ai-agent-browser 0.1.8

A robust browser automation tool for AI agents - control browsers via CLI or IPC

agent-browser

Browser automation for AI agents. Control browsers via MCP (Model Context Protocol) or CLI.

Installation

pip install ai-agent-browser
playwright install chromium

Quick Start by AI Tool

Most AI coding assistants support MCP (Model Context Protocol). Add agent-browser to your tool's config and the AI handles everything automatically.

Claude Code

claude mcp add agent-browser -- agent-browser-mcp --allow-private

Or manually edit ~/.claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "agent-browser": {
      "command": "agent-browser-mcp",
      "args": ["--allow-private"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "agent-browser": {
      "command": "agent-browser-mcp",
      "args": ["--allow-private"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "agent-browser": {
      "command": "agent-browser-mcp",
      "args": ["--allow-private"]
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Edit ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "agent-browser": {
      "command": "agent-browser-mcp",
      "args": ["--allow-private"]
    }
  }
}

VS Code + Cline

Open Cline settings and add to MCP Servers:

{
  "agent-browser": {
    "command": "agent-browser-mcp",
    "args": ["--allow-private"]
  }
}

gemini-cli

Edit ~/.gemini/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "agent-browser": {
      "command": "agent-browser-mcp",
      "args": ["--allow-private"]
    }
  }
}

OpenAI Codex CLI

codex --mcp-config mcp.json

Create mcp.json in your project:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "agent-browser": {
      "command": "agent-browser-mcp",
      "args": ["--allow-private"]
    }
  }
}

Aider (CLI Mode)

Aider doesn't support MCP yet. Use CLI mode instead:

# Add to your aider config or prompt:
# "You can control a browser using agent-browser CLI commands"

# In one terminal, start the browser:
agent-browser start http://localhost:3000 --session dev

# Aider can then run commands like:
agent-browser cmd screenshot --session dev
agent-browser cmd click "#login" --session dev
agent-browser cmd fill "#email" "[e-mail]" --session dev

Other MCP Clients

For any MCP-compatible client, the server command is:

agent-browser-mcp [OPTIONS]

Options:
  --allow-private  Allow localhost/private IPs (for local development)
  --visible        Show browser window (for debugging)

What Can It Do?

agent-browser provides 50 browser automation tools organized into categories:

Category	Tools	Examples
Navigation	5	goto, back, forward, reload, get_url
Interactions	9	click, fill, type, select, press, hover, upload
Waiting	6	wait_for, wait_for_text, wait_for_url, wait_for_change
Data Extraction	6	screenshot, text, value, attr, count, evaluate
Assertions	3	assert_visible, assert_text, assert_url
Page State	5	scroll, viewport, cookies, storage, clear
Debugging	3	console, network, dialog
Agent Utilities	7	page_state, validate_selector, suggest_next_actions, browser_status
Perception	3	get_page_markdown, get_accessibility_tree, find_relative
Advanced	3	highlight, mock_network, clear_mocks

For AI agents: See AGENT.md for a concise reference with selector syntax, common patterns, and tool safety levels.

Feature Showcase

Research & Extraction	Cross-Page Audits	Data Operations
Autonomous web research	Multi-page analysis	Table scraping to structured data

Common Use Cases

Test a Local Web App

You: "Test the login flow on my React app at localhost:3000"

AI: I'll test the login flow for you.
    [navigates to localhost:3000]
    [takes screenshot of login page]
    [fills email and password fields]
    [clicks submit button]
    [waits for dashboard to load]
    [asserts URL contains /dashboard]
    [takes screenshot of result]

    Login flow works correctly. The user is redirected to /dashboard after successful login.

Scrape Data from a Website

You: "Extract the product names and prices from this page"

AI: I'll extract the product data.
    [uses get_page_markdown to read structured content]
    [or uses evaluate to run JavaScript extraction]

    Found 24 products:
    - Product A: $29.99
    - Product B: $49.99
    ...

Debug a Visual Issue

You: "The submit button isn't visible on mobile viewport"

AI: Let me check that.
    [sets viewport to 375x667 (iPhone)]
    [navigates to the page]
    [uses validate_selector to check button exists]
    [uses highlight to show button location]
    [takes screenshot]

    The button exists but is positioned off-screen. Here's a screenshot
    with the button highlighted. The CSS needs adjustment for mobile.

