Codex Web Render

Codex Web Render

Render JavaScript-heavy or bot-protected pages with a real browser and return the page's visible text. This exists because the built-in WebFetch retrieves raw HTML without executing JavaScript, so client-rendered pages come back as empty shells.

The script has two paths:

1. Fast path (default). A pre-written Playwright renderer (scripts/render.py) drives a real system browser (Brave Origin, then Chrome, then Chromium) in --headless=new mode with --disable-blink-features=AutomationControlled. No visible window opens, it takes ~5-10s, and that automation flag is what clears Cloudflare's non-interactive "checking your browser" challenge that plain headless Chromium gets blocked by.
2. Codex fallback (opt-in). Only if the fast path fails (browser missing, still challenged, empty content) and RENDER_ALLOW_CODEX=1 is set does it hand the URL to codex exec, which is far slower because it boots the full Codex agent to write and run its own browser script. Without that variable a failed fast path exits 3 with a message and nothing else runs. Set RENDER_NO_FAST=1 to skip the fast path.

When to use this skill

Use it in either of these cases:

1. The URL is on the known problem list. Before calling WebFetch, read problem-sites.txt in this skill's directory. If the target URL contains any pattern listed there, skip WebFetch entirely and render with Codex. The list is seeded with claude.ai/share.

2. A WebFetch result looks un-rendered. If you did call WebFetch and the result looks like an un-hydrated shell, fall back to Codex. Tell-tale signs:

   • Near-empty body, or only nav/footer boilerplate with no real content.
   • Text such as "You need to enable JavaScript to run this app".
   • A loading spinner / skeleton and none of the content you asked about.
   • The body is suspiciously short relative to what the page should contain.

How to render

Run the bundled wrapper script with the URL. It prints the rendered visible text to stdout:

bash ~/.claude/skills/codex-web-render/scripts/render-url.sh "<URL>"

Use the printed text as the page content for the rest of your task. The script tries the fast Playwright path first, so a typical run is ~5-10s with no window. The first run may be a few seconds slower while uv resolves the playwright package into its cache. If it exits 3 saying the Codex fallback is disabled, report that to the User; only re-run with RENDER_ALLOW_CODEX=1 if they say so, because that path gives Codex full access and a headed browser.

Maintaining the problem-sites list

When you find a new domain that consistently returns an un-rendered shell from WebFetch, offer to add it so future fetches skip straight to Codex. Append one URL substring per line to:

~/.claude/skills/codex-web-render/problem-sites.txt

Match on the most specific stable path that identifies the problem (a bare domain like example.com, or a path prefix like example.com/app).

Prerequisites

• Fast path: uv on PATH, plus a real Chromium-based browser installed (Brave Origin, Chrome, or Chromium). uv pulls in playwright on demand; no separate browser download is needed because it reuses the system browser binary.
• Fallback path: the Codex CLI installed and authenticated (npm i -g @openai/codex then codex login). Only needed if the fast path can't render. The script runs codex exec --dangerously-bypass-approvals-and-sandbox so the run is unattended, and only when RENDER_ALLOW_CODEX=1 is set.

Notes and limitations

• The fast path is windowless and free; the Codex fallback spends Codex usage/credits and is much slower. Only reach for this skill when WebFetch can't do the job.
• It renders a single page's text. It does not log in, click through flows, or bypass paywalls or auth walls. It uses a throwaway browser profile, so a page needing your session returns whatever a logged-out browser sees.
• Output is the page's visible text, not raw HTML or structured data.