#browser-automation #playwright #web-browser #scrape

Browser Automation

Automate any web browser task with OpenClaw's built-in Playwright browser control. Use when: (1) scraping dynamic pages, (2) filling forms and submitting, (3) taking screenshots or PDFs, (4) clicking through multi-step flows, (5) monitoring changing web content, (6) automating logins. Triggers on phrases like browse this, scrape, automate web, fill form, take screenshot, click this button, browser control, open webpage.

Fuzzyb33s@fuzzyb33s

Install

openclaw skills install @fuzzyb33s/fuzzy-browser-automation

Browser Automation

Control a Chromium browser directly from OpenClaw — navigate, click, type, snapshot, screenshot, extract data. Works with both the sandboxed OpenClaw-managed browser and your logged-in user browser (with profile="user").

Browser Selection

Target	When to Use
`sandbox` (default)	OpenClaw's clean browser — no cookies, no login state
`host`	Browser running on the host machine
`node`	Browser on a paired remote node

Profile	When to Use
(omit)	Clean OpenClaw-managed browser
`profile="user"`	Your own browser with active logins (requires you present)

Core Actions

`snapshot` — Inspect the Page

json

browser(action="snapshot", target="sandbox")

Returns the full page DOM as a structured tree. Use refs="aria" for screen-reader-friendly selectors, refs="role" (default) for role+name based refs.

json

browser(
  action="snapshot",
  target="sandbox",
  refs="aria"
)

`screenshot` — Capture the Page

json

browser(action="screenshot", target="sandbox")

For full-page screenshots:

json

browser(
  action="screenshot",
  target="sandbox",
  fullPage=true
)

`navigate` — Open a URL

json

browser(action="navigate", target="sandbox", url="https://news.ycombinator.com")

`act` — Interact with Elements

The act action is the workhorse. It combines ref (what to target) + kind (action type) + request (action details).

Click:

json

browser(
  action="act",
  target="sandbox",
  ref="aria:Submit",
  request={"kind": "click"}
)

Type:

json

browser(
  action="act",
  target="sandbox",
  ref="id:search-box",
  request={"kind": "type", "text": "openclaw browser automation"}
)

Press a key:

json

browser(
  action="act",
  target="sandbox",
  ref="id:search-box",
  request={"kind": "press", "key": "Enter"}
)

Hover:

json

browser(
  action="act",
  target="sandbox",
  ref="css:.dropdown-menu",
  request={"kind": "hover"}
)

Select from dropdown:

json

browser(
  action="act",
  target="sandbox",
  ref="id:country-select",
  request={"kind": "select", "values": ["South Africa"]}
)

Wait for element:

json

browser(
  action="act",
  target="sandbox",
  ref="aria:Loading",
  request={"kind": "wait", "timeMs": 5000}
)

Locator Reference (ref types)

Prefix	Example	Best For
`aria:`	`aria:Submit`	Accessible labels, buttons with text
`id:`	`id:email-input`	Unique element IDs
`css:`	`css:.card:nth-child(2)`	Complex CSS selectors
`role:`	`role:button[name="Submit"]`	Semantic role selectors
`text:`	`text:Get Started`	Visible text content
`xpath:`	`xpath://button[@class="btn"]`	Fallback for complex paths

For stable refs across calls, prefer refs="aria" in snapshots — these use ARIA labels that rarely change.

Recipes

Recipe 1: Scrape a Dynamic Page

json

// 1. Navigate
browser(action="navigate", target="sandbox", url="https://news.ycombinator.com/news")

// 2. Wait for content to load
browser(
  action="act",
  target="sandbox",
  loadState="networkidle",
  ref="css:.itemlist",
  request={"kind": "wait", "timeMs": 3000}
)

// 3. Snapshot to extract structured data
browser(action="snapshot", target="sandbox", refs="aria")

Recipe 2: Fill and Submit a Form

json

// 1. Navigate to form
browser(action="navigate", target="sandbox", url="https://example.com/contact")

// 2. Fill inputs
browser(action="act", target="sandbox", ref="id:name",    request={"kind": "fill", "text": "Alice Smith"})
browser(action="act", target="sandbox", ref="id:email",   request={"kind": "fill", "text": "alice@example.com"})
browser(action="act", target="sandbox", ref="id:message", request={"kind": "fill", "text": "Hi, I'd like to know more..."})

// 3. Click submit
browser(action="act", target="sandbox", ref="aria:Submit", request={"kind": "click"})

// 4. Wait for confirmation
browser(
  action="act",
  target="sandbox",
  ref="aria:Thank you",
  request={"kind": "wait", "timeMs": 2000}
)

Recipe 3: Login to a Service (User Browser)

json

// Requires you to be present at the machine — uses your actual browser session
browser(action="navigate", target="host", url="https://github.com/login")

browser(action="act", target="host", ref="id:login_field", request={"kind": "fill", "text": "myuser"})
browser(action="act", target="host", ref="id:password",    request={"kind": "fill", "text": "mypassword"})
browser(action="act", target="host", ref="css:[type=submit]", request={"kind": "click"})

