browser-automation git:20260115.37ca9d4B

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---
name: browser-automation
description: Local Python-based browser automation toolkit using Playwright. Provides command-line tools for navigating, interacting with, and testing web applications. Supports clicking, typing, hovering, screenshots, content extraction, and JavaScript execution. Use this skill when you need to automate browser interactions, test web applications, or extract data from web pages.
license: ISC
---

# Browser Automation Skill

This skill provides local browser automation capabilities using Python and Playwright. All browser automation is performed locally via CLI commands.

## When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:
- Automate interactions with web pages (clicking, typing, navigating)
- Test web application functionality
- Extract content or data from web pages
- Take screenshots of web pages
- Execute custom JavaScript in browser context
- Hover over elements to trigger UI states

## Prerequisites

Before using this skill, ensure Playwright is installed:

```bash
pip install playwright
playwright install chromium
```

## Available Tools

All tools are implemented as subcommands in `scripts/browser_tools.py`. Each command is stateless - it launches a new browser instance, performs the action, and closes the browser.

### browser_navigate

Navigate to a URL and wait for the page to load.

**Usage:**
```bash
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_navigate <url>
```

**Example:**
```bash
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_navigate https://example.com
```

### browser_click

Click an element on a page using a CSS selector or text match.

**Usage:**
```bash
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_click <url> <selector> [--text TEXT]
```

**Parameters:**
- `url`: URL to navigate to
- `selector`: CSS selector for the element (optional if using --text)
- `--text`: (Optional) Text to match instead of using selector

**Examples:**
```bash
# Click by selector
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_click https://example.com "#submit-button"

# Click by text
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_click https://example.com "button" --text "Submit"
```

### browser_type

Type text into an input field, with optional form submission.

**Usage:**
```bash
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_type <url> <selector> <text> [--submit]
```

**Parameters:**
- `url`: URL to navigate to
- `selector`: CSS selector for the input field
- `text`: Text to type
- `--submit`: (Optional) Press Enter after typing

**Examples:**
```bash
# Type into field
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_type https://example.com "#email" "user@example.com"

# Type and submit
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_type https://example.com "#search" "query" --submit
```

### browser_screenshot

Capture a screenshot of the current page.

**Usage:**
```bash
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_screenshot <url> <path> [--full_page]
```

**Parameters:**
- `url`: URL to navigate to
- `path`: Output file path for the screenshot
- `--full_page`: (Optional) Capture the entire scrollable page

**Examples:**
```bash
# Viewport screenshot
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_screenshot https://example.com /tmp/screenshot.png

# Full page screenshot
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_screenshot https://example.com /tmp/full.png --full_page
```

### browser_get_content

Extract text or HTML content from the page or a specific element.

**Usage:**
```bash
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_get_content <url> [--selector SELECTOR] [--html]
```

**Parameters:**
- `url`: URL to navigate to
- `--selector`: (Optional) CSS selector, defaults to 'body'
- `--html`: (Optional) Return HTML instead of text

**Examples:**
```bash
# Get all page text
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_get_content https://example.com

# Get specific element text
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_get_content https://example.com --selector "#main-content"

# Get HTML
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_get_content https://example.com --selector "article" --html
```

### browser_hover

Hover over an element to trigger hover states or tooltips.

**Usage:**
```bash
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_hover <url> <selector>
```

**Parameters:**
- `url`: URL to navigate to
- `selector`: CSS selector for the element

**Example:**
```bash
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_hover https://example.com ".menu-item"
```

### browser_evaluate

Execute custom JavaScript code in the browser context.

**Usage:**
```bash
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_evaluate <url> <script>
```

**Parameters:**
- `url`: URL to navigate to
- `script`: JavaScript code to execute

**Examples:**
```bash
# Get page title
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_evaluate https://example.com "document.title"

# Get element count
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_evaluate https://example.com "document.querySelectorAll('button').length"

# Manipulate DOM
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_evaluate https://example.com "document.body.style.backgroundColor = 'red'"
```

## Best Practices

1. **Always use full URLs**: Include the protocol (http:// or https://)
2. **Wait for content**: The tool automatically waits for 'networkidle' state before actions
3. **Use robust selectors**: Prefer ID selectors (#id) or specific CSS classes over generic tags
4. **Error handling**: All commands exit with non-zero status on failure and print errors to stderr
5. **Headless mode**: All operations run in headless Chromium by default for efficiency
6. **Stateless design**: Each command runs independently with its own browser instance

## Common Patterns

### Form Automation
```bash
# Fill out a multi-field form
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_type https://example.com/form "#name" "John Doe"
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_type https://example.com/form "#email" "john@example.com"
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_click https://example.com/form "#submit"
```

### Content Extraction
```bash
# Extract and save page content
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_get_content https://example.com --selector "article" > article.txt
```

### Visual Verification
```bash
# Capture page state
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_screenshot https://example.com /tmp/page.png

# Capture full scrollable page
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_screenshot https://example.com /tmp/full.png --full_page
```

### Testing Interactive UI
```bash
# Test hover states
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_hover https://example.com ".dropdown-trigger"
python scripts/browser_tools.py browser_screenshot https://example.com /tmp/hover-state.png
```

## Architecture

- **Stateless design**: Each command launches a new browser instance
- **No persistent sessions**: Browser closes after each operation
- **Local execution**: All automation runs locally, no remote servers required
- **Simple I/O**: Results printed to stdout, errors to stderr
- **Timeout handling**: Configurable timeouts for navigation and element operations

## Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues:

1. **Install Playwright browsers**: Run `playwright install chromium`
2. **Check Python version**: Requires Python 3.8+
3. **Verify URL accessibility**: Ensure the target URL is reachable
4. **Inspect selectors**: Use browser DevTools to verify CSS selectors
5. **Check for JavaScript errors**: Use browser_evaluate to check console logs

## Advanced Usage

For more complex automation scenarios that require maintaining state across multiple actions, see the examples directory or consider using Playwright directly in a Python script.

## Related Skills

- **webapp-testing**: For testing local web applications with server management
- **web-artifacts-builder**: For creating web-based UI artifacts

## Reference

- Browser tools source: `scripts/browser_tools.py`
- Playwright Documentation: https://playwright.dev/python/
- Examples: `assets/skills/browser-automation/examples/`