gabrielmoreira 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 fill @e2 "text" # Clear and type
agent-browser type @e2 "text" # Type without clearing
agent-browser press Enter # Press 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 option
agent-browser scroll down 500 # Scroll page
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
Screenshots & PDF
agent-browser screenshot # Save to temp directory
agent-browser screenshot path.png # Save to specific path
agent-browser screenshot --full # Full page
agent-browser pdf output.pdf # Save as PDF
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
Waiting for a custom condition — ALWAYS bound it
Prefer the built-in wait subcommands above. Only fall back to eval-polling
when you must wait on a custom JS condition (e.g. a spinner disappearing or a
"Send" button re-enabling in a chat UI).
Never write an unbounded wait loop. A bare until … do sleep; done that
polls a page condition will loop forever if the condition never becomes true
(page failed to load, selector changed, network stalled). That does not just
fail the command — it wedges the entire agent turn: the runner keeps the model
stream open, later messages get silently swallowed, and the container can hang
for hours without the host's stuck-detection firing.
Always cap the wait with BOTH a wall-clock timeout and a max-attempts counter,
and always exit the loop (never leave a sleep loop as the last thing running):
# Bounded wait: succeeds when the condition is met, gives up after ~90s.
timeout 90 bash -c '
for i in $(seq 1 30); do
if agent-browser eval "document.querySelector(\".loading\") === null" 2>/dev/null | grep -q true; then
echo READY; exit 0
fi
sleep 3
done
echo TIMEOUT; exit 1
'
# Check the exit status / output: on TIMEOUT, snapshot the page and decide —
# do NOT re-enter another unbounded wait.
If the wait times out, treat it as a real failure: take a snapshot -i or
screenshot to see the actual page state, report what you found, and move on.
Retrying the same unbounded wait is what causes the hang.
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 placeholder "Search" type "query"
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: load saved state
agent-browser state load auth.json
agent-browser open https://app.example.com/dashboard
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 localStorage
agent-browser storage local set k v # Set value
JavaScript
agent-browser eval "document.title" # Run JavaScript
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: Data extraction
agent-browser open https://example.com/products
agent-browser snapshot -i
agent-browser get text @e1 # Get product title
agent-browser get attr @e2 href # Get link URL
agent-browser screenshot products.png