Open Browser

When to invoke

Use when asked to "open browser", "launch browser", "connect chrome", "open chrome", "real browser", "launch chrome", "side panel", or "control my browser".

Preamble

eval "$(~/.vibestack/bin/vibe-slug 2>/dev/null)" 2>/dev/null || SLUG="unknown"
_LEARN_FILE="${VIBESTACK_HOME:-$HOME/.vibestack}/projects/${SLUG:-unknown}/learnings.jsonl"
if [ -f "$_LEARN_FILE" ]; then
  _LEARN_COUNT=$(wc -l < "$_LEARN_FILE" 2>/dev/null | tr -d ' ')
  echo "LEARNINGS: $_LEARN_COUNT entries loaded"
  if [ "$_LEARN_COUNT" -gt 5 ] 2>/dev/null; then
    ~/.vibestack/bin/vibe-learnings-search --limit 5 2>/dev/null || true
  fi
else
  echo "LEARNINGS: none yet"
fi

{{include lib/snippets/session-host.md}}

{{include lib/snippets/decision-brief.md}}

{{include lib/snippets/working-protocols.md}}

{{include lib/snippets/state-protocols.md}}

/open-browser — Launch vibestack Browser

Launch vibestack Browser — AI-controlled Chromium with the sidebar extension, anti-bot stealth, and real-time visibility. You see every action as it happens.

SETUP (run this check BEFORE any browse command)

_ROOT=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null)
B=""
# install renders each skill to <root>/skills/<name>/ and links its bin/ — there
# is no skills/vibestack/ directory and no dist/browse, so the previous paths
# could never resolve and this skill always dead-ended at NEEDS_SETUP.
[ -n "$_ROOT" ] && [ -x "$_ROOT/.claude/skills/browse/bin/vibe-browse" ] && B="$_ROOT/.claude/skills/browse/bin/vibe-browse"
[ -z "$B" ] && [ -x "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR:-$HOME/.claude/skills/open-browser}/../browse/bin/vibe-browse" ] && B="${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR:-$HOME/.claude/skills/open-browser}/../browse/bin/vibe-browse"
[ -z "$B" ] && B="$(command -v vibe-browse || true)"
if [ -x "$B" ]; then echo "READY: $B"; else echo "NEEDS_SETUP"; fi

If NEEDS_SETUP, stop and tell the user: "The browse daemon is required for this skill but is not installed. vibestack does not bundle the browse daemon — it's a separate dependency. See docs/external-tools.md for current options."

Step 0: Pre-flight cleanup

Before connecting, kill any stale browse servers and clean up lock files that may have persisted from a crash. This prevents "already connected" false positives and Chromium profile lock conflicts.

# Kill any existing browse server
_REPO_ROOT=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null)
_BROWSE_STATE=""
[ -n "$_REPO_ROOT" ] && _BROWSE_STATE="$_REPO_ROOT/.vibestack/browse.json"
[ -z "$_BROWSE_STATE" ] || [ ! -f "$_BROWSE_STATE" ] && _BROWSE_STATE="$HOME/.vibestack/browse.json"
if [ -f "$_BROWSE_STATE" ]; then
  _OLD_PID=$(grep -o '"pid":[0-9]*' "$_BROWSE_STATE" 2>/dev/null | grep -o '[0-9]*')
  [ -n "$_OLD_PID" ] && kill "$_OLD_PID" 2>/dev/null || true
  sleep 1
  [ -n "$_OLD_PID" ] && kill -9 "$_OLD_PID" 2>/dev/null || true
  rm -f "$_BROWSE_STATE"
fi
# Clean Chromium profile locks (can persist after crashes)
_PROFILE_DIR="$HOME/.vibestack/chromium-profile"
for _LF in SingletonLock SingletonSocket SingletonCookie; do
  rm -f "$_PROFILE_DIR/$_LF" 2>/dev/null || true
done
echo "Pre-flight cleanup done"

Step 1: Connect

$B connect

This launches vibestack Browser (rebranded Chromium) in headed mode with:

• A visible window you can watch (not your regular Chrome — it stays untouched)
• The sidebar extension auto-loaded via launchPersistentContext
• Anti-bot stealth patches (sites like Google and NYTimes work without captchas)
• Custom user agent in Dock/menu bar
• A sidebar agent process for chat commands

The connect command auto-discovers the extension from the install directory. It always uses port 34567 so the extension can auto-connect.

After connecting, print the full output to the user. Confirm you see Mode: headed in the output.

If the output shows an error or the mode is not headed, run $B status and share the output with the user before proceeding.

