diff --git a/docs/issues/plugin-browser-pool-proposal.md b/docs/issues/plugin-browser-pool-proposal.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ff661c4bfd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/issues/plugin-browser-pool-proposal.md
@@ -0,0 +1,168 @@
+# [Feature] Pluginization Phase 1: Extract Playwright/CloakBrowser Browser Pool
+
+**Labels:** `enhancement`, `plugin`, `architecture`
+
+## Problem / Use Case
+
+OmniRoute's Playwright/CloakBrowser dependency is a **large, non-essential dependency** (~1500+ LOC across 22 source files + ~35 test files) pulled into every installation regardless of whether the user needs browser-backed chat. Users who run OmniRoute purely as a proxy/router (the majority) pay for:
+
+- **Disk space**: ~200+ MB from Playwright browsers + Chromium binaries (installed via `npx playwright install`)
+- **Build complexity**: Turbopack must handle the `cloakbrowser` package
+- **Bundle size**: All browser-pool code is compiled into the main codebase
+- **Surface area**: 7 files with direct Playwright imports (4 dynamic, 3 static type imports)
+- **CI/cache impact**: Playwright installs in CI pipelines even when not needed
+
+Currently, only environment variables (`OMNIROUTE_BROWSER_POOL=off`) gate _runtime_ execution — the code still loads, imports get resolved, and Playwright must be installed.
+
+## Proposed Solution
+
+Extract the Playwright/CloakBrowser browser pool into an **optional package** loaded via dynamic `import()` at runtime, following the existing pattern used for `cloakbrowser` (computed-string dynamic import to avoid resolution). The core retains thin interface stubs that gracefully degrade when the optional package is absent.
+
+### Architecture
+
+```
+open-sse/
+  interfaces/
+    browserPool.ts       ← NEW: BrowserPoolProvider interface + types
+  services/
+    browserPool.ts       ← BECOMES: thin stub, delegates to optional package
+    browserBackedChat.ts ← BECOMES: thin stub, delegates to optional package
+    grokClearance.ts     ← BECOMES: thin stub
+
+packages/browser-pool/   ← NEW: optional package
+  index.ts               ← exports BrowserPoolProvider implementation
+  src/
+    browserPool.ts       ← extracted from open-sse/services/browserPool.ts
+    browserBackedChat.ts ← extracted from open-sse/services/browserBackedChat.ts
+    grokClearance.ts     ← extracted from open-sse/services/grokClearance.ts
+    claudeTurnstileSolver.ts ← extracted (tightly coupled, moved as-is)
+    inAppLoginService.ts ← extracted (own Playwright instance, separate lifecycle)
+  package.json
+  tsconfig.json
+```
+
+### Phase Breakdown
+
+**Phase 1 — Core pool extraction (this issue):**
+
+1. Define `BrowserPoolProvider` interface in `open-sse/interfaces/browserPool.ts`
+2. Extract `browserPool.ts` (~502 LOC), `browserBackedChat.ts` (~270 LOC), `grokClearance.ts` (~84 LOC) into `packages/browser-pool/`
+3. Replace core files with thin stubs that try `import('../../../packages/browser-pool')` with graceful fallback
+4. Keep `poolTools.ts` importing the core stub (unchanged from consumer perspective)
+5. Make Playwright an optional dependency (not in root `package.json`)
+6. Typecheck core passes with and without the package installed
+7. All existing tests pass (with plugin installed)
+
+**Phase 2 — Turnstile solver extraction (future):**
+
+- Extract `claudeTurnstileSolver.ts` (~212 LOC) — has static Playwright type imports, needs type interface
+- Move `claudeWebAutoRefresh.ts` (depends on turnstile solver)
+
+**Phase 3 — Standalone Playwright instances (future):**
+
+- Extract `inAppLoginService.ts` (~257 LOC)
+- Refactor `gemini-web.ts` executor's own Playwright path (~553 LOC)
+
+### Interface Design (Phase 1)
+
+```typescript
+// open-sse/interfaces/browserPool.ts
+export interface BrowserPoolProvider {
+  acquireBrowserContext(options?: BrowserPoolContextOptions): Promise<PooledContext>;
+  releaseBrowserContext(ctx: PooledContext): Promise<void>;
+  getBrowserPoolMetrics(): BrowserPoolMetrics;
+  shutdownPool(): Promise<void>;
+  isPoolEnabled(): boolean;
+  openPage(url: string, ctx?: PooledContext): Promise<{ page: any }>;
+  readPageResponseBody(page: any): Promise<string>;
+  getBrowserPoolStatus(): BrowserPoolStatus;
+}
+```
+
+### Stub Pattern
+
+```typescript
+// open-sse/services/browserPool.ts — thin stub
+let _impl: BrowserPoolProvider | null = null;
+
+async function getImpl(): Promise<BrowserPoolProvider> {
+  if (!_impl) {
+    try {
+      const { createBrowserPoolProvider } = await import("../../packages/browser-pool");
+      _impl = createBrowserPoolProvider();
+    } catch {
+      // Graceful fallback — disabled
+      _impl = createNullBrowserPoolProvider();
+    }
+  }
+  return _impl;
+}
+
+export async function acquireBrowserContext(...args) {
+  return (await getImpl()).acquireBrowserContext(...args);
+}
+```
+
+## Alternatives Considered
+
+1. **Existing hook-based PluginManager**: Rejected. The current PluginManager operates via child-process IPC and request-pipeline hooks (`onRequest`, `onResponse`, `onError`). A browser pool is an in-process runtime service with composable lifecycle — not a request pipeline hook. Forcing it through IPC would add ~50ms+ per browser operation and break the existing synchronous pool pattern.
+
+2. **Keep as-is, just lazy-load the import**: Minimal improvement — the dependency tree still references Playwright types, requiring it to be available. Doesn't reduce bundle size or simplify CI.
+
+3. **Replace Playwright with a protocol-level abstraction**: Too ambitious and would change the behavior of the pool. Playwright's CDP capabilities (context isolation, cookies, screenshots) are fundamental to how the pool works.
+
+4. **Monorepo workspace**: Too heavy for this scope. A simple extracted package avoids workspace tooling changes.
+
+## Acceptance Criteria
+
+1. `open-sse/interfaces/browserPool.ts` exists and exports `BrowserPoolProvider`, `PooledContext`, `BrowserPoolMetrics` types
+2. `open-sse/services/browserPool.ts` becomes a thin stub with zero Playwright imports
+3. `packages/browser-pool/` contains all extracted implementation (browserPool, browserBackedChat, grokClearance)
+4. Core typecheck (`npm run typecheck:core`) passes with 0 errors **without** the browser-pool package installed
+5. Core typecheck passes with the package installed
+6. All existing tests pass when the browser-pool package is installed
+7. `poolTools.ts` `omniroute_browser_pool_status` tool works end-to-end when the package is installed
+8. Graceful degradation: when the package is absent, `getBrowserPoolStatus()` returns `{ enabled: false }` without crashing
+9. Playwright is moved from root `dependencies` to optional/peer in the extracted package
+10. Documentation updated in `docs/reference/ENVIRONMENT.md`
+
+## Expected Test Plan
+
+- Unit tests for the stub fallback path (simulate import failure, verify graceful degradation)
+- Unit tests moved to the extracted package
+- Verify `tests/unit/browser-pool-optional-import.test.ts` passes (still validates cloakbrowser isn't statically resolved)
+- Verify `tests/unit/browserPool-proxy.test.ts` passes
+- Verify `tests/unit/browserBackedChat-matcher.test.ts` passes
+- E2E: `npm run typecheck:core` without the package installed → 0 errors
+- E2E: `npm run test:coverage` (with package installed) → existing coverage gates pass
+
+## Additional Context
+
+Current dependency graph (simplified):
+
+```
+open-sse/services/browserPool.ts (502 LOC, singleton Playwright/CloakBrowser pool)
+  ├── open-sse/services/browserBackedChat.ts (270 LOC, browser-backed chat runner)
+  │     ├── open-sse/executors/claude-web.ts (imports tryBackedChat)
+  │     └── open-sse/executors/duckduckgo-web.ts (imports tryBackedChat)
+  ├── open-sse/services/grokClearance.ts (84 LOC, CF clearance via browser)
+  └── open-sse/mcp-server/tools/poolTools.ts (imports getBrowserPoolMetrics)
+
+Standalone Playwright users (separate, future phases):
+  ├── open-sse/services/claudeTurnstileSolver.ts (212 LOC, static Playwright type imports)
+  ├── open-sse/services/inAppLoginService.ts (257 LOC, own browser lifecycle)
+  └── open-sse/executors/gemini-web.ts (553 LOC, private Playwright path)
+
+Kill switches: OMNIROUTE_BROWSER_POOL, WEB_COOKIE_USE_BROWSER (both env vars)
+```
+
+Total extracted in Phase 1: ~856 LOC, 3 files.
+Total deferred to Phase 2/3: ~1022 LOC, 4 files.
+
+This is the first pluginization step. Future targets (separate issues): memory/compression plugin, additional provider support extraction.
+
+## Related References
+
+- PR #8219 (model catalog connection filter + cache TTL) — same baseline `release/v3.8.49`
+- `docs/reference/ENVIRONMENT.md` — browser pool env vars documentation
+- Plugin system docs at `docs/PLUGINS.md` — existing PluginManager (not used here, referenced for contrast)
diff --git a/open-sse/services/browserBackedChat.ts b/open-sse/services/browserBackedChat.ts
index 8ec46270a5..96002b6767 100644
--- a/open-sse/services/browserBackedChat.ts
+++ b/open-sse/services/browserBackedChat.ts
@@ -61,15 +61,6 @@ const COOKIE_POLL_TIMEOUT_MS = 5 * 1000;
 
