Browser Automation with agent-browser

Quick start

agent-browser open <url> # Navigate to page agent-browser snapshot -i # Get interactive elements with refs agent-browser click @e1 # Click element by ref agent-browser fill @e2 "text" # Fill input by ref agent-browser close # Close browser

Core workflow

• Navigate: agent-browser open <url>

• Snapshot: agent-browser snapshot -i (returns elements with refs like @e1 , @e2 )

• Interact using refs from the snapshot

• Re-snapshot after navigation or significant DOM changes

Commands

Navigation

agent-browser open <url> # Navigate to URL agent-browser back # Go back agent-browser forward # Go forward agent-browser reload # Reload page agent-browser close # Close browser

Snapshot (page analysis)

agent-browser snapshot # Full accessibility tree agent-browser snapshot -i # Interactive elements only (recommended) agent-browser snapshot -c # Compact output agent-browser snapshot -d 3 # Limit depth to 3 agent-browser snapshot -s "#main" # Scope to CSS selector

Interactions (use @refs from snapshot)

agent-browser click @e1 # Click agent-browser dblclick @e1 # Double-click agent-browser focus @e1 # Focus element agent-browser fill @e2 "text" # Clear and type agent-browser type @e2 "text" # Type without clearing agent-browser press Enter # Press key agent-browser press Control+a # Key combination agent-browser keydown Shift # Hold key down agent-browser keyup Shift # Release key agent-browser hover @e1 # Hover agent-browser check @e1 # Check checkbox agent-browser uncheck @e1 # Uncheck checkbox agent-browser select @e1 "value" # Select dropdown agent-browser scroll down 500 # Scroll page agent-browser scrollintoview @e1 # Scroll element into view agent-browser drag @e1 @e2 # Drag and drop agent-browser upload @e1 file.pdf # Upload files

Get information

agent-browser get text @e1 # Get element text agent-browser get html @e1 # Get innerHTML agent-browser get value @e1 # Get input value agent-browser get attr @e1 href # Get attribute agent-browser get title # Get page title agent-browser get url # Get current URL agent-browser get count ".item" # Count matching elements agent-browser get box @e1 # Get bounding box

Check state

agent-browser is visible @e1 # Check if visible agent-browser is enabled @e1 # Check if enabled agent-browser is checked @e1 # Check if checked

Screenshots & PDF

agent-browser screenshot # Screenshot to stdout agent-browser screenshot path.png # Save to file agent-browser screenshot --full # Full page agent-browser pdf output.pdf # Save as PDF

Video recording

agent-browser record start ./demo.webm # Start recording (uses current URL + state) agent-browser click @e1 # Perform actions agent-browser record stop # Stop and save video agent-browser record restart ./take2.webm # Stop current + start new recording

Recording creates a fresh context but preserves cookies/storage from your session.

Wait

agent-browser wait @e1 # Wait for element agent-browser wait 2000 # Wait milliseconds agent-browser wait --text "Success" # Wait for text agent-browser wait --url "**/dashboard" # Wait for URL pattern agent-browser wait --load networkidle # Wait for network idle agent-browser wait --fn "window.ready" # Wait for JS condition

Mouse control

agent-browser mouse move 100 200 # Move mouse agent-browser mouse down left # Press button agent-browser mouse up left # Release button agent-browser mouse wheel 100 # Scroll wheel

Semantic locators (alternative to refs)

agent-browser find role button click --name "Submit" agent-browser find text "Sign In" click agent-browser find label "Email" fill "user@test.com" agent-browser find first ".item" click agent-browser find nth 2 "a" text

Browser settings

agent-browser set viewport 1920 1080 # Set viewport size agent-browser set device "iPhone 14" # Emulate device agent-browser set geo 37.7749 -122.4194 # Set geolocation agent-browser set offline on # Toggle offline mode agent-browser set headers '{"X-Key":"v"}' # Extra HTTP headers agent-browser set credentials user pass # HTTP basic auth agent-browser set media dark # Emulate color scheme

Cookies & Storage

agent-browser cookies # Get all cookies agent-browser cookies set name value # Set cookie agent-browser cookies clear # Clear cookies agent-browser storage local # Get all localStorage agent-browser storage local key # Get specific key agent-browser storage local set k v # Set value agent-browser storage local clear # Clear all agent-browser storage session # Get all sessionStorage agent-browser storage session key # Get specific key agent-browser storage session set k v # Set value agent-browser storage session clear # Clear all

Network

agent-browser network route <url> # Intercept requests agent-browser network route <url> --abort # Block requests agent-browser network route <url> --body '{}' # Mock response agent-browser network unroute [url] # Remove routes agent-browser network requests # View tracked requests agent-browser network requests --filter api # Filter requests

