Anthropic is integrating an in-app browser directly into its Claude Code desktop application. This new feature allows Claude to access, read, click through, and interact with websites in a sandboxed environment, mirroring its capabilities with local development servers.

This move by Anthropic follows similar developments from OpenAI, which recently updated its ChatGPT desktop app with an in-app browser and plans to discontinue its Atlas browser. Both companies also offer browser extensions for Chrome, but Anthropic differentiates its in-app browser by using a clean profile separate from the user's main browser, preventing access to saved logins or history. This is intended for development and testing purposes.

For users who need Claude to act with their logged-in sessions, Anthropic provides a separate Claude Chrome extension. The new in-app browser feature enhances Claude Code's utility for developers by enabling it to interact with external web resources directly within the application, without compromising user privacy for general browsing.