Mantis

io.github.perzianhq

The web as short, numbered text for AI agents: a lean browser interface over Playwright.

Add to Cursor Add to VS Code Run on PlugMCP

1{2  "mcpServers": {3    "io.github.perzianhq-mantis": {4      "command": "npx",5      "args": [6        "-y",7        "[email protected]"8      ]9    }10  }11}

.cursor/mcp.jsonMCP server

Transport: stdio
Status: Local

Power your agent

Add this server

The publisher's own command. Not a PlugMCP endpoint.

Add to Cursor Add to VS Code Run on PlugMCP

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

Local command

npx -y [email protected]

Claude Code has no install link for a local command. Copy the command below and run it in a terminal.

shClaude Code

1claude mcp add io.github.perzianhq-mantis -- npx -y mantis-browser@0.1.6

Run in a terminal.

jsonClaude Desktop

1{2  "mcpServers": {3    "io.github.perzianhq-mantis": {4      "command": "npx",5      "args": [6        "-y",7        "[email protected]"8      ]9    }10  }11}

claude_desktop_config.json

Local · npmPublisher installStep-by-step: add this in Claude

Remote URL or a command on your machine? How the two installs differ

Run on PlugMCP

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

A new server you create. It is not this listing's official endpoint. Use the publisher install when you want their URL and their credentials.

Launch

Server facts

Local

Transport: stdio
Version: 0.1.6
Last checked: 2026-10-28

Stars: —
Tools: —
Uptime: —

Tools

No tool list yet. Remote servers get one after the first health check.

FAQ

Questions

How do I install Mantis?

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 Mantis need an API key?

No required environment variable is listed on this record.

What transport does Mantis use?

Mantis runs locally over stdio.

When was Mantis last checked?

Last checked 2026-10-28. The web as short, numbered text for AI agents: a lean browser interface over Playwright.

From the publisher

Documentation

Lets AI agents browse the web as short, numbered text instead of screenshots.

perzian.dev/mantis · by Perzian

It works with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or your own agent as an MCP server. Install in two commands.

npx -y -p mantis-browser mantis install
claude mcp add mantis -- npx -y -p mantis-browser mantis-mcp
npx -y -p mantis-browser mantis read https://example.com   # try it without an agent

Windows, Linux servers and other agents: SETUP. One real task (Luna, logged runs replayed): about a third less time, over 2x fewer input tokens, about half the calls. This is a selected example from 16 long tasks; medians across all 16 are in Results. Full video.

Security and threat model: SECURITY.md.

How it works

What the agent sees

Results

Mantis vs the accessibility tree (Playwright MCP) on public sites, gpt-6-luna and claude-haiku-5-5. Every cell is a per-run median; time is end-to-end wall time per run:

0.1.10: headline numbers are 0.1.9's; Haiku subset smoke-checked.

Long tasks (correct: 14 keyed tasks, 42 runs per cell; medians: all 16 tasks, 48 runs per cell; both approaches run in the same session):

	Luna Mantis	Luna tree	Haiku Mantis	Haiku tree
Correct	35/42	34/42	40/42	40/42
Input tokens (median)	244k	345k	268k	506k
Tool calls (median)	17	24	19	30
Time (median)	42s	66s	54s	85s

Short tasks (30 tasks, 90 runs per cell; tree and screenshot columns are the earlier 20261026 run):

	Luna Mantis	Luna tree	Luna screenshot	Haiku Mantis	Haiku tree	Haiku screenshot
Correct	88/90	86/90	90/90	90/90	88/90	88/90
Input tokens (median)	64k	99k	104k	38k	88k	33k
Tool calls (median)	3	4	7	3	5	6
Time (median)	16s	31s	35s	19s	30s	23s

Versus the accessibility tree:

Long tasks: accuracy within one run, 29-47% fewer input tokens, 29-37% fewer calls, about a third less time.
Short tasks: accuracy equal or better, 35-57% fewer input tokens.

Versus screenshots:

Luna: screenshots score 2 runs higher but use more tokens and time.
Haiku: screenshots use fewer tokens.

Caveats:

Short-task times compare a newer Mantis build with the earlier tree and screenshot run, so treat that time gap as indicative.
Scores come from deterministic answer keys on the final page state. Two long iframe/tab tasks can't be keyed and are left out of the long-task counts.
Method and full caveats: bench/RESULTS.md.

Limitations

No canvas input: canvas, WebGL, maps and drawing apps are described only as canvas, with no coordinate click or draw tool.
Login and bot walls need ask_human, which needs a display.
Benchmarked only on read, navigate and form-fill tasks on public sites, with two models. The screenshot baseline is this project's own tool, and a few tasks were swapped after results (disclosed).
Page content is untrusted data; see SECURITY.md.
Small v0.1.x beta.