 // ===================== MODULE PROXY =====================
 
-let modPromise: Promise<any> | null = null;
-
-function getMod(): Promise<any> {
-  if (!modPromise) {
-    modPromise = import("@omniroute/browser-pool").catch(() => null);
-  }
-  return modPromise;
-}
-
 // ===================== COOKIE CACHE (DELEGATED) =====================
 
 async function getCachedCookies(domain: string | undefined): Promise<string | undefined> {
@@ -91,11 +82,13 @@ export async function clearCookieCache(): Promise<void> {
 
 // ===================== TEST OVERRIDES =====================
 
-let browserBackedChatOverride: ((req: BrowserBackedChatRequest) => Promise<BrowserBackedChatResult>) | null = null;
-let httpBackedChatOverride: ((req: BrowserBackedChatRequest) => Promise<BrowserBackedChatResult>) | null = null;
+let browserBackedChatOverride:
+  ((req: BrowserBackedChatRequest) => Promise<BrowserBackedChatResult>) | null = null;
+let httpBackedChatOverride:
+  ((req: BrowserBackedChatRequest) => Promise<BrowserBackedChatResult>) | null = null;
 
 export function __setBrowserBackedChatOverrideForTesting(
-  fn: ((req: BrowserBackedChatRequest) => Promise<BrowserBackedChatResult>) | null,
+  fn: ((req: BrowserBackedChatRequest) => Promise<BrowserBackedChatResult>) | null
 ): void {
   browserBackedChatOverride = fn;
 }
@@ -105,7 +98,7 @@ export function __resetBrowserBackedChatOverrideForTesting(): void {
 }
 
 export function __setHttpBackedChatOverrideForTesting(
-  fn: ((req: BrowserBackedChatRequest) => Promise<BrowserBackedChatResult>) | null,
+  fn: ((req: BrowserBackedChatRequest) => Promise<BrowserBackedChatResult>) | null
 ): void {
   httpBackedChatOverride = fn;
 }
@@ -149,7 +142,9 @@ export function isChallengeResponse(status: number): boolean {
 
 // ===================== HTTP-BACKED CHAT (INLINE) =====================
 
-export async function httpBackedChat(req: BrowserBackedChatRequest): Promise<BrowserBackedChatResult> {
+export async function httpBackedChat(
+  req: BrowserBackedChatRequest
+): Promise<BrowserBackedChatResult> {
   if (httpBackedChatOverride) return httpBackedChatOverride(req);
 
   const startTime = Date.now();
@@ -185,7 +180,13 @@ export async function httpBackedChat(req: BrowserBackedChatRequest): Promise<Bro
       contentType: "text/plain",
       body: Buffer.from(msg),
       isStealth: true,
-      timing: { acquireContextMs: 0, navigateMs: 0, submitMs: 0, captureResponseMs: 0, totalMs: Date.now() - startTime },
+      timing: {
+        acquireContextMs: 0,
+        navigateMs: 0,
+        submitMs: 0,
+        captureResponseMs: 0,
+        totalMs: Date.now() - startTime,
+      },
     };
   }
 
@@ -210,7 +211,10 @@ export async function httpBackedChat(req: BrowserBackedChatRequest): Promise<Bro
             body: Buffer.from("Response exceeded maximum size"),
             isStealth: true,
             timing: {
-              acquireContextMs: 0, navigateMs: 0, submitMs: 0, captureResponseMs: 0,
+              acquireContextMs: 0,
+              navigateMs: 0,
+              submitMs: 0,
+              captureResponseMs: 0,
               totalMs: Date.now() - startTime,
             },
           };
@@ -229,13 +233,21 @@ export async function httpBackedChat(req: BrowserBackedChatRequest): Promise<Bro
     contentType,
     body: responseBody,
     isStealth: true,
-    timing: { acquireContextMs: 0, navigateMs: 0, submitMs: 0, captureResponseMs: 0, totalMs: Date.now() - startTime },
+    timing: {
+      acquireContextMs: 0,
+      navigateMs: 0,
+      submitMs: 0,
+      captureResponseMs: 0,
+      totalMs: Date.now() - startTime,
+    },
   };
 }
 
 // ===================== TRY-BACKED CHAT (INLINE) =====================
 
-export async function tryBackedChat(req: BrowserBackedChatRequest): Promise<BrowserBackedChatResult> {
+export async function tryBackedChat(
+  req: BrowserBackedChatRequest
+): Promise<BrowserBackedChatResult> {
   const startTime = Date.now();
 
   // Background-load the package module
@@ -291,7 +303,7 @@ export async function tryBackedChat(req: BrowserBackedChatRequest): Promise<Brow
                   message: "tryBackedChat timed out",
                   type: "timeout_error",
                 },
-              }),
+              })
             ),
             isStealth: false,
             timing: {
@@ -319,10 +331,16 @@ export async function tryBackedChat(req: BrowserBackedChatRequest): Promise<Brow
               message: "tryBackedChat timed out",
               type: "timeout_error",
             },
-          }),
+          })
         ),
         isStealth: false,
-        timing: { acquireContextMs: 0, navigateMs: 0, submitMs: 0, captureResponseMs: 0, totalMs: Date.now() - startTime },
+        timing: {
+          acquireContextMs: 0,
+          navigateMs: 0,
+          submitMs: 0,
+          captureResponseMs: 0,
+          totalMs: Date.now() - startTime,
+        },
       };
     }
     throw err;
@@ -331,7 +349,9 @@ export async function tryBackedChat(req: BrowserBackedChatRequest): Promise<Brow
 
