agent-browser

Browser automation CLI for AI agents. Fast native Rust CLI.

Installation

Global Installation (recommended)

Installs the native Rust binary:

npm install -g agent-browser
agent-browser install  # Download Chrome from Chrome for Testing (first time only)

Project Installation (local dependency)

For projects that want to pin the version in package.json:

npm install agent-browser
agent-browser install

Then use via package.json scripts or by invoking agent-browser directly.

Homebrew (macOS)

brew install agent-browser
agent-browser install  # Download Chrome from Chrome for Testing (first time only)

Cargo (Rust)

cargo install agent-browser
agent-browser install  # Download Chrome from Chrome for Testing (first time only)

From Source

git clone https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-browser
cd agent-browser
pnpm install
pnpm build
pnpm build:native   # Requires Rust (https://rustup.rs)
pnpm link --global  # Makes agent-browser available globally
agent-browser install

Linux Dependencies

On Linux, install system dependencies:

agent-browser install --with-deps

Updating

Upgrade to the latest version:

agent-browser upgrade

Detects your installation method (npm, Homebrew, or Cargo) and runs the appropriate update command automatically.

Requirements

Chrome - Run agent-browser install to download Chrome from Chrome for Testing (Google's official automation channel). Existing Chrome, Brave, Playwright, and Puppeteer installations are detected automatically. No Playwright or Node.js required for the daemon.
Rust - Only needed when building from source (see From Source above).

Quick Start

agent-browser open example.com
agent-browser snapshot                    # Get accessibility tree with refs
agent-browser click @e2                   # Click by ref from snapshot
agent-browser fill @e3 "test@example.com" # Fill by ref
agent-browser get text @e1                # Get text by ref
agent-browser screenshot page.png
agent-browser close

Traditional Selectors (also supported)

agent-browser click "#submit"
agent-browser fill "#email" "test@example.com"
agent-browser find role button click --name "Submit"

Commands

Core Commands

agent-browser open <url>              # Navigate to URL (aliases: goto, navigate)
agent-browser click <sel>             # Click element (--new-tab to open in new tab)
agent-browser dblclick <sel>          # Double-click element
agent-browser focus <sel>             # Focus element
agent-browser type <sel> <text>       # Type into element
agent-browser fill <sel> <text>       # Clear and fill
agent-browser press <key>             # Press key (Enter, Tab, Control+a) (alias: key)
agent-browser keyboard type <text>    # Type with real keystrokes (no selector, current focus)
agent-browser keyboard inserttext <text>  # Insert text without key events (no selector)
agent-browser keydown <key>           # Hold key down
agent-browser keyup <key>             # Release key
agent-browser hover <sel>             # Hover element
agent-browser select <sel> <val>      # Select dropdown option
agent-browser check <sel>             # Check checkbox
agent-browser uncheck <sel>           # Uncheck checkbox
agent-browser scroll <dir> [px]       # Scroll (up/down/left/right, --selector <sel>)
agent-browser scrollintoview <sel>    # Scroll element into view (alias: scrollinto)
agent-browser drag <src> <tgt>        # Drag and drop
agent-browser upload <sel> <files>    # Upload files
agent-browser screenshot [path]       # Take screenshot (--full for full page, saves to a temporary directory if no path)
agent-browser screenshot --annotate   # Annotated screenshot with numbered element labels
agent-browser screenshot --screenshot-dir ./shots    # Save to custom directory
agent-browser screenshot --screenshot-format jpeg --screenshot-quality 80
agent-browser pdf <path>              # Save as PDF
agent-browser snapshot                # Accessibility tree with refs (best for AI)
agent-browser eval <js>               # Run JavaScript (-b for base64, --stdin for piped input)
agent-browser connect <port>          # Connect to browser via CDP
agent-browser stream enable [--port <port>]  # Start runtime WebSocket streaming
agent-browser stream status           # Show runtime streaming state and bound port
agent-browser stream disable          # Stop runtime WebSocket streaming
agent-browser close                   # Close browser (aliases: quit, exit)
agent-browser close --all             # Close all active sessions
agent-browser chat "<instruction>"    # AI chat: natural language browser control (single-shot)
agent-browser chat                    # AI chat: interactive REPL mode

Get Info

agent-browser get text <sel>          # Get text content
agent-browser get html <sel>          # Get innerHTML
agent-browser get value <sel>         # Get input value
agent-browser get attr <sel> <attr>   # Get attribute
agent-browser get title               # Get page title
agent-browser get url                 # Get current URL
agent-browser get cdp-url             # Get CDP WebSocket URL (for DevTools, debugging)
agent-browser get count <sel>         # Count matching elements
agent-browser get box <sel>           # Get bounding box
agent-browser get styles <sel>        # Get computed styles

Check State

agent-browser is visible <sel>        # Check if visible
agent-browser is enabled <sel>        # Check if enabled
agent-browser is checked <sel>        # Check if checked

Find Elements (Semantic Locators)

agent-browser find role <role> <action> [value]       # By ARIA role
agent-browser find text <text> <action>               # By text content
agent-browser find label <label> <action> [value]     # By label
agent-browser find placeholder <ph> <action> [value]  # By placeholder
agent-browser find alt <text> <action>                # By alt text
agent-browser find title <text> <action>              # By title attr
agent-browser find testid <id> <action> [value]       # By data-testid
agent-browser find first <sel> <action> [value]       # First match
agent-browser find last <sel> <action> [value]        # Last match
agent-browser find nth <n> <sel> <action> [value]     # Nth match

Actions: click, fill, type, hover, focus, check, uncheck, text

Options: --name <name> (filter role by accessible name), --exact (require exact text match)

Examples:

agent-browser find role button click --name "Submit"
agent-browser find text "Sign In" click
agent-browser find label "Email" fill "test@test.com"
agent-browser find first ".item" click
agent-browser find nth 2 "a" text