Recipe 4: Monitor Price / Availability

json

// Navigate and wait for price to update
browser(action="navigate", target="sandbox", url="https://example.com/product/123")

browser(
  action="act",
  target="sandbox",
  ref="css:.price",
  request={"kind": "wait", "timeMs": 10000}
)

// Capture screenshot
browser(action="screenshot", target="sandbox")

// Evaluate for price text
browser(
  action="act",
  target="sandbox",
  request={
    "kind": "evaluate",
    "fn": "() => document.querySelector('.price').innerText"
  }
)

Recipe 5: Multi-Tab Workflow

json

// Open new tab
browser(action="navigate", target="sandbox", url="https://mail.google.com")

// Switch tabs
browser(action="act", target="sandbox", request={"kind": "press", "key": "Control+Tab"})

// Close current tab
browser(action="act", target="sandbox", request={"kind": "press", "key": "Control+W"})

Recipe 6: Scroll and Load Lazy Content

json

// Scroll by a pixel amount
browser(
  action="act",
  target="sandbox",
  request={
    "kind": "evaluate",
    "fn": "() => window.scrollBy(0, 800)"
  }
)

// Scroll to bottom (infinite scroll pages)
browser(
  action="act",
  target="sandbox",
  request={
    "kind": "evaluate",
    "fn": "() => window.scrollTo(0, document.body.scrollHeight)"
  }
)

Recipe 7: Extract Table Data

json

browser(action="navigate", target="sandbox", url="https://example.com/sales-report")

browser(
  action="act",
  target="sandbox",
  ref="css:table",
  request={"kind": "wait", "timeMs": 2000}
)

browser(
  action="act",
  target="sandbox",
  request={
    "kind": "evaluate",
    "fn": "() => Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('table tr')).map(row => Array.from(row.querySelectorAll('td')).map(cell => cell.innerText))"
  }
)

Recipe 8: Download a File

json

browser(action="navigate", target="sandbox", url="https://example.com/export.csv")

browser(
  action="act",
  target="sandbox",
  request={
    "kind": "evaluate",
    "fn": "() => { const link = document.querySelector('a[href$=\".csv\"]'); return link ? link.href : null; }"
  }
)

Action Reference

Action	What It Does
`snapshot`	Get structured page DOM
`screenshot`	Capture page as PNG/JPEG
`navigate`	Open a URL
`act`	Click, type, press, hover, select, wait, evaluate
`pdf`	Generate PDF of the page
`console`	Read browser console logs
`open`	Open a new tab
`close`	Close current tab

act `kind` Reference

Kind	Parameters
`click`	—
`type`	`text`
`fill`	`text`
`press`	`key` (e.g. "Enter", "Escape", "Control+Tab")
`hover`	—
`select`	`values` (array)
`wait`	`timeMs`
`evaluate`	`fn` (JavaScript string)
`drag`	`startRef`, `endRef`
`resize`	`width`, `height`
`close`	—

Anti-Patterns

Don't click before the page loads — always navigate then wait for loadState="networkidle" or an explicit element wait
Don't use hard pixel waits — prefer waiting for a specific element or networkidle state
Don't scrape without rate limiting — add timeMs waits between actions to avoid IP blocks
Don't use profile="user" for automated workflows — it's meant for attended use; automated flows should use the sandbox browser
Don't use xpath unless nothing else works — xpath selectors break easily when the page changes

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
"Target closed" error	Browser timed out — navigate again
Element not found	Page may be JS-rendered — add `loadState="networkidle"` or explicit wait
Click missed the button	Use `ref="aria:Button Text"` instead of CSS — more robust
Stale element reference	Element was replaced by a DOM update — re-snapshot and retry
Form submits twice	Wait for navigation after submit before continuing
Screenshot is blank	Page still loading — add `loadState="networkidle"`
`profile="user"` not working	The logged-in browser must already be running; start it manually first

Browser Automation

Install

Browser Automation

Browser Selection

Core Actions

snapshot — Inspect the Page

screenshot — Capture the Page

navigate — Open a URL

act — Interact with Elements

Locator Reference (ref types)

Recipes

Recipe 1: Scrape a Dynamic Page

Recipe 2: Fill and Submit a Form

Recipe 3: Login to a Service (User Browser)

Recipe 4: Monitor Price / Availability

Recipe 5: Multi-Tab Workflow

Recipe 6: Scroll and Load Lazy Content

Recipe 7: Extract Table Data

Recipe 8: Download a File

Action Reference

act kind Reference

Anti-Patterns

Troubleshooting

See Also

Related skills

`snapshot` — Inspect the Page

`screenshot` — Capture the Page

`navigate` — Open a URL

`act` — Interact with Elements

act `kind` Reference