 // ===================== BROWSER-BACKED CHAT (DELEGATED) =====================
 
-export async function browserBackedChat(req: BrowserBackedChatRequest): Promise<BrowserBackedChatResult> {
+export async function browserBackedChat(
+  req: BrowserBackedChatRequest
+): Promise<BrowserBackedChatResult> {
   if (browserBackedChatOverride) return browserBackedChatOverride(req);
   const mod = await getMod();
   if (!mod) throw new Error("Browser pool package not available");
diff --git a/open-sse/tsconfig.json b/open-sse/tsconfig.json
index f64585be7e..0b3db7a0e4 100644
--- a/open-sse/tsconfig.json
+++ b/open-sse/tsconfig.json
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@
     "paths": {
       "@/*": ["./src/*"],
       "@omniroute/open-sse": ["./open-sse"],
-      "@omniroute/open-sse/*": ["./open-sse/*"]
+      "@omniroute/open-sse/*": ["./open-sse/*"],
+      "@omniroute/browser-pool": ["./packages/browser-pool/src"]
     }
   },
   "include": ["**/*.ts", "**/*.js"]
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 950aa1f372..230b4c5ad4 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@
       "hasInstallScript": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "workspaces": [
-        "open-sse"
+        "open-sse",
+        "packages/browser-pool"
       ],
       "dependencies": {
         "@aws-sdk/client-bedrock-runtime": "^3.1073.0",
@@ -3709,9 +3710,6 @@
       "cpu": [
         "arm"
       ],
-      "libc": [
-        "glibc"
-      ],
       "license": "LGPL-3.0-or-later",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -3728,9 +3726,6 @@
       "cpu": [
         "arm64"
       ],
-      "libc": [
-        "glibc"
-      ],
       "license": "LGPL-3.0-or-later",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -3747,9 +3742,6 @@
       "cpu": [
         "ppc64"
       ],
-      "libc": [
-        "glibc"
-      ],
       "license": "LGPL-3.0-or-later",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -3766,9 +3758,6 @@
       "cpu": [
         "riscv64"
       ],
-      "libc": [
-        "glibc"
-      ],
       "license": "LGPL-3.0-or-later",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -3785,9 +3774,6 @@
       "cpu": [
         "s390x"
       ],
-      "libc": [
-        "glibc"
-      ],
       "license": "LGPL-3.0-or-later",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -3804,9 +3790,6 @@
       "cpu": [
         "x64"
       ],
-      "libc": [
-        "glibc"
-      ],
       "license": "LGPL-3.0-or-later",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -3823,9 +3806,6 @@
       "cpu": [
         "arm64"
       ],
-      "libc": [
-        "musl"
-      ],
       "license": "LGPL-3.0-or-later",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -3842,9 +3822,6 @@
       "cpu": [
         "x64"
       ],
-      "libc": [
-        "musl"
-      ],
       "license": "LGPL-3.0-or-later",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -3861,9 +3838,6 @@
       "cpu": [
         "arm"
       ],
-      "libc": [
-        "glibc"
-      ],
       "license": "Apache-2.0",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -3886,9 +3860,6 @@
       "cpu": [
         "arm64"
       ],
-      "libc": [
-        "glibc"
-      ],
       "license": "Apache-2.0",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -3911,9 +3882,6 @@
       "cpu": [
         "ppc64"
       ],
-      "libc": [
-        "glibc"
-      ],
       "license": "Apache-2.0",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -3936,9 +3904,6 @@
       "cpu": [
         "riscv64"
       ],
-      "libc": [
-        "glibc"
-      ],
       "license": "Apache-2.0",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -3961,9 +3926,6 @@
       "cpu": [
         "s390x"
       ],
-      "libc": [
-        "glibc"
-      ],
       "license": "Apache-2.0",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -3986,9 +3948,6 @@
       "cpu": [
         "x64"
       ],
-      "libc": [
-        "glibc"
-      ],
       "license": "Apache-2.0",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -4011,9 +3970,6 @@
       "cpu": [
         "arm64"
       ],
-      "libc": [
-        "musl"
-      ],
       "license": "Apache-2.0",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -4036,9 +3992,6 @@
       "cpu": [
         "x64"
       ],
-      "libc": [
-        "musl"
-      ],
       "license": "Apache-2.0",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -6335,6 +6288,10 @@
         "node": "^20.17.0 || >=22.9.0"
       }
     },
+    "node_modules/@omniroute/browser-pool": {
+      "resolved": "packages/browser-pool",
+      "link": true
+    },
     "node_modules/@omniroute/open-sse": {
       "resolved": "open-sse",
       "link": true
@@ -10723,9 +10680,6 @@
         "arm64"
       ],
       "dev": true,
-      "libc": [
-        "glibc"
-      ],
       "license": "MIT",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -10743,9 +10697,6 @@
         "arm64"
       ],
       "dev": true,
-      "libc": [
-        "musl"
-      ],
       "license": "MIT",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -10763,9 +10714,6 @@
         "x64"
       ],
       "dev": true,
-      "libc": [
-        "glibc"
-      ],
       "license": "MIT",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -10783,9 +10731,6 @@
         "x64"
       ],
       "dev": true,
-      "libc": [
-        "musl"
-      ],
       "license": "MIT",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -12878,9 +12823,6 @@
         "arm"
       ],
       "dev": true,
-      "libc": [
-        "glibc"
-      ],
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
         "linux"
@@ -12894,9 +12836,6 @@
         "arm"
       ],
       "dev": true,
-      "libc": [
-        "musl"
-      ],
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
         "linux"
@@ -12910,9 +12849,6 @@
         "arm64"
       ],
       "dev": true,
-      "libc": [
-        "glibc"
-      ],
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
         "linux"
@@ -12926,9 +12862,6 @@
         "arm64"
       ],
       "dev": true,
-      "libc": [
-        "musl"
-      ],
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
         "linux"
@@ -12942,9 +12875,6 @@
         "x64"
       ],
       "dev": true,
-      "libc": [
-        "glibc"
-      ],
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
         "linux"
@@ -12958,9 +12888,6 @@
         "x64"
       ],
       "dev": true,
-      "libc": [
-        "musl"
-      ],
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
         "linux"
@@ -37032,6 +36959,33 @@
         "safe-regex": "^2.1.1",
         "smol-toml": "1.7.0"
       }
+    },
+    "packages/browser-pool": {
+      "name": "@omniroute/browser-pool",
+      "version": "0.1.0",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "playwright": "1.61.1"
+      },
+      "devDependencies": {
+        "@types/node": "^22"
+      }
+    },
+    "packages/browser-pool/node_modules/@types/node": {
+      "version": "22.20.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@types/node/-/node-22.20.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-EANqOCF9QFyra+4pfxUcX9STKJpCLjMbObVzljIJomAWSnuSIEAvyzEU53GaajbXJEgdh0iEcPL+DGvpUd4k1Q==",
+      "dev": true,
+      "license": "MIT",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "undici-types": "~6.21.0"
+      }
+    },
+    "packages/browser-pool/node_modules/undici-types": {
+      "version": "6.21.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/undici-types/-/undici-types-6.21.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-iwDZqg0QAGrg9Rav5H4n0M64c3mkR59cJ6wQp+7C4nI0gsmExaedaYLNO44eT4AtBBwjbTiGPMlt2Md0T9H9JQ==",
+      "dev": true,
+      "license": "MIT"
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index de8fb48691..2ff43acfde 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -47,7 +47,8 @@