Wait

agent-browser wait <selector>         # Wait for element to be visible
agent-browser wait <ms>               # Wait for time (milliseconds)
agent-browser wait --text "Welcome"   # Wait for text to appear (substring match)
agent-browser wait --url "**/dash"    # Wait for URL pattern
agent-browser wait --load networkidle # Wait for load state
agent-browser wait --fn "window.ready === true"  # Wait for JS condition

# Wait for text/element to disappear
agent-browser wait --fn "!document.body.innerText.includes('Loading...')"
agent-browser wait "#spinner" --state hidden

Load states: load, domcontentloaded, networkidle

Batch Execution

Execute multiple commands in a single invocation. Commands can be passed as quoted arguments or piped as JSON via stdin. This avoids per-command process startup overhead when running multi-step workflows.

# Argument mode: each quoted argument is a full command
agent-browser batch "open https://example.com" "snapshot -i" "screenshot"

# With --bail to stop on first error
agent-browser batch --bail "open https://example.com" "click @e1" "screenshot"

# Stdin mode: pipe commands as JSON
echo '[
  ["open", "https://example.com"],
  ["snapshot", "-i"],
  ["click", "@e1"],
  ["screenshot", "result.png"]
]' | agent-browser batch --json

Clipboard

agent-browser clipboard read                      # Read text from clipboard
agent-browser clipboard write "Hello, World!"     # Write text to clipboard
agent-browser clipboard copy                      # Copy current selection (Ctrl+C)
agent-browser clipboard paste                     # Paste from clipboard (Ctrl+V)

Mouse Control

agent-browser mouse move <x> <y>      # Move mouse
agent-browser mouse down [button]     # Press button (left/right/middle)
agent-browser mouse up [button]       # Release button
agent-browser mouse wheel <dy> [dx]   # Scroll wheel

Browser Settings

agent-browser set viewport <w> <h> [scale]  # Set viewport size (scale for retina, e.g. 2)
agent-browser set device <name>       # Emulate device ("iPhone 14")
agent-browser set geo <lat> <lng>     # Set geolocation
agent-browser set offline [on|off]    # Toggle offline mode
agent-browser set headers <json>      # Extra HTTP headers
agent-browser set credentials <u> <p> # HTTP basic auth
agent-browser set media [dark|light]  # Emulate color scheme

Cookies & Storage

agent-browser cookies                 # Get all cookies
agent-browser cookies set <name> <val> # Set cookie
agent-browser cookies clear           # Clear cookies

agent-browser storage local           # Get all localStorage
agent-browser storage local <key>     # Get specific key
agent-browser storage local set <k> <v>  # Set value
agent-browser storage local clear     # Clear all

agent-browser storage session         # Same for sessionStorage

Network

agent-browser network route <url>              # Intercept requests
agent-browser network route <url> --abort      # Block requests
agent-browser network route <url> --body <json>  # Mock response
agent-browser network unroute [url]            # Remove routes
agent-browser network requests                 # View tracked requests
agent-browser network requests --filter api    # Filter requests
agent-browser network requests --type xhr,fetch  # Filter by resource type
agent-browser network requests --method POST   # Filter by HTTP method
agent-browser network requests --status 2xx    # Filter by status (200, 2xx, 400-499)
agent-browser network request <requestId>      # View full request/response detail
agent-browser network har start                # Start HAR recording
agent-browser network har stop [output.har]    # Stop and save HAR (temp path if omitted)

Tabs & Windows

agent-browser tab                              # List tabs (shows `tabId` and optional label)
agent-browser tab new [url]                    # New tab (optionally with URL)
agent-browser tab new --label docs [url]       # New tab with a user-assigned label
agent-browser tab <t<N>|label>                 # Switch to a tab by id or label
agent-browser tab close [t<N>|label]           # Close a tab (defaults to active)
agent-browser window new                       # New window

Tab ids are stable strings of the form t1, t2, t3. They're never reused within a session, so scripts and agents can keep referring to the same tab even after other tabs are opened or closed. Positional integers like tab 2 are not accepted; the t prefix disambiguates handles from indices and mirrors the @e1 convention used for element refs.

You can also assign a memorable label (docs, app, admin) and use it interchangeably with the id. Labels are never auto-generated and never rewritten on navigation — they're yours to name and keep:

agent-browser tab new --label docs https://docs.example.com
agent-browser tab docs               # switch to the docs tab
agent-browser snapshot               # populate refs for docs
agent-browser click @e3              # click uses docs's refs
agent-browser tab close docs         # close by label

Frames

agent-browser frame <sel>             # Switch to iframe
agent-browser frame main              # Back to main frame

Dialogs

agent-browser dialog accept [text]    # Accept (with optional prompt text)
agent-browser dialog dismiss          # Dismiss
agent-browser dialog status           # Check if a dialog is currently open

By default, alert and beforeunload dialogs are automatically accepted so they never block the agent. confirm and prompt dialogs still require explicit handling. Use --no-auto-dialog (or AGENT_BROWSER_NO_AUTO_DIALOG=1) to disable automatic handling.

When a JavaScript dialog is pending, all command responses include a warning field with the dialog type and message.

