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This skill should be used when automating browser interactions via Vercel's agent-browser CLI. It handles web page navigation, form filling, screenshots, and data scraping using ref-based element selection.
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| name | agent-browser |
| description | This skill should be used when automating browser interactions via Vercel's agent-browser CLI. It handles web page navigation, form filling, screenshots, and data scraping using ref-based element selection. |
Vercel's headless browser automation CLI designed for AI agents. Uses ref-based selection (@e1, @e2) from accessibility snapshots.
# Check installation
command -v agent-browser >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo "Installed" || echo "NOT INSTALLED - run: npm install --prefix ~/.local -g agent-browser@0.22.3 && agent-browser install"
npm install --prefix ~/.local -g agent-browser@0.22.3
agent-browser install # Downloads Chrome for Testing (~300MB)
# On Linux if system deps missing:
# agent-browser install --with-deps
--no-sandboxOn Ubuntu 23.10+, containers, and VMs, the host's AppArmor policy restricts
unprivileged user namespaces, so Chrome for Testing cannot initialize its zygote
sandbox and the browser fails to launch. Export the no-sandbox flag once per
session before the first agent-browser command — the daemon reads it at
launch and every later command in the session inherits it:
export AGENT_BROWSER_ARGS="--no-sandbox"
Inline alternative (first open only): agent-browser open <url> --args "--no-sandbox".
This confines --no-sandbox to agent-browser's own ephemeral automation Chrome —
the same posture Playwright already runs here; it does not touch your real browser.
open hangs (no usable sandbox)Symptom on pinned 0.22.3: agent-browser open <url> hangs indefinitely with
zero stdout/stderr (even --debug prints nothing). On newer versions it fails
fast with No usable sandbox! ... unprivileged user namespaces ... AppArmor and a
--args "--no-sandbox" hint. Both are the same cause.
export AGENT_BROWSER_ARGS="--no-sandbox" (see above).pkill -f agent-browser-linux-x64; rm -rf /tmp/agent-browser/* "/run/user/$(id -u)/agent-browser/"*
then retry. (Never kill playwright-mcp processes — those are a separate stack.)AGENT_BROWSER_ARGS="--no-sandbox" timeout 45 agent-browser open https://example.com --headless → exit 0 + a ✓ line.This is the other browser-automation symptom #6605 reported (the "MCP tools
de-register" half) — distinct from the agent-browser CLI hang above, and covering the
Playwright MCP stack. If a mcp__playwright__browser_* call returns
browserBackend.callTool: Target page, context or browser has been closed, the browser
backend dropped while the MCP server itself stayed registered (a lifecycle event, not a
dead tool).
Known root cause on this host: a Wayland/Vulkan GPU crash — already diagnosed and
remediated in .claude/playwright-mcp.config.json (forces the X11/XWayland backend
and disables the GPU); see knowledge-base/project/learnings/workflow-patterns/2026-06-17-playwright-mcp-wayland-vulkan-launch-crash.md.
If it still recurs, recycle the context and re-navigate (the pattern in
plugins/soleur/skills/qa/SKILL.md: browser_close — safe even if already closed —
then browser_navigate); the backend restarts. Note that snapshot ref= handles do
not survive the restart; target elements by name/selector
(button:has-text("Save"), input[aria-label="..."]) across it. A separate
"these deferred tools are no longer available" notice means the MCP server
disconnected (reload via ToolSearch) — a different failure from the backend-close.
