Anthropic adds in-app browser to Claude Code, letting AI coding assistant browse the web independently

Anthropic highlights Claude Code's in-app browser on the desktop

Speaking of AI-powered browser capabilities on the Mac, Anthropic is highlighting Claude Code's in-app browser on the desktop today. "Claude Code on desktop now has an in-app browser," per the ClaudeDevs account on X. "Claude can pull up docs, designs, or any other site. It can read, click through, and interact the same way it does with your local dev servers. It's sandboxed and configurable: you choose whether sessions persist." Agentic web browsing has been in the news this week as OpenAI announced plans to sunset its ChatGPT Atlas browser in favor of the new ChatGPT desktop app's in-app browser. Anthropic and OpenAI both have Chrome extensions for integrating their AI tools with Google's browser as well. Anthropic's documentation explains the difference between Claude Code's in-app browser and using the Claude extension in Chrome: The Browser pane uses a clean browser profile, separate from your personal browser, with none of your saved logins or history. Use it for building and testing your app and for sites that don't need your identity. When you want Claude to act as you in your logged-in sessions, use the Claude in Chrome extension instead, which shares your browser's login state. Plus, new AI-focused browsers have launched on the Mac recently.

Claude Code can now browse the web without opening Chrome

The desktop app now includes an in-app browser that can read websites, click links, and interact with web apps. Developers spend a surprising amount of time bouncing between their code editor, browser tabs, API documentation, GitHub issues, and design files. Anthropic thinks Claude Code should simply do all of that without constantly asking users to switch windows. The company has announced a new in-app browser for Claude Code on desktop, allowing its AI coding assistant to open websites, read documentation, inspect designs, and interact with web pages directly from within the application. A browser built into Claude Code According to Anthropic's documentation, the Browser pane functions as a fully tabbed browser that sits alongside a developer's workspace. Claude can open documentation, issue trackers, internal web apps, or virtually any other website, then read page contents, click links, and interact with elements much like it already does with local development environments. Developers can launch the browser using Ctrl + Shift + B on Windows or Cmd + Shift + B on macOS. External links shared inside Claude conversations can also be opened directly in the Browser pane or, if preferred, in the user's default browser. The browser even supports website logins, including Google OAuth pop-ups, making it useful for testing authenticated applications. Security comes first Because Claude is now capable of interacting with live websites, Anthropic has built several safeguards into the experience. The first time Claude attempts to act on a particular website, users are asked whether to Allow once, Always allow, or Deny that action. These permissions are stored per site and can later be revoked from the settings menu. Even after approval, Claude cannot create accounts, make purchases, or bypass CAPTCHAs without explicit user permission. Anthropic also distinguishes the new Browser pane from its Claude in Chrome extension. The built-in browser uses a clean, isolated browser profile with no browsing history or saved logins, making it ideal for development and testing. Users who want Claude to work with their existing browser sessions and logged-in accounts are still encouraged to use the Chrome extension instead. Recommended Videos The update might sound small on paper, but it removes one of the biggest annoyances in AI-assisted coding: constantly copying links back and forth between a browser and the coding assistant. Instead of saying, "Here's the documentation, go read it," developers can now simply let Claude open the page itself, understand the context, and continue working -- all without leaving the desktop app. That's one less browser tab to keep open, and if there's one thing developers never seem to have enough of, it's fewer browser tabs.

Anthropic Just Gave Its AI Coding Tool a Built-In Browser -- Here's Why Users Will Love It

As a reminder, users can access Claude models through one of three interfaces: Chat, which is Claude's AI chatbot interface most people are familiar with; Cowork, which allows more autonomous decision-making with access to files; and Code, which is designed for developers to streamline code editing and can be accessed through a desktop app or command-line interface. Thanks to the new feature in the desktop app, by directly accessing network traffic and web design elements on live websites, the in-app browser makes it easier for Claude Code to reverse engineer websites. Users can choose the "select element" button to feed a specific design element to Claude, or annotate directly on the webpage with pen and text tools. By creating a separate session, the in-app browser is "sandboxed" to information shared within the app. For developers trying to scrape websites or web designers troubleshooting buggy webpages, the new feature means Claude Code can independently access the internal code of websites without users having to move back and forth between Claude and their browser.