Fill Web Form

Fill Web Form from Document Data

Read local documents (PDFs, images, spreadsheets), extract structured data, then navigate to a web form in Chrome and fill it in. Claude Desktop reads the documents; Claude in Chrome interacts with the form.

Prerequisites

This skill requires Claude Desktop (Cowork mode) with Chrome integration. It cannot run from Claude Code in a terminal. If invoked from Claude Code, print the setup instructions below and stop.

Setup (one-time)

1. Install Claude Desktop

Download from https://claude.ai/download if not already installed.

2. Install Claude in Chrome

Install the "Claude" extension in Chrome or Chromium:

• Chrome Web Store: search "Claude" by Anthropic
• Extension ID: fcoeoabgfenejglbffodgkkbkcdhcgfn

3. Enable browser actions in Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "preferences": {
    "allowAllBrowserActions": true
  }
}

4. Log into the target website

Open Chrome/Chromium, navigate to the target form URL, and log in manually. Claude cannot handle login/2FA flows: the session must already be authenticated before starting.

Launching a form-filling session

From Claude Desktop UI

1. Open Claude Desktop
2. Start a new Cowork session (the agent mode, not a regular chat)
3. Upload the source documents (PDFs, images) to the conversation
4. Enable Chrome integration: click the Chrome icon in the session toolbar, or ensure the session has chromePermissionMode: "skip_all_permission_checks" in its config
5. Paste the form URL and describe what needs to be filled

From the command line (launch helper)

There is no single CLI command that bootstraps everything. The closest workflow:

# 1. Ensure Chromium is running with the target site logged in
open -a Chromium "https://example.com/form"

# 2. Open Claude Desktop (it will connect to the running Chrome via the extension)
open -a Claude

# 3. In the Claude Desktop Cowork session:
#    - Upload source documents
#    - Enable Chrome integration
#    - Type: "Read the uploaded documents and fill the form at https://example.com/form"

To open Claude Desktop to a specific conversation via URL scheme:

open "claude://conversation/SESSION_UUID"

Architecture

Source documents (uploaded to Claude Desktop)
  -> Claude Desktop extracts structured data
  -> Claude in Chrome navigates to form URL
  -> Form fields filled using read_page + form_input / computer actions
  -> User reviews and submits

Claude Desktop and Claude in Chrome share the same conversation context within a Cowork session. When Chrome integration is enabled, Claude gains access to browser tools: read_page, form_input, computer (click, type, scroll), navigate, and screenshot.

Workflow

Phase 1: Extract data from documents

1. Read all uploaded documents
2. Build a structured data dictionary mapping document fields to form fields
3. Present the extracted data to the user for review before filling anything

Phase 2: Navigate to the form

1. Use navigate or instruct the user to open the form URL in Chrome
2. Use read_page to understand the form structure
3. Map extracted data fields to form input elements

Phase 3: Fill the form

For each form field:

1. read_page(filter="interactive") to get element refs
2. form_input(ref="ref_XXXX", value="...") for text inputs, selects, and textareas
3. computer(action="left_click", ref="ref_XXXX") for radio buttons, checkboxes, and custom widgets
4. computer(action="key", text="Tab") after each field to trigger any reactive validation
5. screenshot to verify the field was filled correctly

Phase 4: Review and hand off

1. Screenshot the completed form
2. Present a summary of all filled values
3. Stop before submitting. Always leave the final Submit/Confirm action to the user.

Browser interaction patterns

Reading form structure

read_page(filter="interactive")  # Returns ref_XXXX for each input/button
read_page(filter="all")  # Returns full page content with refs

Filling text inputs

form_input(ref="ref_1251", value="John Doe")

Clicking buttons, radios, checkboxes

computer(action="left_click", ref="ref_XXXX")

Typing into fields that don't accept form_input

computer(action="left_click", ref="ref_XXXX")  # Focus the field
computer(action="key", text="some text")  # Type into it

Handling dropdowns/selects

form_input(ref="ref_XXXX", value="Option Text")  # For standard <select>
# For custom dropdowns (common in SPA frameworks):
computer(action="left_click", ref="ref_XXXX")  # Open dropdown
wait(duration=1)
read_page(filter="interactive")  # Find the option
computer(action="left_click", ref="ref_YYYY")  # Click the option

Waiting for page updates

wait(duration=2)  # After navigation or AJAX calls
screenshot  # Verify the page state

Multi-step / wizard forms

After completing each step:

1. Find the "Next" / "Continue" button via read_page
2. Click it: computer(action="left_click", ref="ref_XXXX")
3. wait(duration=3) for the next step to load
4. screenshot to confirm advancement
5. Repeat

Handling common SPA frameworks

SAP UI5 (e.g., government portals)

• form_input works for text fields but not radio buttons
• Radio buttons require computer(action="left_click", ref=...)
• Fields may reject decimals: use integers
• Tab after each field to trigger reactive recalculation
• For bulk-filling empty fields with a default value, use JavaScript injection:

let filled = 0;
document.querySelectorAll('input[type="text"]').forEach((el) => {
    if (el.value.trim() === '') {
        const setter = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(
            window.HTMLInputElement.prototype, 'value'
        ).set;
        setter.call(el, '0');
        el.dispatchEvent(new Event('input', {
            bubbles: true
        }));
        el.dispatchEvent(new Event('change', {
            bubbles: true
        }));
        filled++;
    }
});
`Filled ${filled} fields`;

React / Angular / Vue SPAs

• Standard form_input usually works
• For custom components (date pickers, autocompletes), click to open, then select from the popup
• Wait for debounced validation after filling fields

Static HTML forms

• form_input works reliably for all standard inputs
• File upload fields may need computer(action="left_click") to open the file picker

Common problems

Important rules

1. Never submit the form. Always stop before the final Submit/Confirm button and hand off to the user.
2. Present extracted data before filling. Let the user verify the document-to-form mapping.
3. Screenshot after each step. Visual confirmation prevents silent errors.
4. Log in manually first. Claude cannot handle login/2FA. The browser session must be authenticated before starting.
5. Integer rounding. If the source document has decimals but the form expects integers, round to nearest and flag the difference to the user.
6. Sensitive data. If source documents contain data that should not be entered (passwords, SSNs in wrong fields), flag it and ask before proceeding.