How do I install the Steel Browser skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add modbender/steel-browser in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Steel Browser safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Independent scanners report: SkillSpector: PASS, Skill Scanner: PASS. Capability flags: executes scripts, makes network calls. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Steel Browser?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Steel Browser free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Steel Browser?

modbender (@modbender) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Steel Browser by modbender — Agent Skill

Name: Steel Browser
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: modbender

Steel Browser

Control cloud browser sessions via Steel.dev for web automation and computer-use agents. Use when you need to browse the web, fill forms, click elements, take screenshots, scrape content, or build browser automation loops. Uses Playwright selectors (CSS/text/aria) instead of pixel coordinates — more reliable than e2b-desktop for pure web tasks. Supports residential proxies and CAPTCHA solving.

modbender Updated Sep 9, 2026 12 repo stars

File contents

Steel Browser Skill

Cloud browser-use via Steel.dev + Playwright Python SDK. Ideal for web automation, scraping, form filling, and AI agent browser loops.

Prerequisites

pip install steel-sdk playwright
export STEEL_API_KEY=your_key_here

Get your API key at https://app.steel.dev → Settings → API Keys (free: 100 browser hours).

Steel API key should be set in OpenClaw config or environment:

openclaw config set env.STEEL_API_KEY "your_key"

State Management

start_session.sh saves session ID to ~/.steel_state
All scripts auto-load it from there
Override anytime with export STEEL_SESSION_ID=<id>
Sessions persist until release_session.sh or timeout

Scripts

Script	Usage	Description
`start_session.sh`	`[--proxy] [--captcha] [--timeout MS]`	Create session; prints SESSION_ID + VIEWER_URL
`release_session.sh`	`[SESSION_ID]`	Release session
`list_sessions.sh`	(none)	List active sessions
`navigate.sh`	`URL [--wait-until networkidle]`	Go to URL
`screenshot.sh`	`[OUTPUT.png] [--full-page]`	Take screenshot
`click.sh`	`SELECTOR`	Click by CSS/text/aria selector
`click_coords.sh`	`X Y [--right] [--double]`	Click at pixel coords (fallback)
`type.sh`	`SELECTOR "text"`	Fill input field
`press_key.sh`	`KEY`	Press key (e.g. `Enter`, `Control+a`)
`scroll.sh`	`AMOUNT\|--to-bottom\|--to-top\|SELECTOR`	Scroll page
`hover.sh`	`SELECTOR`	Hover over element
`select.sh`	`SELECTOR VALUE`	Select dropdown option
`get_content.sh`	`[--html] [SELECTOR]`	Extract page text or HTML
`eval_js.sh`	`"js expression"`	Execute JavaScript, print result
`wait_for.sh`	`SELECTOR [TIMEOUT_MS]`	Wait for element to appear
`get_url.sh`	(none)	Print current URL and page title

Selector Examples

Steel uses Playwright selectors — much more powerful than pixel coords:

# By CSS
click.sh "#submit-button"
click.sh ".nav-link:first-child"

# By text content
click.sh "text=Sign in"
click.sh "button:has-text('Continue')"

# By aria label
click.sh "[aria-label='Search']"
click.sh "[placeholder='Email address']"

# XPath
click.sh "xpath=//button[@type='submit']"

Browser-Use Agent Loop Pattern

SCRIPTS="skills/steel-browser/scripts"

# 1. Start session (add --proxy --captcha for tough sites)
source <($SCRIPTS/start_session.sh)
echo "Session: $SESSION_ID"
echo "Watch at: $VIEWER_URL"

# 2. Navigate
$SCRIPTS/navigate.sh "https://example.com"

# 3. Agent loop
while true; do
  $SCRIPTS/screenshot.sh /tmp/screen.png
  
  # Get page text for LLM context
  CONTENT=$($SCRIPTS/get_content.sh)
  
  # LLM decides action...
  ACTION=$(echo "$CONTENT" | llm_decide /tmp/screen.png)
  
  case "$ACTION_TYPE" in
    click)    $SCRIPTS/click.sh "$SELECTOR" ;;
    type)     $SCRIPTS/type.sh "$SELECTOR" "$TEXT" ;;
    navigate) $SCRIPTS/navigate.sh "$URL" ;;
    done)     break ;;
  esac
done

# 4. Release
$SCRIPTS/release_session.sh

vs E2B Desktop

Feature	Steel Browser	E2B Desktop
Selectors	Playwright CSS/text/aria ✅	Pixel coords only
Proxy support	✅ Residential proxies	❌
CAPTCHA solving	✅ Built-in	❌
Non-browser tasks	❌	✅ Desktop apps, terminal
Session viewer	✅ Live URL	✅ VNC stream

Use Steel for web automation. Use E2B Desktop for desktop apps / full OS control.

