Automating Chrome with CDP (no paid browsers)

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” — Peter Drucker

TL;DR

Drive your own Chrome via DevTools Protocol + Playwright connectOverCDP; reuse your cookies and extensions.
Launch Chrome with remote debugging and a port proxy so WSL can reach Windows Chrome.
Avoid paid/hosted browsers; keep sessions local and secure with firewall and dedicated profiles.

When I need full browser control without paying for hosted automation, I attach directly to my own Chrome with the DevTools Protocol. It keeps me in control of cookies and extensions, works on Windows plus WSL, and costs nothing.

Why this approach

Free and local: no paid browser automation services.
Uses your real Chrome: same cookies, extensions, profiles.
Works from WSL to Windows Chrome with a small firewall rule.

One-time setup

Close Chrome.
Launch Chrome with remote debugging and a dedicated profile:

Start-Process "C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" -ArgumentList "--remote-debugging-port=9222 --remote-debugging-address=0.0.0.0 --user-data-dir=C:\temp\chrome-cdp --no-first-run --no-default-browser-check"

Allow the port on Windows so WSL can reach it:

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Allow CDP 9223" dir=in action=allow protocol=TCP localport=9223
netsh interface portproxy add v4tov4 listenaddress=0.0.0.0 listenport=9223 connectaddress=127.0.0.1 connectport=9222

Verify JSON is reachable:

In Chrome: http://localhost:9222/json/version
From WSL: curl http://<windows-ip>:9223/json/version

Connect from Node with Playwright

const { chromium } = require('playwright');
(async () => {
  const browser = await chromium.connectOverCDP('http://<windows-ip>:9223');
  const context = browser.contexts()[0] || await browser.newContext();
  const page = await context.newPage();
  await page.goto('https://example.com');
  // do work here
})();

Practical automations

Export bookmarks: read the Chrome Bookmarks file and emit Markdown.
Scrape YouTube Watch Later: open the playlist via CDP, grab titles/links/durations.
Capture product screenshots: drive your own logged-in session for store assets.
Restore sessions: keep --user-data-dir dedicated so your tabs and cookies persist between runs.

Security and hygiene

Never share secrets. Keep env keys out of automation logs.
Bind to your LAN IP and use the firewall rule so only your machine can reach CDP.
Use a dedicated user data dir to avoid your personal profile leaking into scripts.
Close CDP when idle by quitting that Chrome instance.

When to use this vs headless

Use CDP when you need your real session, extensions, or graphical flows.
Use headless chromium.launch() when you want a clean sandbox and reproducible runs.

Checklist to run it anytime

Launch Chrome with the CDP shortcut (includes the flags above).
Confirm JSON at /json/version.
Run your Playwright script against http://<windows-ip>:9223.
Keep secrets out of logs and repos.

Reuse across channels

Blog: publish this guide as-is.
X/LinkedIn: share the key commands and why it beats paid browser services.
Reddit: post in automation or self-hosted communities with the setup steps and security tips.

Automating Chrome with CDP instead of paid browser tools