| name | agent-model |
| description | Picks the browser-use agent brain LLM per task. Use when choosing a model for retry_with_browser_use_agent or a cloud session, or the user mentions a cheap, slow, or smart model. |
| user-invocable | false |
Choosing the browser-use agent brain
The retry_with_browser_use_agent tool and cloud sessions run an autonomous agent loop that
needs its own LLM to think with (it makes its own API calls — it does not borrow this Claude
session). This skill decides which LLM, per task. The Python MCP server is deliberately dumb: it
reads config and accepts an override. The judgment lives here.
Selection precedence (how the server resolves the brain)
- Session override — set at runtime by the
browser_set_agent_model tool (this turn only).
- Configured — the
"browser-use"."agentModel" block merged from settings files:
~/.claude/settings.json → <project>/.claude/settings.json →
<project>/.claude/settings.local.json (local wins).
- Legacy — if
BROWSER_USE_API_KEY is set and nothing above, Browser Use's bu-latest.
- Default —
anthropic / LATEST_SONNET_MODEL (uses ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, already available).
Providers
| provider id | use for | key (env var NAME) | base_url |
|---|
anthropic | Claude models — strong vision, best default | ANTHROPIC_API_KEY | not needed |
openai | GPT models | OPENAI_API_KEY | not needed |
openai_compatible | Kimi, GLM, Moonshot, Zhipu, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint | your choice | required |
browser_use | Browser Use's hosted BU3 models (bu-latest, bu-2-0) | BROWSER_USE_API_KEY | not needed |
Current Anthropic vision models: LATEST_SONNET_MODEL (default; best multi-step + vision),
LATEST_OPUS_MODEL (hardest reasoning), LATEST_HAIKU_MODEL (cheapest/fastest). Confirm live ids
against the claude-api skill before quoting one — do not rely on memory.
Picking a model for the task
- Simple scrape / read one page → cheap+fast is fine:
LATEST_HAIKU_MODEL, or a cheap
openai_compatible model.
- Multi-step form fill, navigation, recovering from popups →
LATEST_SONNET_MODEL (default).
- Login / auth flows, ambiguous pages, hard reasoning →
LATEST_SONNET_MODEL or LATEST_OPUS_MODEL.
- CAPTCHA / stealth / anti-bot → a cloud session (
browser_start_cloud_session) with
browser_use / bu-latest, which is tuned for it.
- If the user names a model or provider (Kimi, GLM, "the cheap one", "smartest"), honor it.
Suggest the right model even when it differs from their configured default — that's the point
of this skill. Read the task, recommend, then apply one of the two ways below.
Two ways to apply a choice
Ephemeral (this session, reverts next launch) — call the tool:
browser_set_agent_model(provider="anthropic", model="LATEST_SONNET_MODEL")
browser_set_agent_model(provider="openai_compatible", model="moonshot-v1-128k",
base_url="https://api.moonshot.cn/v1", api_key_env="MOONSHOT_API_KEY")
No file edit; takes effect on the next agent call.
Persistent (per project or per user) — write to settings (relaunch the MCP server after). Use
the update-config skill to edit .claude/settings.json (committed) or .claude/settings.local.json
(gitignored):
{ "browser-use": { "agentModel": {
"provider": "openai_compatible",
"model": "glm-4.6",
"baseUrl": "https://open.bigmodel.cn/api/paas/v4",
"apiKeyEnv": "ZHIPU_API_KEY",
"temperature": 0.2
} } }
Secrets — never store keys in settings
apiKeyEnv holds the name of an environment variable, never the key itself (settings.json is
often committed). For a custom openai_compatible provider, that env var must also reach the MCP
server: add it to the plugin's .mcp.json env block (e.g. "ZHIPU_API_KEY": "${ZHIPU_API_KEY}")
and export it in your shell. ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, OPENAI_API_KEY, and BROWSER_USE_API_KEY
already flow through — only custom providers need this step.