---name: steel-browserdescription: Control cloud browser sessions via Steel.dev for web automation and computer-use agents. Use when you need to browse the web, fill forms, click elements, take screenshots, scrape content, or build browser automation loops. Uses Playwright selectors (CSS/text/aria) instead of pixel coordinates — more reliable than e2b-desktop for pure web tasks. Supports residential proxies and CAPTCHA solving.--- # Steel Browser Skill Cloud browser-use via [Steel.dev](https://steel.dev) + Playwright Python SDK. Ideal for web automation, scraping, form filling, and AI agent browser loops. ## Prerequisites ```bash pip install steel-sdk playwright export STEEL_API_KEY=your_key_here ``` Get your API key at https://app.steel.dev → Settings → API Keys (free: 100 browser hours). Steel API key should be set in OpenClaw config or environment: ```bash openclaw config set env.STEEL_API_KEY "your_key" ``` ## State Management - `start_session.sh` saves session ID to `~/.steel_state` - All scripts auto-load it from there - Override anytime with `export STEEL_SESSION_ID=<id>` - Sessions persist until `release_session.sh` or timeout ## Scripts | Script | Usage | Description | |---|---|---| | `start_session.sh` | `[--proxy] [--captcha] [--timeout MS]` | Create session; prints SESSION_ID + VIEWER_URL | | `release_session.sh` | `[SESSION_ID]` | Release session | | `list_sessions.sh` | _(none)_ | List active sessions | | `navigate.sh` | `URL [--wait-until networkidle]` | Go to URL | | `screenshot.sh` | `[OUTPUT.png] [--full-page]` | Take screenshot | | `click.sh` | `SELECTOR` | Click by CSS/text/aria selector | | `click_coords.sh` | `X Y [--right] [--double]` | Click at pixel coords (fallback) | | `type.sh` | `SELECTOR "text"` | Fill input field | | `press_key.sh` | `KEY` | Press key (e.g. `Enter`, `Control+a`) | | `scroll.sh` | `AMOUNT\|--to-bottom\|--to-top\|SELECTOR` | Scroll page | | `hover.sh` | `SELECTOR` | Hover over element | | `select.sh` | `SELECTOR VALUE` | Select dropdown option | | `get_content.sh` | `[--html] [SELECTOR]` | Extract page text or HTML | | `eval_js.sh` | `"js expression"` | Execute JavaScript, print result | | `wait_for.sh` | `SELECTOR [TIMEOUT_MS]` | Wait for element to appear | | `get_url.sh` | _(none)_ | Print current URL and page title | ## Selector Examples Steel uses Playwright selectors — much more powerful than pixel coords: ```bash # By CSS click.sh "#submit-button" click.sh ".nav-link:first-child" # By text content click.sh "text=Sign in" click.sh "button:has-text('Continue')" # By aria label click.sh "[aria-label='Search']" click.sh "[placeholder='Email address']" # XPath click.sh "xpath=//button[@type='submit']" ``` ## Browser-Use Agent Loop Pattern ```bash SCRIPTS="skills/steel-browser/scripts" # 1. Start session (add --proxy --captcha for tough sites) source <($SCRIPTS/start_session.sh) echo "Session: $SESSION_ID" echo "Watch at: $VIEWER_URL" # 2. Navigate $SCRIPTS/navigate.sh "https://example.com" # 3. Agent loop while true; do $SCRIPTS/screenshot.sh /tmp/screen.png # Get page text for LLM context CONTENT=$($SCRIPTS/get_content.sh) # LLM decides action... ACTION=$(echo "$CONTENT" | llm_decide /tmp/screen.png) case "$ACTION_TYPE" in click) $SCRIPTS/click.sh "$SELECTOR" ;; type) $SCRIPTS/type.sh "$SELECTOR" "$TEXT" ;; navigate) $SCRIPTS/navigate.sh "$URL" ;; done) break ;; esac done # 4. Release $SCRIPTS/release_session.sh ``` ## vs E2B Desktop | Feature | Steel Browser | E2B Desktop | |---|---|---| | Selectors | Playwright CSS/text/aria ✅ | Pixel coords only | | Proxy support | ✅ Residential proxies | ❌ | | CAPTCHA solving | ✅ Built-in | ❌ | | Non-browser tasks | ❌ | ✅ Desktop apps, terminal | | Session viewer | ✅ Live URL | ✅ VNC stream | Use **Steel** for web automation. Use **E2B Desktop** for desktop apps / full OS control.

Frequently asked questions