diff --git a/cli/CHANGELOG.md b/cli/CHANGELOG.md
index 0c5cc03b7d..224530ac6b 100644
--- a/cli/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/cli/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ _Released 11/21/2023 (PENDING)_
 **Misc:**
 
 - Browser tabs and windows other than the Cypress tab are now closed between tests in Chromium-based browsers. Addressed in [#28204](https://github.com/cypress-io/cypress/pull/28204).
+- Cypress now ensures the main browser tab is active before running eaech command in Chromium-based browsers. Addressed in [#28334](https://github.com/cypress-io/cypress/pull/28334).
 
 ## 13.5.1
 
diff --git a/cli/types/cypress.d.ts b/cli/types/cypress.d.ts
index f4c69ec165..d4bfbf3703 100644
--- a/cli/types/cypress.d.ts
+++ b/cli/types/cypress.d.ts
@@ -818,7 +818,7 @@ declare namespace Cypress {
      * Trigger action
      * @private
      */
-    action: (action: string, ...args: any[]) => any[] | void
+    action: <T = (any[] | void)>(action: string, ...args: any[]) => T
 
     /**
      * Load files
diff --git a/packages/driver/cypress/e2e/cypress/browser.cy.js b/packages/driver/cypress/e2e/cypress/browser.cy.js
index 3810f5fa27..53acfa458f 100644
--- a/packages/driver/cypress/e2e/cypress/browser.cy.js
+++ b/packages/driver/cypress/e2e/cypress/browser.cy.js
@@ -2,14 +2,14 @@ import browserProps from '@packages/driver/src/cypress/browser'
 
 describe('src/cypress/browser', () => {
   beforeEach(function () {
-    this.commands = (browser = { name: 'chrome', family: 'chromium' }) => {
+    this.commands = (browser = { name: 'chrome', family: 'chromium', isHeadless: false }) => {
       return browserProps({ browser })
     }
   })
 
   context('.browser', () => {
     it('returns the current browser', function () {
-      expect(this.commands().browser).to.eql({ name: 'chrome', family: 'chromium' })
+      expect(this.commands().browser).to.eql({ name: 'chrome', family: 'chromium', isHeadless: false })
     })
   })
 
@@ -17,10 +17,12 @@ describe('src/cypress/browser', () => {
     it('returns true if it\'s a match', function () {
       expect(this.commands().isBrowser('chrome')).to.be.true
       expect(this.commands().isBrowser({ family: 'chromium' })).to.be.true
+      expect(this.commands().isBrowser({ isHeadless: false })).to.be.true
     })
 
     it('returns false if it\'s not a match', function () {
       expect(this.commands().isBrowser('firefox')).to.be.false
+      expect(this.commands().isBrowser({ isHeadless: true })).to.be.false
     })
 
     it('is case-insensitive', function () {
@@ -33,6 +35,7 @@ describe('src/cypress/browser', () => {
       expect(this.commands().isBrowser({
         family: 'chromium',
         name: '!firefox',
+        isHeadless: false,
       })).to.be['true']
 
       expect(this.commands().isBrowser({
diff --git a/packages/driver/src/cypress.ts b/packages/driver/src/cypress.ts
index 34d5351e93..50133006d2 100644
--- a/packages/driver/src/cypress.ts
+++ b/packages/driver/src/cypress.ts
@@ -647,6 +647,9 @@ class $Cypress {
       case 'cy:command:start':
         return this.emit('command:start', ...args)
 
+      case 'cy:command:start:async':
+        return this.emitThen('command:start:async', ...args)
+
       case 'cy:command:end':
         return this.emit('command:end', ...args)
 
diff --git a/packages/driver/src/cypress/browser.ts b/packages/driver/src/cypress/browser.ts
index a3d188955c..6fcaa03526 100644
--- a/packages/driver/src/cypress/browser.ts
+++ b/packages/driver/src/cypress/browser.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ const _isBrowser = (browser, matcher, errPrefix) => {
   let exclusive = false
 
   const matchWithExclusion = (objValue, srcValue) => {
-    if (srcValue.startsWith('!')) {
+    if (_.isString(srcValue) && srcValue.startsWith('!')) {
       exclusive = true
 
       return objValue !== srcValue.slice(1)
diff --git a/packages/driver/src/cypress/command_queue.ts b/packages/driver/src/cypress/command_queue.ts
index be28d47858..3b692c51b4 100644
--- a/packages/driver/src/cypress/command_queue.ts
+++ b/packages/driver/src/cypress/command_queue.ts
@@ -468,7 +468,8 @@ export class CommandQueue extends Queue<$Command> {
 
