Polish readme

* add configuration section
* remove existing --help output
* move user-data-dir to new concepts section
* fix small spelling issues in the readme

Author: sebastianbenz

README.md

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ prototype!
 
 `chrome-devtools-mcp` exposes content of the browser instance to the MCP clients
 allowing them to inspect, debug, and modify any data in the browser or DevTools.
-Avoid sharing sensitive or personal information that you do want to share with
+Avoid sharing sensitive or personal information that you don't want to share with
 MCP clients.
 
 ## Requirements
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ Add the following config to your MCP client:
 ```
 
 > [!NOTE]  
-> `Using `chrome-devtools-mcp@latest` ensures that your MCP client will always use the latest version of the Chrome DevTools MCP server.
+> Using `chrome-devtools-mcp@latest` ensures that your MCP client will always use the latest version of the Chrome DevTools MCP server.
 
 ### MCP Client specific configuration
 
@@ -119,7 +119,41 @@ claude mcp add chrome-devtools-mcp npx chrome-devtools-mcp@latest
 
 ## Configuration
 
-For example, to launch the system-installed Chrome Canary pass `--channel=canary` as an argument:
+The Chrome DevTools MCP server supports the following configuration option:
+
+<!-- BEGIN AUTO GENERATED OPTIONS -->
+
+- **`--browserUrl`, `-u`**
+  Connect to a running Chrome instance using port forwarding. For more details see: https://developer.chrome.com/docs/devtools/remote-debugging/local-server.
+
+  - **Type:** string
+
+- **`--headless`**
+  Whether to run in headless (no UI) mode.
+
+  - **Type:** boolean
+  - **Default:** `false`
+
+- **`--executablePath`, `-e`**
+  Path to custom Chrome executable.
+
+  - **Type:** string
+
+- **`--isolated`**
+  If specified, creates a temporary user-data-dir that is automatically cleaned up after the browser is closed.
+
+  - **Type:** boolean
+  - **Default:** `false`
+
+- **`--channel`**
+  Specify a different Chrome channel that should be used.
+  - **Type:** string
+  - **Choices:** `stable`, `canary`, `beta`, `dev`
+  - **Default:** `stable`
+
+<!-- END AUTO GENERATED OPTIONS -->
+
+Pass them via the `args` property in the JSON configuration. For example:
 
