How do I install Ferridriver?

Copy the stdio config for Cursor, Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or VS Code on this page. It uses the publisher's install, not a PlugMCP proxy.

Does Ferridriver need an API key?

No required environment variable is listed on this record.

What transport does Ferridriver use?

Ferridriver runs locally over stdio.

When was Ferridriver last checked?

Last checked 2026-10-28. High-performance browser automation library in Rust. Playwright-compatible API, multiple CDP backends + native WebKit, MCP server for AI agents, Node.js/Bun bindings via NAPI-RS.

Ferridriver MCP-Server

ferridriver

Browser automation written in Rust with a Playwright-compatible API. Four backends (Chromium over CDP pipes, Chromium over CDP WebSocket, Playwright WebKit, Firefox over WebDriver BiDi) behind one surface. Ships as:

A Rust library — ferridriver
A test runner — ferridriver-test with #[ferritest], fixtures, hooks, expect matchers
A BDD framework — ferridriver-bdd with native Gherkin and step bodies in Rust or JavaScript/TypeScript
A core browser binding for Node.js / Bun — @ferridriver/node (NAPI-RS)
A CLI binary — ferridriver (project scaffolding, MCP server, test runner, BDD runner, script runner, trace viewer, browser installer)

JavaScript / TypeScript BDD step files run natively through the single Rust binary: they are bundled with rolldown, compiled to QuickJS bytecode once at startup, and executed on the embedded ferridriver-script engine. No Node or Bun is involved in the run path.

Status: pre-1.0. The API tracks Playwright closely but is not API-stable — expect breaking changes between minor versions.

Documentation: https://salamaashoush.github.io/ferridriver/

Project layout

12 workspace crates plus one example crate.

Crate	Purpose
`ferridriver`	Core: `Browser`, `BrowserContext`, `Page`, `Frame`, `Locator`, `ElementHandle`, network routing, selectors, backends
`ferridriver-config`	Unified config schema (`ferridriver.{toml,yaml,json}` — `[mcp]`, `[test]`, `[scripting]`, `[extensions]`)
`ferridriver-mcp`	MCP server library (rmcp-based; stdio + HTTP transports; 10 tools)
`ferridriver-cli`	CLI binary: `mcp`, `bdd`, `test`, `run`, `codegen`, `session`, `install` subcommands
`ferridriver-script`	QuickJS engine — backs `run_script`, JS/TS BDD steps, and JS extensions
`ferridriver-node`	NAPI-RS binding shipping the browser API to Node.js / Bun
`ferridriver-test`	Test runner core — parallel workers, fixtures, hooks, retries, reporters, snapshots, traces
`ferridriver-test-macros`	`#[ferritest]`, `#[ferritest_each]`, `#[fixture]`, `#[ferritest_suite]`, hook attribute macros
`ferridriver-expect`	Auto-retrying assertion library — locator, page, value, polling matchers
`ferridriver-perf`	Chrome trace analysis — Core Web Vitals, the 19 DevTools insights, and the Lantern load simulator
`ferridriver-types`	The TypeScript declarations and device registry of this build, embedded for editors
`ferridriver-bdd`	BDD framework — Gherkin parser, step / hook registry, scenario translator, executor
`ferridriver-bdd-macros`	`#[given]`, `#[when]`, `#[then]`, `#[step]`, , ,

Everything above the core is a thin translator. The same Page::click implementation is reached by a Rust #[ferritest], a Gherkin When I click "..." step, a JavaScript line in a run_script MCP call, and a Node.js page.locator(...).click() over NAPI.

Install

One-line install (Linux, macOS)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/salamaashoush/ferridriver/main/install.sh | bash

Installs system dependencies (Linux), the ferridriver binary, and Chromium for Testing.

Manual install

# From crates.io
cargo install ferridriver-cli

# From GitHub releases (prebuilt binaries)
curl -fsSL https://github.com/salamaashoush/ferridriver/releases/latest/download/ferridriver-VERSION-TARGET.tar.gz | tar xz

Browsers

ferridriver install chromium                          # default
ferridriver install --with-deps chromium              # Linux: also install system libraries
ferridriver install firefox chromium-headless-shell   # multiple at once

The WebKit backend uses Playwright's WebKit binary. ferridriver install webkit downloads it into ferridriver's own cache. Alternatively, set FERRIDRIVER_WEBKIT to a Playwright WebKit checkout containing pw_run.sh, or install Playwright once (npx playwright install webkit) and ferridriver picks up that cache.

