---
title: "Chrome"
description: "Browser automation CLI for AI agents"
canonical_url: "https://agent-browser.dev/engines/chrome"
---

# Chrome

Chrome (and Chromium) is the default browser engine. agent-browser discovers, launches, and manages the Chrome process automatically via the Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP).

## Binary Discovery

When no `--executable-path` is provided, agent-browser searches for Chrome in this order:

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr><th>Platform</th><th>Locations checked</th></tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>macOS</td>
      <td>
        <code>/Applications/Google Chrome.app</code>,
        <code>/Applications/Google Chrome Canary.app</code>,
        <code>/Applications/Chromium.app</code>,
        <code>/Applications/Brave Browser.app</code>,
        Puppeteer cache (<code>~/.cache/puppeteer/chrome/</code> or <code>PUPPETEER_CACHE_DIR</code>),
        Chrome for Testing cache
      </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Linux</td>
      <td>
        <code>google-chrome</code>,
        <code>google-chrome-stable</code>,
        <code>chromium-browser</code>,
        <code>chromium</code> in PATH,
        Puppeteer cache (<code>~/.cache/puppeteer/chrome/</code> or <code>PUPPETEER_CACHE_DIR</code>),
        Chrome for Testing cache
      </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Windows</td>
      <td>
        <code>%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe</code>,
        <code>C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe</code>,
        <code>C:\Program Files (x86)\...\chrome.exe</code>
      </td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

If Chrome is not found, run `agent-browser install` to download Chrome from Chrome for Testing.

## Usage

Chrome is the default engine -- no `--engine` flag is needed:

```bash
agent-browser open example.com
```

To be explicit:

```bash
agent-browser --engine chrome open example.com
```

## Custom Binary

Point to any Chromium-based browser with `--executable-path`:

```bash
agent-browser --executable-path /path/to/chromium open example.com
```

Or via environment variable:

```bash
export AGENT_BROWSER_EXECUTABLE_PATH=/path/to/chromium
agent-browser open example.com
```

## Chrome-Specific Features

These features are available only with Chrome:

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr><th>Feature</th><th>Flag</th></tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr><td>Browser extensions</td><td><code>--extension &lt;path&gt;</code></td></tr>
    <tr><td>Persistent profiles</td><td><code>--profile &lt;path&gt;</code> (sets Chrome's <code>--user-data-dir</code>)</td></tr>
    <tr><td>Storage state</td><td><code>--state &lt;path&gt;</code></td></tr>
    <tr><td>File URL access</td><td><code>--allow-file-access</code></td></tr>
    <tr><td>Headless screenshot scrollbars</td><td><code>--hide-scrollbars false</code> keeps native scrollbars visible</td></tr>
    <tr><td>Headed mode</td><td><code>--headed</code></td></tr>
    <tr><td>Custom launch args</td><td><code>--args &lt;args&gt;</code></td></tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

## Containers and CI

In Docker, CI runners, or other sandboxed environments, Chrome's user namespace sandbox may need to be disabled:

```bash
agent-browser --args "--no-sandbox" open example.com
```

agent-browser automatically adds `--no-sandbox` when it detects a container environment (Docker, Podman, running as root).