browser-automation-cli 0.1.3

Browser automation daemon + CLI for coding agents. Persistent sessions, no MCP, no extensions.

Browser CLI

If you are an LLM, see AGENTS.md for quick setup and usage instructions.

A lightweight, self-hosted browser automation tool with a background daemon and CLI client. Enables authenticated web automation, screenshots, DOM snapshots, and page interactions via simple CLI commands. Share the SKILL.md file with your coding agent harness for seamless integration.

Why This Exists

Coding agents need to interact with authenticated web apps. Existing solutions all have tradeoffs:

• Chrome DevTools MCP — requires Node.js, per-agent MCP server configuration, Google telemetry by default, and complex setup for each coding agent
• BrowserMCP and similar tools — require installing Chrome extensions, tie into specific ecosystems, and use MCP which bloats the agent's context window with tool definitions and protocol overhead
• Playwright/Puppeteer scripts — require writing code for every interaction, no persistent auth state
• AI browser frameworks — heavy, opinionated, and framework-locked

Browser CLI solves this with a persistent daemon that any agent can call via subprocess. No extensions, no MCP config, no SDKs, no ecosystem lock-in. Sessions persist across agent calls so you only log in once.

Install

pipx install browser-automation-cli
browser install

If commands are not found after install, add ~/.local/bin to your PATH:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Quick Start

1. Start the daemon

browser-daemon

A browser window will open. Keep this terminal running.

2. Create a session

browser create

This opens a fresh browser window. Manually log into any sites you need (GitHub, Jira, etc.).

3. Run browser actions

# Navigate to a site
browser <session_id> navigate https://github.com

# Get page elements and their CSS selectors
browser <session_id> snapshot

# Click an element using a CSS selector
browser <session_id> click "button.login-btn"

# Type text into an input
browser <session_id> type "input[name=search]" "query"

# Take a screenshot (JPEG, saved to /tmp)
browser <session_id> screenshot

4. Manage sessions

browser list          # List active sessions
browser delete <id>   # Delete a session

5. Stop the daemon

Press Ctrl+C in the terminal running browser-daemon.

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Commands Reference

Standalone (No Daemon Required)

Quick screenshot capture using headless Playwright. Uses JPEG format for efficient file sizes.

browser capture <url> [options]

Options:

Flag	Description
-f, --full-page	Capture full scrollable page (default: viewport only)
-o, --output <path>	Custom output path

Examples:

browser capture https://example.com
browser capture https://example.com -f
browser capture https://example.com -o ./screenshot.jpg
browser capture http://localhost:3000

Daemon Commands

Requires browser-daemon running and an active session.

Command	Description
browser install	Install Chromium runtime
browser cleanup	Kill stale Chrome processes
browser create	Create new session (opens browser for login)
browser list	List active sessions
browser <id> navigate <url>	Navigate to URL
browser <id> snapshot [selector]	Get page elements with CSS selectors
browser <id> click <selector>	Click element
browser <id> type <selector> <text>	Type text into input
browser <id> hover <selector>	Hover element
browser <id> select <selector> <value>	Select dropdown option
browser <id> press <key>	Press keyboard key
browser <id> screenshot [selector] [-o <path>]	Take screenshot (full page or element)
browser <id> back	Go back
browser <id> forward	Go forward
browser <id> delete	Delete session

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Architecture

• Daemon (browser-daemon): Unix socket server managing persistent Playwright browser contexts. Each session is an isolated browser context with cookies/auth state.
• CLI (browser): Sends commands to the daemon via Unix socket, or runs standalone capture directly via Playwright.
• Session model: One session = one authenticated browser context. Sessions persist until deleted. Multiple sessions can run in parallel. Multiple agents can share the same session ID.

Anti-Detection

• navigator.webdriver hidden via add_init_script
• Explicit desktop Chrome user agent
• 1920x1080 viewport to avoid mobile layouts

Output Format

All commands return JSON. Check success field first.

Action response:

{
  "success": true,
  "url": "https://github.com",
  "title": "GitHub"
}

Snapshot response:

{
  "success": true,
  "url": "https://github.com",
  "title": "GitHub",
  "scrollY": 0,
  "viewportHeight": 1080,
  "documentHeight": 2400,
  "elements": [
    {
      "ref": "el_0",
      "tag": "a",
      "selector": "a.header-link",
      "text": "Pull requests",
      "interactive": true,
      "href": "https://github.com/pulls",
      "ariaLabel": null
    }
  ]
}

Screenshot response:

{
  "success": true,
  "path": "/tmp/browser_screenshot_1234567890.jpg",
  "format": "jpeg"
}

---

Using with Coding Agents

Share the SKILL.md file with your coding agent harness. It contains agent-specific instructions, workflow patterns, and decision guides for when to use standalone vs daemon commands.

See AGENTS.md for complete agent integration guide.

Troubleshooting

"Command not found: browser"

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc

"Daemon not running"

browser-daemon

Browser doesn't open

browser install

Session not found

browser list

Stale Chrome processes

browser cleanup