Browser Automation with browser-use CLI

The browser-use command provides fast, persistent browser automation. A background daemon keeps the browser open across commands, giving ~50ms latency per call.

Prerequisites

browser-use doctor    # Verify installation

For setup details, see https://github.com/browser-use/browser-use/blob/main/browser_use/skill_cli/README.md

Core Workflow

1. Navigate: browser-use open <url> — launches headless browser and opens page
2. Inspect: browser-use state — returns clickable elements with indices
3. Interact: use indices from state (browser-use click 5, browser-use input 3 "text")
4. Verify: browser-use state or browser-use screenshot to confirm
5. Repeat: browser stays open between commands

If a command fails, run browser-use close first to clear any broken session, then retry.

To use the user's existing Chrome (preserves logins/cookies): run browser-use connect first. To use a cloud browser instead: run browser-use cloud connect first. After either, commands work the same way.

If browser-use connect fails

When browser-use connect cannot find a running Chrome with remote debugging, prompt the user with two options:

1. Use their real Chrome browser — they need to enable remote debugging first:
   • Open chrome://inspect/#remote-debugging in Chrome, or relaunch Chrome with --remote-debugging-port=9222
   • Then retry browser-use connect
2. Use managed Chromium with their Chrome profile — no Chrome setup needed:
   • Run browser-use profile list to show available profiles
   • Ask which profile they want, then use browser-use --profile "ProfileName" open <url>
   • This launches a separate Chromium instance with their profile data (cookies, logins, extensions)

Let the user choose — don't assume one path over the other.

Browser Modes

browser-use open <url>                         # Default: headless Chromium (no setup needed)
browser-use --headed open <url>                # Visible window (for debugging)
browser-use connect                            # Connect to user's Chrome (preserves logins/cookies)
browser-use cloud connect                      # Cloud browser (zero-config, requires API key)
browser-use --profile "Default" open <url>     # Real Chrome with specific profile

After connect or cloud connect, all subsequent commands go to that browser — no extra flags needed.

Commands

# Navigation
browser-use open <url>                    # Navigate to URL
browser-use back                          # Go back in history
browser-use scroll down                   # Scroll down (--amount N for pixels)
browser-use scroll up                     # Scroll up
browser-use tab list                      # List all tabs
browser-use tab new [url]                 # Open a new tab (blank or with URL)
browser-use tab switch <index>            # Switch to tab by index
browser-use tab close <index> [index...]  # Close one or more tabs

# Page State — always run state first to get element indices
browser-use state                         # URL, title, clickable elements with indices
browser-use screenshot [path.png]         # Screenshot (base64 if no path, --full for full page)

# Interactions — use indices from state
browser-use click <index>                 # Click element by index
browser-use click <x> <y>                 # Click at pixel coordinates
browser-use type "text"                   # Type into focused element
browser-use input <index> "text"          # Click element, then type
browser-use keys "Enter"                  # Send keyboard keys (also "Control+a", etc.)
browser-use select <index> "option"       # Select dropdown option
browser-use upload <index> <path>         # Upload file to file input
browser-use hover <index>                 # Hover over element
browser-use dblclick <index>              # Double-click element
browser-use rightclick <index>            # Right-click element

# Data Extraction
browser-use eval "js code"                # Execute JavaScript, return result
browser-use get title                     # Page title
browser-use get html [--selector "h1"]    # Page HTML (or scoped to selector)
browser-use get text <index>              # Element text content
browser-use get value <index>             # Input/textarea value
browser-use get attributes <index>        # Element attributes
browser-use get bbox <index>              # Bounding box (x, y, width, height)

# Wait
browser-use wait selector "css"           # Wait for element (--state visible|hidden|attached|detached, --timeout ms)
browser-use wait text "text"              # Wait for text to appear

# Cookies
browser-use cookies get [--url <url>]     # Get cookies (optionally filtered)
browser-use cookies set <name> <value>    # Set cookie (--domain, --secure, --http-only, --same-site, --expires)
browser-use cookies clear [--url <url>]   # Clear cookies
browser-use cookies export <file>         # Export to JSON
browser-use cookies import <file>         # Import from JSON

# Session
browser-use close                         # Close browser and stop daemon
browser-use sessions                      # List active sessions
browser-use close --all                   # Close all sessions

For advanced browser control (CDP, device emulation, tab activation), see references/cdp-python.md.

