Agent Browser Automation

by reason-machines2384a003145aNo license83 starsListed Oct 8, 2026Updated Oct 8, 2026Repository updated 3 months ago

Headless browser automation CLI for AI agents using native Rust binary with Chrome DevTools Protocol

Instructions onlySoftware Development
AI-generated overview

Documents a headless browser automation CLI that lets agents navigate, interact with, and capture web pages via Chrome DevTools Protocol.

What it does
This skill provides reference instructions for using agent-browser, a Rust-based headless browser automation CLI driven through the Chrome DevTools Protocol. It covers installation, navigation, accessibility snapshots with @ref element identifiers, clicking, form filling, screenshots, PDF export, network interception, cookies and storage, tabs and frames, and batch command execution. It also documents debugging, tracing, visual diffing, and session state save/load. The deliverable is command guidance rather than scripts.
When to use it
Use it when an agent needs to drive a real browser: scraping pages, filling forms, logging in and reusing sessions, taking screenshots or PDFs, mocking network responses, or running multi-step browser workflows. It suits snapshot-driven interaction loops where accessibility refs are more reliable than CSS selectors.
Requirements
Requires the agent-browser CLI to be installed (npm global, Homebrew, or Cargo) plus a Chrome for Testing download via agent-browser install; Linux may need --with-deps for system libraries. Network access is needed for installation and for browsing. The skill ships no scripts, only instructions.

agent-browser

Skill by ara.so — Daily 2026 Skills collection.

agent-browser is a headless browser automation CLI built in Rust, designed for AI agents. It wraps Chrome via the Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) and exposes a fast, ergonomic command-line interface for navigation, interaction, accessibility snapshots, screenshots, network interception, and more — with no Node.js or Playwright runtime required.

Installation

Recommended (npm global)

bash
npm install -g agent-browseragent-browser install  # Download Chrome for Testing (first time only)

macOS (Homebrew)

bash
brew install agent-browseragent-browser install

Rust / Cargo

bash
cargo install agent-browseragent-browser install

Local project dependency

bash
npm install agent-browser# Add to package.json scripts or invoke via npx

Linux (with system dependencies)

bash
agent-browser install --with-deps

Quick Start

bash
agent-browser open https://example.comagent-browser snapshot                        # Accessibility tree with @refs (best for AI)agent-browser click @e2                       # Click by ref from snapshotagent-browser fill @e3 "[email protected]"   # Fill by refagent-browser get text @e1                    # Get text contentagent-browser screenshot page.pngagent-browser close

Core Commands

Navigation

bash
agent-browser open <url>           # Navigate (aliases: goto, navigate)agent-browser get url              # Get current URLagent-browser get title            # Get page titleagent-browser close                # Close browser (aliases: quit, exit)

Accessibility Snapshot (recommended for AI agents)

bash
agent-browser snapshot             # Returns accessibility tree with @ref IDsagent-browser snapshot -i          # Interactive / compact mode

Snapshot output includes @eN refs you can use directly:

@e1 [button] "Submit"@e2 [textbox] "Email" value=""@e3 [link] "Sign in"

Then act on them:

bash
agent-browser fill @e2 "[email protected]"agent-browser click @e1

Interaction

bash
agent-browser click <sel>                     # Click elementagent-browser dblclick <sel>                  # Double-clickagent-browser fill <sel> <text>               # Clear and fill inputagent-browser type <sel> <text>               # Type into elementagent-browser press <key>                     # Press key (Enter, Tab, Control+a)agent-browser keyboard type <text>            # Type at current focus (real keystrokes)agent-browser keyboard inserttext <text>      # Insert text without key eventsagent-browser hover <sel>                     # Hover elementagent-browser select <sel> <value>            # Select dropdown optionagent-browser check <sel>                     # Check checkboxagent-browser uncheck <sel>                   # Uncheck checkboxagent-browser scroll down 500                 # Scroll (up/down/left/right, optional px)agent-browser scroll down --selector "#feed"  # Scroll within elementagent-browser scrollintoview <sel>            # Scroll element into viewagent-browser drag <src> <target>             # Drag and dropagent-browser upload <sel> /path/file.pdf     # Upload file

Screenshots & PDF

bash
agent-browser screenshot                          # Save to temp dir, print pathagent-browser screenshot page.png                 # Save to pathagent-browser screenshot --full page.png          # Full-page screenshotagent-browser screenshot --annotate               # Numbered element labels overlayagent-browser screenshot --screenshot-dir ./shots # Custom output directoryagent-browser screenshot --screenshot-format jpeg --screenshot-quality 80agent-browser pdf output.pdf                      # Save page as PDF

