browse

Files (5)

• EXAMPLES.md
• LICENSE.txt
• REFERENCE.md
• SKILL.md
• _meta.json

SKILL.md (first lines)

# Browser Automation

Automate browser interactions using the browse CLI with Claude.

## Setup check

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

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

## Quick Example

```bash
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

1. **Always `browse open` first** before interacting
2. **Use `browse snapshot`** to check page state — it's fast and gives you element refs
3. **Only screenshot when visual context is needed** (layout checks, images, debugging)
4. **Use refs from snapshot** to click/interact — e.g., `browse click @0-5`

From iaa2005/monet-directory, MIT.

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