       Cypress.action('cy:command:start', command)
 
-      return this.runCommand(command)!
+      return Cypress.action<Promise<void>>('cy:command:start:async', command)
+      .then(() => this.runCommand(command)!)
       .then(() => {
         // each successful command invocation should
         // always reset the timeout for the current runnable
diff --git a/packages/driver/src/cypress/cy.ts b/packages/driver/src/cypress/cy.ts
index 23dfc479ea..5c87e0d05c 100644
--- a/packages/driver/src/cypress/cy.ts
+++ b/packages/driver/src/cypress/cy.ts
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ import { create as createOverrides, IOverrides } from '../cy/overrides'
 import { historyNavigationTriggeredHashChange } from '../cy/navigation'
 import { EventEmitter2 } from 'eventemitter2'
 import { handleCrossOriginCookies } from '../cross-origin/events/cookies'
+import { handleTabActivation } from '../util/tab_activation'
 
 import type { ICypress } from '../cypress'
 import type { ICookies } from './cookies'
@@ -343,6 +344,7 @@ export class $Cy extends EventEmitter2 implements ITimeouts, IStability, IAssert
       return Cypress.backend('close:extra:targets')
     })
 
+    handleTabActivation(Cypress)
     handleCrossOriginCookies(Cypress)
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/driver/src/util/tab_activation.ts b/packages/driver/src/util/tab_activation.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f6f8bf0d87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/driver/src/util/tab_activation.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+import type { ICypress } from '../cypress'
+
+const isCypressInCypress = document.defaultView !== top
+
+function activateMainTab () {
+  // Don't need to activate the main tab if it already has focus
+  if (document.hasFocus()) return
+
+  return new Promise<void>((resolve) => {
+    const url = `${window.location.origin}${window.location.pathname}`
+
+    // This sends a message on the window that the extension content script
+    // listens for in order to carry out activating the main tab
+    window.postMessage({ message: 'cypress:extension:activate:main:tab', url }, '*')
+
+    function onMessage ({ data, source }) {
+      // only accept messages from ourself
+      if (source !== window) return
+
+      if (data.message === 'cypress:extension:main:tab:activated') {
+        window.removeEventListener('message', onMessage)
+
+        resolve()
+      }
+    }
+
+    // The reply from the extension comes back via the same means, a message
+    // sent on the window
+    window.addEventListener('message', onMessage)
+  })
+}
+
+// Ensures the main Cypress tab has focus before every command
+// and at the end of the test run
+export function handleTabActivation (Cypress: ICypress) {
+  // - Only implemented for Chromium right now. Support for Firefox/webkit
+  //   could be added later
+  // - Electron doesn't have tabs
+  // - Focus doesn't matter for headless browsers and old headless Chrome
+  //   doesn't run the extension
+  // - Don't need to worry about tabs for Cypress in Cypress tests (and they
+  //   can't currently communicate with the extension anyway)
+  if (
+    !Cypress.isBrowser({ family: 'chromium', name: '!electron', isHeadless: false })
+    || isCypressInCypress
+  ) return
+
+  Cypress.on('command:start:async', activateMainTab)
+  Cypress.on('test:after:run:async', activateMainTab)
+}
diff --git a/packages/extension/app/newtab.html b/packages/extension/app/newtab.html
index d1c282681b..90f66e4204 100644
--- a/packages/extension/app/newtab.html
+++ b/packages/extension/app/newtab.html
@@ -13,11 +13,11 @@
     <p>Opening new tabs may interfere with tests and cause failures.</p>
     <p>Please note:</p>
     <ul>
-      <li>Any opened tabs will be closed when Cypress is stopped.</li>
+      <li>Any opened tabs will be closed between tests.</li>
       <li>Tests currently running may fail while another tab has focus.</li>
       <li>Cookies and session from other sites will be cleared.</li>
     </ul>
     <a href="https://on.cypress.io/launching-browsers" target="_blank">Read more about browser management</a>
   </div>
 </body>
-</html>
\ No newline at end of file
+</html>
diff --git a/packages/extension/app/v2/manifest.json b/packages/extension/app/v2/manifest.json
index c8200dd99c..d48267970d 100644
--- a/packages/extension/app/v2/manifest.json
+++ b/packages/extension/app/v2/manifest.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "Cypress",
-  "description": "Adds WebExtension APIs for testing with Cypress",
+  "description": "Adds theme and WebExtension APIs for testing with Cypress",
   "applications": {
     "gecko": {
       "id": "automation-extension@cypress.io"
diff --git a/packages/extension/app/v3/content.js b/packages/extension/app/v3/content.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f30ab8034b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/extension/app/v3/content.js
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+/* global chrome, window */
+
+// this content script has access to the DOM, but is otherwise isolated from
+// the page running Cypress, so we have to use postMessage to communicate. it
