Browser Automation Skill

Automate web browser interactions using the stagehand CLI for AI agents.

🚨 CRITICAL - READ THIS FIRST 🚨

A Browserbase session with stealth/proxy/captcha has been pre-created for you.

YOU MUST USE stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL FOR EVERY COMMAND.

DO NOT use stagehand open without --ws - it will launch a LOCAL browser!

When to Use

Use this skill when the user asks to:

Browse websites or navigate to URLs
Extract data from web pages
Fill forms or click buttons
Take screenshots of web pages
Interact with web applications
Automate multi-step web workflows

Core Concepts

The stagehand CLI provides:

Element references - Snapshot creates refs like @0-5 for easy clicking/filling
Browserbase support - Connect to pre-created cloud browser sessions with --ws

Environment Selection

CRITICAL: A Browserbase session with stealth/proxy/captcha has been pre-created for you.

The session URL is in the BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL environment variable.

YOU MUST ALWAYS use stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL for EVERY command:

stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL open https://example.com

WHY:

✅ Browser runs in Browserbase cloud (NOT locally)
✅ Advanced stealth mode enabled (bypasses Cloudflare)
✅ Residential proxies enabled
✅ CAPTCHA solving enabled
✅ Session recordings at: $BROWSERBASE_DEBUG_URL

IF YOU FORGET --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL:

❌ Will launch LOCAL Chrome browser
❌ Will NOT use stealth/proxy/captcha
❌ Will fail the evaluation

Quick Start Workflow

# 1. Navigate to page (connects to pre-created Browserbase session)
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL open https://example.com

# 2. Get page structure with element refs
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL snapshot -c

# Output includes refs like [0-5], [1-2]:
# RootWebArea "Example" url="https://example.com"
#   [0-0] link "Home"
#   [0-1] link "About"
#   [0-2] button "Sign In"

# 3. Interact using refs
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL click @0-2
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL fill @0-5 "search query"

# 4. Re-snapshot to verify changes
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL snapshot -c

# 5. Stop when done (optional, session persists)
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL stop

Navigation Commands

REMEMBER: Use stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL for ALL commands below.

# Navigate to URL
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL open <url>

# With custom timeout for slow pages
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL open <url> --timeout 60000

# Page navigation
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL reload
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL back
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL forward

Element Interaction

Get Page Structure

# Get accessibility tree with element refs
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL snapshot -c

# Get full snapshot with XPath/CSS mappings
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL snapshot --json

Click Elements

# Click by ref (from snapshot)
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL click @0-5
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL click 0-5       # @ prefix optional

# Click with options
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL click @0-5 -b right -c 2  # Right-click twice

# Click at coordinates
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL click_xy 100 200

Form Filling

# Fill input (auto-presses Enter by default)
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL fill @0-5 "my value"

# Fill without pressing Enter
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL fill @0-5 "my value" --no-press-enter

# Select dropdown options
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL select @0-8 "Option 1" "Option 2"

Typing

# Type text naturally
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL type "Hello, world!"

# Type with delay between characters
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL type "slow typing" -d 100

# Press special keys
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL press Enter
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL press Tab
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL press "Cmd+A"

Data Extraction

# Get page info
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL get url
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL get title
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL get text body
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL get html @0-5

# Take screenshot
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL screenshot page.png
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL screenshot -f        # Full page
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL screenshot --type jpeg

# Get element coordinates
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL get box @0-5  # Returns center x,y

Waiting

# Wait for page load
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL wait load
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL wait load networkidle

# Wait for element
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL wait selector ".my-class"
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL wait selector ".my-class" -t 10000 -s visible

# Wait for time
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL wait timeout 2000

Multi-Tab Support

# List all tabs
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL pages

# Open new tab
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL newpage https://example.com

# Switch tabs
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL tab_switch 1

# Close tab
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL tab_close 2

Network Capture

Capture HTTP requests for inspection:

# Start capturing
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL network on

# Get capture directory
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL network path

# Stop capturing
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL network off

# Clear captures
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL network clear

Captured requests are saved as directories with request.json and response.json.

Daemon Control

# Check status
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL status

# Stop browser
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL stop

# Force stop
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL stop --force

Element References

After snapshot, elements have refs you can use:

RootWebArea "Login Page"
  [0-0] heading "Welcome"
  [0-1] textbox "Email" name="email"
  [0-2] textbox "Password" name="password"
  [0-3] button "Sign In"

Use these refs directly:

stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL fill @0-1 "user@example.com"
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL fill @0-2 "mypassword"
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL click @0-3

Best Practices

1. Always snapshot after navigation

stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL open https://example.com
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL snapshot -c  # Get refs

2. Re-snapshot after actions that change the page

stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL click @0-5
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL snapshot -c  # Get new state

3. Use refs instead of selectors

# ✅ Good: Use refs from snapshot
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL click @0-5

# ❌ Avoid: Manual selectors (refs are more reliable)
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL click "#submit-button"

4. Wait for elements when needed

stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL open https://slow-site.com
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL wait selector ".content" -s visible
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL snapshot -c

5. Always use --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL

# ✅ Correct: Remote browser (connects to pre-created Browserbase session)
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL open https://example.com

# ❌ Wrong: Local browser (will fail in evals, launches Chrome locally)
stagehand open https://example.com

Common Patterns

Login Flow

stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL open https://example.com/login
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL snapshot -c
# [0-5] textbox "Email"
# [0-6] textbox "Password"
# [0-7] button "Sign In"
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL fill @0-5 "user@example.com"
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL fill @0-6 "password123"
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL click @0-7
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL wait load
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL snapshot -c  # Verify logged in

Search and Extract

stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL open https://example.com
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL snapshot -c
# [0-3] textbox "Search"
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL fill @0-3 "my query"
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL wait selector ".results"
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL snapshot -c
# [1-0] text "Result 1"
# [1-1] text "Result 2"
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL get text @1-0
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL get text @1-1

Multi-Page Navigation

stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL open https://example.com
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL snapshot -c
# [0-5] link "Next Page"
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL click @0-5
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL wait load
stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL snapshot -c  # Get new page structure

Troubleshooting

Browser won't start

Check that stagehand is installed: which stagehand
Check status: stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL status
Force stop and retry: stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL stop

Element not found

Take a snapshot to verify refs: stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL snapshot -c
Wait for element to appear: stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL wait selector ...
Check if ref changed after page update

Page not loading

Increase timeout: stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL open <url> --timeout 60000
Wait for load state: stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL wait load networkidle

Commands failing with "session not found"

The daemon auto-recovers from crashes
If issues persist: stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL stop --force && stagehand --ws $BROWSERBASE_CONNECT_URL open <url>

Performance Tips

Use compact snapshots (-c) for faster parsing
Wait strategically - only wait when needed
Stop browser when done to free resources
Use refs over selectors - faster and more reliable

Important Notes

Browser state persists between commands (cookies, refs, etc.)
Refs are invalidated when the page changes significantly
Always take a new snapshot after navigation or major DOM changes
The daemon auto-starts on first command
Multiple sessions supported via --session flag or BROWSE_SESSION env var

browserbase-browser-automation