Chrome DevTools MCP server interferes with user's Chrome browser

When the Chrome DevTools MCP server (chrome-devtools-mcp) is running in Claude Code, it can interfere with the user's regular Chrome browser sessions.

Observed behavior

• Chrome DevTools MCP attaches to the user's active Chrome session
• Regular browsing is disrupted when the MCP server is active
• User has to manually quit/restart Chrome or kill the MCP process to regain normal browser control

Expected behavior

The MCP server should use an isolated Chrome instance or connect to a dedicated debugging port without interfering with the user's primary Chrome browser. On exit, Claude Code should properly clean up/close MCP server processes.

Environment

• macOS (Darwin)
• Claude Code CLI
• Chrome DevTools MCP plugin (chrome-devtools-mcp)

Context

Filed at the request of @OrKoN (Chrome DevTools MCP maintainer) in ChromeDevTools/chrome-devtools-mcp#1765 (comment), who noted that similar issues in other clients were best fixed on the client side.

Related issues

• Upstream: ChromeDevTools/chrome-devtools-mcp#1765
• Similar fix in Gemini CLI (resolved Jan 2026): google-gemini/gemini-cli#13391 — "Gemini CLI should clean up/close MCP servers it launches on exit"