---
title: "Quick Start"
description: "Browser automation CLI for AI agents"
canonical_url: "https://agent-browser.dev/quick-start"
---

# Quick Start

## Core workflow

Every browser automation follows this pattern:

```bash
# 1. Navigate
agent-browser open example.com

# 2. Snapshot to get element refs
agent-browser snapshot -i
# Output:
# @e1 [heading] "Example Domain"
# @e2 [link] "More information..."

# 3. Interact using refs
agent-browser click @e2

# 4. Re-snapshot after page changes
agent-browser snapshot -i
```

## Common commands

```bash
agent-browser open example.com
agent-browser snapshot -i                # Get interactive elements with refs
agent-browser click @e2                  # Click by ref
agent-browser fill @e3 "test@example.com" # Fill input by ref
agent-browser get text @e1               # Get text content
agent-browser screenshot                 # Save to temp directory
agent-browser screenshot page.png        # Save to specific path
agent-browser close
```

## Traditional selectors

CSS selectors and semantic locators also supported:

```bash
agent-browser click "#submit"
agent-browser fill "#email" "test@example.com"
agent-browser find role button click --name "Submit"
```

## Headed mode

Show browser window for debugging:

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

## Wait for content

```bash
agent-browser wait @e1                   # Wait for element
agent-browser wait --text "Welcome"      # Wait for expected text
agent-browser wait --url "**/dashboard"  # Wait for URL pattern
agent-browser wait --fn "window.appReady === true" # Wait for JS condition
agent-browser wait --load domcontentloaded # Wait for the DOM lifecycle event
```

After a page change, prefer the condition that represents the result you need. Use `load` or `domcontentloaded` only when the lifecycle event is the milestone. `networkidle` remains available for pages known to become quiet, but SSE, WebSockets, polling, and long-polling can keep it from resolving.

## Command chaining

Chain commands with `&&` in a single shell call. The browser persists via a background daemon, so chaining is safe and efficient:

```bash
# Open, wait, and snapshot in one call
agent-browser open example.com && agent-browser wait --load domcontentloaded && agent-browser snapshot -i

# Chain multiple interactions
agent-browser fill @e1 "user@example.com" && agent-browser fill @e2 "pass" && agent-browser click @e3

# Navigate and capture
agent-browser open example.com && agent-browser wait --load load && agent-browser screenshot page.png
```

Use `&&` when you don't need intermediate output. Run commands separately when you need to parse output first (e.g., snapshot to discover refs before interacting).

## JSON output

For programmatic parsing in scripts:

```bash
agent-browser snapshot --json
agent-browser get text @e1 --json
```

Note: The default text output is more compact and preferred for AI agents.