Cloud API

browser-use cloud connect                 # Provision cloud browser and connect (zero-config)
browser-use cloud login <api-key>         # Save API key (or set BROWSER_USE_API_KEY)
browser-use cloud logout                  # Remove API key
browser-use cloud v2 GET /browsers        # REST passthrough (v2 or v3)
browser-use cloud v2 POST /tasks '{"task":"...","url":"..."}'
browser-use cloud v2 poll <task-id>       # Poll task until done
browser-use cloud v2 --help               # Show API endpoints

cloud connect provisions a cloud browser with a persistent profile (auto-created on first use), connects via CDP, and prints a live URL. browser-use close disconnects AND stops the cloud browser. For custom browser settings (proxy, timeout, specific profile), use cloud v2 POST /browsers directly with the desired parameters.

Agent Self-Registration

Only use this if you don't already have an API key (check browser-use doctor to see if api_key is set). If already logged in, skip this entirely.

1. browser-use cloud signup — get a challenge
2. Solve the challenge
3. browser-use cloud signup --verify <challenge-id> <answer> — verify and save API key
4. browser-use cloud signup --claim — generate URL for a human to claim the account

Tunnels

browser-use tunnel <port>                 # Start Cloudflare tunnel (idempotent)
browser-use tunnel list                   # Show active tunnels
browser-use tunnel stop <port>            # Stop tunnel
browser-use tunnel stop --all             # Stop all tunnels

Profile Management

browser-use profile list                  # List detected browsers and profiles
browser-use profile sync --all            # Sync profiles to cloud
browser-use profile update                # Download/update profile-use binary

Command Chaining

Commands can be chained with &&. The browser persists via the daemon, so chaining is safe and efficient.

browser-use open https://example.com && browser-use state
browser-use input 5 "user@example.com" && browser-use input 6 "password" && browser-use click 7

Chain when you don't need intermediate output. Run separately when you need to parse state to discover indices first.

Common Workflows

Authenticated Browsing

When a task requires an authenticated site (Gmail, GitHub, internal tools), use Chrome profiles:

browser-use profile list                           # Check available profiles
# Ask the user which profile to use, then:
browser-use --profile "Default" open https://github.com  # Already logged in

Exposing Local Dev Servers

browser-use tunnel 3000                            # → https://abc.trycloudflare.com
browser-use open https://abc.trycloudflare.com     # Browse the tunnel

Multiple Browsers

For subagent workflows or running multiple browsers in parallel, use --session NAME. Each session gets its own browser. See references/multi-session.md.

Configuration

browser-use config list                            # Show all config values
browser-use config set cloud_connect_proxy jp      # Set a value
browser-use config get cloud_connect_proxy         # Get a value
browser-use config unset cloud_connect_timeout     # Remove a value
browser-use doctor                                 # Shows config + diagnostics
browser-use setup                                  # Interactive post-install setup

Config stored in ~/.browser-use/config.json.

Global Options

Tips

1. Always run state first to see available elements and their indices
2. Use --headed for debugging to see what the browser is doing
3. Sessions persist — browser stays open between commands
4. CLI aliases: bu, browser, and browseruse all work
5. If commands fail, run browser-use close first, then retry

Troubleshooting

• Browser won't start? browser-use close then browser-use --headed open <url>
• Element not found? browser-use scroll down then browser-use state
• Run diagnostics: browser-use doctor

Cleanup

browser-use close                         # Close browser session
browser-use tunnel stop --all             # Stop tunnels (if any)