     "!**/*.spec.tsx"
   ],
   "workspaces": [
-    "open-sse"
+    "open-sse",
+    "packages/browser-pool"
   ],
   "engines": {
     "node": ">=22.22.2 <23 || >=24.0.0 <27"
diff --git a/packages/browser-pool/package.json b/packages/browser-pool/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6e773eb7ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/browser-pool/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+{
+  "name": "@omniroute/browser-pool",
+  "version": "0.1.0",
+  "private": true,
+  "description": "Optional browser pool service for OmniRoute — CloakBrowser and Playwright-backed chat",
+  "type": "module",
+  "main": "./src/index.ts",
+  "types": "./src/index.ts",
+  "dependencies": {
+    "playwright": "1.61.1"
+  },
+  "devDependencies": {
+    "@types/node": "^22"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/browser-pool/src/index.ts b/packages/browser-pool/src/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..923e8a03c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/browser-pool/src/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/**
+ * @omniroute/browser-pool — Optional browser pool for Playwright-backed
+ * executor support (claude-web, duckduckgo-web, grok).
+ *
+ * Core stubs dynamically import this package at runtime. When the package
+ * is not installed, the stubs degrade gracefully (fallback or error).
+ */
+
+// ── Re-exports from browserPool ──────────────────────────────────────────
+export {
+  acquireBrowserContext,
+  releaseBrowserContext,
+  getBrowserPoolMetrics,
+  readPageResponseBody,
+  openPage,
+  shutdownPool,
+  setProxyResolver,
+  __resetBrowserPoolMetricsForTest,
+} from "./services/browserPool.ts";
+
+export type { BrowserPoolContextOptions, BrowserPoolMetrics, PooledContext } from "./interfaces.ts";
+
+// ── Re-exports from browserBackedChat ────────────────────────────────────
+export {
+  browserBackedChat,
+  startBrowserWarmup,
+  getFreshCookiesWithWarmup,
+} from "./services/browserBackedChat.ts";
+
+// ── Re-exports from grokClearance ─────────────────────────────────────────
+export {
+  getCachedCookies,
+  setCachedCookies,
+  clearCookieCache,
+} from "./services/browserBackedChat.ts";
+
+export { shouldUseGrokBrowserBacked, acquireFreshGrokClearance } from "./services/grokClearance.ts";
diff --git a/packages/browser-pool/src/interfaces.ts b/packages/browser-pool/src/interfaces.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d11f092bc1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/browser-pool/src/interfaces.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+/**
+ * interfaces.ts — Shared type definitions for @omniroute/browser-pool.
+ *
+ * These types are used by both the package entry and the core stubs.
+ * The core stubs re-export them so existing import paths remain stable.
+ */
+
+import type { BrowserContext, Page } from "playwright";
+
+// ── Browser pool ───────────────────────────────────────
+
+export interface BrowserPoolContextOptions {
+  cookieDomain: string;
+  cookieString?: string | null;
+  warmupUrl?: string | null;
+  userAgent?: string;
+  locale?: string;
+  timezone?: string;
+  preferCloakbrowser?: boolean;
+  /** Time (ms) to wait for the warmup page to be ready. */
+  waitFor?: number;
+}
+
+export interface PooledContext {
+  id: string;
+  context: BrowserContext;
+  warmupPage: Page | null;
+  lastUsed: number;
+  isStealth: boolean;
+}
+
+export interface BrowserPoolMetrics {
+  browserLaunches: number;
+  browserLaunchFailures: number;
+  contextsCreated: number;
+  contextsReused: number;
+  contextsEvicted: number;
+  contextsReleased: number;
+  contextCreateFailures: number;
+  shutdowns: number;
+  lastShutdownReason: string | null;
+}
+
+// ── Browser-backed chat ────────────────────────────────
+
+export interface BrowserBackedChatRequest {
+  /** Pool key — typically a provider id like "duckduckgo-web" or
+   *  "claude-web", optionally suffixed by user/account id. */
+  poolKey: string;
+  /** Chat URL the page should submit to (captured via waitForResponse). */
+  chatUrl: string;
+  /** Chat page URL to navigate to before typing. */
+  chatPageUrl: string;
+  /** The text the user wants to send. */
+  userMessage: string;
+  /** Cookie string (raw) to inject into the browser context. */
+  cookieString?: string | null;
+  /** Cookie domain (used together with cookieString). */
+  cookieDomain?: string;
+  /** Domain for the page's fetch to identify the chat endpoint. */
+  chatUrlMatchDomain: string;
+  /** User-Agent string for the browser context. */
+  userAgent?: string;
+  /** Locale (BCP 47). Defaults to en-US. */
+  locale?: string;
+  /** IANA timezone. Defaults to America/New_York. */
+  timezone?: string;
+  /** Selector for the chat input. */
+  inputSelector: string;
+  /** Selector for the submit button (optional — falls back to Enter). */
+  submitButtonSelector?: string;
+  /** Wait after submit for SSE/JSON to arrive. Default 15 seconds. */
+  postSubmitWaitMs?: number;
+  /** Optional AbortSignal. Cancels navigation/submit. */
+  signal?: AbortSignal | null;
+  /** Reuse the same context across requests. Default true. */
+  reuseContext?: boolean;
+}
+
+export interface BrowserBackedChatTiming {
+  acquireContextMs: number;
+  navigateMs: number;
+  submitMs: number;
+  captureResponseMs: number;
+  totalMs: number;
+}
+
+export interface BrowserBackedChatResult {
+  status: number;
+  contentType: string | null;
+  body: Buffer;
+  isStealth: boolean;
+  timing: BrowserBackedChatTiming;
+}
diff --git a/packages/browser-pool/src/services/browserBackedChat.ts b/packages/browser-pool/src/services/browserBackedChat.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..143f7a0833
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/browser-pool/src/services/browserBackedChat.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,461 @@
+/**
+ * browserBackedChat.ts — Full browser-backed chat interaction for @omniroute/browser-pool.
+ *
+ * Opens a page on a shared browser context, navigates to the provider's
+ * chat page, types the user's message, clicks Send, and returns the
+ * upstream SSE/JSON response body as a structured result.
+ *
+ * Providers using this path: duckduckgo-web, claude-web.
+ *
+ * The browser solves the provider's challenge natively (VQD, Cloudflare
+ * Turnstile, etc.) by computing real DOM measurement values. The
+ * Node-side challenge solver still runs as a first-line best-effort;
+ * this module is the fallback.
+ */
+
+import { Buffer } from "node:buffer";
+import {
+  acquireBrowserContext,
+  openPage,
+  readPageResponseBody,
+  releaseBrowserContext,
+} from "./browserPool.ts";
+import type {
+  PooledContext,
+  BrowserBackedChatRequest,
+  BrowserBackedChatResult,
+} from "../interfaces.ts";
+
+// Safety constants
+const MAX_RESPONSE_BYTES = 10 * 1024 * 1024; // 10 MB
+
+// Cookie cache constants
+const COOKIE_CACHE_TTL_MS = 5 * 60 * 1000; // Cache fresh cookies for 5 minutes
+const COOKIE_POLL_INTERVAL_MS = 500; // Poll for cookies every 500ms
+const COOKIE_POLL_TIMEOUT_MS = 5000; // Max poll time for cookies
+
+// Cookie cache — avoids repeated browser launches when cookies are still valid
+interface CachedCookies {
+  cookieString: string;
+  expiresAt: number;
+  domain: string;
+}
+const cookieCache = new Map<string, CachedCookies>();
+
+export function getCachedCookies(domain: string): string | null {
+  const cached = cookieCache.get(domain);
+  if (cached && Date.now() < cached.expiresAt) return cached.cookieString;
+  cookieCache.delete(domain);
+  return null;
+}
+
+export function setCachedCookies(domain: string, cookieString: string, ttlMs?: number): void {
+  cookieCache.set(domain, {
+    cookieString,
+    expiresAt: Date.now() + (ttlMs ?? COOKIE_CACHE_TTL_MS),
+    domain,
+  });
+}
+
