browser-automation

name	browser-automation
description	Use when controlling web pages with the OpenClaw browser tool, especially multi-step flows, login checks, tab management, or recovery from stale refs/timeouts.
user-invocable	false

Browser Automation

Use this skill when you need the browser tool for anything beyond a single page check.

Operating Loop

1. Check browser state before acting:
   • openclaw browser doctor or action="status" when the browser/plugin setup itself may be broken.
   • action="status" for availability.
   • action="profiles" if login state or profile choice matters.
   • action="tabs" before opening a new tab if retries/timeouts may have left windows behind.
2. Prefer stable tab handles:
   • Open important tabs with label, for example label="meet".
   • After action="tabs" or action="open", store suggestedTargetId and pass it as targetId in later calls.
   • suggestedTargetId is the label when one exists, otherwise the stable tabId handle like t1.
   • Avoid relying on raw DevTools targetId except for immediate diagnostics; it can change under Chromium target replacement.
3. Read before you click:
   • For “read the page and answer X,” use action="extract" with query so only the answer returns.
   • Prefer selector to scope extraction on large pages and list views; use ignoreSelectors to drop repeated chrome.
   • Use schema when downstream work needs validated, machine-usable fields instead of prose.
   • For virtualized lists, scroll through each segment, extract it, then merge the structured results.
   • Use action="snapshot" instead when you need action refs or page structure.
   • If extract returns NOT_FOUND or asks for snapshot fallback, inspect the page with a snapshot.
   • Use action="snapshot" on the intended targetId.
   • Use the same targetId for follow-up actions so refs stay on the same tab.
   • For durable Playwright refs, request refs="aria" when supported. If you receive axN refs from snapshotFormat="aria", use them only after that same snapshot call; stale or unbound axN refs fail fast and need a fresh snapshot.
   • Use urls=true when link text is ambiguous or a direct navigation target would avoid brittle clicks.
   • Use labels=true on snapshot or screenshot when visual position matters. On Playwright-backed profiles, the response includes an annotations array ({ref, number, role, name?, box}) with each ref's bounding box in the captured image's coordinate space, so you can reason about position without re-snapshotting; screenshot labels can also combine with fullPage=true (CLI: --full-page) to label the whole document, or ref / element to clip to one element. profile="user" and other existing-session (chrome-mcp) profiles render an overlay into page screenshots but do not attach annotations or use the Playwright full-page/ref/element projection helper, so read positions from the labeled image itself on those profiles. The raw-CDP fallback (no Playwright) does not support labeled screenshots at all and returns a 501, so only request labels when Playwright is available.
4. Act narrowly:
   • Prefer action="act" with a ref from the latest snapshot.
   • After navigation, modal changes, or form submission, snapshot again before the next action.
   • Avoid blind waits. Wait for visible UI state when possible.
5. Report real blockers:
   • If the page needs login, permission, captcha, 2FA, camera/microphone approval, or another manual step, stop and tell the user exactly what is needed.
   • Do not claim the browser is not logged in just because the current page shows a permission or onboarding dialog. Inspect the visible UI first.

Browser batch CLI

openclaw browser batch runs an array of nested /act actions in one /act call (the same kind="batch" runtime reached through the agent tool), so CLI users and scripts can combine actions like wait, click, type, and evaluate into a single replayable plan without per-action round trips. Each entry in actions[] is a BrowserActRequest — the closed union the /act route accepts — not arbitrary openclaw browser subcommands. batch is not supported on profile="user" and other existing-session (chrome-mcp) profiles; send actions individually there.