 ```json
 {
@@ -129,44 +163,27 @@ For example, to launch the system-installed Chrome Canary pass `--channel=canary
       "args": [
         "chrome-devtools-mcp@latest"
         "--channel=canary",
+        "--headless=true",
+        "--isolated=true",
       ]
     }
   }
 }
 ```
 
+You can also run `npx chrome-devtools-mcp@latest --help` to see all available configuration options.
+
+## Concepts
+
 ### User data directory
 
-`chrome-devtools-mcp` starts a Chrome's stable channel instance using the user
-data directory at `$HOME/.cache/chrome-devtools-mcp/mcp-profile-$CHANNEL` on
-Linux/MacOS and `%HOMEPATH%/.cache/chrome-devtools-mcp/mcp-profile-$CHANNEL` in
-Windows. The user data directory is not cleared between runs and shared across
-all instances of `chrome-devtools-mcp`.
-
-## CLI
-
-Run `npx chrome-devtools-mcp@latest --help` to see all available configuration options:
-
-<!-- BEGIN AUTO GENERATED CLI -->
-
-```sh
-Options:
-      --version         Show version number  [boolean]
-  -u, --browserUrl      The browser URL to connect to  [string]
-      --headless        Whether to run in headless (no UI) mode  [boolean] [default: false]
-  -e, --executablePath  Path to custom Chrome executable  [string]
-      --isolated        If specified, creates a temporary user-data-dir that is automatically cleaned up after the browser is closed.  [boolean] [default: false]
-      --channel         System installed browser channel to use.  [string] [choices: "stable", "canary", "beta", "dev"]
-      --help            Show help  [boolean]
-
-Examples:
-  npx chrome-devtools-mcp@latest --browserUrl http://127.0.0.1:9222  Connect to an existing browser instance
-  npx chrome-devtools-mcp@latest --channel beta                      Use Chrome Beta installed on this system
-  npx chrome-devtools-mcp@latest --channel canary                    Use Chrome Canary installed on this system
-  npx chrome-devtools-mcp@latest --channel dev                       Use Chrome Dev installed on this system
-  npx chrome-devtools-mcp@latest --channel stable                    Use stable Chrome installed on this system
-  npx chrome-devtools-mcp@latest --logFile /tmp/log.txt              Save logs to a file
-  npx chrome-devtools-mcp@latest --help                              Print CLI options
-```
+`chrome-devtools-mcp` starts a Chrome's stable channel instance using the following user
+data directory:
+
+- Linux / MacOS: `$HOME/.cache/chrome-devtools-mcp/mcp-profile-$CHANNEL`
+- Window: `%HOMEPATH%/.cache/chrome-devtools-mcp/mcp-profile-$CHANNEL`
 
-<!-- END AUTO GENERATED CLI -->
+The user data directory is not cleared between runs and shared across
+all instances of `chrome-devtools-mcp`. Set the `isolated` option to `true`
+to use a temporary user data dir instead which will be cleared automatically after
+the browser is closed.

scripts/generate-docs.ts

@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ import {Client} from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/index.js';
 import {StdioClientTransport} from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/stdio.js';
 import type {Tool} from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/types.js';
 import {ToolCategories} from '../build/src/tools/categories.js';
+import {cliOptions} from '../build/src/index.js';
 import fs from 'fs';
-import {spawnSync} from 'child_process';
 
 const MCP_SERVER_PATH = 'build/src/index.js';
 const OUTPUT_PATH = './docs/tool-reference.md';
@@ -102,27 +102,62 @@ function updateReadmeWithToolsTOC(toolsTOC: string): void {
   console.log('Updated README.md with tools table of contents');
 }
 
-function updateReadmeWithConfigOptions(help: string): void {
+function generateConfigOptionsMarkdown(): string {
+  let markdown = '';
+
+  for (const [optionName, optionConfig] of Object.entries(cliOptions)) {
+    // Skip hidden options
+    if (optionConfig.hidden) {
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    const aliasText = optionConfig.alias ? `, \`-${optionConfig.alias}\`` : '';
+    const description = optionConfig.description || optionConfig.describe || '';
+
+    // Start with option name and description
+    markdown += `- **\`--${optionName}\`${aliasText}**\n`;
+    markdown += `  ${description}\n`;
+
+    // Add type information
+    markdown += `  - **Type:** ${optionConfig.type}\n`;
+
+    // Add choices if available
+    if (optionConfig.choices) {
+      markdown += `  - **Choices:** ${optionConfig.choices.map(c => `\`${c}\``).join(', ')}\n`;
+    }
+
+    // Add default if available
+    if (optionConfig.default !== undefined) {
+      markdown += `  - **Default:** \`${optionConfig.default}\`\n`;
+    }
+
+    markdown += '\n';
+  }
+
+  return markdown;
+}
+
+function updateReadmeWithOptionsMarkdown(optionsMarkdown: string): void {
   const readmeContent = fs.readFileSync(README_PATH, 'utf8');
 