Staying current

ferridriver upgrade              # newest release on your channel
ferridriver upgrade --check      # report what is available, change nothing
ferridriver upgrade --canary     # follow the rolling build from main
ferridriver upgrade --stable     # move a canary build back onto releases
ferridriver upgrade --tag v0.4.0 # install one exact release

upgrade replaces the running binary in place, after verifying the .sha256 published beside the archive. Two channels:

Channel	Published	Version
`stable`	a release per tag, `v0.5.0`	`0.5.0`
`canary`	one rolling prerelease, replaced on every push to `main`	`0.5.0-canary.<sha>`

A build follows its own channel by default, so a canary never silently moves itself onto stable. --version names the artifact:

$ ferridriver --version
ferridriver 0.5.0-canary.3945f9357 (3945f9357, canary, aarch64-apple-darwin)

Install a canary from scratch with install.sh --canary. Set GITHUB_TOKEN (or GH_TOKEN) if the unauthenticated API rate limit bites.

Scaffold a project

ferridriver init                     # config + a first spec + the editor's type declarations
ferridriver init --bdd               # also a feature file and a step file
ferridriver init --config-format yaml
ferridriver doctor                   # check config, extensions, sidecars and browsers

Shell completions

ferridriver completions zsh > ~/.zfunc/_ferridriver
ferridriver completions bash >> ~/.bashrc
ferridriver completions fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/ferridriver.fish

Output conventions

Every command takes the same global flags: --format json (or --json) for a machine-readable document — including failures, which are rendered as JSON too — --quiet to drop progress narration, --color auto|always|never, and -v/-vv for debug and protocol tracing. Colour is dropped automatically when output is redirected, when NO_COLOR is set, and when a coding agent rather than a person is reading it.

The config flags belong to the commands that read configuration, so they follow the command rather than preceding it, and the commands that never open a config file (install, codegen, init, upgrade, completions) do not accept them at all:

ferridriver test --config ./ci.toml --no-inherit
ferridriver session --config ./ci.toml open dev   # or: session open dev --config …

Node.js / Bun (core browser binding only)

npm install @ferridriver/node
# or
bun add @ferridriver/node

Platform binaries are pulled in via optionalDependencies (@ferridriver/node-{darwin-arm64,linux-x64-gnu,linux-arm64-gnu}).

Quick start (Rust)

use ferridriver::{Browser, browser_type::chromium};
use ferridriver::options::LaunchOptions;
use ferridriver::url_matcher::UrlMatcher;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let browser = chromium().launch(LaunchOptions::default()).await?;
    let page = browser.page().await?;

    page.goto("https://example.com").await?;
    page.locator("#email").fill("[email protected]").await?;
    page.locator("button[type=submit]").click().await?;
    page.wait_for_url(UrlMatcher::glob("**/dashboard")?).await?;

    let png = page.screenshot().await?;
    std::fs::write("home.png", png)?;

    browser.close().await?;
    Ok(())
}

firefox() and webkit() are factories with the same shape. chromium() defaults to the CdpPipe backend; use BrowserType::chromium_with(&BrowserTypeOptions { transport: Some(ChromiumTransport::Ws), .. }) for CdpRaw.

Quick start (Node.js / Bun)

import { Browser } from '@ferridriver/node';

const browser = await Browser.launch();
const page = await browser.newPageWithUrl('https://example.com');

await page.locator('#email').fill('[email protected]');
await page.locator('button[type=submit]').click();
await page.waitForUrl('/dashboard');

await browser.close();

Tests

Three first-class authoring styles. All run on the same TestRunner — same workers, same retries, same reporters.

1. Rust `#[ferritest]`

use ferridriver_test::prelude::*;

#[ferritest]
async fn loads_homepage(page: Arc<Page>) {
    page.goto("https://example.com").await?;
    expect(&page).to_have_title("Example Domain").await?;
}

#[ferritest(retries = 2, tag = "smoke", timeout = "30s")]
async fn login_flow(page: Arc<Page>) {
    page.goto("https://app.example.com/login").await?;
    page.locator("#email").fill("[email protected]").await?;
    page.locator("button[type=submit]").click().await?;
    expect(&page).to_have_url("/dashboard").await?;
}

Wire a binary entry point:

// tests/harness.rs
mod homepage;
mod login;
ferridriver_test::main!();