Diff

agent-browser diff snapshot                              # Compare current vs last snapshot
agent-browser diff snapshot --baseline before.txt        # Compare current vs saved snapshot file
agent-browser diff snapshot --selector "#main" --compact # Scoped snapshot diff
agent-browser diff screenshot --baseline before.png      # Visual pixel diff against baseline
agent-browser diff screenshot --baseline b.png -o d.png  # Save diff image to custom path
agent-browser diff screenshot --baseline b.png -t 0.2    # Adjust color threshold (0-1)
agent-browser diff url https://v1.com https://v2.com     # Compare two URLs (snapshot diff)
agent-browser diff url https://v1.com https://v2.com --screenshot  # Also visual diff
agent-browser diff url https://v1.com https://v2.com --wait-until networkidle  # Custom wait strategy
agent-browser diff url https://v1.com https://v2.com --selector "#main"  # Scope to element

Debug

agent-browser trace start [path]      # Start recording trace
agent-browser trace stop [path]       # Stop and save trace
agent-browser profiler start          # Start Chrome DevTools profiling
agent-browser profiler stop [path]    # Stop and save profile (.json)
agent-browser console                 # View console messages (log, error, warn, info)
agent-browser console --json          # JSON output with raw CDP args for programmatic access
agent-browser console --clear         # Clear console
agent-browser errors                  # View page errors (uncaught JavaScript exceptions)
agent-browser errors --clear          # Clear errors
agent-browser highlight <sel>         # Highlight element
agent-browser inspect                 # Open Chrome DevTools for the active page
agent-browser state save <path>       # Save auth state
agent-browser state load <path>       # Load auth state
agent-browser state list              # List saved state files
agent-browser state show <file>       # Show state summary
agent-browser state rename <old> <new> # Rename state file
agent-browser state clear [name]      # Clear states for session
agent-browser state clear --all       # Clear all saved states
agent-browser state clean --older-than <days>  # Delete old states

Navigation

agent-browser back                    # Go back
agent-browser forward                 # Go forward
agent-browser reload                  # Reload page

Setup

agent-browser install                 # Download Chrome from Chrome for Testing (Google's official automation channel)
agent-browser install --with-deps     # Also install system deps (Linux)
agent-browser upgrade                 # Upgrade agent-browser to the latest version
agent-browser doctor                  # Diagnose the install and auto-clean stale daemon files
agent-browser doctor --fix            # Also run destructive repairs (reinstall Chrome, purge old state, ...)
agent-browser doctor --offline --quick  # Skip network probes and the live launch test

doctor checks your environment, Chrome install, daemon state, config files, encryption key, providers, network reachability, and runs a live headless browser launch test. Stale socket/pid sidecar files are auto-cleaned. Output is also available as --json for agents.

Skills

agent-browser skills                  # List available skills
agent-browser skills list             # Same as above
agent-browser skills get <name>       # Output a skill's full content
agent-browser skills get <name> --full  # Include references and templates
agent-browser skills get --all        # Output every skill
agent-browser skills path [name]      # Print skill directory path

Serves bundled skill content that always matches the installed CLI version. AI agents use this to get current instructions rather than relying on cached copies. Set AGENT_BROWSER_SKILLS_DIR to override the skills directory path.

Authentication

agent-browser provides multiple ways to persist login sessions so you don't re-authenticate every run.

Quick summary

Approach	Best for	Flag / Env
Chrome profile reuse	Reuse your existing Chrome login state (cookies, sessions) with zero setup	`--profile <name>` / `AGENT_BROWSER_PROFILE`
Persistent profile	Full browser state (cookies, IndexedDB, service workers, cache) across restarts	`--profile <path>` / `AGENT_BROWSER_PROFILE`
Session persistence	Auto-save/restore cookies + localStorage by name	`--session-name <name>` / `AGENT_BROWSER_SESSION_NAME`
Import from your browser	Grab auth from a Chrome session you already logged into	`--auto-connect` + `state save`
State file	Load a previously saved state JSON on launch	`--state <path>` / `AGENT_BROWSER_STATE`
Auth vault	Store credentials locally (encrypted), login by name	`auth save` / `auth login`

Import auth from your browser

If you are already logged in to a site in Chrome, you can grab that auth state and reuse it:

# 1. Launch Chrome with remote debugging enabled
#    macOS:
"/Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome" --remote-debugging-port=9222
#    Or use --auto-connect to discover an already-running Chrome

# 2. Connect and save the authenticated state
agent-browser --auto-connect state save ./my-auth.json

# 3. Use the saved auth in future sessions
agent-browser --state ./my-auth.json open https://app.example.com/dashboard

# 4. Or use --session-name for automatic persistence
agent-browser --session-name myapp state load ./my-auth.json
# From now on, --session-name myapp auto-saves/restores this state

Security notes:

--remote-debugging-port exposes full browser control on localhost. Any local process can connect. Only use on trusted machines and close Chrome when done.

State files contain session tokens in plaintext. Add them to .gitignore and delete when no longer needed. For encryption at rest, set AGENT_BROWSER_ENCRYPTION_KEY (see State Encryption).

For full details on login flows, OAuth, 2FA, cookie-based auth, and the auth vault, see the Authentication docs.

Sessions

Run multiple isolated browser instances:

# Different sessions
agent-browser --session agent1 open site-a.com
agent-browser --session agent2 open site-b.com

# Or via environment variable
AGENT_BROWSER_SESSION=agent1 agent-browser click "#btn"

# List active sessions
agent-browser session list
# Output:
# Active sessions:
# -> default
#    agent1

# Show current session
agent-browser session

Each session has its own:

Browser instance
Cookies and storage
Navigation history
Authentication state

Chrome Profile Reuse

The fastest way to use your existing login state: pass a Chrome profile name to --profile:

# List available Chrome profiles
agent-browser profiles

# Reuse your default Chrome profile's login state
agent-browser --profile Default open https://gmail.com

# Use a named profile (by display name or directory name)
agent-browser --profile "Work" open https://app.example.com

# Or via environment variable
AGENT_BROWSER_PROFILE=Default agent-browser open https://gmail.com

This copies your Chrome profile to a temp directory (read-only snapshot, no changes to your original profile), so the browser launches with your existing cookies and sessions.