+export function clearCookieCache(): void {
+  cookieCache.clear();
+}
+
+// Dedup pending cookie refreshes per pool key
+const pendingRefreshes = new Map<string, Promise<string | null>>();
+
+/** Sanitize an error message for safe JSON transport. */
+const MAX_ERROR_LEN = 512;
+function sanitizeErrorMessage(message: unknown): string {
+  let str = typeof message === "string" ? message : String(message ?? "");
+  if (str.length > MAX_ERROR_LEN) str = str.slice(0, MAX_ERROR_LEN);
+  const nl = str.indexOf("\n");
+  if (nl >= 0) str = str.slice(0, nl);
+  return str.replace(/[^ -~]/g, "").trim();
+}
+
+/** Wait N milliseconds, abortable via signal. */
+async function waitWithSignal(ms: number, signal?: AbortSignal | null): Promise<void> {
+  if (signal?.aborted) throw new DOMException("Aborted", "AbortError");
+  return new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
+    const onAbort = () => {
+      clearTimeout(timer);
+      reject(new DOMException("Aborted", "AbortError"));
+    };
+    const timer = setTimeout(() => {
+      signal?.removeEventListener("abort", onAbort);
+      resolve();
+    }, ms);
+    signal?.addEventListener("abort", onAbort, { once: true });
+  });
+}
+
+/**
+ * waitForCookiesWithPolling — Poll for cookies every 500ms up to 5s.
+ * Returns as soon as challenge cookies appear, instead of always
+ * waiting the full timeout. Saves 1-4s when anti-bot resolves quickly.
+ */
+async function waitForCookiesWithPolling(
+  context: import("playwright").BrowserContext,
+  cookieDomain: string,
+  signal: AbortSignal | null
+): Promise<string | null> {
+  const deadline = Date.now() + COOKIE_POLL_TIMEOUT_MS;
+  while (Date.now() < deadline) {
+    if (signal?.aborted) throw new DOMException("Aborted", "AbortError");
+    const cookies = await context.cookies(cookieDomain);
+    const cookieString = cookies.map((c) => `${c.name}=${c.value}`).join("; ");
+    if (cookieString) return cookieString;
+    const remaining = deadline - Date.now();
+    if (remaining <= 0) break;
+    await waitWithSignal(Math.min(COOKIE_POLL_INTERVAL_MS, remaining), signal);
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+/**
+ * doCookieRefreshOnContext — Run cookie extraction on an already-acquired
+ * browser context. Opens a temporary page, navigates to the chat URL,
+ * polls for cookies, and returns the result.
+ * NOTE: Does NOT pass AbortSignal to Playwright methods — signals are
+ * handled via waitWithSignal wrapping instead.
+ */
+async function doCookieRefreshOnContext(
+  pooled: PooledContext,
+  chatPageUrl: string,
+  cookieDomain: string,
+  signal: AbortSignal | null
+): Promise<string | null> {
+  const page = await openPage(pooled);
+  try {
+    await page.goto(chatPageUrl, {
+      waitUntil: "domcontentloaded",
+      timeout: 60000,
+    });
+    return await waitForCookiesWithPolling(pooled.context, cookieDomain, signal);
+  } catch (err) {
+    if (err instanceof DOMException && err.name === "AbortError") throw err;
+    return null;
+  } finally {
+    await page.close().catch(() => {});
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Match a URL against a chat URL template, allowing a single dynamic
+ * id segment (PLACEHOLDER) in the template.
+ */
+function chatUrlMatcher(u: string, matchDomain: string, chatUrl: string): boolean {
+  if (u === chatUrl) return true;
+  let parsed: URL;
+  let chatParsed: URL;
+  try {
+    parsed = new URL(u);
+    chatParsed = new URL(chatUrl);
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+  if (!parsed.host.endsWith(matchDomain)) return false;
+  const chatSeg = chatParsed.pathname.split("/").filter(Boolean);
+  const reqSeg = parsed.pathname.split("/").filter(Boolean);
+  if (chatSeg.length < 2 || reqSeg.length !== chatSeg.length) return false;
+  let allowedDynamic = 1;
+  for (let i = 0; i < chatSeg.length; i++) {
+    if (chatSeg[i] === reqSeg[i]) continue;
+    if (chatSeg[i] === "PLACEHOLDER" && allowedDynamic > 0) {
+      allowedDynamic--;
+      continue;
+    }
+    return false;
+  }
+  return true;
+}
+
+/** Resolve a unique pool key; when reuseContext is false, create a unique key. */
+async function settlePoolKey(
+  requestedKey: string,
+  reuseContext: boolean
+): Promise<{ key: string; acquired: boolean }> {
+  if (reuseContext) return { key: requestedKey, acquired: true };
+  return {
+    key: `${requestedKey}-${Date.now()}-${Math.random().toString(36).slice(2, 8)}`,
+    acquired: false,
+  };
+}
+
+// ── Cookie refresh helpers ──────────────────────────
+
+/**
+ * doRefresh — Acquire a fresh browser context, navigate to the
+ * chat page, and poll for cookies. Returns the cookie string
+ * or null on failure.
+ * NOTE: Does NOT pass AbortSignal to Playwright methods — signals
+ * are handled via waitWithSignal wrapping instead.
+ */
+async function doRefresh(options: {
+  chatPageUrl: string;
+  cookieDomain: string;
+  poolKey: string;
+  signal: AbortSignal | null;
+}): Promise<string | null> {
+  const pooled = await acquireBrowserContext(options.poolKey + "-refresh", {
+    cookieDomain: options.cookieDomain,
+    cookieString: null,
+    warmupUrl: options.chatPageUrl,
+  });
+  const page = await openPage(pooled);
+  try {
+    await page.goto(options.chatPageUrl, {
+      waitUntil: "domcontentloaded",
+      timeout: 60000,
+    });
+    return await waitForCookiesWithPolling(pooled.context, options.cookieDomain, options.signal);
+  } catch (err) {
+    if (err instanceof DOMException && err.name === "AbortError") throw err;
+    return null;
+  } finally {
+    await page.close().catch(() => {});
+    // release context — we got the cookies
+    setTimeout(() => {
+      releaseBrowserContext(options.poolKey + "-refresh").catch(() => {});
+    }, 1000);
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * refreshCookiesViaBrowser — Refresh cookies using a browser context.
+ * Uses pendingRefreshes dedup so concurrent requests share one browser launch.
+ * NOTE: Override check (httpOverride) is handled in the core stub — this
+ * package version always attempts browser cookie refresh.
+ */
+async function refreshCookiesViaBrowser(
+  chatUrl: string,
+  chatPageUrl: string,
+  cookieDomain: string,
+  poolKey: string,
+  signal: AbortSignal | null
+): Promise<string | null> {
+  const pending = pendingRefreshes.get(poolKey);
+  if (pending) return pending;
+  const promise = doRefresh({ chatPageUrl, cookieDomain, poolKey, signal });
+  pendingRefreshes.set(poolKey, promise);
+  try {
+    return await promise;
+  } finally {
+    pendingRefreshes.delete(poolKey);
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * startBrowserWarmup — Pre-warm a browser context for the given pool key.
+ * This is a fire-and-forget operation: errors are caught and ignored.
+ * The warmup page serves as a readiness indicator — we open a page in the
+ * pooled context to force early navigation before the actual request.
+ */
+export async function startBrowserWarmup(
+  poolKey: string,
+  chatPageUrl: string,
+  cookieDomain: string,
+  signal: AbortSignal | null
+): Promise<void> {
+  if (process.env.OMNIROUTE_BROWSER_POOL === "off") return;
+  const pooled = await acquireBrowserContext(poolKey, {
+    cookieDomain,
+    cookieString: null,
+    warmupUrl: chatPageUrl,
+    waitFor: 2000,
+  });
+  // Warmup: open a page in the pooled context — this can happen in parallel
+  openPage(pooled).catch(() => {});
+}
+
+/**
+ * getFreshCookiesWithWarmup — Try cached cookies first; if none, start
+ * a browser warmup in parallel with a cookie refresh. Returns cookie string
+ * or null. Caches successful results.
+ */
+export async function getFreshCookiesWithWarmup(
+  chatUrl: string,
+  chatPageUrl: string,
+  cookieDomain: string,
+  poolKey: string,
+  signal: AbortSignal | null
+): Promise<string | null> {
+  // Try cached cookies first
+  const cached = getCachedCookies(cookieDomain);
