Chrome integration: EADDRINUSE on Windows - MCP server and native host compete for named pipe

Resolved 💬 3 comments Opened Feb 3, 2026 by twozle Closed Feb 6, 2026

## Environment

  • OS: Windows 11
  • Claude Code version: 2.1.29
  • Node: v22.13.0
  • Chrome extension: freshly installed/reinstalled

## Problem
Chrome integration fails to connect. The --claude-in-chrome-mcp process
and --chrome-native-host both try to bind to the same Windows named pipe:
\\.\pipe\claude-mcp-browser-bridge-<username>

This causes EADDRINUSE errors. Killing the MCP process frees the pipe but
removes the MCP tools from the session. The native host can then bind, but
with no MCP server running, there's nothing to connect to.

## Steps to reproduce

  1. claude --chrome on Windows
  2. /chrome shows "not connected"
  3. Running the native host manually shows:

[Claude Chrome Native Host] Socket server error: Error: listen EADDRINUSE:
address already in use \\.\pipe\claude-mcp-browser-bridge-<username>

  1. Get-Process node shows both --claude-in-chrome-mcp and --chrome

processes, with the MCP one holding the pipe

## Expected behavior
Chrome extension should connect successfully via the named pipe.

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