browser-cli

Automate browser tasks from the command line with browser-use, including navigation, interaction, screenshots, tabs, cookies, JavaScript, cloud browsing, and...

ZDStudios@zdstudios

Install

openclaw skills install @zdstudios/browser-cli

browser-use CLI Skill

What This Skill Covers

Use this skill any time you need to automate a browser from the command line using browser-use. This includes navigating pages, clicking/typing/filling forms, taking screenshots, running JavaScript, managing tabs, handling cookies, driving cloud browsers, and exposing local servers via tunnels.

Installation

Prerequisites

Platform	Requirements
macOS	Python 3.11+
Linux	Python 3.11+
Windows	Git for Windows + Python 3.11+

One-line Install (Recommended)

bash

# macOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://browser-use.com/cli/install.sh | bash

# Windows (PowerShell)
& "C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe" -c 'curl -fsSL https://browser-use.com/cli/install.sh | bash'

Manual Install

bash

uv pip install browser-use
browser-use install   # downloads Chromium
browser-use doctor    # validates setup

Post-Install Health Check

bash

browser-use doctor   # prints diagnostics + config
browser-use setup    # optional interactive wizard

Core Mental Model

The workflow is always:

Open a page → browser-use open <url>
Inspect the page → browser-use state (returns numbered element indices)
Interact using those indices → browser-use click 3, browser-use input 1 "text"
Repeat — the daemon keeps the browser alive between commands (~50ms latency)

A background daemon process starts automatically on first command and stays alive until you browser-use close.

Browser Modes

bash

# Default: headless Chromium (invisible)
browser-use open https://example.com

# Visible window
browser-use --headed open https://example.com

# Use your real Chrome (preserves logins, cookies, extensions)
browser-use connect

# Use a specific Chrome profile
browser-use --profile "Default" open https://gmail.com

# Zero-config cloud browser (requires API key)
browser-use cloud connect

# Connect to existing browser via CDP
browser-use --cdp-url http://localhost:9222 open https://example.com
browser-use --cdp-url ws://localhost:9222/devtools/browser/... state

After connect or cloud connect, all subsequent commands automatically target that browser — no extra flags needed.

All Commands

Navigation

bash

browser-use open <url>               # Navigate to URL
browser-use back                     # Go back in history
browser-use scroll down              # Scroll down
browser-use scroll up                # Scroll up
browser-use scroll down --amount 1000  # Scroll by pixel amount

Inspection

bash

browser-use state                    # Get URL, title, and numbered clickable elements
browser-use screenshot output.png    # Take screenshot to file
browser-use screenshot               # Screenshot as base64 (stdout)
browser-use screenshot --full page.png  # Full-page screenshot

Interaction

bash

browser-use click <index>            # Click element by index (from state)
browser-use click <x> <y>           # Click at pixel coordinates
browser-use type "text"              # Type into currently focused element
browser-use input <index> "text"     # Click element then type (most common for forms)
browser-use keys "Enter"             # Send keyboard key
browser-use keys "Control+a"         # Send key combination
browser-use select <index> "value"   # Select dropdown option
browser-use upload <index> /path/to/file  # Upload file to file input
browser-use hover <index>            # Hover over element
browser-use dblclick <index>         # Double-click element
browser-use rightclick <index>       # Right-click element

Tabs

bash

browser-use tab list                 # List all open tabs
browser-use tab new                  # Open blank tab
browser-use tab new https://url.com  # Open tab with URL
browser-use tab switch <index>       # Switch to tab by index
browser-use tab close                # Close current tab
browser-use tab close <index>        # Close specific tab

Cookies

bash

browser-use cookies get                        # Get all cookies
browser-use cookies get --url https://site.com # Get cookies for URL
browser-use cookies set name value             # Set a cookie
browser-use cookies set name val --domain .example.com --secure
browser-use cookies set name val --same-site Strict   # Strict | Lax | None
browser-use cookies set name val --expires 1735689600 # Unix timestamp
browser-use cookies clear                      # Clear all cookies
browser-use cookies clear --url https://site.com
browser-use cookies export cookies.json        # Export to JSON
browser-use cookies import cookies.json        # Import from JSON