+// also doesn't have direct access to the extension API, so we use the
+// messaging API it can access to communicate with the background service
+// worker script. so essentially, it's an intermediary between Cypress and
+// the extension background script
+const port = chrome.runtime.connect()
+
+// this listens for messages from the main window that Cypress runs on. it's
+// a very global message bus, so messages could come from a variety of sources
+window.addEventListener('message', ({ data, source }) => {
+  // only accept messages from ourself
+  if (source !== window) return
+
+  // this is the only message we're currently interested in, which tells us
+  // to activate the main tab
+  if (data.message === 'cypress:extension:activate:main:tab') {
+    port.postMessage({ message: 'activate:main:tab', url: data.url })
+  }
+})
+
+// this listens for messages from the background service worker script
+port.onMessage.addListener(({ message }) => {
+  // this lets us know the message we sent to the background script to activate
+  // the main tab was successful, so we in turn send it on to Cypress
+  // via postMessage
+  if (message === 'main:tab:activated') {
+    window.postMessage({ message: 'cypress:extension:main:tab:activated' }, '*')
+  }
+})
diff --git a/packages/extension/app/v3/manifest.json b/packages/extension/app/v3/manifest.json
index a7413a18da..3460edc44b 100644
--- a/packages/extension/app/v3/manifest.json
+++ b/packages/extension/app/v3/manifest.json
@@ -1,12 +1,20 @@
 {
   "name": "Cypress",
-  "description": "Adds Themes for testing with Cypress",
+  "description": "Adds theme and WebExtension APIs for testing with Cypress",
   "applications": {
     "gecko": {
       "id": "automation-extension-v3@cypress.io"
     }
   },
-  "permissions": [],
+  "permissions": [
+    "tabs"
+  ],
+  "host_permissions": [
+    "http://*/*",
+    "https://*/*",
+    "<all_urls>"
+  ],
+  "key": "MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEAugoxpSqfoblTYUGvyXZpmBgjYQUY9k2Hx3PaDwquyaTH6GBxitwVMSu5sZuDYgPHpGYoF4ol6A4PZHhd6JvfuUDS9ZrxTW0XzP+dSS9AwmJo3uLuP88zBs4mhpje1+WE5NGM0pTzyCXYTPoyzyPRmToALWD96cahSGuhG8bSmaBw3py+16qNKm8SOlANbUvHtEaTpmrSWBUIq7YV8SIPLtR8G47vjqPTE1yEsBQ3GAgllhi0cJolwk/629fRLr3KVckICmU6spXD/jVhIgAeyHhFuFGYNuubzbel8trBVw5Q/HE5F6j66sBvEvW64tH4lPxnM5JPv0qie5wouPiT0wIDAQAB",
   "icons": {
     "16": "icons/icon_16x16.png",
     "48": "icons/icon_48x48.png",
@@ -20,6 +28,21 @@
     },
     "default_popup": "popup.html"
   },
+  "background": {
+    "service_worker": "service-worker.js"
+  },
+  "content_scripts": [
+    {
+      "matches": [
+        "http://*/*",
+        "https://*/*",
+        "<all_urls>"
+      ],
+      "js": [
+        "content.js"
+      ]
+    }
+  ],
   "chrome_url_overrides": {
     "newtab": "newtab.html"
   },
diff --git a/packages/extension/app/v3/service-worker.js b/packages/extension/app/v3/service-worker.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..71374bdece
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/extension/app/v3/service-worker.js
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+/* global chrome */
+
+// this background script runs in a service worker. it has access to the
+// extension API, but not direct access the web page or anything else
+// running in the browser
+
+// to debug this script, go to `chrome://inspect` in a new Chrome tab,
+// select Service Workers on the left and click `inspect`. to reload changes
+// go to `chrome://extensions` and hit the reload button under the Cypress
+// extension. sometimes that doesn't work and requires re-launching Chrome
+// and then reloading the extension via `chrome://extensions`
+
+async function activateMainTab (url) {
+  try {
+    const tabs = await chrome.tabs.query({})
+
+    const cypressTab = tabs.find((tab) => tab.url.includes(url))
+
+    if (!cypressTab) return
+
+    // this brings the main Cypress tab to the front of any other tabs
+    // without Chrome stealing focus from other running apps
+    await chrome.tabs.update(cypressTab.id, { active: true })
+  } catch (err) {
+    // ignore the error but log it. these logs only appear if you inspect
+    // the service worker, so it won't clutter up the console for users
+
+    // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
+    console.log('Activating main Cypress tab errored:', err)
+  }
+}
+
+// here we connect to the content script, which has access to the web page
+// running Cypress, but not the extension API
+chrome.runtime.onConnect.addListener((port) => {
+  port.onMessage.addListener(async ({ message, url }) => {
+    if (message === 'activate:main:tab') {
+      await activateMainTab(url)
+
+      // send an ack back to let the content script know we successfully
+      // activated the main tab
+      port.postMessage({ message: 'main:tab:activated' })
+    }
+  })
+})
diff --git a/packages/extension/gulpfile.ts b/packages/extension/gulpfile.ts
index 874de8ebdb..12e99444ee 100644
--- a/packages/extension/gulpfile.ts
+++ b/packages/extension/gulpfile.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@ const background = (cb) => {
   })
 }
 
