When to use this skill
Use this skill whenever the user wants to:
- Automate browser interactions (click, fill, navigate, screenshot) via CLI
- Scrape web content or extract data from pages
- Build AI agent workflows that interact with websites
- Use refs-based element selection for deterministic automation
- Run browser automation in agent mode with JSON output
- Manage authenticated sessions with custom headers or CDP
How to use this skill
This skill is organized to match the agent-browser official documentation structure (https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-browser/blob/main/README.md). When working with agent-browser:
Quick-Start Example: Snapshot → Identify → Interact
# 1. Install
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/agent-browser
# 2. Open a page and take a snapshot to get element refs
agent-browser open "https://example.com"
agent-browser snapshot
# Output includes refs like @e1, @e2, @e3 for each element
# 3. Click an element by ref
agent-browser click @e3
# 4. Fill a form field
agent-browser fill @e5 "hello@example.com"
# 5. Agent mode (JSON output for programmatic use)
agent-browser snapshot --jsonDetailed Documentation
- Install agent-browser:
- Load examples/getting-started/installation.md for installation instructions
- Quick Start:
- Load examples/quick-start/quick-start.md for basic workflow examples
- Learn core commands:
- Load examples/commands/basic-commands.md for basic commands (open, click, fill, etc.) - Load examples/commands/advanced-commands.md for advanced commands (snapshot, eval, etc.) - Load examples/commands/get-info/ for information retrieval commands - Load examples/commands/check-state/ for state checking commands - Load examples/commands/find-elements/ for semantic locator commands - Load examples/commands/wait/ for wait commands - Load examples/commands/mouse-control/ for mouse control commands - Load examples/commands/browser-settings/ for browser configuration - Load examples/commands/cookies-storage/ for cookies and storage management - Load examples/commands/network/ for network interception - Load examples/commands/tabs-windows/ for tab and window management - Load examples/commands/frames/ for iframe handling - Load examples/commands/dialogs/ for dialog handling - Load examples/commands/debug/ for debugging commands - Load examples/commands/navigation/ for navigation commands - Load examples/commands/setup/ for setup commands
- Understand selectors:
- Load examples/selectors/refs.md for refs-based selection (@e1, @e2, etc.) - Load examples/selectors/traditional-selectors.md for CSS, XPath, and semantic locators
- Use agent mode:
- Load examples/agent-mode/introduction.md for agent mode overview - Load examples/agent-mode/optimal-workflow.md for optimal AI workflow - Load examples/agent-mode/integration.md for integrating with AI agents
- Advanced features:
- Load examples/advanced/sessions.md for session management - Load examples/advanced/headed-mode.md for debugging with visible browser - Load examples/advanced/authenticated-sessions.md for authentication via headers - Load examples/advanced/custom-executable.md for custom browser executable - Load examples/advanced/cdp-mode.md for Chrome DevTools Protocol integration - Load examples/advanced/streaming.md for browser viewport streaming - Load examples/advanced/architecture.md for architecture overview - Load examples/advanced/platforms.md for platform support - Load examples/advanced/usage-with-agents.md for AI agent integration patterns
- Configure options:
- Load examples/options/global-options.md for global CLI options - Load examples/options/snapshot-options.md for snapshot-specific options - Load examples/options/session-options.md for session management options
- Reference API documentation when needed:
- api/commands.md - Complete command reference - api/selectors.md - Selector reference - api/options.md - Options reference
- Use templates for quick start:
- templates/basic-automation.md - Basic automation workflow - templates/ai-agent-workflow.md - AI agent workflow template
Doc mapping (one-to-one with official documentation)
- See examples and API files → https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-browser
Examples and Templates
This skill includes detailed examples organized to match the official documentation structure. All examples are in the examples/ directory (see mapping above).
To use examples:
- Identify the topic from the user's request
- Load the appropriate example file from the mapping above
- Follow the instructions, syntax, and best practices in that file
- Adapt the code examples to your specific use case
To use templates:
- Reference templates in
templates/directory for common scaffolding - Adapt templates to your specific needs and coding style
API Reference
- Commands API:
api/commands.md- Complete command reference with syntax and examples - Selectors API:
api/selectors.md- Selector types and usage reference - Options API:
api/options.md- All options reference
Best Practices
- Use Refs: Prefer refs (@e1, @e2) over traditional selectors for deterministic automation
- Snapshot First: Always snapshot before interacting with elements to get refs
- Agent Mode: Use
--jsonflag for machine-readable output in agent mode - Session Management: Use
--sessionto maintain state across commands - Interactive Snapshot: Use
-iflag for interactive snapshot selection - Semantic Locators: Use semantic locators (role/name) when refs are not available
- Error Handling: Check command exit codes and error messages
- Wait for Navigation: Commands automatically wait for navigation to complete
- Headed Mode: Use
--headedfor debugging, headless for production - CDP Integration: Use
--cdpfor Chrome DevTools Protocol integration - Streaming: Use
AGENT_BROWSER_STREAM_PORTfor live browser preview - Authenticated Sessions: Use
--headersfor authentication without login flows - Custom Executable: Use
--executable-pathfor serverless deployments or custom browsers - Snapshot Options: Combine
-i,-c,-d,-soptions to optimize snapshot output
Resources
- GitHub Repository: https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-browser
- Official README: https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-browser/blob/main/README.md
- Agent Mode Documentation: https://agent-browser.dev/agent-mode
- Issues: https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-browser/issues
Keywords
agent-browser, CLI browser automation, AI agents, browser automation CLI, refs, snapshot, agent mode, semantic locators, browser automation tool, command-line browser, AI agent browser, deterministic selectors, accessibility tree, browser commands, web automation CLI, sessions, headed mode, authenticated sessions, CDP mode, streaming, Chrome DevTools Protocol, Playwright, browser automation for AI