browser-act — Setup Guide¶

Source: browser-act/skills (99,500 installs) Category: Browser Automation Languages: Python + Playwright

Agent-native browser automation framework. Unlike selector-based or accessibility-tree approaches, browser-act uses a "record-and-replay" paradigm — agents record browser interactions as reusable skill templates, then replay them with parameter substitution. Includes browser-act-skill-forge (78.7K installs) for visual template editing.

Installation¶

# Core browser automation
npx skills add browser-act/skills@browser-act

# Skill forge for creating templates (optional)
npx skills add browser-act/skills@browser-act-skill-forge

Verify:

npx skills list | grep browser-act

Prerequisites¶

Requirement	Details
Python	3.10+
Playwright	`pip install playwright && playwright install`
Hermes Agent	Any version
Chrome/Firefox	Installed via Playwright

Install Playwright if missing:

pip install playwright
playwright install chromium

Key Capabilities¶

Record-and-Replay Workflow¶

┌─────────────────────┐     ┌──────────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────────┐
│  Record Interaction │ ──▶ │  Save as Skill       │ ──▶ │  Replay with Params │
│  (browser-act record)│     │  Template (.yaml)    │     │  (browser-act run)  │
└─────────────────────┘     └──────────────────────┘     └─────────────────────┘

Core Commands¶

Command	Purpose	Example
`browser-act record`	Record a new interaction	`browser-act record --name "check-twitter-mentions"`
`browser-act run`	Replay a recorded template	`browser-act run check-twitter-mentions --account CorpusIQ`
`browser-act forge`	Open visual template editor	`browser-act forge check-twitter-mentions`
`browser-act list`	List saved templates	`browser-act list --category social`
`browser-act params`	Show template parameters	`browser-act params check-twitter-mentions`

Parameter Substitution¶

Record once, replay with different values:

# Template: check-twitter-mentions.yaml
steps:
  - action: navigate
    url: "https://twitter.com/{{ account }}"
  - action: click
    selector: "[data-testid='mentions-tab']"
  - action: extract
    selector: "[data-testid='tweet']"
    fields:
      - author: "[data-testid='User-Name']"
      - text: "[data-testid='tweetText']"
      - time: "time"

# Replay for different accounts:
browser-act run check-twitter-mentions --account CorpusIQ
browser-act run check-twitter-mentions --account nousresearch

Anti-Detection Features¶

Feature	Purpose	Config
Fingerprint rotation	Randomize browser fingerprint per session	`--fingerprint random`
Human-like timing	Random delays between actions (150-800ms)	`--human-timing true`
Proxy rotation	Route through different IPs	`--proxy pool:residential`
CAPTCHA handling	Auto-detect and pause for manual solve	`--captcha pause`
Session isolation	Separate browser profiles per template	Default; configurable

Skill Forge (Visual Editor)¶

browser-act forge check-twitter-mentions

The visual editor lets you: 1. View recorded steps as a flowchart 2. Edit selectors with live element highlighting 3. Add assertions (element visible, text contains, URL matches) 4. Test parameter substitution with sample values 5. Debug failures with step-by-step replay and screenshots

Common Templates for CorpusIQ¶

# Record: Login → check notifications → extract mentions → reply
browser-act record --name "social-check" --start-url "https://twitter.com/notifications"

Competitive Research¶

# Record: Visit competitor page → screenshot pricing → extract features
browser-act record --name "competitor-analysis" --params "url,company_name"

Platform Health Check¶

# Record: Login to Postiz → check scheduled posts → verify publishing status
browser-act record --name "postiz-health" --start-url "https://app.postiz.com"

Comparison: browser-act vs agent-browser¶

Feature	browser-act	agent-browser
Interaction model	Record-and-replay	Accessibility tree (refs)
Best for	Repeated workflows, social media	One-off exploration, scraping
Template reuse	Yes — parameter substitution	No — manual each time
Anti-detection	Built-in (fingerprint, timing, proxy)	Minimal (Chrome for Testing)
Learning curve	Moderate (record once)	Low (snap + ref)
Speed	Slower (human timing)	Fast (native Rust)
Install base	99.5K	553.6K
CorpusIQ use case	Daily social checks, competitor monitoring	Web scraping, data extraction

Recommendation: Use both. browser-act for recurring workflows (daily social monitoring, competitive checks). agent-browser for ad-hoc research and scraping.

Troubleshooting¶

Symptom	Cause	Fix
`browser-act: command not found`	Skill not installed	`npx skills add browser-act/skills@browser-act`
Template replay fails on login	Session expired	Re-record with fresh login, save cookies
CAPTCHA blocks recording	Anti-bot detection	Enable `--human-timing` and `--fingerprint random`
Selector not found on replay	Site structure changed	Use `browser-act forge` to update selectors
Recorded template too brittle	Overly specific selectors	Use `--robust-selectors` flag when recording