+  if (cached) return cached;
+
+  // Start warmup in parallel with refresh
+  const warmup = startBrowserWarmup(poolKey, chatPageUrl, cookieDomain, signal);
+  const fresh = await refreshCookiesViaBrowser(chatUrl, chatPageUrl, cookieDomain, poolKey, signal);
+  // Await warmup (errors are non-fatal)
+  await warmup.catch(() => {});
+  if (fresh) {
+    setCachedCookies(cookieDomain, fresh);
+    return fresh;
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+// ── Main entry point ───────────────────────────────────
+
+export async function browserBackedChat(
+  req: BrowserBackedChatRequest
+): Promise<BrowserBackedChatResult> {
+  const t0 = Date.now();
+  const {
+    poolKey,
+    chatUrl,
+    chatPageUrl,
+    userMessage,
+    cookieString,
+    cookieDomain,
+    chatUrlMatchDomain,
+    userAgent,
+    locale,
+    timezone,
+    inputSelector,
+    submitButtonSelector,
+    postSubmitWaitMs = 15000,
+    signal,
+    reuseContext = true,
+  } = req;
+
+  const { key, acquired: reuseAcquired } = await settlePoolKey(poolKey, reuseContext);
+  const tAcquireStart = Date.now();
+  const pooled: PooledContext = await acquireBrowserContext(key, {
+    cookieDomain: cookieDomain || chatUrlMatchDomain,
+    cookieString: cookieString || null,
+    warmupUrl: chatPageUrl,
+    userAgent,
+    locale,
+    timezone,
+  });
+  const acquireContextMs = Date.now() - tAcquireStart;
+
+  const page = await openPage(pooled);
+  try {
+    const tNavStart = Date.now();
+    await page.goto(chatPageUrl, {
+      waitUntil: "domcontentloaded",
+      timeout: 60000,
+    });
+    const navigateMs = Date.now() - tNavStart;
+
+    const inputLocator = page.locator(inputSelector).first();
+    await inputLocator.waitFor({ state: "visible", timeout: 10000 });
+    await waitWithSignal(800, signal);
+
+    const responsePromise = page.waitForResponse(
+      (r) =>
+        r.request().method() === "POST" && chatUrlMatcher(r.url(), chatUrlMatchDomain, chatUrl),
+      { timeout: 30000 }
+    );
+
+    let abortListener: (() => void) | undefined;
+    const signalPromise = signal
+      ? new Promise<never>((_, reject) => {
+          if (signal.aborted) return reject(new DOMException("Aborted", "AbortError"));
+          abortListener = () => reject(new DOMException("Aborted", "AbortError"));
+          signal.addEventListener("abort", abortListener, { once: true });
+        })
+      : null;
+
+    if (submitButtonSelector) {
+      const btn = page.locator(submitButtonSelector).first();
+      if ((await btn.count()) > 0) {
+        try {
+          await btn.click({ timeout: 2000 });
+        } catch {
+          await page.keyboard.press("Enter");
+        }
+      } else {
+        await page.keyboard.press("Enter");
+      }
+    } else {
+      await page.keyboard.press("Enter");
+    }
+    const tCaptureStart = Date.now();
+    const response = signalPromise
+      ? await Promise.race([responsePromise, signalPromise]).catch(() => null)
+      : await responsePromise.catch(() => null);
+    if (signal && abortListener) {
+      signal.removeEventListener("abort", abortListener);
+    }
+    if (response) {
+      await waitWithSignal(Math.min(postSubmitWaitMs, 30000), signal);
+    } else {
+      await waitWithSignal(postSubmitWaitMs, signal);
+    }
+    const captureResponseMs = Date.now() - tCaptureStart;
+    const submitMs = captureResponseMs;
+
+    let status = 0;
+    let contentType: string | null = null;
+    let body: Buffer = Buffer.alloc(0);
+    if (response) {
+      const captured = await readPageResponseBody(response);
+      if (captured.body.length > MAX_RESPONSE_BYTES) {
+        body = Buffer.from(
+          JSON.stringify({
+            error: {
+              message: "Response too large",
+              type: "upstream_error",
+            },
+          })
+        );
+        status = 502;
+        contentType = "application/json";
+      } else {
+        body = captured.body as unknown as Buffer;
+        contentType = captured.headers["content-type"] || null;
+      }
+    }
+
+    return {
+      status,
+      contentType,
+      body,
+      isStealth: pooled.isStealth,
+      timing: {
+        acquireContextMs,
+        navigateMs,
+        submitMs,
+        captureResponseMs,
+        totalMs: Date.now() - t0,
+      },
+    };
+  } catch (err) {
+    const msg = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+    const body = Buffer.from(
+      JSON.stringify({
+        error: {
+          message: sanitizeErrorMessage(`browserBackedChat failed: ${msg}`),
+          type: "upstream_error",
+        },
+      })
+    );
+    return {
+      status: 502,
+      contentType: "application/json",
+      body,
+      isStealth: pooled.isStealth,
+      timing: {
+        acquireContextMs,
+        navigateMs: 0,
+        submitMs: 0,
+        captureResponseMs: 0,
+        totalMs: Date.now() - t0,
+      },
+    };
+  } finally {
+    await page.close();
+    if (!reuseAcquired) {
+      try {
+        await pooled.context.close();
+      } catch {
+        /* ignore */
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/browser-pool/src/services/browserPool.ts b/packages/browser-pool/src/services/browserPool.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f2566b1378
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/browser-pool/src/services/browserPool.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,440 @@
+/**
+ * browserPool.ts — Shared stealth browser pool for web-cookie providers.
+ *
+ * The DuckDuckGo VQD challenge and Claude web's Cloudflare Turnstile both
+ * validate values that only a real browser can produce (DOM layout
+ * measurements like offsetWidth/Height, getBoundingClientRect,
+ * getComputedStyle, iframe contentWindow probes). Plain Node fetch + a
+ * VM-stubs solver structurally runs the JS but cannot match those values,
+ * so the server rejects the request.
+ *
+ * This pool keeps one Chromium instance warm and serves "browser contexts"
+ * (one per provider) on demand. Each context owns one or more pages; the
+ * caller is expected to be polite (one page per request, close on done).
+ *
+ * The pool prefers `cloakbrowser` (npm) when available — its binary-level
+ * fingerprint patches (--fingerprint-timezone, --fingerprint-locale, and
+ * dozens more) are the only thing that gets past DuckDuckGo's anti-bot
+ * in this environment. Falls back to plain `playwright` if cloakbrowser
+ * is not installed; the fallback works for Claude web (which only needs
+ * valid cookies) but not for DDG's VQD challenge.
+ *
+ * Opt-in: pool only launches Chromium when an executor explicitly asks
+ * for a context, so users who never use the browser-backed path pay zero
+ * startup cost. Set OMNIROUTE_BROWSER_POOL=off to fully disable.
+ */
+
+import { Buffer } from "node:buffer";
+import type {
+  BrowserPoolContextOptions,
+  BrowserPoolMetrics,
+  PooledContext,
+} from "../interfaces.ts";
+
+type Browser = import("playwright").Browser;
+type BrowserContext = import("playwright").BrowserContext;
+type Page = import("playwright").Page;
+
+/** Proxy resolver injected by the core stub after dynamic import. */
+type ProxyResolverFn = (
+  providerKey: string
+) => Promise<import("playwright").LaunchOptions["proxy"] | undefined>;
+
+let injectedProxyResolver: ProxyResolverFn | null = null;
+
+export function setProxyResolver(fn: ProxyResolverFn): void {
+  injectedProxyResolver = fn;
+}
+
+function createBrowserPoolMetrics(): BrowserPoolMetrics {
+  return {
+    browserLaunches: 0,
+    browserLaunchFailures: 0,
+    contextsCreated: 0,
+    contextsReused: 0,
+    contextsEvicted: 0,
+    contextsReleased: 0,
+    contextCreateFailures: 0,
+    shutdowns: 0,
+    lastShutdownReason: null,
+  };
+}
+
+interface PoolState {
+  browser: Browser | null;