Note: On Windows, close Chrome before using --profile <name> if Chrome is running, as some profile files may be locked.

Persistent Profiles

For a persistent custom profile directory that stores state across browser restarts, pass a path to --profile:

# Use a persistent profile directory
agent-browser --profile ~/.myapp-profile open myapp.com

# Login once, then reuse the authenticated session
agent-browser --profile ~/.myapp-profile open myapp.com/dashboard

# Or via environment variable
AGENT_BROWSER_PROFILE=~/.myapp-profile agent-browser open myapp.com

The profile directory stores:

Cookies and localStorage
IndexedDB data
Service workers
Browser cache
Login sessions

Tip: Use different profile paths for different projects to keep their browser state isolated.

Session Persistence

Alternatively, use --session-name to automatically save and restore cookies and localStorage across browser restarts:

# Auto-save/load state for "twitter" session
agent-browser --session-name twitter open twitter.com

# Login once, then state persists automatically
# State files stored in ~/.agent-browser/sessions/

# Or via environment variable
export AGENT_BROWSER_SESSION_NAME=twitter
agent-browser open twitter.com

State Encryption

Encrypt saved session data at rest with AES-256-GCM:

# Generate key: openssl rand -hex 32
export AGENT_BROWSER_ENCRYPTION_KEY=<64-char-hex-key>

# State files are now encrypted automatically
agent-browser --session-name secure open example.com

Variable	Description
`AGENT_BROWSER_SESSION_NAME`	Auto-save/load state persistence name
`AGENT_BROWSER_ENCRYPTION_KEY`	64-char hex key for AES-256-GCM encryption
`AGENT_BROWSER_STATE_EXPIRE_DAYS`	Auto-delete states older than N days (default: 30)

Security

agent-browser includes security features for safe AI agent deployments. All features are opt-in -- existing workflows are unaffected until you explicitly enable a feature:

Authentication Vault -- Store credentials locally (always encrypted), reference by name. The LLM never sees passwords. auth login navigates with load and then waits for login form selectors to appear (SPA-friendly, timeout follows the default action timeout). A key is auto-generated at ~/.agent-browser/.encryption-key if AGENT_BROWSER_ENCRYPTION_KEY is not set: echo "pass" | agent-browser auth save github --url https://github.com/login --username user --password-stdin then agent-browser auth login github
Content Boundary Markers -- Wrap page output in delimiters so LLMs can distinguish tool output from untrusted content: --content-boundaries
Domain Allowlist -- Restrict navigation to trusted domains (wildcards like *.example.com also match the bare domain): --allowed-domains "example.com,*.example.com". Sub-resource requests (scripts, images, fetch) and WebSocket/EventSource connections to non-allowed domains are also blocked. Include any CDN domains your target pages depend on (e.g., *.cdn.example.com).
Action Policy -- Gate destructive actions with a static policy file: --action-policy ./policy.json
Action Confirmation -- Require explicit approval for sensitive action categories: --confirm-actions eval,download
Output Length Limits -- Prevent context flooding: --max-output 50000

Variable	Description
`AGENT_BROWSER_CONTENT_BOUNDARIES`	Wrap page output in boundary markers
`AGENT_BROWSER_MAX_OUTPUT`	Max characters for page output
`AGENT_BROWSER_ALLOWED_DOMAINS`	Comma-separated allowed domain patterns
`AGENT_BROWSER_ACTION_POLICY`	Path to action policy JSON file
`AGENT_BROWSER_CONFIRM_ACTIONS`	Action categories requiring confirmation
`AGENT_BROWSER_CONFIRM_INTERACTIVE`	Enable interactive confirmation prompts

See Security documentation for details.

Snapshot Options

The snapshot command supports filtering to reduce output size:

agent-browser snapshot                    # Full accessibility tree
agent-browser snapshot -i                 # Interactive elements only (buttons, inputs, links)
agent-browser snapshot -i --urls          # Interactive elements with link URLs
agent-browser snapshot -c                 # Compact (remove empty structural elements)
agent-browser snapshot -d 3               # Limit depth to 3 levels
agent-browser snapshot -s "#main"         # Scope to CSS selector
agent-browser snapshot -i -c -d 5         # Combine options

Option	Description
`-i, --interactive`	Only show interactive elements (buttons, links, inputs)
`-u, --urls`	Include href URLs for link elements
`-c, --compact`	Remove empty structural elements
`-d, --depth <n>`	Limit tree depth
`-s, --selector <sel>`	Scope to CSS selector

Annotated Screenshots

The --annotate flag overlays numbered labels on interactive elements in the screenshot. Each label [N] corresponds to ref @eN, so the same refs work for both visual and text-based workflows.

Annotated screenshots are supported on the CDP-backed browser path (Chrome/Lightpanda). The Safari/WebDriver backend does not yet support --annotate.

agent-browser screenshot --annotate
# -> Screenshot saved to /tmp/screenshot-2026-02-17T12-00-00-abc123.png
#    [1] @e1 button "Submit"
#    [2] @e2 link "Home"
#    [3] @e3 textbox "Email"

After an annotated screenshot, refs are cached so you can immediately interact with elements:

agent-browser screenshot --annotate ./page.png
agent-browser click @e2     # Click the "Home" link labeled [2]

This is useful for multimodal AI models that can reason about visual layout, unlabeled icon buttons, canvas elements, or visual state that the text accessibility tree cannot capture.