# Cargo.toml
[[test]]
name = "e2e"
path = "tests/harness.rs"
harness = false

[dev-dependencies]
ferridriver-test = "0.4"

cargo test --test e2e
cargo test --test e2e -- --headless --backend webkit -j 1
cargo test --test e2e -- -g smoke --retries 2

2. BDD with Rust step bodies

use ferridriver_bdd::prelude::*;

#[given("I navigate to {string}")]
async fn navigate(world: &mut BrowserWorld, url: String) {
    world.page().goto(&url).await.unwrap();
}

#[when("I click {string}")]
async fn click(world: &mut BrowserWorld, selector: String) {
    world.page().locator(&selector).click().await.unwrap();
}

// tests/bdd.rs
ferridriver_bdd::bdd_main!();

cargo test --test bdd
# or via the CLI:
ferridriver bdd tests/features/

ferridriver-bdd ships 145 built-in steps (assertions, interaction, navigation, network, API, storage, keyboard, mouse, frame, dialog, emulation, etc.) — write your own only for app-specific vocabulary.

3. BDD with JavaScript / TypeScript step bodies

// steps/login.ts
Given('I navigate to {string}', async function (url: string) {
  await this.page.goto(url);
});

When('I click {string}', async function (selector: string) {
  await this.page.locator(selector).click();
});

Then('the URL should contain {string}', async function (fragment: string) {
  if (!this.page.url().includes(fragment)) {
    throw new Error(`URL ${this.page.url()} does not contain ${fragment}`);
  }
});

ferridriver bdd --steps 'steps/**/*.{js,ts}' tests/features/

Given / When / Then / defineStep / Before / After / defineParameterType / setWorldConstructor / setDefaultTimeout are global; this is the World with page / context / request / browser / parameters / attach / log / skip. No package.json, no node_modules.

Planning a run: listing, selection, streaming

ferridriver test and ferridriver bdd can hand a run to something that plans it elsewhere (a CI matrix, a test grid) and fold the results back.

--list --format json prints one document, { "schema": 1, "tests": [...], "errors": [...] }, without starting a web server or launching a browser. Each test is one record per project and repeatEach index:

{
  "stableId": "faf9e4ed725dbebe0699-6fd9282311e49be5da68",
  "project": "chromium",
  "file": "tests/cart.spec.ts",
  "line": 7,
  "column": null,
  "titlePath": ["tests/cart.spec.ts", "checkout", "payment", "pays"],
  "tags": ["@smoke"],
  "annotations": [{ "type": "issue", "description": "https://example.com/issues/7" }],
  "retries": 2,
  "timeout": 30000,
  "groupKey": "[chromium] tests/cart.spec.ts > checkout",
  "repeatEachIndex": 0
}

Paths are relative to the config file's directory, so the same suite lists the same ids on every machine and from any working directory. groupKey names the serial group (describe.serial, describe.configure({ mode: 'serial' }), a @serial feature) that has to run whole on one worker, or is null. bdd --list adds stepIssues (undefined and ambiguous steps) to a scenario and an entry per step to errors, and exits 1 when a run would fail on them; bdd --dry-run runs the scenarios that way, matching every step without executing one.

Selection: --test-id ID (repeatable) and --test-list FILE (one id per line, # comments) run exactly those tests, and an id that matches nothing is an error; tests/cart.spec.ts:12 runs the test declared on that line. --shard X/N keeps serial groups whole, and --shard-assignment FILE places tests explicitly with a JSON object of stable id to shard index:

{ "faf9e4ed725dbebe0699-6fd9282311e49be5da68": 2, "faf9e4ed725dbebe0699-672e1fb5742dbe19438e": 1 }

--reporter stream writes every event as one line of the blob format, flushed as it happens, to stdout, stream=fd:3, stream=stderr or stream=<path>; attachments are written under the output directory and referenced by path. The first line is a header (the second is abridged):

{"kind":"header","schema":4,"shard_index":null,"shard_total":null}
{"kind":"test-finished","outcome":{"test_id":{"file":"tests/cart.spec.ts","root_path":"tests/cart.spec.ts","name":"pays","line":7},"status":"passed","attempt":1}}

merge-reports takes blob zips and stream .jsonl files alike. A shard's blob is report-<N>.zip with the shard in its header, and attempts of one test from different inputs fold into one test, so a test that failed on one machine and passed when re-run on another is reported flaky.

