claude-in-chrome: extension reports "not connected" despite being installed, enabled, and Chrome open

Description

tabs_context_mcp (and other mcp__claude-in-chrome__* tools) consistently return:

Browser extension is not connected. Please ensure the Claude browser extension is installed and running (https://claude.ai/chrome), and that you are logged into claude.ai with the same account as Claude Code. If this is your first time connecting to Chrome, you may need to restart Chrome for the installation to take effect.

This happened across 5 separate attempts in the same session, spread over several user turns (including after the user confirmed the extension was installed/enabled and Chrome was open), with the identical error every time — not a one-off timing issue.

Environment

• Claude Code version: 2.1.252
• OS: macOS 14.7.6 (23H626)
• Platform: darwin

Steps taken before reporting

1. Called tabs_context_mcp with createIfEmpty: true — failed with the "not connected" error.
2. Retried 3 more times across separate user turns — identical error each time.
3. User confirmed: extension is installed, enabled, and Chrome is open.
4. Retried once more after that confirmation — still identical error.

Expected behavior

Once the extension is installed, enabled, logged into the same account as the Claude Code session, and Chrome is running, tabs_context_mcp should successfully connect and return tab context.

Additional notes

No further diagnostic info was available from the tool error message itself (e.g. no indication of why the connection failed — account mismatch vs. extension not actually running vs. something else). A more specific error (e.g. distinguishing "extension not installed" from "extension installed but handshake failed") would make this much easier to self-diagnose.