OpenCLI — Make Websites Accessible for AI Agents

Control Chrome step-by-step via CLI. Reuses existing login sessions — no passwords needed.

Prerequisites

opencli doctor    # Verify extension + daemon connectivity

Requires: Chrome running + OpenCLI Browser Bridge extension installed.

Quickstart for AI Agents (1 step)

Point your AI agent to this file. It contains everything needed to operate browsers.

Quickstart for Humans (3 steps)

npm install -g @jackwener/opencli          # 1. Install
# Install extension from chrome://extensions  # 2. Load extension
opencli operate open https://example.com    # 3. Go!

Core Workflow

Navigate: opencli operate open <url>
Inspect: opencli operate state → see elements with [N] indices
Interact: use indices — click, type, select, keys
Wait: opencli operate wait selector ".loaded" or wait text "Success"
Verify: opencli operate get title or opencli operate screenshot
Repeat: browser stays open between commands
Save: write a TS adapter to ~/.opencli/clis/<site>/<command>.ts

Commands

Navigation

opencli operate open <url>              # Open URL
opencli operate back                    # Go back
opencli operate scroll down             # Scroll (up/down, --amount N)
opencli operate scroll up --amount 1000

Inspect

opencli operate state                   # Elements with [N] indices
opencli operate screenshot [path.png]   # Screenshot

Get (structured data)

opencli operate get title               # Page title
opencli operate get url                 # Current URL
opencli operate get text <index>        # Element text content
opencli operate get value <index>       # Input/textarea value
opencli operate get html                # Full page HTML
opencli operate get html --selector "h1" # Scoped HTML
opencli operate get attributes <index>  # Element attributes

Interact

opencli operate click <index>           # Click element [N]
opencli operate type <index> "text"     # Type into element [N]
opencli operate select <index> "option" # Select dropdown
opencli operate keys "Enter"            # Press key (Enter, Escape, Tab, Control+a)

Wait

opencli operate wait selector ".loaded"           # Wait for element
opencli operate wait selector ".spinner" --timeout 5000  # With timeout
opencli operate wait text "Success"               # Wait for text
opencli operate wait time 3                       # Wait N seconds

Extract

opencli operate eval "document.title"
opencli operate eval "JSON.stringify([...document.querySelectorAll('h2')].map(e => e.textContent))"

Network (API Discovery)

opencli operate network                  # Show captured API requests (auto-captured since open)
opencli operate network --detail 3       # Show full response body of request #3
opencli operate network --all            # Include static resources

Sedimentation (Save as CLI)

opencli operate init hn/top              # Generate adapter scaffold
opencli operate verify hn/top            # Test the adapter

Session

opencli operate close                   # Close automation window

Example: Extract HN Stories

opencli operate open https://news.ycombinator.com
opencli operate state                   # See [1] a "Story 1", [2] a "Story 2"...
opencli operate eval "JSON.stringify([...document.querySelectorAll('.titleline a')].slice(0,5).map(a => ({title: a.textContent, url: a.href})))"
opencli operate close

Example: Fill a Form

opencli operate open https://httpbin.org/forms/post
opencli operate state                   # See [3] input "Customer Name", [4] input "Telephone"
opencli operate type 3 "OpenCLI"
opencli operate type 4 "555-0100"
opencli operate get value 3             # Verify: "OpenCLI"
opencli operate close

Saving as Reusable CLI — Complete Workflow

Step-by-step sedimentation flow:

# 1. Explore the website
opencli operate open https://news.ycombinator.com
opencli operate state                          # Understand DOM structure

# 2. Discover APIs (crucial for high-quality adapters)
opencli operate eval "fetch('/api/...').then(r=>r.json())"   # Trigger API calls
opencli operate network                        # See captured API requests
opencli operate network --detail 0             # Inspect response body

# 3. Generate scaffold
opencli operate init hn/top                    # Creates ~/.opencli/clis/hn/top.ts

# 4. Edit the adapter (fill in func logic)
# - If API found: use fetch() directly (Strategy.PUBLIC or COOKIE)
# - If no API: use page.evaluate() for DOM extraction (Strategy.UI)

# 5. Verify
opencli operate verify hn/top                  # Runs the adapter and shows output

# 6. If verify fails, edit and retry
# 7. Close when done
opencli operate close

Example adapter:

// ~/.opencli/clis/hn/top.ts
import { cli, Strategy } from '@jackwener/opencli/registry';

cli({
  site: 'hn',
  name: 'top',
  description: 'Top Hacker News stories',
  domain: 'news.ycombinator.com',
  strategy: Strategy.PUBLIC,
  browser: false,
  args: [{ name: 'limit', type: 'int', default: 5 }],
  columns: ['rank', 'title', 'score', 'url'],
  func: async (_page, kwargs) => {
    const limit = Math.min(Math.max(1, kwargs.limit ?? 5), 50);
    const resp = await fetch('https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/topstories.json');
    const ids = await resp.json();
    return Promise.all(
      ids.slice(0, limit).map(async (id: number, i: number) => {
        const item = await (await fetch(`https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/item/${id}.json`)).json();
        return { rank: i + 1, title: item.title, score: item.score, url: item.url ?? '' };
      })
    );
  },
});

Save to ~/.opencli/clis/<site>/<command>.ts → immediately available as opencli <site> <command>.

Strategy Guide

Strategy	When	browser:
`Strategy.PUBLIC`	Public API, no auth	`false`
`Strategy.COOKIE`	Needs login cookies	`true`
`Strategy.UI`	Direct DOM interaction	`true`

Always prefer API over UI — if you discovered an API during browsing, use fetch() directly.

Troubleshooting

Error	Fix
"Browser not connected"	Run `opencli doctor`
"attach failed: chrome-extension://"	Disable 1Password temporarily
Element not found	`opencli operate scroll down` then `opencli operate state`

opencli-operate