Tabs & Windows

agent-browser tab # List tabs agent-browser tab new [url] # New tab agent-browser tab 2 # Switch to tab agent-browser tab close # Close tab agent-browser window new # New window

Frames

agent-browser frame "#iframe" # Switch to iframe agent-browser frame main # Back to main frame

Dialogs

agent-browser dialog accept [text] # Accept dialog agent-browser dialog dismiss # Dismiss dialog

JavaScript

agent-browser eval "document.title" # Run JavaScript

Global Options

Option Description

--session <name>

Isolated browser session (AGENT_BROWSER_SESSION env)

--profile <path>

Persistent browser profile (AGENT_BROWSER_PROFILE env)

--headers <json>

HTTP headers scoped to URL's origin

--executable-path <path>

Custom browser binary (AGENT_BROWSER_EXECUTABLE_PATH env)

--args <args>

Browser launch args (AGENT_BROWSER_ARGS env)

--user-agent <ua>

Custom User-Agent (AGENT_BROWSER_USER_AGENT env)

--proxy <url>

Proxy server (AGENT_BROWSER_PROXY env)

--proxy-bypass <hosts>

Hosts to bypass proxy (AGENT_BROWSER_PROXY_BYPASS env)

-p, --provider <name>

Cloud browser provider (AGENT_BROWSER_PROVIDER env)

--json

Machine-readable JSON output

--headed

Show browser window (not headless)

--cdp <port|wss://url>

Connect via Chrome DevTools Protocol

--debug

Debug output

Example: Form submission

agent-browser open https://example.com/form agent-browser snapshot -i

Output shows: textbox "Email" [ref=e1], textbox "Password" [ref=e2], button "Submit" [ref=e3]

agent-browser fill @e1 "user@example.com" agent-browser fill @e2 "password123" agent-browser click @e3 agent-browser wait --load networkidle agent-browser snapshot -i # Check result

Example: Authentication with saved state

Login once

agent-browser open https://app.example.com/login agent-browser snapshot -i agent-browser fill @e1 "username" agent-browser fill @e2 "password" agent-browser click @e3 agent-browser wait --url "**/dashboard" agent-browser state save auth.json

Later sessions: load saved state

agent-browser state load auth.json agent-browser open https://app.example.com/dashboard

Header-based Auth (Skip login flows)

Headers scoped to api.example.com only

agent-browser open api.example.com --headers '{"Authorization": "Bearer <token>"}'

Navigate to another domain - headers NOT sent (safe)

agent-browser open other-site.com

Global headers (all domains)

agent-browser set headers '{"X-Custom-Header": "value"}'

Sessions & Persistent Profiles

Sessions (parallel browsers)

agent-browser --session test1 open site-a.com agent-browser --session test2 open site-b.com agent-browser session list

Persistent Profiles

Persists cookies, localStorage, IndexedDB, service workers, cache, login sessions across browser restarts.

agent-browser --profile ~/.myapp-profile open myapp.com

Or via env var

AGENT_BROWSER_PROFILE=~/.myapp-profile agent-browser open myapp.com

• Use different profile paths for different projects

• Login once → restart browser → still logged in

• Stores: cookies, localStorage, IndexedDB, service workers, browser cache

JSON output (for parsing)

Add --json for machine-readable output:

agent-browser snapshot -i --json agent-browser get text @e1 --json

Debugging

agent-browser open example.com --headed # Show browser window agent-browser console # View console messages agent-browser errors # View page errors agent-browser record start ./debug.webm # Record from current page agent-browser record stop # Save recording agent-browser connect 9222 # Local CDP port agent-browser --cdp "wss://browser-service.com/cdp?token=..." snapshot # Remote via WebSocket agent-browser console --clear # Clear console agent-browser errors --clear # Clear errors agent-browser highlight @e1 # Highlight element agent-browser trace start # Start recording trace agent-browser trace stop trace.zip # Stop and save trace

Installation

Step 1: Install agent-browser CLI

bun add -g agent-browser

Step 2: Install Playwright browsers

IMPORTANT: agent-browser install may fail on some platforms (e.g., darwin-arm64) with "No binary found" error. In that case, install Playwright browsers directly:

Create a temp project and install playwright

cd /tmp && bun init -y && bun add playwright

Install Chromium browser

bun playwright install chromium

This downloads Chrome for Testing to ~/Library/Caches/ms-playwright/ .

Verify installation

agent-browser open https://example.com --headed

If the browser opens successfully, installation is complete.

Troubleshooting

Error Solution

No binary found for darwin-arm64

Run bun playwright install chromium in a project with playwright dependency

Executable doesn't exist at .../chromium-XXXX

Re-run bun playwright install chromium

Browser doesn't open Ensure --headed flag is used for visible browser

Run agent-browser --help for all commands. Repo: https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-browser