Brought to you by [Do Browser](https://dobrowser.io).
A browser automation tool that lets AI agents and developers control browsers with sandboxed JavaScript scripts.
**Key features:**
- **Sandboxed execution** - Scripts run in a QuickJS WASM sandbox with no host access
- **Persistent pages** - Navigate once, interact across multiple scripts
- **Auto-connect** - Connect to your running Chrome or launch a fresh Chromium
- **Full Playwright API** - goto, click, fill, locators, evaluate, screenshots, and more
## CLI Installation
```bash
npm install -g dev-browser
dev-browser install # installs Playwright + Chromium
```
### Quick start
```bash
# Launch a headless browser and run a script
dev-browser --headless <<'EOF'
const page = await browser.getPage("main");
await page.goto("https://example.com");
console.log(await page.title());
EOF
# Connect to your running Chrome (enable at chrome://inspect/#remote-debugging)
dev-browser --connect <<'EOF'
const tabs = await browser.listPages();
console.log(JSON.stringify(tabs, null, 2));
EOF
```
### Windows notes
PowerShell install:
```powershell
npm install -g dev-browser
dev-browser install
```
To attach to a running Chrome instance on Windows:
```powershell
chrome.exe --remote-debugging-port=9222
dev-browser --connect
```
Windows npm installs download the native `dev-browser-windows-x64.exe` release asset during `postinstall`, and the generated npm shims invoke that executable directly.
### Using with AI agents
After installing, just tell your agent to run `dev-browser --help` — the help output includes a full LLM usage guide with examples and API reference. No plugin or skill installation needed.
Allowing dev-browser in Claude Code without permission prompts
By default, Claude Code asks for approval each time it runs a bash command. You can pre-approve `dev-browser` so it runs without permission checks by adding it to the `allow` list in your settings.
**Per-project** — add to `.claude/settings.json` in your project root:
```json
{
"permissions": {
"allow": [
"Bash(dev-browser *)"
]
}
}
```
**Per-user (global)** — add to `~/.claude/settings.json`:
```json
{
"permissions": {
"allow": [
"Bash(dev-browser *)"
]
}
}
```
The pattern `Bash(dev-browser *)` matches any command starting with `dev-browser ` followed by arguments (e.g. `dev-browser --headless`, `dev-browser --connect`). This is safe because dev-browser scripts run in a sandboxed QuickJS WASM environment with no host filesystem or network access.
You can also allow related commands in the same list:
```json
{
"permissions": {
"allow": [
"Bash(dev-browser *)",
"Bash(npx dev-browser *)"
]
}
}
```
> **Tip:** If you've already been prompted and clicked "Always allow", Claude Code adds the specific command pattern automatically. The settings file approach lets you pre-approve it before the first run.
Legacy plugin installation (Claude Code / Amp / Codex)
### Claude Code
```
/plugin marketplace add sawyerhood/dev-browser
/plugin install dev-browser@sawyerhood/dev-browser
```
Restart Claude Code after installation.
### Amp / Codex
Copy the skill to your skills directory:
```bash
# For Amp: ~/.claude/skills | For Codex: ~/.codex/skills
SKILLS_DIR=~/.claude/skills # or ~/.codex/skills
mkdir -p $SKILLS_DIR
git clone https://github.com/sawyerhood/dev-browser /tmp/dev-browser-skill
cp -r /tmp/dev-browser-skill/skills/dev-browser $SKILLS_DIR/dev-browser
rm -rf /tmp/dev-browser-skill
```
## Script API
Scripts run in a sandboxed QuickJS runtime (not Node.js). Available globals:
```javascript
// Browser control
browser.getPage(nameOrId) // Get/create named page, or connect to tab by targetId
browser.newPage() // Create anonymous page (cleaned up after script)
browser.listPages() // List all tabs: [{id, url, title, name}]
browser.closePage(name) // Close a named page
// File I/O (restricted to ~/.dev-browser/tmp/)
await saveScreenshot(buf, name) // Save screenshot buffer, returns path
await writeFile(name, data) // Write file, returns path
await readFile(name) // Read file, returns content
// Output
console.log/warn/error/info // Routed to CLI stdout/stderr
```
Pages are full [Playwright Page objects](https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-page) — `goto`, `click`, `fill`, `locator`, `evaluate`, `screenshot`, and everything else, including `page.snapshotForAI({ track?, depth?, timeout? })`, which returns `{ full, incremental? }` for AI-friendly page snapshots.
## Benchmarks
| Method | Time | Cost | Turns | Success |
| ----------------------- | ------- | ----- | ----- | ------- |
| **Dev Browser** | 3m 53s | $0.88 | 29 | 100% |
| Playwright MCP | 4m 31s | $1.45 | 51 | 100% |
| Playwright Skill | 8m 07s | $1.45 | 38 | 67% |
| Claude Chrome Extension | 12m 54s | $2.81 | 80 | 100% |
_See [dev-browser-eval](https://github.com/SawyerHood/dev-browser-eval) for methodology._
## License
MIT
## Author
[Sawyer Hood](https://github.com/sawyerhood)