Waiting

bash

browser-use wait selector ".btn"               # Wait for element to be visible
browser-use wait selector ".loading" --state hidden  # Wait for element to disappear
browser-use wait text "Success"                # Wait for text to appear on page
browser-use wait selector "h1" --timeout 5000 # Custom timeout in ms

Get (Information Retrieval)

bash

browser-use get title                  # Get page title
browser-use get html                   # Get full page HTML
browser-use get html --selector "main" # Get HTML of specific element
browser-use get text <index>           # Get text content of element
browser-use get value <index>          # Get value of input/textarea
browser-use get attributes <index>     # Get all element attributes
browser-use get bbox <index>           # Get bounding box (x, y, width, height)

JavaScript

bash

browser-use eval "document.title"
browser-use eval "Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('a')).map(a => a.href)"
browser-use eval "window.scrollTo(0, document.body.scrollHeight)"

Python (Persistent Session)

bash

browser-use python "x = 42"              # Set a variable
browser-use python "print(x)"            # Access variable (prints: 42)
browser-use python "print(browser.url)"  # Access browser object
browser-use python --vars                # Show all defined variables
browser-use python --reset               # Clear namespace
browser-use python --file script.py      # Run a Python file

Session Management

Each --session gets its own daemon, socket, and browser instance.

bash

# Default session (implicit)
browser-use open https://example.com
browser-use state

# Named sessions
browser-use --session work open https://example.com
browser-use --session personal open https://gmail.com
browser-use --session work state    # targets work browser

# List all active sessions
browser-use sessions

# Close a specific session
browser-use --session work close

# Close all sessions
browser-use close --all

# Via environment variable
BROWSER_USE_SESSION=work browser-use state

Cloud API

Auth

bash

browser-use cloud login sk-abc123...    # Save API key
browser-use cloud logout                # Remove API key
# Or: export BROWSER_USE_API_KEY=sk-abc123...

Cloud Browser

bash

browser-use cloud connect              # Provision cloud browser and connect
browser-use state                      # Works normally after connect
browser-use close                      # Disconnect AND stop cloud browser
browser-use cloud close                # Also stops cloud browser

REST Passthrough

bash

browser-use cloud v2 GET /browsers
browser-use cloud v2 POST /tasks '{"task":"Search for AI news","url":"https://google.com"}'
browser-use cloud v2 poll <task-id>    # Poll until task completes
browser-use cloud v3 POST /path '{"key":"value"}'
browser-use cloud v2 --help            # Show all v2 API endpoints
browser-use cloud v3 --help            # Show all v3 API endpoints

Tunnels (Expose Local Server to Cloud Browser)

bash

browser-use tunnel 3000                # Expose localhost:3000 → public HTTPS URL
browser-use tunnel list                # List active tunnels
browser-use tunnel stop 3000           # Stop tunnel for port
browser-use tunnel stop --all          # Stop all tunnels

# Typical flow for testing local app with a cloud browser:
npm run dev &
browser-use tunnel 3000                # → https://abc.trycloudflare.com
browser-use cloud connect
browser-use open https://abc.trycloudflare.com

Profile Management (Sync Chrome Cookies to Cloud)

bash

browser-use profile                    # Interactive sync wizard
browser-use profile list               # List detected browsers + profiles
browser-use profile sync --all         # Sync all profiles to cloud
browser-use profile sync --browser "Google Chrome" --profile "Default"
browser-use profile auth --apikey <key>
browser-use profile inspect --browser "Google Chrome" --profile "Default"
browser-use profile update             # Update the profile-use binary

Global Options

Flag	Description
`--headed`	Show browser window
`--profile [NAME]`	Use real Chrome profile (bare flag = "Default")
`--connect`	Auto-discover running Chrome via CDP
`--cdp-url <url>`	Connect to existing browser via CDP URL
`--session NAME`	Target named session (default: "default")
`--json`	Output as JSON
`--mcp`	Run as MCP server via stdin/stdout

Configuration

bash

browser-use config list                              # Show all config
browser-use config set cloud_connect_proxy jp        # Set a value
browser-use config get cloud_connect_proxy           # Get a value
browser-use config unset cloud_connect_timeout       # Remove a value