Exit status: 0 passed, 1 tests failed, 2 usage or configuration error, 3 interrupted by SIGINT or SIGTERM (tests in flight finish and report first), 4 infrastructure failure (a browser that did not launch, a worker that crashed, a web server that did not start).

MCP server

Scripting-focused MCP server for AI agent browser automation. Works with Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, or any MCP client.

# stdio transport (Claude Code, Cursor)
ferridriver mcp

# HTTP transport (remote clients); a token is required off loopback
ferridriver mcp --transport http --port 8080
FERRIDRIVER_MCP_TOKEN=… ferridriver mcp --transport http --host 0.0.0.0

# Backend choice + headless
ferridriver mcp --backend webkit --headless

# Attach to an already-running Chrome
ferridriver mcp --auto-connect chrome
ferridriver mcp --connect ws://localhost:9222/devtools/browser/...

10 tools. connect, navigate, page (session bootstrap) · snapshot, screenshot, evaluate, search_page, diagnostics (observation) · run_script (action) · ferridriver_extensions (introspection).

run_script runs sandboxed JavaScript against the live session with full Page / Locator / BrowserContext / APIRequestContext bindings. One script can navigate, fill forms, click, assert, and make HTTP calls in a single LLM turn:

await page.goto(args[0]);
await page.getByLabel('Email').fill(args[1]);
await page.getByLabel('Password').fill(args[2]);
await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Sign in' }).click();
await page.waitForSelector('[data-testid="dashboard"]');
return { title: await page.title(), cookies: await context.cookies() };

Globals in a script: page, context, request, browser, args (bound, not interpolated — prompt-injection safe), vars (session-level key/value store), console, fs (scoped to script_root), artifacts (dedicated output dir), plus standard fetch / Headers / Request / Response / AbortController. Error responses include stack, line, column, and a source snippet so the model can self-correct.

See site/docs/mcp/tools.md and docs/extensions.md for the full surface and the plugin/extension contract.

Named sessions

The same scripting surface from a terminal, against a browser that stays open between commands. session open publishes a browser under an id; every run --session then sees the pages, cookies, storage and globalThis the last one left behind.

ferridriver session open work https://example.com
ferridriver run --session work --eval "return page.url()"
ferridriver run --session work login.ts -- [email protected]
ferridriver session list
ferridriver session close work

Everything done to a session is one command — run this script — so there is no verb table to drift behind the scripting API; the only other verbs stream frames, relay input and record (below). TypeScript and relative imports work exactly as they do locally: the client bundles (its working directory is the one imports resolve against) and the host compiles and runs, so bytecode never crosses between differently-built binaries. Console output, browser actions (--trace) and generated source (--code) all stream back as the script produces them.

Codegen by doing: every action a script performs can be rendered as TypeScript, Rust #[ferritest], or Gherkin, and --code-out writes a file that runs unchanged both standalone and against the session.

ferridriver run -s work --code-out login.ts --eval "await page.goto('/login'); await page.locator('#email').fill('[email protected]')"
ferridriver run login.ts

--as-test wraps the same lines as an @ferridriver/test spec instead:

ferridriver run -s work --as-test --code-out login.spec.ts --eval "await page.goto('/login')"
ferridriver test login.spec.ts

Recording, and driving a session from elsewhere

codegen records what a person does into a script or a spec, in a headed browser of its own or on a live session's page:

ferridriver codegen https://example.com --target test -o login.spec.ts
ferridriver codegen --attach work --target test -o login.spec.ts

While attached, type visible, text or value and click an element to record an assertion about it; url and title assert the page; stop ends the recording.

A session also lets a client on another machine watch and drive a headless browser, as a web app embedding a remote browser does: a screencast verb streams JPEG frames, an input verb dispatches mouse, wheel and keyboard events straight to the browser's input protocol, and recorder.start / recorder.mode / recorder.assert / recorder.stop record the user's actions as they happen and end with the spec. Listening beyond loopback requires a token, carried in the endpoint string:

FERRIDRIVER_SESSION_TOKEN=… ferridriver session open rec --headless --host 0.0.0.0 --port 9300

From Rust, Recorder::attach(&page, sink) records any page, headless and remote ones included.

See site/docs/scripting/named-sessions.md for the wire format.

Backends

Backend	Browser	Transport	Default?
`cdp-pipe`	Chromium / Chrome	CDP over Unix pipes (fd 3/4)	yes
`cdp-raw`	Chromium / Chrome	CDP over WebSocket (can attach via `connect`)
`webkit`	Playwright WebKit	Playwright Inspector protocol over `pw_run.sh`
`bidi`	Firefox	WebDriver BiDi over WebSocket

Backends dispatch through a Rust enum, not a trait object — monomorphic calls, no vtable lookup.