Options

Option	Description
`--session <name>`	Use isolated session (or `AGENT_BROWSER_SESSION` env)
`--session-name <name>`	Auto-save/restore session state (or `AGENT_BROWSER_SESSION_NAME` env)
`--profile <name\|path>`	Chrome profile name or persistent directory path (or `AGENT_BROWSER_PROFILE` env)
`--state <path>`	Load storage state from JSON file (or `AGENT_BROWSER_STATE` env)
`--headers <json>`	Set HTTP headers scoped to the URL's origin
`--executable-path <path>`	Custom browser executable (or `AGENT_BROWSER_EXECUTABLE_PATH` env)
`--extension <path>`	Load browser extension (repeatable; or `AGENT_BROWSER_EXTENSIONS` env)
`--args <args>`	Browser launch args, comma or newline separated (or `AGENT_BROWSER_ARGS` env)
`--user-agent <ua>`	Custom User-Agent string (or `AGENT_BROWSER_USER_AGENT` env)
`--proxy <url>`	Proxy server URL with optional auth (or `AGENT_BROWSER_PROXY` env)
`--proxy-bypass <hosts>`	Hosts to bypass proxy (or `AGENT_BROWSER_PROXY_BYPASS` env)
`--ignore-https-errors`	Ignore HTTPS certificate errors (useful for self-signed certs)
`--allow-file-access`	Allow file:// URLs to access local files (Chromium only)
`-p, --provider <name>`	Cloud browser provider (or `AGENT_BROWSER_PROVIDER` env)
`--device <name>`	iOS device name, e.g. "iPhone 15 Pro" (or `AGENT_BROWSER_IOS_DEVICE` env)
`--json`	JSON output (for agents)
`--annotate`	Annotated screenshot with numbered element labels (or `AGENT_BROWSER_ANNOTATE` env)
`--screenshot-dir <path>`	Default screenshot output directory (or `AGENT_BROWSER_SCREENSHOT_DIR` env)
`--screenshot-quality <n>`	JPEG quality 0-100 (or `AGENT_BROWSER_SCREENSHOT_QUALITY` env)
`--screenshot-format <fmt>`	Screenshot format: `png`, `jpeg` (or `AGENT_BROWSER_SCREENSHOT_FORMAT` env)
`--headed`	Show browser window (not headless) (or `AGENT_BROWSER_HEADED` env)
`--cdp <port\|url>`	Connect via Chrome DevTools Protocol (port or WebSocket URL)
`--auto-connect`	Auto-discover and connect to running Chrome (or `AGENT_BROWSER_AUTO_CONNECT` env)
`--color-scheme <scheme>`	Color scheme: `dark`, `light`, `no-preference` (or `AGENT_BROWSER_COLOR_SCHEME` env)
`--download-path <path>`	Default download directory (or `AGENT_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD_PATH` env)
`--content-boundaries`	Wrap page output in boundary markers for LLM safety (or `AGENT_BROWSER_CONTENT_BOUNDARIES` env)
`--max-output <chars>`	Truncate page output to N characters (or `AGENT_BROWSER_MAX_OUTPUT` env)
`--allowed-domains <list>`	Comma-separated allowed domain patterns (or `AGENT_BROWSER_ALLOWED_DOMAINS` env)
`--action-policy <path>`	Path to action policy JSON file (or `AGENT_BROWSER_ACTION_POLICY` env)
`--confirm-actions <list>`	Action categories requiring confirmation (or `AGENT_BROWSER_CONFIRM_ACTIONS` env)
`--confirm-interactive`	Interactive confirmation prompts; auto-denies if stdin is not a TTY (or `AGENT_BROWSER_CONFIRM_INTERACTIVE` env)
`--engine <name>`	Browser engine: `chrome` (default), `lightpanda` (or `AGENT_BROWSER_ENGINE` env)
`--no-auto-dialog`	Disable automatic dismissal of `alert`/`beforeunload` dialogs (or `AGENT_BROWSER_NO_AUTO_DIALOG` env)
`--model <name>`	AI model for chat command (or `AI_GATEWAY_MODEL` env)
`-v`, `--verbose`	Show tool commands and their raw output (chat)
`-q`, `--quiet`	Show only AI text responses, hide tool calls (chat)
`--config <path>`	Use a custom config file (or `AGENT_BROWSER_CONFIG` env)
`--debug`	Debug output

Observability Dashboard

Monitor agent-browser sessions in real time with a local web dashboard showing a live viewport and command activity feed.

# Start the dashboard server (runs in background on port 4848)
agent-browser dashboard start
agent-browser dashboard start --port 8080   # Custom port

# All sessions are automatically visible in the dashboard
agent-browser open example.com

# Stop the dashboard
agent-browser dashboard stop

The dashboard runs as a standalone background process on port 4848, independent of browser sessions. It stays available even when no sessions are running. All sessions automatically stream to the dashboard.

The dashboard displays:

Live viewport -- real-time JPEG frames from the browser
Activity feed -- chronological command/result stream with timing and expandable details
Console output -- browser console messages (log, warn, error)
Session creation -- create new sessions from the UI with local engines (Chrome, Lightpanda) or cloud providers (AgentCore, Browserbase, Browserless, Browser Use, Kernel)
AI Chat -- chat with an AI assistant directly in the dashboard (requires Vercel AI Gateway configuration)

AI Chat

The dashboard includes an optional AI chat panel powered by the Vercel AI Gateway. The same functionality is available directly from the CLI via the chat command. Set these environment variables to enable AI chat:

export AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY=gw_your_key_here
export AI_GATEWAY_MODEL=anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.6           # optional, this is the default
export AI_GATEWAY_URL=https://ai-gateway.vercel.sh           # optional, this is the default

CLI usage:

agent-browser chat "open google.com and search for cats"     # Single-shot
agent-browser chat                                           # Interactive REPL
agent-browser -q chat "summarize this page"                  # Quiet mode (text only)
agent-browser -v chat "fill in the login form"               # Verbose (show command output)
agent-browser --model openai/gpt-4o chat "take a screenshot" # Override model

The chat command translates natural language instructions into agent-browser commands, executes them, and streams the AI response. In interactive mode, type quit to exit. Use --json for structured output suitable for agent consumption.