Getting Element Info

bash
agent-browser get text <sel>           # Text contentagent-browser get html <sel>           # innerHTMLagent-browser get value <sel>          # Input valueagent-browser get attr <sel> <attr>    # Attribute valueagent-browser get count <sel>          # Count matching elementsagent-browser get box <sel>            # Bounding boxagent-browser get styles <sel>         # Computed stylesagent-browser get cdp-url              # CDP WebSocket URL

State Checks

bash
agent-browser is visible <sel>agent-browser is enabled <sel>agent-browser is checked <sel>

Semantic Locators (find)

bash
agent-browser find role button click --name "Submit"agent-browser find text "Sign In" clickagent-browser find label "Email" fill "[email protected]"agent-browser find placeholder "Search..." fill "rust"agent-browser find testid "login-btn" clickagent-browser find first ".item" clickagent-browser find nth 2 "a" textagent-browser find role textbox fill "hello" --name "Username"

Actions: click, fill, type, hover, focus, check, uncheck, text

Waiting

bash
agent-browser wait "#modal"                          # Wait for element visibleagent-browser wait 2000                              # Wait N millisecondsagent-browser wait --text "Welcome back"             # Wait for textagent-browser wait --url "**/dashboard"              # Wait for URL patternagent-browser wait --load networkidle                # Wait for load stateagent-browser wait --fn "window.appReady === true"   # Wait for JS conditionagent-browser wait "#spinner" --state hidden         # Wait for element to disappear

Load states: load, domcontentloaded, networkidle

JavaScript Eval

bash
agent-browser eval "document.title"agent-browser eval "JSON.stringify(window.__STATE__)"agent-browser eval -b "BASE64_ENCODED_JS"echo "return document.body.innerHTML" | agent-browser eval --stdin

Batch Execution (efficient multi-step)

bash
echo '[  ["open", "https://example.com"],  ["snapshot", "-i"],  ["fill", "@e2", "[email protected]"],  ["click", "@e1"],  ["screenshot", "result.png"]]' | agent-browser batch --json
# Stop on first failureagent-browser batch --bail < commands.json

Tabs & Frames

bash
agent-browser tab                    # List tabsagent-browser tab new https://...    # New tab with URLagent-browser tab 2                  # Switch to tab 2agent-browser tab close              # Close current tabagent-browser frame "#my-iframe"     # Switch into iframeagent-browser frame main             # Return to main frame

Cookies & Storage

bash
agent-browser cookiesagent-browser cookies set session_id "abc123"agent-browser cookies clear
agent-browser storage localagent-browser storage local set theme darkagent-browser storage local clearagent-browser storage session set cart '{"items":[]}'

Network

bash
agent-browser network route "**/api/users" --body '{"users":[]}'  # Mock responseagent-browser network route "**/ads/**" --abort                    # Block requestsagent-browser network unroute                                       # Remove all routesagent-browser network requests --filter api                        # View requestsagent-browser network har startagent-browser network har stop recording.har

Browser Settings

bash
agent-browser set viewport 1280 800agent-browser set viewport 375 812 2        # With device pixel ratio (retina)agent-browser set device "iPhone 14"agent-browser set geo 37.7749 -122.4194agent-browser set offline onagent-browser set headers '{"X-Custom":"value"}'agent-browser set credentials admin secretagent-browser set media dark

Auth State

bash
agent-browser state save ./auth.json    # Save cookies + localStorageagent-browser state load ./auth.json    # Restore auth stateagent-browser state list                # List saved statesagent-browser state show auth.json      # Summary of saved state

Dialogs

bash
agent-browser dialog accept             # Accept alert/confirm/promptagent-browser dialog accept "My input"  # Accept prompt with textagent-browser dialog dismiss

Clipboard

bash
agent-browser clipboard readagent-browser clipboard write "Hello, World!"agent-browser clipboard copy           # Ctrl+C current selectionagent-browser clipboard paste          # Ctrl+V

Diff & Visual Testing

bash
agent-browser diff snapshot                                  # vs last snapshotagent-browser diff snapshot --baseline before.txt            # vs saved fileagent-browser diff snapshot --selector "#main" --compactagent-browser diff screenshot --baseline before.pngagent-browser diff screenshot --baseline b.png -o diff.pngagent-browser diff url https://v1.example.com https://v2.example.comagent-browser diff url https://v1.example.com https://v2.example.com --screenshotagent-browser diff url https://v1.example.com https://v2.example.com --selector "#content"