+const copyScriptsForV3 = () => {
+  return gulp.src('app/v3/*.js')
+  .pipe(gulp.dest('dist/v3'))
+}
+
 const html = () => {
   return gulp.src('app/**/*.html')
   .pipe(gulp.dest('dist/v2'))
@@ -74,6 +79,7 @@ const build = gulp.series(
     manifest('v2'),
     manifest('v3'),
     background,
+    copyScriptsForV3,
     html,
     css,
   ),
diff --git a/packages/extension/package.json b/packages/extension/package.json
index dfa675805d..c3936878fb 100644
--- a/packages/extension/package.json
+++ b/packages/extension/package.json
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
     "test-debug": "yarn test-unit --inspect-brk=5566",
     "test-unit": "cross-env NODE_ENV=test mocha -r @packages/ts/register --reporter mocha-multi-reporters --reporter-options configFile=../../mocha-reporter-config.json",
     "test-watch": "yarn test-unit --watch",
-    "watch": "node ../../scripts/run-webpack --watch --progress",
+    "watch": "yarn build && chokidar 'app/**/*.*' 'app/*.*' -c 'yarn build'",
     "lint": "eslint --ext .js,.jsx,.ts,.tsx,.json, ."
   },
   "dependencies": {
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
     "@packages/icons": "0.0.0-development",
     "@packages/socket": "0.0.0-development",
     "chai": "3.5.0",
+    "chokidar-cli": "2.1.0",
     "cross-env": "6.0.3",
     "eol": "0.9.1",
     "fs-extra": "9.1.0",
diff --git a/packages/extension/test/integration/content_spec.js b/packages/extension/test/integration/content_spec.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e949cffd3f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/extension/test/integration/content_spec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+require('../spec_helper')
+
+describe('app/v3/content', () => {
+  let port
+  let chrome
+  let window
+
+  before(() => {
+    port = {
+      onMessage: {
+        addListener: sinon.stub(),
+      },
+      postMessage: sinon.stub(),
+    }
+
+    chrome = {
+      runtime: {
+        connect: sinon.stub().returns(port),
+      },
+    }
+
+    global.chrome = chrome
+
+    window = {
+      addEventListener: sinon.stub(),
+      postMessage: sinon.stub(),
+    },
+
+    global.window = window
+
+    require('../../app/v3/content')
+  })
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    port.postMessage.reset()
+    window.postMessage.reset()
+  })
+
+  it('adds window message listener and port onMessage listener', () => {
+    expect(window.addEventListener).to.be.calledWith('message', sinon.match.func)
+    expect(port.onMessage.addListener).to.be.calledWith(sinon.match.func)
+  })
+
+  describe('messages from window (i.e Cypress)', () => {
+    it('posts message to port if message is cypress:extension:activate:main:tab', () => {
+      const data = { message: 'cypress:extension:activate:main:tab', url: 'the://url' }
+
+      window.addEventListener.yield({ data, source: window })
+
+      expect(port.postMessage).to.be.calledWith({
+        message: 'activate:main:tab',
+        url: 'the://url',
+      })
+    })
+
+    it('is a noop if source is not the same window', () => {
+      window.addEventListener.yield({ source: {} })
+
+      expect(port.postMessage).not.to.be.called
+    })
+
+    it('is a noop if message is not cypress:extension:activate:main:tab', () => {
+      const data = { message: 'unsupported' }
+
+      window.addEventListener.yield({ data, source: window })
+
+      expect(port.postMessage).not.to.be.called
