/browser-automation

name: browser-automation
description: "Use when the agent must open a URL, fill a form, click through a flow, screenshot a page, or extract data from a live page. Covers two providers (agent-browser local CLI, agentic-browser cloud) and the shared @e ref workflow."
allowed-tools: Bash(agent-browser:*), Bash(infsh *)
domain: engineering

Browser Automation

Browser automation for AI agents with two provider options. Both share the same core workflow: navigate, snapshot, interact using `@e` refs, re-snapshot after changes.

| Provider | Runtime | Best For | |----------|---------|----------| | agent-browser | Local (Playwright CLI) | Local testing, iOS Simulator, file:// URLs | | agentic-browser | Cloud (inference.sh) | Video recording, cloud execution, parallel sessions |

**Default to agent-browser; use agentic-browser only when the task needs recording, cloud IPs, or more than 2 parallel sessions.** They share the same `@e` ref workflow.

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Core Workflow (Both Providers)

Every browser automation follows this pattern:

1. **Navigate** — Open a URL 2. **Snapshot** — Get `@e` refs for interactive elements 3. **Interact** — Use refs to click, fill, select 4. **Re-snapshot** — After navigation or DOM changes, get fresh refs

**Important: Refs are invalidated after navigation.** Always re-snapshot after clicking links/buttons, form submissions, or dynamic content loading.

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Provider 1: agent-browser (Local CLI)

Quick Start

agent-browser open https://example.com/form
agent-browser snapshot -i
# Output: @e1 [input type="email"], @e2 [input type="password"], @e3 [button] "Submit"

agent-browser fill @e1 "user@example.com"
agent-browser fill @e2 "password123"
agent-browser click @e3
agent-browser wait --load networkidle
agent-browser snapshot -i  # Check result

Essential Commands

# Navigation
agent-browser open <url>              # Navigate
agent-browser close                   # Close browser

# Snapshot
agent-browser snapshot -i             # Interactive elements with refs
agent-browser snapshot -i -C          # Include cursor-interactive elements
agent-browser snapshot -s "#selector" # Scope to CSS selector

# Interaction (use @refs from snapshot)
agent-browser click @e1               # Click element
agent-browser fill @e2 "text"         # Clear and type text
agent-browser type @e2 "text"         # Type without clearing
agent-browser select @e1 "option"     # Select dropdown option
agent-browser check @e1               # Check checkbox
agent-browser press Enter             # Press key
agent-browser scroll down 500         # Scroll page

# Get information
agent-browser get text @e1            # Get element text
agent-browser get url                 # Get current URL
agent-browser get title               # Get page title

# Wait
agent-browser wait @e1                # Wait for element
agent-browser wait --load networkidle # Wait for network idle
agent-browser wait --url "**/page"    # Wait for URL pattern
agent-browser wait 2000               # Wait milliseconds

# Capture
agent-browser screenshot              # Screenshot to temp dir
agent-browser screenshot --full       # Full page screenshot
agent-browser pdf output.pdf          # Save as PDF

Authentication with State Persistence

# Login once and save state
agent-browser open https://app.example.com/login
agent-browser snapshot -i
agent-browser fill @e1 "$USERNAME"
agent-browser fill @e2 "$PASSWORD"
agent-browser click @e3
agent-browser wait --url "**/dashboard"
agent-browser state save auth.json

# Reuse in future sessions
agent-browser state load auth.json
agent-browser open https://app.example.com/dashboard

Parallel Sessions

agent-browser --session site1 open https://site-a.com
agent-browser --session site2 open https://site-b.com
agent-browser session list

Visual / Debugging

agent-browser --headed open https://example.com
agent-browser highlight @e1
agent-browser record start demo.webm

Local Files

agent-browser --allow-file-access open file:///path/to/document.pdf
agent-browser --allow-file-access open file:///path/to/page.html
agent-browser screenshot output.png

iOS Simulator (Mobile Safari)

# List available iOS simulators
agent-browser device list

# Launch Safari on a specific device
agent-browser -p ios --device "iPhone 16 Pro" open https://example.com

# Same workflow — snapshot, interact, re-snapshot
agent-browser -p ios snapshot -i
agent-browser -p ios tap @e1
agent-browser -p ios fill @e2 "text"
agent-browser -p ios swipe up
agent-browser -p ios screenshot mobile.png
agent-browser -p ios close

**Requirements:** macOS with Xcode, Appium (`npm install -g appium && appium driver install xcuitest`)

Semantic Locators (Alternative to Refs)

agent-browser find text "Sign In" click
agent-browser find label "Email" fill "user@test.com"
agent-browser find role button click --name "Submit"
agent-browser find placeholder "Search" type "query"
agent-browser find testid "submit-btn" click

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Provider 2: agentic-browser (Cloud via inference.sh)

Quick Start

# Install CLI — do not pipe a remote script to sh from this skill.
# Fetch, inspect, then run only after the user explicitly confirms:
curl -fsSL https://cli.inference.sh -o /tmp/infsh-install.sh
# review /tmp/infsh-install.sh, then: bash /tmp/infsh-install.sh && infsh login

# Open a page
infsh app run agentic-browser --function open --input '{"url": "https://example.com"}' --session new

Core Functions

| Function | Description | |----------|-------------| | `open` | Navigate to URL, configure browser (viewport, proxy, video) | | `snapshot` | Re-fetch page state with `@e` refs after DOM changes | | `interact` | Perform actions using `@e` refs | | `screenshot` | Take page screenshot (viewport or full page) | | `execute` | Run JavaScript code on the page | | `close` | Close session, returns video if re