-  const beginMarker = '<!-- BEGIN AUTO GENERATED CLI -->';
-  const endMarker = '<!-- END AUTO GENERATED CLI -->';
+  const beginMarker = '<!-- BEGIN AUTO GENERATED OPTIONS -->';
+  const endMarker = '<!-- END AUTO GENERATED OPTIONS -->';
 
   const beginIndex = readmeContent.indexOf(beginMarker);
   const endIndex = readmeContent.indexOf(endMarker);
 
   if (beginIndex === -1 || endIndex === -1) {
-    console.warn('Could not find auto-generated config markers in README.md');
+    console.warn('Could not find auto-generated options markers in README.md');
     return;
   }
 
   const before = readmeContent.substring(0, beginIndex + beginMarker.length);
   const after = readmeContent.substring(endIndex);
 
-  const updatedContent = before + '\n\n```sh\n' + help + '```\n\n' + after;
+  const updatedContent = before + '\n\n' + optionsMarkdown + '\n' + after;
 
   fs.writeFileSync(README_PATH, updatedContent);
-  console.log('Updated README.md with config options');
+  console.log('Updated README.md with options markdown');
 }
 
 async function generateToolDocumentation(): Promise<void> {
@@ -280,15 +315,12 @@ async function generateToolDocumentation(): Promise<void> {
     const toolsTOC = generateToolsTOC(categories, sortedCategories);
     updateReadmeWithToolsTOC(toolsTOC);
 
-    const helpResult = spawnSync('npx chrome-devtools-mcp --help', {
-      shell: true,
-      cwd: process.cwd(),
-      env: process.env,
-    });
-    updateReadmeWithConfigOptions(helpResult.stdout.toString('utf-8'));
-
+    // Generate and update configuration options
+    const optionsMarkdown = generateConfigOptionsMarkdown();
+    updateReadmeWithOptionsMarkdown(optionsMarkdown);
     // Clean up
     await client.close();
+    process.exit(0);
   } catch (error) {
     console.error('Error generating documentation:', error);
     process.exit(1);

src/index.ts

@@ -34,52 +34,58 @@ import path from 'node:path';
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import assert from 'node:assert';
 
-export const yargsInstance = yargs(hideBin(process.argv))
-  .scriptName('npx chrome-devtools-mcp@latest')
-  .option('browserUrl', {
-    type: 'string',
-    description: 'The browser URL to connect to',
+export const cliOptions = {
+  browserUrl: {
+    type: 'string' as const,
+    description:
+      'Connect to a running Chrome instance using port forwarding. For more details see: https://developer.chrome.com/docs/devtools/remote-debugging/local-server.',
     alias: 'u',
-    coerce: url => {
+    coerce: (url: string) => {
       new URL(url);
       return url;
     },
-  })
-  .option('headless', {
-    type: 'boolean',
-    description: 'Whether to run in headless (no UI) mode',
+  },
+  headless: {
+    type: 'boolean' as const,
+    description: 'Whether to run in headless (no UI) mode.',
     default: false,
-  })
-  .option('executablePath', {
-    type: 'string',
-    description: 'Path to custom Chrome executable',
+  },
+  executablePath: {
+    type: 'string' as const,
+    description: 'Path to custom Chrome executable.',
     conflicts: 'browserUrl',
     alias: 'e',
-  })
-  .option('isolated', {
-    type: 'boolean',
+  },
+  isolated: {
+    type: 'boolean' as const,
     description:
       'If specified, creates a temporary user-data-dir that is automatically cleaned up after the browser is closed.',
     default: false,
-  })
-  .option('customDevtools', {
-    type: 'string',
-    description: 'Path to custom DevTools',
+  },
+  customDevtools: {
+    type: 'string' as const,
+    description: 'Path to custom DevTools.',
     hidden: true,
     conflicts: 'browserUrl',
     alias: 'd',
-  })
-  .option('channel', {
-    type: 'string',
-    description: 'System installed browser channel to use.',
-    choices: ['stable', 'canary', 'beta', 'dev'],
+  },
+  channel: {
+    type: 'string' as const,
+    description: 'Specify a different Chrome channel that should be used.',
+    choices: ['stable', 'canary', 'beta', 'dev'] as const,
     conflicts: ['browserUrl', 'executablePath'],
-  })
-  .option('logFile', {
-    type: 'string',
-    describe: 'Save the logs to file',
+    default: 'stable',
+  },
+  logFile: {
+    type: 'string' as const,
+    describe: 'Save the logs to file.',
     hidden: true,
-  })
+  },
+};
+
+const yargsInstance = yargs(hideBin(process.argv))
+  .scriptName('npx chrome-devtools-mcp@latest')
+  .options(cliOptions)
   .check(args => {
     // We can't set default in the options else
     // Yargs will complain
@@ -99,11 +105,11 @@ export const yargsInstance = yargs(hideBin(process.argv))
     ['$0 --channel stable', 'Use stable Chrome installed on this system'],
     ['$0 --logFile /tmp/log.txt', 'Save logs to a file'],
     ['$0 --help', 'Print CLI options'],
-  ])
+  ]);
 
-  .help();
 export const args = yargsInstance
   .wrap(Math.min(120, yargsInstance.terminalWidth()))
+  .help()
   .parseSync();
 
 if (args.logFile) {