Dashboard usage:

The Chat tab is always visible in the dashboard. When AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY is set, the Rust server proxies requests to the gateway and streams responses back using the Vercel AI SDK's UI Message Stream protocol. Without the key, sending a message shows an error inline.

Configuration

Create an agent-browser.json file to set persistent defaults instead of repeating flags on every command.

Locations (lowest to highest priority):

~/.agent-browser/config.json -- user-level defaults
./agent-browser.json -- project-level overrides (in working directory)
AGENT_BROWSER_* environment variables override config file values
CLI flags override everything

Example agent-browser.json:

{
  "headed": true,
  "proxy": "http://localhost:8080",
  "profile": "./browser-data",
  "userAgent": "my-agent/1.0",
  "ignoreHttpsErrors": true
}

Use --config <path> or AGENT_BROWSER_CONFIG to load a specific config file instead of the defaults:

agent-browser --config ./ci-config.json open example.com
AGENT_BROWSER_CONFIG=./ci-config.json agent-browser open example.com

All options from the table above can be set in the config file using camelCase keys (e.g., --executable-path becomes "executablePath", --proxy-bypass becomes "proxyBypass"). Unknown keys are ignored for forward compatibility.

A JSON Schema is available for IDE autocomplete and validation. Add a $schema key to your config file to enable it:

{
  "$schema": "https://agent-browser.dev/schema.json",
  "headed": true
}

Boolean flags accept an optional true/false value to override config settings. For example, --headed false disables "headed": true from config. A bare --headed is equivalent to --headed true.

Auto-discovered config files that are missing are silently ignored. If --config <path> points to a missing or invalid file, agent-browser exits with an error. Extensions from user and project configs are merged (concatenated), not replaced.

Tip: If your project-level agent-browser.json contains environment-specific values (paths, proxies), consider adding it to .gitignore.

Default Timeout

The default timeout for standard operations (clicks, waits, fills, etc.) is 25 seconds. This is intentionally below the CLI's 30-second IPC read timeout so that the daemon returns a proper error instead of the CLI timing out with EAGAIN.

Override the default timeout via environment variable:

# Set a longer timeout for slow pages (in milliseconds)
export AGENT_BROWSER_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT=45000

Note: Setting this above 30000 (30s) may cause EAGAIN errors on slow operations because the CLI's read timeout will expire before the daemon responds. The CLI retries transient errors automatically, but response times will increase.

Variable	Description
`AGENT_BROWSER_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT`	Default operation timeout in ms (default: 25000)

Selectors

Refs (Recommended for AI)

Refs provide deterministic element selection from snapshots:

# 1. Get snapshot with refs
agent-browser snapshot
# Output:
# - heading "Example Domain" [ref=e1] [level=1]
# - button "Submit" [ref=e2]
# - textbox "Email" [ref=e3]
# - link "Learn more" [ref=e4]

# 2. Use refs to interact
agent-browser click @e2                   # Click the button
agent-browser fill @e3 "test@example.com" # Fill the textbox
agent-browser get text @e1                # Get heading text
agent-browser hover @e4                   # Hover the link

Why use refs?

Deterministic: Ref points to exact element from snapshot
Fast: No DOM re-query needed
AI-friendly: Snapshot + ref workflow is optimal for LLMs

CSS Selectors

agent-browser click "#id"
agent-browser click ".class"
agent-browser click "div > button"

Text & XPath

agent-browser click "text=Submit"
agent-browser click "xpath=//button"

Semantic Locators

agent-browser find role button click --name "Submit"
agent-browser find label "Email" fill "test@test.com"

Agent Mode

Use --json for machine-readable output:

agent-browser snapshot --json
# Returns: {"success":true,"data":{"snapshot":"...","refs":{"e1":{"role":"heading","name":"Title"},...}}}

agent-browser get text @e1 --json
agent-browser is visible @e2 --json

Optimal AI Workflow

# 1. Navigate and get snapshot
agent-browser open example.com
agent-browser snapshot -i --json   # AI parses tree and refs

# 2. AI identifies target refs from snapshot
# 3. Execute actions using refs
agent-browser click @e2
agent-browser fill @e3 "input text"

# 4. Get new snapshot if page changed
agent-browser snapshot -i --json

Command Chaining

Commands can be chained with && in a single shell invocation. The browser persists via a background daemon, so chaining is safe and more efficient:

# Open, wait for load, and snapshot in one call
agent-browser open example.com && agent-browser wait --load networkidle && agent-browser snapshot -i

# Chain multiple interactions
agent-browser fill @e1 "user@example.com" && agent-browser fill @e2 "pass" && agent-browser click @e3

# Navigate and screenshot
agent-browser open example.com && agent-browser wait --load networkidle && agent-browser screenshot page.png

Use && when you don't need intermediate output. Run commands separately when you need to parse output first (e.g., snapshot to discover refs before interacting).

Headed Mode

Show the browser window for debugging:

agent-browser open example.com --headed

This opens a visible browser window instead of running headless.

Note: Browser extensions work in both headed and headless mode (Chrome's --headless=new).