Config file: ~/.browser-use/config.json

Template Generation

bash

browser-use init                          # Interactive template picker
browser-use init --list                   # List all templates
browser-use init --template basic         # Generate specific template
browser-use init --output my_script.py    # Specify output filename
browser-use init --force                  # Overwrite existing files

File Layout

text

~/.browser-use/
├── config.json          # API key + settings
├── bin/
│   └── profile-use      # Managed Go binary (auto-downloaded)
├── tunnels/
│   ├── {port}.json      # Tunnel metadata
│   └── {port}.log       # Tunnel logs
├── default.state.json   # Daemon lifecycle state
├── default.sock         # Daemon socket (ephemeral)
├── default.pid          # Daemon PID (ephemeral)
└── cli.log              # Daemon log

Override the base dir with BROWSER_USE_HOME.

Common Recipes

Fill and Submit a Form

bash

browser-use open https://example.com/contact
browser-use state
# Output: [0] input "Name", [1] input "Email", [2] button "Submit"
browser-use input 0 "John Doe"
browser-use input 1 "john@example.com"
browser-use click 2
browser-use wait text "Thank you"

Scrape Data with JavaScript

bash

browser-use open https://news.ycombinator.com
browser-use eval "Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('.titleline a')).slice(0,5).map(a => a.textContent)"

Multi-step Python Automation

bash

browser-use open https://example.com
browser-use python "
for i in range(5):
    browser.scroll('down')
    browser.wait(0.5)
browser.screenshot('scrolled.png')
"

Login with Saved Chrome Profile

bash

browser-use --profile "Default" open https://gmail.com
browser-use state
# Gmail inbox loads already logged in

Run Two Browsers in Parallel

bash

browser-use --session a open https://site-a.com
browser-use --session b open https://site-b.com
browser-use --session a state
browser-use --session b state
browser-use close --all

Test Local App via Cloud Browser

bash

npm run dev &
browser-use tunnel 3000
# Copy the printed public URL, e.g. https://xyz.trycloudflare.com
browser-use cloud connect
browser-use open https://xyz.trycloudflare.com
browser-use screenshot check.png

Windows Troubleshooting

ARM64 Windows — install x64 Python for emulation:

powershell

winget install Python.Python.3.11 --architecture x64

Multiple Python versions — pin the version:

powershell

$env:PY_PYTHON=3.11

PATH not updated — restart terminal, or run via Git Bash:

powershell

& "C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe" -c 'browser-use --help'

Daemon won't start — kill stale processes:

powershell

wmic process where "name='python.exe' and commandline like '%browser%use%'" get processid
taskkill /PID <pid> /F

Stale venv — nuke and reinstall:

powershell

wmic process where "name='python.exe' and commandline like '%browser%use%'" call terminate
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$env:USERPROFILE\.browser-use-env"
# Re-run the installer

Quick Reference Card

Goal	Command
Start + navigate	`browser-use open <url>`
See elements	`browser-use state`
Click element	`browser-use click <index>`
Fill input	`browser-use input <index> "text"`
Press key	`browser-use keys "Enter"`
Screenshot	`browser-use screenshot out.png`
Run JS	`browser-use eval "js here"`
Wait for element	`browser-use wait selector ".cls"`
Get page HTML	`browser-use get html`
Close browser	`browser-use close`
Use real Chrome	`browser-use connect`
Cloud browser	`browser-use cloud connect`
Named session	`browser-use --session NAME <cmd>`
Show config	`browser-use doctor`

browser-cli

Install

browser-use CLI Skill

What This Skill Covers

Installation

Prerequisites

One-line Install (Recommended)

Manual Install

Post-Install Health Check

Core Mental Model

Browser Modes

All Commands

Navigation

Inspection

Interaction

Tabs

Cookies

Waiting

Get (Information Retrieval)

JavaScript

Python (Persistent Session)

Session Management

Cloud API

Auth

Cloud Browser

REST Passthrough

Tunnels (Expose Local Server to Cloud Browser)

Profile Management (Sync Chrome Cookies to Cloud)

Global Options

Configuration

Template Generation

File Layout

Common Recipes

Fill and Submit a Form

Scrape Data with JavaScript

Multi-step Python Automation

Login with Saved Chrome Profile

Run Two Browsers in Parallel

Test Local App via Cloud Browser

Windows Troubleshooting

Quick Reference Card

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