+  contexts: Map<string, PooledContext>;
+  pendingContexts: Map<string, Promise<PooledContext>>;
+  launching: Promise<Browser> | null;
+  lastActivity: number;
+  idleTimer: NodeJS.Timeout | null;
+  evictTimer: NodeJS.Timeout | null;
+  cloakLaunch: ((opts: unknown) => Promise<Browser>) | null;
+  cloakLaunchResolved: boolean;
+  metrics: BrowserPoolMetrics;
+}
+
+const POOL_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MS = 5 * 60 * 1000;
+const CONTEXT_TTL_MS = 10 * 60 * 1000; // 10 min — evict stale contexts
+const EVICT_INTERVAL_MS = 60 * 1000; // check every 60s
+const DEFAULT_USER_AGENT =
+  "Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/149.0.0.0 Safari/537.36";
+
+const state: PoolState = {
+  browser: null,
+  contexts: new Map(),
+  pendingContexts: new Map(),
+  launching: null,
+  lastActivity: 0,
+  idleTimer: null,
+  evictTimer: null,
+  cloakLaunch: null,
+  cloakLaunchResolved: false,
+  metrics: createBrowserPoolMetrics(),
+};
+
+function getCloakbrowserModuleId(): string {
+  // Keep this computed: cloakbrowser is an optional runtime enhancer, and a literal
+  // dynamic import with the package name makes Turbopack resolve it during route compilation.
+  return ["cloak", "browser"].join("");
+}
+
+async function resolveCloakLaunch(): Promise<((opts: unknown) => Promise<Browser>) | null> {
+  if (state.cloakLaunchResolved) return state.cloakLaunch;
+  state.cloakLaunchResolved = true;
+  try {
+    const mod = (await import(getCloakbrowserModuleId())) as unknown as {
+      launch?: (opts: unknown) => Promise<Browser>;
+    };
+    state.cloakLaunch = mod.launch ?? null;
+  } catch {
+    state.cloakLaunch = null;
+  }
+  return state.cloakLaunch;
+}
+
+function isPoolEnabled(): boolean {
+  const flag = process.env.OMNIROUTE_BROWSER_POOL;
+  if (flag === undefined) return true;
+  return flag !== "off" && flag !== "0" && flag !== "false";
+}
+
+function resetIdleTimer(): void {
+  if (state.idleTimer) clearTimeout(state.idleTimer);
+  state.idleTimer = setTimeout(() => {
+    void shutdownPool("idle-timeout");
+  }, POOL_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MS);
+  state.idleTimer.unref?.();
+}
+
+function evictStaleContexts(): void {
+  const now = Date.now();
+  for (const [key, pooled] of state.contexts) {
+    if (now - pooled.lastUsed > CONTEXT_TTL_MS) {
+      console.log(
+        "[BrowserPool] Evicted stale context:",
+        key,
+        "(idle",
+        ((now - pooled.lastUsed) / 1000).toFixed(0) + "s)"
+      );
+      state.contexts.delete(key);
+      state.metrics.contextsEvicted++;
+      pooled.context.close().catch(() => {});
+    }
+  }
+  if (state.contexts.size === 0 && !state.launching) {
+    void shutdownPool("all-contexts-evicted");
+  }
+}
+
+function startEvictTimer(): void {
+  if (state.evictTimer) clearInterval(state.evictTimer);
+  state.evictTimer = setInterval(() => evictStaleContexts(), EVICT_INTERVAL_MS);
+  state.evictTimer.unref?.();
+}
+
+async function launchBrowser(): Promise<Browser> {
+  if (state.browser) return state.browser;
+  if (state.launching) return state.launching;
+  state.launching = (async () => {
+    const cloakLaunch = await resolveCloakLaunch();
+    let browser: Browser;
+    if (cloakLaunch) {
+      browser = await cloakLaunch({
+        headless: true,
+        args: ["--no-sandbox", "--disable-dev-shm-usage"],
+      });
+    } else {
+      // Fallback: plain Playwright. Works for Claude web (cookie-only
+      // auth) but DDG's VQD challenge will detect this Chromium build.
+      const { chromium } = await import("playwright");
+      browser = await chromium.launch({
+        headless: true,
+        args: [
+          "--no-sandbox",
+          "--disable-dev-shm-usage",
+          "--disable-blink-features=AutomationControlled",
+        ],
+      });
+    }
+    state.browser = browser;
+    state.launching = null;
+    state.metrics.browserLaunches++;
+    return browser;
+  })();
+  try {
+    return await state.launching;
+  } catch (err) {
+    state.launching = null;
+    state.metrics.browserLaunchFailures++;
+    throw err;
+  }
+}
+
+function parseCookieString(
+  raw: string,
+  domain: string
+): Array<{
+  name: string;
+  value: string;
+  domain: string;
+  path: string;
+  expires: number;
+  httpOnly: boolean;
+  secure: boolean;
+  sameSite: "Lax" | "Strict" | "None";
+}> {
+  return raw
+    .split(";")
+    .map((p) => p.trim())
+    .filter(Boolean)
+    .map((pair) => {
+      const eq = pair.indexOf("=");
+      if (eq < 0) return null;
+      const name = pair.slice(0, eq).trim();
+      const value = pair.slice(eq + 1).trim();
+      if (!name || !value) return null;
+      return {
+        name,
+        value,
+        domain: domain.startsWith(".") ? domain : `.${domain}`,
+        path: "/",
+        expires: -1,
+        httpOnly: false,
+        secure: true,
+        sameSite: "Lax" as const,
+      };
+    })
+    .filter(Boolean) as Array<{
+    name: string;
+    value: string;
+    domain: string;
+    path: string;
+    expires: number;
+    httpOnly: boolean;
+    secure: boolean;
+    sameSite: "Lax" | "Strict" | "None";
+  }>;
+}
+
+// Clear a key from the pending-creation map once its promise settles, counting
+// failures. Kept as a leaf helper so acquireBrowserContext stays under the
+// function-length ceiling (#3368 PR7 metrics).
+function settlePendingContext(key: string, failed: boolean): void {
+  if (failed) state.metrics.contextCreateFailures++;
+  state.pendingContexts.delete(key);
+}
+
+export async function acquireBrowserContext(
+  key: string,
+  options: BrowserPoolContextOptions
+): Promise<PooledContext> {
+  if (!isPoolEnabled()) {
+    throw new Error(
+      "browserPool: OMNIROUTE_BROWSER_POOL=off — context requested but pool is disabled"
+    );
+  }
+  const existing = state.contexts.get(key);
+  if (existing) {
+    existing.lastUsed = Date.now();
+    state.lastActivity = Date.now();
+    state.metrics.contextsReused++;
+    resetIdleTimer();
+    return existing;
+  }
+
+  // Dedup concurrent creations for the same key
+  const pending = state.pendingContexts.get(key);
+  if (pending) return pending;
+
+  const createPromise = (async (): Promise<PooledContext> => {
+    const proxy = injectedProxyResolver ? await injectedProxyResolver(key) : undefined;
+    const [browser] = await Promise.all([launchBrowser()]);
+    const isStealth = state.cloakLaunch !== null;
+    const context = await browser.newContext({
+      userAgent: options.userAgent || DEFAULT_USER_AGENT,
+      locale: options.locale || "en-US",
+      timezoneId: options.timezone || "America/New_York",
+      viewport: { width: 1280, height: 800 },
+      ...(proxy ? { proxy } : {}),
+    });
+
+    if (options.cookieString) {
+      const cookies = parseCookieString(options.cookieString, options.cookieDomain);
+      if (cookies.length > 0) {
+        await context.addCookies(cookies);
+      }
+    }
+
+    let warmupPage: Page | null = null;
+    if (options.warmupUrl) {
+      try {
+        warmupPage = await context.newPage();
+        await warmupPage.goto(options.warmupUrl, {
+          waitUntil: "domcontentloaded",
+          timeout: 30000,
+        });
+        // Give the warmup a moment for the upstream's status/auth/country
+        // JSON endpoints to fire. Without this, the first chat request would
+        // pay the warmup cost on the hot path.
+        await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 1500));
+      } catch (err) {
+        try {
+          await warmupPage?.close();
+        } catch {
+          /* ignore */
+        }
+        warmupPage = null;
+        void err;
+      }
+    }
+
+    // Guard: if shutdownPool() ran while we were creating this context,
+    // the browser we obtained is now closed. Close our temp context and
+    // throw so the caller knows to retry.