• CLI: openclaw browser batch --actions '<json>', --actions-file plan.json, or --actions-file - for stdin. --continue sets stopOnError=false; default stops on first error.
• Ref lifecycle: refs come from a snapshot run before the batch (snapshot is not a nested action). A nested action that changes page state — such as a click that triggers navigation, or an evaluate that mutates the DOM — can invalidate earlier refs for the rest of the batch; put state-changing actions first, or split into a follow-up batch after re-snapshotting. Navigation and re-snapshotting happen outside the batch, since open, navigate, and snapshot are not /act kinds.
• Target id: nested actions share the request's tab; an explicit nested targetId that resolves to a different tab is rejected with ACT_TARGET_ID_MISMATCH.
• Response: { "results": [{ "ok": true } | { "ok": false, "error": "..." }, ...] } in order; with default stopOnError the array ends at the first failure. Any failed entry exits nonzero; use --json to preserve the full response in scripts.

Code Mode Loop

When tools.codeMode is enabled, call the Browser tool from exec cells:

const browserTool = "openclaw:browser:browser";
let previousSnapshot = "";
const callBrowser = async (input) => await tools.call(browserTool, input);

Keep the same labeled tab through the loop, and alternate reads with actions:

const snapshotCall = await callBrowser({
  action: "snapshot",
  targetId: "task",
  refs: "aria",
  interactive: true,
});
const details = snapshotCall?.result?.details ?? {};
const snapshot = (snapshotCall?.result?.content ?? []).map((block) => block?.text ?? "").join("\n");
const relevant = snapshot
  .split("\n")
  .filter((line) => /submit|dialog|error|\[new\]/i.test(line))
  .slice(0, 12);
const changed = snapshot !== previousSnapshot;
previousSnapshot = snapshot;
return { targetId: details.targetId, url: details.url, relevant, changed };

• Request interactive-only snapshots and filter them in code before returning.
• Return only the handful of relevant elements; never return the full tree.
• Keep previousSnapshot between cells when a local diff helps explain a change.
• Interleave each act with a URL or tabs check before the next dependent act.
• If a batch returns aborted, take a fresh snapshot before continuing.
• If [new] markers appear, inspect those elements first, then update the saved snapshot.
• Use separate act calls when navigation is expected between steps.

Tab Hygiene

Before creating a tab for a named task, list tabs and reuse an existing matching label or URL when it is still usable.

Example:

{ "action": "tabs" }

If no suitable tab exists:

{ "action": "open", "url": "https://example.com", "label": "task" }

Then target it by label:

{ "action": "snapshot", "targetId": "task", "refs": "aria" }

If a retry creates duplicates, close the extras by tabId:

{ "action": "close", "targetId": "t3" }

Do not pass bare numbers like "2" as targetId. Numeric tab positions are only for the CLI openclaw browser tab select 2 helper; browser tool calls need a suggestedTargetId, label, tabId, or raw target id.

Stale Ref Recovery

If an action fails with a missing or stale ref:

1. Snapshot the same targetId again.
2. Find the current visible control.
3. Retry once with the new ref.
4. If the UI moved to a blocker state, report the blocker instead of looping.

Existing User Browser

Use profile="user" only when existing cookies/login matter. This attaches to the user's running Chromium-based browser.

On macOS, action="importprofile" is the alternative when the agent should use an isolated managed browser with cookies copied from a real Chrome-family profile. First use action="profiles" and inspect systemProfiles, then import into a fresh managed profile name. Import asks for one Keychain/Touch ID consent prompt. It copies cookies, not local storage or IndexedDB; device-bound session credentials (DBSC) mean some Google sessions may still require re-authentication.

For profile="user" and other existing-session profiles, omit timeoutMs on act:type, hover, scrollIntoView, drag, select, and fill; that driver rejects per-call timeout overrides for those actions. act:evaluate accepts timeoutMs.

Google Meet Notes

When creating or joining a Meet:

• Treat camera/microphone permission screens as progress, not login failure.
• If asked whether people can hear you, click the microphone option when voice is required.
• If Google asks for sign-in, 2FA, account chooser confirmation, or permission that needs user approval, report the exact manual action.
• Use one labeled tab per meeting flow, for example label="meet", and reuse it during retries.