Agent skill · software engineering · pinchtab
pinchtab-mcp
Use this skill when a task requires browser automation through PinchTab's MCP server connected to a remote browser instance. Covers navigation, element interaction, data extraction, form filling, multi-step flows, and session management via MCP tools.
Why this skill is useful
Provides specific commands and workflows for browser automation that the AI wouldn't reliably generate on its own.
What it needs
Requires pinchtab installed locally. About 7k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-03. 9,933 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Browser Automation via PinchTab MCP Use MCP tools to control a browser through the PinchTab HTTP API. The MCP server defaults to http://127.0.0.1:9867; for remote or containerized PinchTab instances, override with the PINCHTABSERVER env var (e.g. PINCHTABSERVER=http://pinchtab:9867). Core Workflow 1. Navigate: pinchtabnavigate(url="https://example.com") — auto-creates a session and tab. 2. Observe: pinchtabsnapshot(interactive=true, compact=true) — returns numbered refs like e5, e12. 3. Interact: pinchtabclick(selector="e5") — use refs from the snapshot. 4. Verify: pinchtabgettext() or re-snapshot to confirm the action succeeded. Critical rule: An element ref (e5, e12) denotes a DOM node, so the same node keeps its ref across interactive vs full, a selector scope and a depth limit — a filtered view is therefore sparse (e0, e1, e6), never assume refs are contiguous. What a ref does NOT survive is navigation to a new document: refs expire on page load, so always re-call pinchtabsnapshot afterwards. A ref that can no longer resolve to its node is refused with vocabsuperseded (or ref not found), never acted on positionally — the tools carry each snapshot's vocabulary token forward so a filter-only re-read keeps a ref valid while a new document supersedes it. --- Tool Selection Guide Choose the cheapest tool that satisfies your goal: Goal Tool Token Cost ------ ------ ------------ Check a specific value pinchtabeval(expression="document.title") Lowest Find a specific element pinchtabfind(query="login button") Low Read page text only pinchtabgettext() Low Read a whole site to markdown pinchtabscrape(url=..., preview=true) then expand Varies Find interactive elements pinchtabsnapshot(interactive=true, compact=true) Medium Full page structure pinchtabsnapshot() Medium-High Visual verification pinchtabscreenshot() Highest Default observation: pinchtabsnapshot(interactive=true, compact=true) — returns only interactive elements in compact format. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills pinchtab/pinchtab-mcp