Support VS Code's browser-sharing API so Claude can validate web UI changes
Summary
VS Code recently added a browser-sharing capability (release notes: "Sharing browser tabs with agents") that lets the built-in Copilot agent read and interact with tabs the user explicitly shares — DOM, screenshots, console output, navigation. This is the right primitive for an agent doing web/UI work: edit code, reload, verify, iterate in one turn.
Claude Code's VS Code integration currently only exposes mcp__ide__executeCode and mcp__ide__getDiagnostics. There's no way for Claude to see a running app the user has open, even when the user wants to share it. Today the workarounds are screenshots, paste, WebFetch (no auth, no JS), or driving headless Playwright via Bash — all clunkier than what Copilot agent mode now gets for free.
Ask
Extend the Claude Code VS Code extension to consume VS Code's browser-sharing API so Claude can request shares and read shared tabs the same way. User stays in control of what's shared (matches the existing Copilot UX).
Why it matters
Unblocks real-time web/UI validation — frontend bugs, design iteration, layout/styling refinement — without round-tripping through screenshots.
5 Comments
@CeeJayNels +1 here, I'd love to use built-in browser as well, meanwhile using this setup https://code.claude.com/docs/en/vs-code#automate-browser-tasks-with-chrome, works well most of the time.
Yes this works very well in GitHub Copilot, very need to have support in Claude Code extension. @claude please loop on this feature using fable 5 and ping managers inside anthropics
Absolute deal breaker for me... I have had claude running inside github copilot and building UI features like a piece of cake.. now switched to claude code and hit a massive stone wall feels like I am back in AI of 2025... which is a long long time ago in todays day and age :)
+1 for this, i had opened a similar ticket in vscode but it needs to be implemented by anthropic https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/322883#issuecomment-4871589779
Seems, like Anthropic needs to implement it and use what mentioned here https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/322883#issuecomment-4869582410