tabex

name	tabex
description	Use when working with Tabex, the browser workbench CLI at tabex.dev for inspecting live browser sessions, running page actions or JavaScript, and preserving browser evidence.

Tabex

Tabex is a browser workbench CLI at https://tabex.dev. It helps agents and developers inspect live browser sessions, select pages and elements, run browser actions, execute JavaScript, and preserve network or page evidence.

Start

• First check whether tabex is installed with command -v tabex.
• If Tabex is missing, setup is broken, or the Chrome extension must be loaded, read setup.md.
• Once installed, treat tabex --help and subcommand --help output as the command contract. Do not invent flags from memory.
• Use tabex getting-started for current flow recipes, then verify the preconditions before running the listed commands.
• Before browser interaction, run tabex runtime status and tabex session list. Installed and configured does not mean connected: if the runtime source is not connected or there are no live sessions, stop and report the setup state unless you are allowed to enable a tab or add an auto-attach rule.

Operating Model

• Prefer Tabex primitives for sessions, pages, elements, network, runs, and JavaScript orchestration before writing bespoke browser automation.
• Prefer page, element, and run-js selection flags for routine actions. Use session wait or session attach only as lower-level sync/recovery helpers when another browser flow, manual enablement, or an auto-attach rule is expected to make the session appear.
• A page must be enabled before Tabex can operate on it. Use an existing live session, ask the user to enable the tab from the extension popup, or create a narrowly scoped auto-attach rule when that is appropriate for the task. Remove temporary rules after the smoke or workflow.
• Use JavaScript execution deliberately. Prefer host-side orchestration for repeatable work; use page-context JavaScript only when the browser page itself needs to evaluate something.
• Preserve raw browser evidence. If a task needs summaries or projections, create them as derived output rather than silently dropping original capture data.
• Prefer real browser targets for meaningful validation. Toy pages are fine for smoke checks, but they are weak proof for product behavior.

Verification

End with evidence the user can trust: the selected session or page, the command that was run, the relevant output or captured artifact, and any remaining uncertainty. If Tabex is missing, stop at install guidance. If Tabex is installed but tabex runtime status reports the browser source disconnected or tabex session list has zero sessions, report that state rather than pretending browser inspection happened.