Cmux Browser Content Reading

cmux Browser Content Reading

Read text content from an already-open browser surface in cmux without navigating to a new URL.

Step 1 — Discover workspace and browser surfaces

WS=$(cmux identify | jq -r '.focused.workspace_ref')

List all browser surfaces with their titles to decide which one to target:

cmux rpc surface.list "{\"workspace_ref\":\"$WS\"}" | jq -r '.surfaces[] | select(.type == "browser") | [.ref, .title] | @tsv'

If the user named a specific tab

Match by title keyword (case-insensitive):

SURF=$(cmux rpc surface.list "{\"workspace_ref\":\"$WS\"}" | \
  jq -r '[.surfaces[] | select(.type == "browser" and (.title | test("KEYWORD"; "i")))] | first | .ref // empty')

Replace KEYWORD with the relevant word from the request (e.g. "Seobility", "GitHub", "localhost").

If no specific tab was mentioned

Fall back to the first available browser surface:

SURF=$(cmux rpc surface.list "{\"workspace_ref\":\"$WS\"}" | \
  jq -r '[.surfaces[] | select(.type == "browser")] | first | .ref // empty')

If SURF is empty, no browser pane is open — inform the user and stop.

Step 2 — Check the current URL (optional)

Confirm the right surface is selected before reading:

cmux browser $SURF url

Step 3 — Read the text content

get text requires an explicit --selector argument; there is no plain "dump the page" shortcut.

Full page body

cmux browser $SURF get text --selector body

Narrow to a specific element

When the page is long, target the relevant section to keep the output small:

# A results table
cmux browser $SURF get text --selector "table"

# Main content area
cmux browser $SURF get text --selector "main"
cmux browser $SURF get text --selector "#main-content"
cmux browser $SURF get text --selector ".content"

# A specific heading's section
cmux browser $SURF get text --selector "article"

Prefer a narrower selector over body when the request targets a specific part of the page (e.g. "the results table", "the sidebar", "the error message").

Notes

• Surface refs change between sessions — always discover fresh, never hardcode.
• The --selector flag is mandatory for get text; omitting it will error.
• If multiple browser surfaces match a title keyword, jq first picks the first match — list all surfaces first if the result looks wrong.
• For visual confirmation, use cmux-browser-screenshooting instead of or in addition to this skill.
• To navigate before reading, use cmux-browser-navigating first, then invoke this skill.