Security Features

agent-browser is designed for safe use with AI agents:

• SSRF Protection: Blocks dangerous schemes (file://, javascript://, data://) and private IPs by default
• DNS Rebinding Protection: Resolved IPs are validated against private ranges
• Cloud Metadata Protection: Blocks AWS/GCP metadata endpoints (169.254.169.254)
• Path Sandboxing: File operations restricted to working directory
• Credential Rejection: URLs with embedded user:pass are blocked
• Sensitive Field Masking: Password fields masked in page_state output

Use --allow-private only when testing local development servers.

Advanced Configuration

Dual Instances (Headless + Visible)

Run two browser instances - one for speed, one for debugging:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "agent-browser": {
      "command": "agent-browser-mcp",
      "args": ["--allow-private"]
    },
    "agent-browser-visible": {
      "command": "agent-browser-mcp",
      "args": ["--allow-private", "--visible"]
    }
  }
}

Configuration Options

Use Case	Args
Production (SSRF protected)	[]
Local development	["--allow-private"]
Debugging (visible browser)	["--allow-private", "--visible"]

CLI Mode

For tools that don't support MCP, or for scripting:

Basic Usage

# Terminal 1: Start browser (blocks while running)
agent-browser start http://localhost:8080

# Terminal 2: Send commands
agent-browser cmd screenshot home
agent-browser cmd click "#submit"
agent-browser cmd fill "#email" "[e-mail]"
agent-browser cmd assert_visible ".success"

# When done
agent-browser stop

Session Management

Run multiple browsers concurrently:

# Start separate sessions
agent-browser start http://localhost:3000 --session app1
agent-browser start http://localhost:4000 --session app2

# Commands target specific sessions
agent-browser cmd screenshot --session app1
agent-browser cmd click "#btn" --session app2

# Stop individually
agent-browser stop --session app1

Interactive Mode

REPL for manual testing:

agent-browser interact http://localhost:8080

> screenshot initial
> click #login
> fill #email "[e-mail]"
> assert_visible .dashboard
> quit

CLI Command Reference

Click to expand full CLI reference

Browser Control

Command	Description
start <url>	Start browser session
start <url> --visible	Start with visible window
stop	Close browser
status	Check if browser running

Navigation

Command	Description
cmd goto <url>	Navigate to URL
cmd back	Go back
cmd forward	Go forward
cmd reload	Reload page

Interactions

Command	Description
cmd click <selector>	Click element
cmd fill <selector> <text>	Fill input
cmd type <selector> <text>	Type with key events
cmd select <selector> <value>	Select dropdown
cmd press <key>	Press key (Enter, Tab, etc.)
cmd scroll <direction>	Scroll (up/down/top/bottom)

Screenshots & Data

Command	Description
cmd screenshot [name]	Take screenshot
cmd text <selector>	Get text content
cmd value <selector>	Get input value
cmd count <selector>	Count elements

Assertions

Command	Description
cmd assert_visible <sel>	Check visibility
cmd assert_text <sel> <text>	Check text content
cmd assert_url <pattern>	Check URL

Debugging

Command	Description
cmd console	View JS console
cmd network	View network log
cmd wait <ms>	Wait milliseconds
cmd wait_for <selector>	Wait for element

Architecture

┌─────────────────┐      MCP/JSON-RPC       ┌─────────────────┐
│   AI Assistant  │ ◄──────────────────────►│  agent-browser  │
│ (Claude, Cursor,│                         │   MCP Server    │
│  Gemini, etc.)  │                         │                 │
└─────────────────┘                         └────────┬────────┘
                                                     │
                                                     ▼
                                            ┌─────────────────┐
                                            │   Playwright    │
                                            │   (Chromium)    │
                                            └─────────────────┘

The MCP server manages browser lifecycle automatically. For CLI mode, a file-based IPC system coordinates between the CLI process and a persistent browser process.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
"Private IP blocked"	Add --allow-private for localhost testing
"Element not found"	Use validate_selector to check selector
"Timeout waiting"	Increase timeout or use wait_for first
Browser not responding	Check browser_status or restart
MCP not connecting	Verify config path and restart AI tool

Python API

from agent_browser import BrowserDriver

driver = BrowserDriver(session_id="test")
result = driver.send_command("screenshot home")
print(result)

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

License

GNU General Public License v3.0 - see LICENSE for details.