Debug & Profiling

bash
agent-browser trace start trace.zipagent-browser trace stopagent-browser profiler startagent-browser profiler stop profile.jsonagent-browser console                  # View console messagesagent-browser errors                   # View uncaught JS exceptionsagent-browser highlight "#button"      # Visually highlight elementagent-browser inspect                  # Open Chrome DevToolsagent-browser connect 9222             # Connect to existing browser via CDP port

Common Patterns

Login flow and save session

bash
#!/bin/bashagent-browser open https://app.example.com/loginagent-browser fill "#email" "$LOGIN_EMAIL"agent-browser fill "#password" "$LOGIN_PASSWORD"agent-browser click "[type=submit]"agent-browser wait --url "**/dashboard"agent-browser state save ./session.json

AI agent loop with snapshot-driven interaction

bash
#!/bin/bashagent-browser open https://app.example.comagent-browser state load ./session.json
# Get snapshot, parse @refs, actSNAPSHOT=$(agent-browser snapshot)echo "$SNAPSHOT"
# Agent determines @e5 is the search boxagent-browser fill @e5 "quarterly report"agent-browser press Enteragent-browser wait --load networkidleagent-browser snapshotagent-browser screenshot results.png

Batch commands from a script (JSON)

bash
cat > commands.json << 'EOF'[  ["open", "https://news.ycombinator.com"],  ["wait", "--load", "networkidle"],  ["get", "title"],  ["snapshot"],  ["screenshot", "hn.png"]]EOF
agent-browser batch --json < commands.json

Scrape with mocked network

bash
agent-browser open https://api-heavy-app.example.comagent-browser network route "**/api/slow-endpoint" --body '{"data":"mocked"}'agent-browser snapshotagent-browser network unroute

Full-page screenshot with annotations

bash
agent-browser open https://example.comagent-browser wait --load networkidleagent-browser screenshot --full --annotate annotated.png

Connect to already-running Chrome

bash
# Start Chrome with remote debugginggoogle-chrome --remote-debugging-port=9222 &
agent-browser connect 9222agent-browser open https://example.comagent-browser snapshot

Emulate mobile device

bash
agent-browser set device "iPhone 14"agent-browser open https://example.comagent-browser screenshot mobile.png

HAR recording for network analysis

bash
agent-browser open https://example.comagent-browser network har startagent-browser click "#load-data"agent-browser wait --load networkidleagent-browser network har stop session.har

Selector Reference

FormatExampleNotes
@ref@e1, @e12From snapshot output — preferred for AI
CSS#id, .class, [attr=val]Standard CSS selectors
Text"Sign In"Exact text match
XPath//button[@type='submit']Full XPath

Troubleshooting

Chrome not found

bash
agent-browser install              # Downloads Chrome for Testingagent-browser install --with-deps  # Linux: also installs system libs

Element not found / timing issues

bash
agent-browser wait "#my-element"              # Wait for visibility firstagent-browser wait --load networkidle         # Wait for page to settleagent-browser wait --fn "!!document.querySelector('#app')"

Selector issues — use snapshot refs instead

bash
# Instead of fragile CSS:agent-browser click ".btn.btn-primary.submit-form"
# Use snapshot refs:agent-browser snapshot  # Find @e7 = [button] "Submit"agent-browser click @e7

Debug what's on the page

bash
agent-browser screenshot debug.png        # Visual checkagent-browser snapshot                    # Accessibility treeagent-browser console                     # JS console outputagent-browser errors                      # Uncaught exceptionsagent-browser eval "document.readyState"

Auth issues between sessions

bash
agent-browser state save ./auth.json   # After successful loginagent-browser state load ./auth.json   # At start of next session

Handling alerts/dialogs

bash
# Set up handler BEFORE the action that triggers dialogagent-browser dialog acceptagent-browser click "#delete-button"

Performance — use batch for multi-step workflows

bash
# Slow: one process per commandagent-browser open https://example.comagent-browser fill "#q" "search"agent-browser click "#submit"
# Fast: single process, multiple commandsecho '[["open","https://example.com"],["fill","#q","search"],["click","#submit"]]' \  | agent-browser batch --json

Source and attribution

Source:reason-machines/trending-skillsinskills/agent-browser-automationat commit2384a00

License: No license

Content belongs to its original authors. SourceWeft indexes it from a public repository.

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