Learn more

How it works in detail
Claude skill: teaches Claude how to read Mantis output
Install, configuration and tool reference
Re-running the benchmarks

License

MIT

Mantis

io.github.perzianhq

The web as short, numbered text for AI agents: a lean browser interface over Playwright.

Browser Automation

Add to Cursor Add to VS Code Run on PlugMCP

GitHub npm

Add to Cursor Add to VS Code Run on PlugMCP

1{2  "mcpServers": {3    "io.github.perzianhq-mantis": {4      "command": "npx",5      "args": [6        "-y",7        "[email protected]"8      ]9    }10  }11}

.cursor/mcp.jsonMCP server

Transport: stdio
Status: Local

Power your agent

Add this server

The publisher's own command. Not a PlugMCP endpoint.

Add to Cursor Add to VS Code Run on PlugMCP

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

Local command

npx -y [email protected]

Claude Code has no install link for a local command. Copy the command below and run it in a terminal.

shClaude Code

1claude mcp add io.github.perzianhq-mantis -- npx -y mantis-browser@0.1.6

Run in a terminal.

jsonClaude Desktop

1{2  "mcpServers": {3    "io.github.perzianhq-mantis": {4      "command": "npx",5      "args": [6        "-y",7        "[email protected]"8      ]9    }10  }11}

claude_desktop_config.json

Local · npmPublisher installStep-by-step: add this in Claude

Remote URL or a command on your machine? How the two installs differ

Run on PlugMCP

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

A new server you create. It is not this listing's official endpoint. Use the publisher install when you want their URL and their credentials.

Launch

Server facts

Local

Transport: stdio
Version: 0.1.6
Last checked: 2026-10-28

Stars: —
Tools: —
Uptime: —

Tools

No tool list yet. Remote servers get one after the first health check.

FAQ

Questions

How do I install Mantis?

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 Mantis need an API key?

No required environment variable is listed on this record.

What transport does Mantis use?

Mantis runs locally over stdio.

When was Mantis last checked?

Last checked 2026-10-28. The web as short, numbered text for AI agents: a lean browser interface over Playwright.

From the publisher

Documentation

Lets AI agents browse the web as short, numbered text instead of screenshots.

perzian.dev/mantis · by Perzian

It works with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or your own agent as an MCP server. Install in two commands.

npx -y -p mantis-browser mantis install
claude mcp add mantis -- npx -y -p mantis-browser mantis-mcp
npx -y -p mantis-browser mantis read https://example.com   # try it without an agent

Security and threat model: SECURITY.md.

How it works

What the agent sees

Results

Mantis vs the accessibility tree (Playwright MCP) on public sites, gpt-6-luna and claude-haiku-5-5. Every cell is a per-run median; time is end-to-end wall time per run:

0.1.10: headline numbers are 0.1.9's; Haiku subset smoke-checked.

Long tasks (correct: 14 keyed tasks, 42 runs per cell; medians: all 16 tasks, 48 runs per cell; both approaches run in the same session):

	Luna Mantis	Luna tree	Haiku Mantis	Haiku tree
Correct	35/42	34/42	40/42	40/42
Input tokens (median)	244k	345k	268k	506k
Tool calls (median)	17	24	19	30
Time (median)	42s	66s	54s	85s

Short tasks (30 tasks, 90 runs per cell; tree and screenshot columns are the earlier 20261026 run):

	Luna Mantis	Luna tree	Luna screenshot	Haiku Mantis	Haiku tree	Haiku screenshot
Correct	88/90	86/90	90/90	90/90	88/90	88/90
Input tokens (median)	64k	99k	104k	38k	88k	33k
Tool calls (median)	3	4	7	3	5	6
Time (median)	16s	31s	35s	19s	30s	23s

Versus the accessibility tree:

Long tasks: accuracy within one run, 29-47% fewer input tokens, 29-37% fewer calls, about a third less time.
Short tasks: accuracy equal or better, 35-57% fewer input tokens.

Versus screenshots:

Luna: screenshots score 2 runs higher but use more tokens and time.
Haiku: screenshots use fewer tokens.

Caveats:

Short-task times compare a newer Mantis build with the earlier tree and screenshot run, so treat that time gap as indicative.
Scores come from deterministic answer keys on the final page state. Two long iframe/tab tasks can't be keyed and are left out of the long-task counts.
Method and full caveats: bench/RESULTS.md.

Limitations

No canvas input: canvas, WebGL, maps and drawing apps are described only as canvas, with no coordinate click or draw tool.
Login and bot walls need ask_human, which needs a display.
Benchmarked only on read, navigate and form-fill tasks on public sites, with two models. The screenshot baseline is this project's own tool, and a few tasks were swapped after results (disclosed).
Page content is untrusted data; see SECURITY.md.
Small v0.1.x beta.

Learn more

How it works in detail
Claude skill: teaches Claude how to read Mantis output
Install, configuration and tool reference
Re-running the benchmarks

License

MIT