WebKit speaks Playwright's WebKit Inspector protocol over a NUL-byte- delimited JSON pipe to a pw_run.sh child process. Same code on every platform (macOS, Linux, Windows). The binary is shipped by Playwright; ferridriver locates it via FERRIDRIVER_WEBKIT, then the Playwright cache, then the ferridriver cache. Run ferridriver install webkit (or npx playwright install webkit, or set FERRIDRIVER_WEBKIT) to provide it.

Build and test

The repository uses just (justfile) and cargo aliases (.cargo/config.toml).

Command	Purpose
`just check` (alias `just c`)	`cargo check --all-targets`
`just test` (alias `just t`)	Build the binary, run every Rust crate's tests (all 4 backends), then the BDD feature suite
`just test-fast` (alias `just tf`)	Same as `test` but with maximum parallelism (one backend per shell)
`just test-backend cdp_pipe`	Run a single backend's integration tests (`cdp_pipe`, `cdp_raw`, `webkit`, `bidi`)
`just bdd <args>`	Run BDD features against `tests/features/`
`just lint`	`cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings`
`just fmt`	`cargo fmt --all -- --check`
`just fix` (alias `just f`)	Format then auto-fix lints
`just ready` (alias `just r`)	Full CI gate: fmt + lint + test
`just build`	Release build (full LTO, strip)
`just build-fast`	Release-fast profile (thin LTO, parallel codegen)
`just run <args>`	Run the binary directly
`just run-http [port]`	MCP server on HTTP transport
`just release X.Y.Z`	Bump version, commit, tag, push (triggers release CI)

The Node binding lives outside the workspace default-members. To build and test it locally:

cd crates/ferridriver-node
bun install
bun run build:debug
bun test

Requirements

Rust nightly (edition 2024). The toolchain is pinned in rust-toolchain.toml; rust-version (MSRV) is 1.91.
Chrome or Chromium (ferridriver install chromium, or set FERRIDRIVER_BROWSERS_PATH to use an existing install).
Firefox installed locally for the bidi backend (ferridriver does not bundle Firefox).
Playwright WebKit binary for the webkit backend (ferridriver install webkit, set FERRIDRIVER_WEBKIT, or use Playwright's cache).
ffmpeg on PATH at runtime for video recording (optional).
Node.js 16+ or Bun 1.0+ only if you build or consume @ferridriver/node.

Documentation

Full site: https://salamaashoush.github.io/ferridriver/
Per-crate rustdoc: https://docs.rs/ferridriver
Architecture and internals: CLAUDE.md, docs/

License

MIT OR Apache-2.0

Ferridriver

Diesen Server hinzufügen

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

Server facts

Tools

Questions

How do I install Ferridriver?

Does Ferridriver need an API key?

What transport does Ferridriver use?

When was Ferridriver last checked?

Documentation

ferridriver

Project layout

Install

One-line install (Linux, macOS)

Manual install

Browsers

Staying current

Scaffold a project

Shell completions

Output conventions

Node.js / Bun (core browser binding only)

Quick start (Rust)

Quick start (Node.js / Bun)

Tests

1. Rust `#[ferritest]`

2. BDD with Rust step bodies

3. BDD with JavaScript / TypeScript step bodies

Planning a run: listing, selection, streaming

MCP server

Named sessions

Recording, and driving a session from elsewhere

Backends

Build and test

Requirements

Documentation

License

Diesen Server hinzufügen

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

Server facts

Tools

Questions

How do I install Ferridriver?

Does Ferridriver need an API key?

What transport does Ferridriver use?

When was Ferridriver last checked?

Documentation

ferridriver

Project layout

Install

One-line install (Linux, macOS)

Manual install

Browsers

Staying current

Scaffold a project

Shell completions

Output conventions

Node.js / Bun (core browser binding only)

Quick start (Rust)

Quick start (Node.js / Bun)

Tests

1. Rust #[ferritest]

2. BDD with Rust step bodies

3. BDD with JavaScript / TypeScript step bodies

Planning a run: listing, selection, streaming

MCP server

Named sessions

Recording, and driving a session from elsewhere

Backends

Build and test

Requirements

Documentation

License

1. Rust `#[ferritest]`