Bruster – Rust browser automation tool and MCP

Bruster, an open-source browser automation tool and Model Context Protocol (MCP) server written in Rust, has been released by developer aliilyas, letting AI agents, Python scripts, and test runners control native webviews on macOS (WKWebView), Linux (WebKitGTK), and Windows (WebView2) without Node.js. Bruster ships a built-in runner for a line-oriented `.bru` test DSL, a JSON-lines API, a Docker image for amd64 and arm64, and MCP configuration for Claude Desktop and Cursor, with install scripts for macOS and Linux. The release matters for developers building agent-driven workflows or smoke tests who want browser control through MCP or a lightweight native-webview stack instead of Playwright's Node.js dependency.

Bruster is an open-source Rust browser automation tool and Model Context Protocol MCP server. Control native webviews from AI agents, Python scripts, or your own test runner through MCP or a JSON-lines API. No Node.js required. Documentation https://aliilyas.github.io/bruster/docs/ · UI testing https://aliilyas.github.io/bruster/testing/ · MCP setup https://aliilyas.github.io/bruster/mcp/ · Compare with Playwright https://aliilyas.github.io/bruster/compare/ · Benchmarks https://aliilyas.github.io/bruster/benchmarks/ · Releases https://github.com/aliilyas/bruster/releases/latest Navigate pages, inspect the DOM, fill forms, take screenshots, and manage tabs and persistent sessions on macOS WKWebView , Linux WebKitGTK , and Windows WebView2 . Bruster fits native-webview scripts, focused smoke tests, and agent-driven workflows. Run .bru tests with the built-in runner or use your own. For AI tools: documentation index https://aliilyas.github.io/bruster/llms.txt · full CLI and API reference https://aliilyas.github.io/bruster/llms-full.txt . Scripted MCP session with real WebKitGTK captures. Try the demo https://github.com/aliilyas/bruster/blob/main/launch/README.md try-the-demo . On macOS and Linux: curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aliilyas/bruster/main/install.sh | sh export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH" Linux also needs WebKitGTK 4.1. On Ubuntu or Debian: sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0 Without a desktop display, also install xvfb and xauth . Other Linux distributions https://aliilyas.github.io/bruster/docs/ linux . On Windows, download an archive from Releases https://github.com/aliilyas/bruster/releases/latest and install the WebView2 runtime https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/webview2/ . The Docker image https://hub.docker.com/r/ilyastmn/bruster includes the Linux browser runtime and virtual display for amd64 and arm64: docker run --rm -i ilyastmn/bruster:latest Starts an MCP server over stdio. Docker client setup https://aliilyas.github.io/bruster/mcp/ docker . Add this server to Claude Desktop's claude desktop config.json or Cursor's .cursor/mcp.json : { "mcpServers": { "bruster": { "command": "bruster", "args": "--mcp", "--quiet" } } } Use the executable's absolute path if your client cannot find bruster . Add --visible to watch the browser or --profile ./profile to save cookies and storage. Setup for other clients and troubleshooting https://aliilyas.github.io/bruster/mcp/ . Run bruster , then send requests on stdin, waiting for each response before the next request: {"id":1,"method":"navigate","params":{"url":"https://example.com"}} {"id":2,"method":"snapshot","params":{"format":"text"}} {"id":3,"method":"screenshot","params":{"path":"example.png"}} {"id":4,"method":"close"} Responses carry the matching id ; page events also arrive on stdout. Protocol and API reference https://github.com/aliilyas/bruster/blob/main/docs/reference.md protocol . Bruster includes a compact, line-oriented DSL for repeatable UI checks. It handles browser startup, waits, assertions, and failure evidence so you can focus on the flow being tested. Write a login.bru file: base url "http://localhost:3000" test "opens the dashboard" navigate "/login" fill " email" "tester@example.com" fill " password" "test-password" click "button type=submit " expect url "/dashboard" expect text "h1" "Dashboard" end Run bruster test login.bru . Assertions retry until their deadline; each test gets a fresh browser and profile. Failures include source lines, screenshots, and page diagnostics. The runner writes a JSON report and returns a nonzero exit code on failure. No Node.js or Python is needed to run tests. Use before each for shared setup and --base-url to run the same tests against another environment. The time savings are in authoring and debugging tests. The runner is available in source builds from main ; older release binaries may not include bruster test yet. Bruster uses WKWebView on macOS, WebKitGTK on Linux, and WebView2 on Windows. Input events are synthetic; cross-origin iframes and OS-level controls aren't supported. See the full limitations https://github.com/aliilyas/bruster/blob/main/docs/reference.md limits when choosing a browser backend. Build with cargo build --release --locked . See Contributing https://github.com/aliilyas/bruster/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md for dependencies, tests, and documentation changes. Dependency security checks https://github.com/aliilyas/bruster/blob/main/docs/dependency-security.md : daily RustSec, cargo-deny, OSV-Scanner, and Trivy scans, plus Dependabot and Socket setup.