Authenticated Sessions

Use --headers to set HTTP headers for a specific origin, enabling authentication without login flows:

# Headers are scoped to api.example.com only
agent-browser open api.example.com --headers '{"Authorization": "Bearer <token>"}'

# Requests to api.example.com include the auth header
agent-browser snapshot -i --json
agent-browser click @e2

# Navigate to another domain - headers are NOT sent (safe!)
agent-browser open other-site.com

This is useful for:

Skipping login flows - Authenticate via headers instead of UI
Switching users - Start new sessions with different auth tokens
API testing - Access protected endpoints directly
Security - Headers are scoped to the origin, not leaked to other domains

To set headers for multiple origins, use --headers with each open command:

agent-browser open api.example.com --headers '{"Authorization": "Bearer token1"}'
agent-browser open api.acme.com --headers '{"Authorization": "Bearer token2"}'

For global headers (all domains), use set headers:

agent-browser set headers '{"X-Custom-Header": "value"}'

Custom Browser Executable

Use a custom browser executable instead of the bundled Chromium. This is useful for:

Serverless deployment: Use lightweight Chromium builds like @sparticuz/chromium (~50MB vs ~684MB)
System browsers: Use an existing Chrome/Chromium installation
Custom builds: Use modified browser builds

CLI Usage

# Via flag
agent-browser --executable-path /path/to/chromium open example.com

# Via environment variable
AGENT_BROWSER_EXECUTABLE_PATH=/path/to/chromium agent-browser open example.com

Serverless (Vercel)

Run agent-browser + Chrome in an ephemeral Vercel Sandbox microVM. No external server needed:

import { Sandbox } from "@vercel/sandbox";

const sandbox = await Sandbox.create({ runtime: "node24" });
await sandbox.runCommand("agent-browser", ["open", "https://example.com"]);
const result = await sandbox.runCommand("agent-browser", ["screenshot", "--json"]);
await sandbox.stop();

See the environments example for a working demo with a UI and deploy-to-Vercel button.

Serverless (AWS Lambda)

import chromium from '@sparticuz/chromium';
import { execSync } from 'child_process';

export async function handler() {
  const executablePath = await chromium.executablePath();
  const result = execSync(
    `AGENT_BROWSER_EXECUTABLE_PATH=${executablePath} agent-browser open https://example.com && agent-browser snapshot -i --json`,
    { encoding: 'utf-8' }
  );
  return JSON.parse(result);
}

Local Files

Open and interact with local files (PDFs, HTML, etc.) using file:// URLs:

# Enable file access (required for JavaScript to access local files)
agent-browser --allow-file-access open file:///path/to/document.pdf
agent-browser --allow-file-access open file:///path/to/page.html

# Take screenshot of a local PDF
agent-browser --allow-file-access open file:///Users/me/report.pdf
agent-browser screenshot report.png

The --allow-file-access flag adds Chromium flags (--allow-file-access-from-files, --allow-file-access) that allow file:// URLs to:

Load and render local files
Access other local files via JavaScript (XHR, fetch)
Load local resources (images, scripts, stylesheets)

Note: This flag only works with Chromium. For security, it's disabled by default.

CDP Mode

Connect to an existing browser via Chrome DevTools Protocol:

# Start Chrome with: google-chrome --remote-debugging-port=9222

# Connect once, then run commands without --cdp
agent-browser connect 9222
agent-browser snapshot
agent-browser tab
agent-browser close

# Or pass --cdp on each command
agent-browser --cdp 9222 snapshot

# Connect to remote browser via WebSocket URL
agent-browser --cdp "wss://your-browser-service.com/cdp?token=..." snapshot

The --cdp flag accepts either:

A port number (e.g., 9222) for local connections via http://localhost:{port}
A full WebSocket URL (e.g., wss://... or ws://...) for remote browser services

This enables control of:

Electron apps
Chrome/Chromium instances with remote debugging
WebView2 applications
Any browser exposing a CDP endpoint

Auto-Connect

Use --auto-connect to automatically discover and connect to a running Chrome instance without specifying a port:

# Auto-discover running Chrome with remote debugging
agent-browser --auto-connect open example.com
agent-browser --auto-connect snapshot

# Or via environment variable
AGENT_BROWSER_AUTO_CONNECT=1 agent-browser snapshot

Auto-connect discovers Chrome by:

Reading Chrome's DevToolsActivePort file from the default user data directory
Falling back to probing common debugging ports (9222, 9229)
If HTTP-based discovery (/json/version, /json/list) fails, falling back to a direct WebSocket connection

This is useful when:

Chrome 144+ has remote debugging enabled via chrome://inspect/#remote-debugging (which uses a dynamic port)
You want a zero-configuration connection to your existing browser
You don't want to track which port Chrome is using

Streaming (Browser Preview)

Stream the browser viewport via WebSocket for live preview or "pair browsing" where a human can watch and interact alongside an AI agent.

Streaming

Every session automatically starts a WebSocket stream server on an OS-assigned port. Use stream status to see the bound port and connection state:

agent-browser stream status

To bind to a specific port, set AGENT_BROWSER_STREAM_PORT:

AGENT_BROWSER_STREAM_PORT=9223 agent-browser open example.com

You can also manage streaming at runtime with stream enable, stream disable, and stream status:

agent-browser stream enable --port 9223   # Re-enable on a specific port
agent-browser stream disable              # Stop streaming for the session

The WebSocket server streams the browser viewport and accepts input events.

WebSocket Protocol

Connect to ws://localhost:9223 to receive frames and send input:

Receive frames:

{
  "type": "frame",
  "data": "<base64-encoded-jpeg>",
  "metadata": {
    "deviceWidth": 1280,
    "deviceHeight": 720,
    "pageScaleFactor": 1,
    "offsetTop": 0,
    "scrollOffsetX": 0,
    "scrollOffsetY": 0
  }
}

Send mouse events:

{
  "type": "input_mouse",
  "eventType": "mousePressed",
  "x": 100,
  "y": 200,
  "button": "left",
  "clickCount": 1
}

Send keyboard events:

{
  "type": "input_keyboard",
  "eventType": "keyDown",
  "key": "Enter",
  "code": "Enter"
}

Send touch events:

{
  "type": "input_touch",
  "eventType": "touchStart",
  "touchPoints": [{ "x": 100, "y": 200 }]
}

Architecture

agent-browser uses a client-daemon architecture:

Rust CLI - Parses commands, communicates with daemon
Rust Daemon - Pure Rust daemon using direct CDP, no Node.js required

The daemon starts automatically on first command and persists between commands for fast subsequent operations. To auto-shutdown the daemon after a period of inactivity, set AGENT_BROWSER_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MS (value in milliseconds). When set, the daemon closes the browser and exits after receiving no commands for the specified duration.

