatch confirmed → go to Step 3a.
Step 3a: Fix Account Mismatch
3a-1: Log out the extension
On the extension options page (chrome-extension://fcoeoabgfenejglbffodgkkbkcdhcgfn/options.html), click "Log out".
3a-2: Switch Claude.ai browser session to the correct account
- Navigate to
https://claude.ai/logout
- On the login page, click "Continue with email"
- Enter the correct email (same as Desktop App — e.g.
ms.apps@msapps.mobi)
- Claude.ai sends a magic link to that email
- Open the email inbox for that address and click the magic link:
- For
ms.apps@msapps.mobi (Zoho Workplace): https://workplace.zoho.com/#mail_app/mail/folder/inbox
- The magic link email arrives within ~1 minute from
noreply@...mail.anthropic.com
- Subject: "Secure link to log in to Claude.ai | {timestamp}"
- Note:
ms.apps@msapps.mobi magic link emails are delivered to the michal@msapps.mobi Zoho inbox (same org)
- Clicking the link logs Claude.ai into the correct account in this browser
3a-3: Re-authenticate the extension
After Claude.ai is signed in with the correct account:
- Reload
chrome-extension://fcoeoabgfenejglbffodgkkbkcdhcgfn/options.html
- Click "Log in" — the extension OAuth uses the active Claude.ai session automatically
- Confirm the options page now shows the correct email in the top-right
3a-4: Restart the Claude Desktop App
discoverAndSelectExtension() runs once at startup and sets discoveryComplete=true. Every subsequent tool call throws the error permanently until the app restarts.
osascript -e 'quit app "Claude"'
sleep 3
open -a Claude
sleep 5
Then retest with tabs_context_mcp.
Step 3b: Other fixes (non-account-mismatch)
If accounts match but still broken:
Extension not installed/enabled:
- Go to
chrome://extensions/ → confirm fcoeoabgfenejglbffodgkkbkcdhcgfn is enabled
Extension token expired:
- Log out and back in on the extension options page
Bridge WebSocket down or Chrome not focused:
osascript -e 'quit app "Google Chrome"'
sleep 2
open -a "Google Chrome"
sleep 3
osascript -e 'quit app "Claude"'
sleep 2
open -a Claude
Quick Reference: MSApps Account Mapping
Bridge URL: wss://bridge.claudeusercontent.com/chrome/{UUID} — both sides must share the same UUID.
Root Cause Summary (diagnosed April 2026)
Desktop App switched accounts (Apr 2) to ms.apps@msapps.mobi. Chrome extension kept old credentials (msmobileapps@gmail.com). Bridge namespaces don't overlap → discovery found nothing → discoveryComplete=true got permanently stuck. Fix: log out extension → sign Claude.ai into correct account via magic link → extension re-authenticates via OAuth → restart Desktop App.
