Browser Automation

Automate browser interactions using the browse CLI with Claude.

Setup check

Before running any browser commands, verify the CLI is available:

which browse || npm install -g @browserbasehq/browse-cli

Environment Selection (Local vs Remote)

The CLI automatically selects between local and remote browser environments based on available configuration:

Local mode (default)

Uses local Chrome — no API keys needed
Best for: development, simple pages, trusted sites with no bot protection

Remote mode (Browserbase)

Activated when BROWSERBASE_API_KEY and BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID are set
Provides: anti-bot stealth, automatic CAPTCHA solving, residential proxies, session persistence
Use remote mode when: the target site has bot detection, CAPTCHAs, IP rate limiting, Cloudflare protection, or requires geo-specific access
Get credentials at https://browserbase.com/settings

When to choose which

Simple browsing (docs, wikis, public APIs): local mode is fine
Protected sites (login walls, CAPTCHAs, anti-scraping): use remote mode
If local mode fails with bot detection or access denied: switch to remote mode

Commands

All commands work identically in both modes. The daemon auto-starts on first command.

Navigation

browse open <url>                        # Go to URL (aliases: goto)
browse reload                            # Reload current page
browse back                              # Go back in history
browse forward                           # Go forward in history

Page state (prefer snapshot over screenshot)

browse snapshot                          # Get accessibility tree with element refs (fast, structured)
browse screenshot [path]                 # Take visual screenshot (slow, uses vision tokens)
browse get url                           # Get current URL
browse get title                         # Get page title
browse get text <selector>               # Get text content (use "body" for all text)
browse get html <selector>               # Get HTML content of element
browse get value <selector>              # Get form field value

Use browse snapshot as your default for understanding page state — it returns the accessibility tree with element refs you can use to interact. Only use browse screenshot when you need visual context (layout, images, debugging).

Interaction

browse click <ref>                       # Click element by ref from snapshot (e.g., @0-5)
browse type <text>                       # Type text into focused element
browse fill <selector> <value>           # Fill input and press Enter
browse select <selector> <values...>     # Select dropdown option(s)
browse press <key>                       # Press key (Enter, Tab, Escape, Cmd+A, etc.)
browse drag <fromX> <fromY> <toX> <toY>  # Drag from one point to another
browse scroll <x> <y> <deltaX> <deltaY> # Scroll at coordinates
browse highlight <selector>              # Highlight element on page
browse is visible <selector>             # Check if element is visible
browse is checked <selector>             # Check if element is checked
browse wait <type> [arg]                 # Wait for: load, selector, timeout

Session management

browse stop                              # Stop the browser daemon
browse status                            # Check daemon status (includes env)
browse env                               # Show current environment (local or remote)
browse env local                         # Switch to local Chrome
browse env remote                        # Switch to Browserbase (requires API keys)
browse pages                             # List all open tabs
browse tab_switch <index>                # Switch to tab by index
browse tab_close [index]                 # Close tab

Typical workflow

browse open <url> — navigate to the page
browse snapshot — read the accessibility tree to understand page structure and get element refs
browse click <ref> / browse type <text> / browse fill <selector> <value> — interact using refs from snapshot
browse snapshot — confirm the action worked
Repeat 3-4 as needed
browse stop — close the browser when done

Quick Example

browse open https://example.com
browse snapshot                          # see page structure + element refs
browse click @0-5                        # click element with ref 0-5
browse get title
browse stop

Mode Comparison

Feature	Local	Browserbase
Speed	Faster	Slightly slower
Setup	Chrome required	API key required
Stealth mode	No	Yes (custom Chromium, anti-bot fingerprinting)
CAPTCHA solving	No	Yes (automatic reCAPTCHA/hCaptcha)
Residential proxies	No	Yes (201 countries, geo-targeting)
Session persistence	No	Yes (cookies/auth persist across sessions)
Best for	Development/simple pages	Protected sites, bot detection, production scraping

Best Practices

Always browse open first before interacting
Use browse snapshot to check page state — it's fast and gives you element refs
Only screenshot when visual context is needed (layout checks, images, debugging)
Use refs from snapshot to click/interact — e.g., browse click @0-5
browse stop when done to clean up the browser session

Troubleshooting

"No active page": Run browse stop, then check browse status. If it still says running, kill the zombie daemon with pkill -f "browse.*daemon", then retry browse open
Chrome not found: Install Chrome or use browse env remote
Action fails: Run browse snapshot to see available elements and their refs
Browserbase fails: Verify API key and project ID are set

Switching to Remote Mode

Switch to remote when you detect: CAPTCHAs (reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha, Turnstile), bot detection pages ("Checking your browser..."), HTTP 403/429, empty pages on sites that should have content, or the user asks for it.

Don't switch for simple sites (docs, wikis, public APIs, localhost).

browse env remote            # switch to Browserbase
browse env local             # switch back to local Chrome

The switch is sticky until you run browse stop or switch again. If API keys aren't set:

openclaw browserbase setup   # interactive — prompts for API key + project ID

For detailed examples, see EXAMPLES.md. For API reference, see REFERENCE.md.