Browser Engine: Uses Chrome (from Chrome for Testing) by default. The --engine flag selects between chrome and lightpanda. Supported browsers: Chromium/Chrome (via CDP) and Safari (via WebDriver for iOS).

Platforms

Platform	Binary
macOS ARM64	Native Rust
macOS x64	Native Rust
Linux ARM64	Native Rust
Linux x64	Native Rust
Windows x64	Native Rust

Usage with AI Agents

Just ask the agent

The simplest approach -- just tell your agent to use it:

Use agent-browser to test the login flow. Run agent-browser --help to see available commands.

The --help output is comprehensive and most agents can figure it out from there.

AI Coding Assistants (recommended)

Add the skill to your AI coding assistant for richer context:

npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-browser

This works with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot, Goose, OpenCode, and Windsurf. The skill is fetched from the repository, so it stays up to date automatically -- do not copy SKILL.md from node_modules as it will become stale.

Claude Code

Install as a Claude Code skill:

npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-browser

This adds a thin discovery stub at .claude/skills/agent-browser/SKILL.md. The stub is intentionally minimal — it points Claude Code at agent-browser skills get core to load the actual workflow content at runtime. This way the instructions always match the installed CLI version instead of going stale between releases.

AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md

For more consistent results, add to your project or global instructions file:

## Browser Automation

Use `agent-browser` for web automation. Run `agent-browser --help` for all commands.

Core workflow:

1. `agent-browser open <url>` - Navigate to page
2. `agent-browser snapshot -i` - Get interactive elements with refs (@e1, @e2)
3. `agent-browser click @e1` / `fill @e2 "text"` - Interact using refs
4. Re-snapshot after page changes

Integrations

iOS Simulator

Control real Mobile Safari in the iOS Simulator for authentic mobile web testing. Requires macOS with Xcode.

Setup:

# Install Appium and XCUITest driver
npm install -g appium
appium driver install xcuitest

Usage:

# List available iOS simulators
agent-browser device list

# Launch Safari on a specific device
agent-browser -p ios --device "iPhone 16 Pro" open https://example.com

# Same commands as desktop
agent-browser -p ios snapshot -i
agent-browser -p ios tap @e1
agent-browser -p ios fill @e2 "text"
agent-browser -p ios screenshot mobile.png

# Mobile-specific commands
agent-browser -p ios swipe up
agent-browser -p ios swipe down 500

# Close session
agent-browser -p ios close

Or use environment variables:

export AGENT_BROWSER_PROVIDER=ios
export AGENT_BROWSER_IOS_DEVICE="iPhone 16 Pro"
agent-browser open https://example.com

Variable	Description
`AGENT_BROWSER_PROVIDER`	Set to `ios` to enable iOS mode
`AGENT_BROWSER_IOS_DEVICE`	Device name (e.g., "iPhone 16 Pro", "iPad Pro")
`AGENT_BROWSER_IOS_UDID`	Device UDID (alternative to device name)

Supported devices: All iOS Simulators available in Xcode (iPhones, iPads), plus real iOS devices.

Note: The iOS provider boots the simulator, starts Appium, and controls Safari. First launch takes ~30-60 seconds; subsequent commands are fast.

Real Device Support

Appium also supports real iOS devices connected via USB. This requires additional one-time setup:

1. Get your device UDID:

xcrun xctrace list devices
# or
system_profiler SPUSBDataType | grep -A 5 "iPhone\|iPad"

2. Sign WebDriverAgent (one-time):

# Open the WebDriverAgent Xcode project
cd ~/.appium/node_modules/appium-xcuitest-driver/node_modules/appium-webdriveragent
open WebDriverAgent.xcodeproj

In Xcode:

Select the WebDriverAgentRunner target
Go to Signing & Capabilities
Select your Team (requires Apple Developer account, free tier works)
Let Xcode manage signing automatically

3. Use with agent-browser:

# Connect device via USB, then:
agent-browser -p ios --device "<DEVICE_UDID>" open https://example.com

# Or use the device name if unique
agent-browser -p ios --device "John's iPhone" open https://example.com

Real device notes:

First run installs WebDriverAgent to the device (may require Trust prompt)
Device must be unlocked and connected via USB
Slightly slower initial connection than simulator
Tests against real Safari performance and behavior

Browserless

Browserless provides cloud browser infrastructure with a Sessions API. Use it when running agent-browser in environments where a local browser isn't available.

To enable Browserless, use the -p flag:

export BROWSERLESS_API_KEY="your-api-token"
agent-browser -p browserless open https://example.com

Or use environment variables for CI/scripts:

export AGENT_BROWSER_PROVIDER=browserless
export BROWSERLESS_API_KEY="your-api-token"
agent-browser open https://example.com

Optional configuration via environment variables:

Variable	Description	Default
`BROWSERLESS_API_URL`	Base API URL (for custom regions or self-hosted)	`https://production-sfo.browserless.io`
`BROWSERLESS_BROWSER_TYPE`	Type of browser to use (chromium or chrome)	chromium
`BROWSERLESS_TTL`	Session TTL in milliseconds	`300000`
`BROWSERLESS_STEALTH`	Enable stealth mode (`true`/`false`)	`true`

When enabled, agent-browser connects to a Browserless cloud session instead of launching a local browser. All commands work identically.

Get your API token from the Browserless Dashboard.