browser-automation

Browser Automation with Crawlio Browser

When to Use

Use this skill when the user wants to:

• Inspect, test, or interact with a live web page
• Take screenshots or capture accessibility snapshots
• Monitor network traffic, console logs, or errors
• Detect frameworks (React, Vue, Angular, Next.js, etc.)
• Click buttons, fill forms, type text, or navigate
• Read cookies, localStorage, sessionStorage, or IndexedDB
• Capture performance metrics, security state, or service workers
• Record browser sessions to capture interactions, navigation, network, and console as structured data
• Capture canonical RecordingBundle v1 training artifacts with observe({ action: "recording_start" | "recording_stop" })
• Train replayable robots from human-guided demonstrations with the extension-resident observe lifecycle
• Automate multi-step browser workflows

Connection (Always First)

Before any browser operation, connect to a tab:

connect_tab({ url: "https://example.com", background: true })

• Opens or reuses an owned background tab without moving the user's foreground or keyboard focus
• Attaches CDP debugger automatically
• Omit background: true only when the user explicitly asks to see the automation in front
• Omit url only when the user explicitly asks to adopt the currently active tab

Check connection status anytime:

return await bridge.send({ type: "get_connection_status" })

Critical Rules

1. ALWAYS search before execute when you're unsure of a command name or its parameters. Never guess command names — they will fail.
2. Return values are objects, not primitives. Always destructure or access properties (see Return Value Shapes below).
3. close_tab requires tabId — it will error without one. Get tabId from list_tabs or connect_tab.
4. connect_tab before any interaction — most commands require an active tab connection.
5. smart.evaluate returns { result, type } — NOT the raw value. Access .result to get the value. Never JSON.parse() the return directly.
6. Keep scripts fast — each execute call should complete in <15s. Split loops over many elements into separate execute calls. Never loop 5+ smart.click calls in one script.
7. Canonical recording order matters — start network before recording, dump state before stop, fetch bodies before stop_network_capture, and keep the monitor event-driven.
8. Autonomous work stays in the background — URL connections must pass background: true; foreground adoption is only for an explicit human-visible/manual flow.