+    if (state.browser !== browser) {
+      await context.close().catch(() => {});
+      if (warmupPage) {
+        await warmupPage.close().catch(() => {});
+      }
+      throw new Error("Pool shut down during context creation");
+    }
+
+    const pooled: PooledContext = {
+      id: key,
+      context,
+      warmupPage,
+      lastUsed: Date.now(),
+      isStealth,
+    };
+    state.contexts.set(key, pooled);
+    state.metrics.contextsCreated++;
+    state.lastActivity = Date.now();
+    resetIdleTimer();
+    startEvictTimer();
+    return pooled;
+  })();
+
+  state.pendingContexts.set(key, createPromise);
+  createPromise
+    .then(() => settlePendingContext(key, false))
+    .catch(() => settlePendingContext(key, true));
+
+  return createPromise;
+}
+
+export async function openPage(pooled: PooledContext): Promise<Page> {
+  return pooled.context.newPage();
+}
+
+export async function releaseBrowserContext(key: string): Promise<void> {
+  const pooled = state.contexts.get(key);
+  if (!pooled) return;
+  state.contexts.delete(key);
+  state.metrics.contextsReleased++;
+  try {
+    await pooled.context.close();
+  } catch {
+    /* ignore */
+  }
+  if (state.contexts.size === 0) {
+    await shutdownPool("last-context-closed");
+  }
+}
+
+export async function shutdownPool(reason: string): Promise<void> {
+  state.metrics.shutdowns++;
+  state.metrics.lastShutdownReason = reason;
+  if (state.idleTimer) {
+    clearTimeout(state.idleTimer);
+    state.idleTimer = null;
+  }
+  if (state.evictTimer) {
+    clearInterval(state.evictTimer);
+    state.evictTimer = null;
+  }
+  state.pendingContexts.clear();
+  for (const [key, pooled] of state.contexts) {
+    try {
+      await pooled.context.close();
+    } catch {
+      /* ignore */
+    }
+    state.contexts.delete(key);
+  }
+  if (state.browser) {
+    try {
+      await state.browser.close();
+    } catch {
+      /* ignore */
+    }
+    state.browser = null;
+  }
+  state.lastActivity = Date.now();
+  // Avoid unused-parameter lint: log reason via debug if anyone hooks
+  // process.on('exit') and prints state.
+  void reason;
+}
+
+function getBrowserPoolStatus(): {
+  enabled: boolean;
+  contexts: number;
+  browserRunning: boolean;
+  stealthAvailable: boolean;
+  lastActivityAgoMs: number;
+} {
+  return {
+    enabled: isPoolEnabled(),
+    contexts: state.contexts.size,
+    browserRunning: state.browser !== null,
+    stealthAvailable: state.cloakLaunch !== null,
+    lastActivityAgoMs: state.lastActivity === 0 ? -1 : Date.now() - state.lastActivity,
+  };
+}
+
+/**
+ * #3368 PR7 — browser-pool observability. Returns live status plus cumulative
+ * lifecycle telemetry (launches, context create/reuse/evict/release counts,
+ * failures, shutdowns). Surfaced via the omniroute_browser_pool_status MCP tool.
+ */
+export function getBrowserPoolMetrics(): {
+  status: ReturnType<typeof getBrowserPoolStatus>;
+  metrics: BrowserPoolMetrics;
+} {
+  return { status: getBrowserPoolStatus(), metrics: { ...state.metrics } };
+}
+
+/** Test-only: reset cumulative metrics so assertions start from a clean slate. */
+export function __resetBrowserPoolMetricsForTest(): void {
+  state.metrics = createBrowserPoolMetrics();
+}
+
+export async function readPageResponseBody(
+  response: import("playwright").Response
+): Promise<{ status: number; headers: Record<string, string>; body: Buffer }> {
+  const headers: Record<string, string> = {};
+  for (const [name, value] of Object.entries(response.headers())) {
+    headers[name] = value;
+  }
+  const body = await response.body();
+  return { status: response.status(), headers, body: Buffer.from(body) };
+}
diff --git a/packages/browser-pool/src/services/grokClearance.ts b/packages/browser-pool/src/services/grokClearance.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4b7838ea1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/browser-pool/src/services/grokClearance.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/**
+ * grokClearance.ts — gated browser-backed cf_clearance acquisition for
+ * grok-web (#8019).
+ *
+ * grok.com sits behind Cloudflare Enterprise, which pins `cf_clearance` to
+ * the client's IP+TLS+UA fingerprint. Pure cookie-replay from
+ * `grokTlsClient.ts` (TLS-impersonating fetch) cannot forge a fresh
+ * clearance from a datacenter egress that Cloudflare has already flagged —
+ * only a real browser solving the challenge natively can mint one bound to
+ * that egress's own fingerprint.
+ *
+ * This module reuses the EXISTING provider-agnostic browser pool
+ * (`browserPool.ts`, already live for claude-web + duckduckgo-web) rather
+ * than adding a new Turnstile solver — `claudeTurnstileSolver.ts` is
+ * claude.ai-specific and does not apply here.
+ *
+ * Opt-in only: gated behind `OMNIROUTE_BROWSER_POOL` / `WEB_COOKIE_USE_BROWSER`
+ * (the same env gate already used by claude-web.ts / duckduckgo-web.ts).
+ * With the gate off, `acquireFreshGrokClearance` is never called — the
+ * executor stays on the Step-1 `cloudflare_challenge` classification.
+ */
+
+import { acquireBrowserContext } from "./browserPool.ts";
+import type { PooledContext } from "../interfaces.ts";
+
+const GROK_WARMUP_URL = "https://grok.com/";
+const GROK_COOKIE_DOMAIN = ".grok.com";
+const GROK_POOL_KEY = "grok-web";
+
+/**
+ * Reads the same opt-in gate as claude-web/duckduckgo-web
+ * (`WEB_COOKIE_USE_BROWSER` or `OMNIROUTE_BROWSER_POOL`). Off by default.
+ */
+export function shouldUseGrokBrowserBacked(): boolean {
+  const flag = process.env.WEB_COOKIE_USE_BROWSER;
+  if (flag === "1" || flag === "true" || flag === "on") return true;
+  const poolFlag = process.env.OMNIROUTE_BROWSER_POOL;
+  return poolFlag === "on" || poolFlag === "1" || poolFlag === "true";
+}
+
+async function readCfClearanceFromContext(pooled: PooledContext): Promise<string | null> {
+  const cookies = await pooled.context.cookies(GROK_WARMUP_URL);
+  const match = cookies.find((c) => c.name === "cf_clearance");
+  return match?.value || null;
+}
+
+async function acquireViaPool(): Promise<string | null> {
+  try {
+    const pooled = await acquireBrowserContext(GROK_POOL_KEY, {
+      cookieDomain: GROK_COOKIE_DOMAIN,
+      cookieString: null,
+      warmupUrl: GROK_WARMUP_URL,
+    });
+    return await readCfClearanceFromContext(pooled);
+  } catch {
+    return null;
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Acquire a fresh `.grok.com` cf_clearance via the shared browser pool.
+ * Never throws — resolves to `null` on any failure so callers can fall
+ * through to the Cloudflare-challenge error rather than crash the request.
+ */
+export async function acquireFreshGrokClearance(
+  signal?: AbortSignal | null
+): Promise<string | null> {
+  try {
+    return await acquireViaPool();
+  } catch {
+    return null;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/browser-pool/tsconfig.json b/packages/browser-pool/tsconfig.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..02444e43a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/browser-pool/tsconfig.json
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+{
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    "target": "ES2022",
+    "module": "esnext",
+    "moduleResolution": "bundler",
+    "noEmit": true,
+    "allowImportingTsExtensions": true,
+    "resolveJsonModule": true,
+    "skipLibCheck": true,
+    "esModuleInterop": true,
+    "strict": false,
+    "lib": ["esnext"],
+    "types": ["node"],
+    "allowJs": false
+  },
+  "include": ["src/**/*.ts"]
+}
diff --git a/pnpm-workspace.yaml b/pnpm-workspace.yaml
index 72766ea810..565bce2e98 100644
--- a/pnpm-workspace.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-workspace.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 packages:
+  - "packages/*"
   - "open-sse"
 allowBuilds:
   "@parcel/watcher": true