Browser Use — AI Browser Automation Agent
Overview
Browser Use gives an LLM a browser: the agent reads the page (DOM plus screenshots), then clicks, types, scrolls, switches tabs and extracts data until the task is done. Checked against browser-use 0.13.10 (4 September 2026). Three ways to use it:
- Python library (this skill's focus):
Agent(task=..., llm=...) running locally, with your choice of model.
- CLI (
browser-use, built on Browser Harness): lets a coding agent such as Claude Code run Python helpers against your own Chrome with its logins.
- Browser Use Cloud: hosted agents and stealth browsers, paid per use.
It no longer sits on LangChain. Models are Browser Use's own wrappers (ChatOpenAI, ChatAnthropic, ChatGoogle, ChatOllama, ChatBrowserUse, and more), and the old BrowserConfig and output_model= names are gone.
Instructions
Install
uv init --python 3.12 # new project; Browser Use needs Python 3.11+
uv add browser-use
uvx browser-use install # downloads Chromium
Put your model key in .env (OPENAI_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, GOOGLE_API_KEY, or BROWSER_USE_API_KEY for ChatBrowserUse) and call load_dotenv().
A first agent
# agent.py
import asyncio
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from browser_use import Agent, Browser, ChatAnthropic
load_dotenv()
async def main():
agent = Agent(
task="Open news.ycombinator.com and tell me the title of the top Show HN post",
llm=ChatAnthropic(model="claude-sonnet-4-6"),
browser=Browser(headless=True),
)
history = await agent.run(max_steps=30)
print(history.final_result())
print(history.is_done(), history.is_successful(), history.urls())
asyncio.run(main())
agent.run() returns an AgentHistoryList. Useful methods: final_result(), is_done(), is_successful() (the agent's own verdict), errors(), urls(), action_names(), number_of_steps(). Swap the model with ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-5"), ChatGoogle(model="gemini-2.5-flash") or ChatOllama(model=...).
Structured output
Pass a Pydantic model as output_model_schema; read the parsed result from history.structured_output.
from pydantic import BaseModel
class Laptop(BaseModel):
name: str
price_usd: float
rating: float
class Laptops(BaseModel):
items: list[Laptop]
agent = Agent(
task="On bestbuy.com find the five best-rated laptops under $1000",
llm=llm,
output_model_schema=Laptops,
)
history = await agent.run()
for laptop in history.structured_output.items:
print(laptop.name, laptop.price_usd, laptop.rating)
Browser settings, domains and proxy
Browser(...) takes the options that used to live in BrowserConfig:
from browser_use import Browser
from browser_use.browser.profile import ProxySettings
browser = Browser(
headless=True,
window_size={"width": 1280, "height": 800},
allowed_domains=["*.bestbuy.com"], # the agent cannot leave these domains
proxy=ProxySettings(server="http://proxy.acme-corp.net:8080"),
storage_state="auth.json", # cookies and localStorage, loaded and saved
)
Browser(use_cloud=True) uses a Browser Use cloud browser (needs BROWSER_USE_API_KEY); Browser.from_system_chrome() reuses your installed Chrome profile, so close Chrome first.
Logins and secrets
Do not write passwords into the task text. Pass sensitive_data; the model sees only the placeholder names, and the real values are substituted when typing, limited to the matching domain:
agent = Agent(
task="Log in to the dashboard with bb_user and bb_pass, then open the Orders page",
llm=llm,
browser=Browser(allowed_domains=["https://*.bestbuy.com"]),
sensitive_data={"https://*.bestbuy.com": {"bb_user": os.environ["BB_USER"], "bb_pass": os.environ["BB_PASS"]}},
)
For sites with 2FA or CAPTCHAs, log in once in a real browser and export storage_state with await browser.export_storage_state("auth.json"), then reuse that file headless.
Custom tools
from browser_use import Agent, Tools, ActionResult
tools = Tools()
@tools.action(description="Ask a human for the 2FA code shown on their phone")
async def ask_human(question: str) -> ActionResult:
return ActionResult(extracted_content=input(f"{question} > "))
agent = Agent(task="...", llm=llm, tools=tools)
Special parameters are injected by name: browser_session: BrowserSession, page_extraction_llm, file_system, available_file_paths. A wrong name makes the tool fail silently. Tools replaces the old Controller (the old name still imports).
Use it from a coding agent
uv tool install browser-use
browser-use skill install # registers the skill with Claude Code, Codex, etc.
browser-use --doctor # diagnose browser connection
claude mcp add browser-use -- uvx --from 'browser-use[cli]' browser-use --mcp # or run it as an MCP server
Examples
Example 1: "Get the top 5 Show HN posts as JSON"
class Post(BaseModel):
title: str
url: str
points: int
class Posts(BaseModel):
posts: list[Post]
agent = Agent(task="Go to news.ycombinator.com/show and list the first 5 posts", llm=ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-5"), output_model_schema=Posts)
history = await agent.run(max_steps=25)
print(history.structured_output.model_dump_json(indent=2))
Result: a validated Posts object, for example {"posts": [{"title": "Show HN: ...", "url": "https://...", "points": 214}, ...]}. If the agent stops early, history.errors() and history.number_of_steps() show why.
Example 2: "Check my order status behind a login, headless, in CI"
Export the session once on your machine (Browser.from_system_chrome(), then export_storage_state("auth.json")), store the file as a CI secret, and run:
agent = Agent(
task="Open the Orders page and report the status of the most recent order",
llm=ChatAnthropic(model="claude-sonnet-4-6"),
browser=Browser(headless=True, storage_state="auth.json", allowed_domains=["shop.brightbasket.dev"]),
)
print((await agent.run(max_steps=20)).final_result())
The agent reuses the saved cookies, never sees a password, and cannot browse outside shop.brightbasket.dev.
Guidelines
is_done() only means the agent emitted a final action; is_successful() is the agent's own opinion. Verify important outcomes (a submitted form, a purchase) in the destination system.- Always set
max_steps (the default in 0.13.10 is 500) and a model with vision; cost and time grow with every step.
- Restrict
allowed_domains and never feed untrusted page content into tasks that hold credentials: pages can contain prompt injection aimed at the agent.
- Keep secrets in
sensitive_data or storage_state files that are git-ignored; never inline them in the task text.
- Prefer an official API when one exists; use a browser agent for sites without one. Respect each site's terms and robots rules.
- Telemetry is on by default; opt out with
ANONYMIZED_TELEMETRY=false.
- The library API changes between 0.x releases (older posts show
BrowserConfig, browser_config=, LangChain models); trust the installed version's signatures.