OpenAI Deep Research Skill

Browser automation for OpenAI's Deep Research feature.

Install

pip install playwright
playwright install chromium

Quick Start

# 1. First time: login and save session
python deep_research_browser.py --login

# 2. Run queries (can be headless after login)
python deep_research_browser.py "Your query" -o result.md --headless

Usage

Login Mode (First Time)

# Open browser for manual login, save session
python deep_research_browser.py --login

# Login with a named session (for parallel runs)
python deep_research_browser.py --login --session work

Query Mode

# Basic query
python deep_research_browser.py "What are the latest AI breakthroughs?" -o result.md

# Headless (after login)
python deep_research_browser.py "Your query" -o result.md --headless

# Read query from file
python deep_research_browser.py -f query.txt -o result.md

Parallel Runs

# Run multiple queries simultaneously with named sessions
python deep_research_browser.py "Query 1" -o r1.md --session work &
python deep_research_browser.py "Query 2" -o r2.md --session personal &

# List all saved sessions
python deep_research_browser.py --list-sessions

Options

positional arguments:
  query                 Research query

options:
  -h, --help            Show help message
  -f, --file FILE       Read query from file
  -o, --output FILE     Save result to file

Session management:
  --login               Login mode: open browser, save session
  --session NAME        Session name for parallel runs (default: default)
  --list-sessions       List all saved sessions

Execution options:
  -t, --timeout SECS    Timeout (default: 2400 = 40min)
  -s, --skip-model      Skip Deep Research selection
  --headless            Run headless (requires prior login)
  -v, --verbose         Debug logging

How It Works

1. Login mode: Opens visible browser for manual ChatGPT login, saves cookies
2. Query mode: Loads saved session, selects Deep Research, submits query
3. Waiting: Polls for completion (refreshes every 60s for background tasks)
4. Output: Saves final report to file

Session Management

Sessions are stored in ~/.openai-deep-research/:

~/.openai-deep-research/
├── session_default.json    # Default session
├── session_work.json       # Named session "work"
└── session_personal.json   # Named session "personal"

Each session has isolated cookies, allowing:

• Multiple ChatGPT accounts
• Parallel Deep Research queries
• No state file conflicts

Headless Mode

Headless mode works only after saving a valid session:

# This will fail (no session)
python deep_research_browser.py "Query" --headless  # Falls back to visible

# This works
python deep_research_browser.py --login
python deep_research_browser.py "Query" --headless  # Runs headless

If headless is requested without a saved session, the script:

1. Warns the user
2. Falls back to visible browser
3. Saves the session for future headless runs

Timing

Phase	Duration
First login	1-2 min (manual)
Subsequent load	5-10 sec
Deep Research	10-30 min

Troubleshooting

"Playwright not installed"

pip install playwright
playwright install chromium

"Headless mode without saved session"

Run --login first to save credentials:

python deep_research_browser.py --login

Session expired

Re-run --login to refresh the session:

python deep_research_browser.py --login --session default