Step 2: Verify

$B status

Confirm the output shows Mode: headed. Read the port from the state file:

_REPO_ROOT=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null)
_STATE_FILE=""
[ -n "$_REPO_ROOT" ] && [ -f "$_REPO_ROOT/.vibestack/browse.json" ] && _STATE_FILE="$_REPO_ROOT/.vibestack/browse.json"
[ -z "$_STATE_FILE" ] && _STATE_FILE="$HOME/.vibestack/browse.json"
grep -o '"port":[0-9]*' "$_STATE_FILE" 2>/dev/null | grep -o '[0-9]*'

The port should be 34567. If it's different, note it — the user may need it for the Side Panel.

Also find the extension path so you can help the user if they need to load it manually:

_EXT_PATH=""
_ROOT=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null)
# Same correction as the binary above: the extension lives in the checkout, and
# the skill reaches it through the repo root, never through a skills/vibestack/
# directory that install does not create.
[ -n "$_ROOT" ] && [ -f "$_ROOT/extension/manifest.json" ] && _EXT_PATH="$_ROOT/extension"
[ -z "$_EXT_PATH" ] && [ -f "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR:-$HOME/.claude/skills/open-browser}/extension/manifest.json" ] && _EXT_PATH="${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR:-$HOME/.claude/skills/open-browser}/extension"
echo "EXTENSION_PATH: ${_EXT_PATH:-NOT FOUND}"

Step 3: Guide the user to the Side Panel

Use AskUserQuestion:

Chrome is launched with vibestack control. You should see Playwright's Chromium (not your regular Chrome) with a shimmer line at the top of the page.

The Side Panel extension should be auto-loaded. To open it:

1. Look for the puzzle piece icon (Extensions) in the toolbar
2. Click the puzzle piece → find vibestack browse → click the pin icon
3. Click the pinned icon in the toolbar
4. The Side Panel should open on the right showing a live activity feed

Port: 34567 (auto-detected — the extension connects automatically in the Playwright-controlled Chrome).

Options:

• A) I can see the Side Panel — let's go!
• B) I can see Chrome but can't find the extension
• C) Something went wrong

If B: Tell the user:

The extension is loaded into Playwright's Chromium at launch time, but sometimes it doesn't appear immediately. Try these steps:

1. Type chrome://extensions in the address bar
2. Look for the vibestack browse extension — it should be listed and enabled
3. If it's there but not pinned, go back to any page, click the puzzle piece icon, and pin it
4. If it's NOT listed at all, click "Load unpacked" and navigate to:
   • Press Cmd+Shift+G in the file picker dialog
   • Paste this path: {EXTENSION_PATH} (use the path from Step 2)
   • Click Select

After loading, pin it and click the icon to open the Side Panel.

If the Side Panel badge stays gray (disconnected), click the icon and enter port 34567 manually.

If C:

1. Run $B status and show the output
2. If the server is not healthy, re-run Step 0 cleanup + Step 1 connect
3. If the server IS healthy but the browser isn't visible, try $B focus
4. If that fails, ask the user what they see (error message, blank screen, etc.)

Step 4: Demo

After the user confirms the Side Panel is working, run a quick demo:

$B goto https://github.com

Wait 2 seconds, then:

$B snapshot -i

Tell the user: "Check the Side Panel — you should see the goto and snapshot commands appear in the activity feed. Every command Claude runs shows up here in real time."

Step 5: Sidebar chat

After the activity feed demo, tell the user about the sidebar chat:

The Side Panel also has a chat tab. Try typing a message like "take a snapshot and describe this page." A sidebar agent (a child Claude instance) executes your request in the browser — you'll see the commands appear in the activity feed as they happen.

The sidebar agent can navigate pages, click buttons, fill forms, and read content. Each task gets up to 5 minutes. It runs in an isolated session, so it won't interfere with this Claude Code window.

Step 6: What's next

Tell the user:

You're all set! Here's what you can do with the connected Chrome:

Watch Claude work in real time:

• Run any vibestack skill (/qa, /design-review, /benchmark) and watch every action happen in the visible Chrome window + Side Panel feed
• No cookie import needed — the Playwright browser shares its own session

Control the browser directly:

• Sidebar chat — type natural language in the Side Panel and the sidebar agent executes it (e.g., "fill in the login form and submit")
• Browse commands — $B goto <url>, $B click <sel>, $B fill <sel> <val>, $B snapshot -i — all visible in Chrome + Side Panel

Window management:

• $B focus — bring Chrome to the foreground anytime
• $B disconnect — close headed Chrome and return to headless mode

What skills look like in headed mode:

• /qa runs its full test suite in the visible browser — you see every page load, every click, every assertion
• /design-review takes screenshots in the real browser — same pixels you see
• /benchmark measures performance in the headed browser

Then proceed with whatever the user asked to do. If they didn't specify a task, ask what they'd like to test or browse.