+    })
+  })
+
+  describe('messages from port (i.e. service worker)', () => {
+    it('posts message to window', () => {
+      port.onMessage.addListener.yield({ message: 'main:tab:activated' })
+
+      expect(window.postMessage).to.be.calledWith({ message: 'cypress:extension:main:tab:activated' }, '*')
+    })
+
+    it('is a noop if message is not main:tab:activated', () => {
+      const data = { message: 'unsupported' }
+
+      port.onMessage.addListener.yield({ data, source: window })
+
+      expect(window.postMessage).not.to.be.called
+    })
+  })
+})
diff --git a/packages/extension/test/integration/service-worker_spec.js b/packages/extension/test/integration/service-worker_spec.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6ea25e6150
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/extension/test/integration/service-worker_spec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+require('../spec_helper')
+
+describe('app/v3/service-worker', () => {
+  let chrome
+  let port
+
+  before(() => {
+    chrome = {
+      runtime: {
+        onConnect: {
+          addListener: sinon.stub(),
+        },
+      },
+      tabs: {
+        query: sinon.stub(),
+        update: sinon.stub(),
+      },
+    }
+
+    global.chrome = chrome
+
+    require('../../app/v3/service-worker')
+  })
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    chrome.tabs.query.reset()
+    chrome.tabs.update.reset()
+
+    port = {
+      onMessage: {
+        addListener: sinon.stub(),
+      },
+      postMessage: sinon.stub(),
+    }
+  })
+
+  it('adds onConnect listener', () => {
+    expect(chrome.runtime.onConnect.addListener).to.be.calledWith(sinon.match.func)
+  })
+
+  it('adds port onMessage listener', () => {
+    chrome.runtime.onConnect.addListener.yield(port)
+
+    expect(port.onMessage.addListener).to.be.calledWith(sinon.match.func)
+  })
+
+  it('updates the tab matching the url', async () => {
+    chrome.runtime.onConnect.addListener.yield(port)
+    chrome.tabs.query.resolves([{ id: 'tab-id', url: 'the://url' }])
+
+    await port.onMessage.addListener.yield({ message: 'activate:main:tab', url: 'the://url' })[0]
+
+    expect(chrome.tabs.update).to.be.calledWith('tab-id', { active: true })
+  })
+
+  it('is a noop if message is not activate:main:tab', async () => {
+    chrome.runtime.onConnect.addListener.yield(port)
+
+    await port.onMessage.addListener.yield({ message: 'unsupported' })[0]
+
+    expect(chrome.tabs.update).not.to.be.called
+  })
+
+  it('is a noop if url does not match a tab', async () => {
+    chrome.runtime.onConnect.addListener.yield(port)
+    chrome.tabs.query.resolves([{ id: 'tab-id', url: 'the://url' }])
+
+    await port.onMessage.addListener.yield({ message: 'activate:main:tab', url: 'different://url' })[0]
+
+    expect(chrome.tabs.update).not.to.be.called
+  })
+
+  it('is a noop, logging the error, if activating the tab errors', async () => {
+    sinon.spy(console, 'log')
+
+    chrome.runtime.onConnect.addListener.yield(port)
+    chrome.tabs.query.resolves([{ id: 'tab-id', url: 'the://url' }])
+
+    const err = new Error('uh oh')
+
+    chrome.tabs.update.rejects(err)
+
+    await port.onMessage.addListener.yield({ message: 'activate:main:tab', url: 'the://url' })[0]
+
+    // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
+    expect(console.log).to.be.calledWith('Activating main Cypress tab errored:', err)
+  })
+})