If you see "Version mismatch between agent-browser (expects 1200) and installed Playwright (1208)":
which agent-browser && agent-browser --version/usr/bin/agent-browser (version 0.5.0), a stale system install is shadowing the correct versionsudo npm uninstall -g agent-browser to remove the system binarywhich agent-browser should now resolve to ~/.local/bin/agent-browser (0.22.3)The snapshot + ref pattern is optimal for LLMs:
# Step 1: Open URL
agent-browser open https://example.com
# Step 2: Get interactive elements with refs
agent-browser snapshot -i --json
# Step 3: Interact using refs
agent-browser click @e1
agent-browser fill @e2 "search query"
# Step 4: Re-snapshot after changes
agent-browser snapshot -i
agent-browser open <url> # Navigate to URL
agent-browser back # Go back
agent-browser forward # Go forward
agent-browser reload # Reload page
agent-browser close # Close browser
agent-browser snapshot # Full accessibility tree
agent-browser snapshot -i # Interactive elements only (recommended)
agent-browser snapshot -i --json # JSON output for parsing
agent-browser snapshot -c # Compact (remove empty elements)
agent-browser snapshot -d 3 # Limit depth
agent-browser click @e1 # Click element
agent-browser dblclick @e1 # Double-click
agent-browser fill @e1 "text" # Clear and fill input
agent-browser type @e1 "text" # Type without clearing
agent-browser press Enter # Press key
agent-browser hover @e1 # Hover element
agent-browser check @e1 # Check checkbox
agent-browser uncheck @e1 # Uncheck checkbox
agent-browser select @e1 "option" # Select dropdown option
agent-browser scroll down 500 # Scroll (up/down/left/right)
agent-browser scrollintoview @e1 # Scroll element into view
agent-browser get text @e1 # Get element text
agent-browser get html @e1 # Get element HTML
agent-browser get value @e1 # Get input value
agent-browser get attr href @e1 # Get attribute
agent-browser get title # Get page title
agent-browser get url # Get current URL
agent-browser get count "button" # Count matching elements
agent-browser screenshot # Viewport screenshot
agent-browser screenshot --full # Full page
agent-browser screenshot output.png # Save to file
agent-browser screenshot --full output.png # Full page to file
agent-browser pdf output.pdf # Save as PDF
agent-browser wait @e1 # Wait for element
agent-browser wait 2000 # Wait milliseconds
agent-browser wait "text" # Wait for text to appear
agent-browser find role button click --name "Submit"
agent-browser find text "Sign up" click
agent-browser find label "Email" fill "user@example.com"
agent-browser find placeholder "Search..." fill "query"
# Run multiple independent browser sessions
agent-browser --session-name browser1 open https://site1.com
agent-browser --session-name browser2 open https://site2.com
# List saved states
agent-browser state list
agent-browser open https://app.example.com/login
agent-browser snapshot -i
# Output shows: textbox "Email" [ref=e1], textbox "Password" [ref=e2], button "Sign in" [ref=e3]
agent-browser fill @e1 "user@example.com"
agent-browser fill @e2 "password123"
agent-browser click @e3
agent-browser wait 2000
agent-browser snapshot -i # Verify logged in
agent-browser open https://news.ycombinator.com
agent-browser snapshot -i --json
# Parse JSON to find story links
agent-browser get text @e12 # Get headline text
agent-browser click @e12 # Click to open story
agent-browser open https://forms.example.com
agent-browser snapshot -i
agent-browser fill @e1 "John Doe"
agent-browser fill @e2 "john@example.com"
agent-browser select @e3 "United States"
agent-browser check @e4 # Agree to terms
agent-browser click @e5 # Submit button
agent-browser screenshot confirmation.png
# Run with visible browser window
agent-browser --headed open https://example.com
agent-browser --headed snapshot -i
agent-browser --headed click @e1
Add --json for structured output:
agent-browser snapshot -i --json
Returns:
{
"success": true,
"data": {
"refs": {
"e1": {"name": "Submit", "role": "button"},
"e2": {"name": "Email", "role": "textbox"}
},
"snapshot": "- button \"Submit\" [ref=e1]\n- textbox \"Email\" [ref=e2]"
}
}
| Feature | agent-browser (CLI) | Playwright MCP |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Bash commands | MCP tools |
| Selection | Refs (@e1) | Refs (e1) |
| Output | Text/JSON | Tool responses |
| Parallel | Session names | Tabs |
| Browser | Chrome for Testing | Chromium |
| Runtime | Rust native | Node.js |
| Best for | Quick automation | Tool integration |
Use agent-browser when:
Use Playwright MCP when: