
opencli-operate
Make websites accessible for AI agents. Navigate, click, type, extract, wait — using Chrome with existing login sessions. No LLM API key needed.
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Install
Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.
npx skills add https://github.com/jackwener/opencli --skill opencli-operate- 01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
- 02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads opencli-operate automatically when relevant.
- 03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.
SKILL.md
The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.
OpenCLI Operate — Browser Automation for AI Agents
Control Chrome step-by-step via CLI. Reuses existing login sessions — no passwords needed.
Prerequisites
opencli doctor # Verify extension + daemon connectivity
Requires: Chrome running + OpenCLI Browser Bridge extension installed.
Critical Rules
- ALWAYS use
stateto inspect the page, NEVER usescreenshot—statereturns structured DOM with[N]element indices, is instant and costs zero tokens.screenshotrequires vision processing and is slow. Only usescreenshotwhen the user explicitly asks to save a visual. - ALWAYS use
click/type/selectfor interaction, NEVER useevalto click or type —eval "el.click()"bypasses scrollIntoView and CDP click pipeline, causing failures on off-screen elements. Usestateto find the[N]index, thenclick <N>. - Verify inputs with
get value, not screenshots — aftertype, runget value <index>to confirm. - Run
stateafter every page change — afteropen,click(on links),scroll, always runstateto see the new elements and their indices. Never guess indices. - Chain commands aggressively with
&&— combineopen + state, multipletypecalls, andtype + get valueinto single&&chains. Each tool call has overhead; chaining cuts it. evalis read-only — useevalONLY for data extraction (JSON.stringify(...)), never for clicking, typing, or navigating. Always wrap in IIFE to avoid variable conflicts:eval "(function(){ const x = ...; return JSON.stringify(x); })()".- Minimize total tool calls — plan your sequence before acting. A good task completion uses 3-5 tool calls, not 15-20. Combine
open + stateas one call. Combinetype + type + clickas one call. Only runstateseparately when you need to discover new indices. - Prefer
networkto discover APIs — most sites have JSON APIs. API-based adapters are more reliable than DOM scraping.
Command Cost Guide
| Cost | Commands | When to use |
|---|---|---|
| Free & instant | state, get *, eval, network, scroll, keys | Default — use these |
| Free but changes page | open, click, type, select, back | Interaction — run state after |
| Expensive (vision tokens) | screenshot | ONLY when user needs a saved image |
Action Chaining Rules
Commands can be chained with &&. The browser persists via daemon, so chaining is safe.
Always chain when possible — fewer tool calls = faster completion:
# GOOD: open + inspect in one call (saves 1 round trip)
opencli operate open https://example.com && opencli operate state
# GOOD: fill form in one call (saves 2 round trips)
opencli operate type 3 "hello" && opencli operate type 4 "world" && opencli operate click 7
# GOOD: type + verify in one call
opencli operate type 5 "test@example.com" && opencli operate get value 5
# GOOD: click + wait + state in one call (for page-changing clicks)
opencli operate click 12 && opencli operate wait time 1 && opencli operate state
# BAD: separate calls for each action (wasteful)
opencli operate type 3 "hello" # Don't do this
opencli operate type 4 "world" # when you can chain
opencli operate click 7 # all three together
Page-changing — always put last in a chain (subsequent commands see stale indices):
open <url>,back,click <link/button that navigates>
Rule: Chain when you already know the indices. Run state separately when you need to discover indices first.
Core Workflow
- Navigate:
opencli operate open <url> - Inspect:
opencli operate state→ elements with[N]indices - Interact: use indices —
click,type,select,keys - Wait (if needed):
opencli operate wait selector ".loaded"orwait text "Success" - Verify:
opencli operate stateoropencli operate get value <N> - Repeat: browser stays open between commands
- Save: write a TS adapter to
~/.opencli/clis/<site>/<command>.ts
Commands
Navigation
opencli operate open <url> # Open URL (page-changing)
opencli operate back # Go back (page-changing)
opencli operate scroll down # Scroll (up/down, --amount N)
opencli operate scroll up --amount 1000
Inspect (free & instant)
opencli operate state # Structured DOM with [N] indices — PRIMARY tool
opencli operate screenshot [path.png] # Save visual to file — ONLY for user deliverables
Get (free & instant)
opencli operate get title # Page title
opencli operate get url # Current URL
opencli operate get text <index> # Element text content
opencli operate get value <index> # Input/textarea value (use to verify after type)
opencli operate get html # Full page HTML
opencli operate get html --selector "h1" # Scoped HTML
opencli operate get attributes <index> # Element attributes
Interact
opencli operate click <index> # Click element [N]
opencli operate type <index> "text" # Type into element [N]
opencli operate select <index> "option" # Select dropdown
opencli operate keys "Enter" # Press key (Enter, Escape, Tab, Control+a)
Wait
Three variants — use the right one for the situation:
opencli operate wait time 3 # Wait N seconds (fixed delay)
opencli operate wait selector ".loaded" # Wait until element appears in DOM
opencli operate wait selector ".spinner" --timeout 5000 # With timeout (default 30s)
opencli operate wait text "Success" # Wait until text appears on page
When to wait: After open on SPAs, after click that triggers async loading, before eval on dynamically rendered content.
Extract (free & instant, read-only)
Use eval ONLY for reading data. Never use it to click, type, or navigate.
opencli operate eval "document.title"
opencli operate eval "JSON.stringify([...document.querySelectorAll('h2')].map(e => e.textContent))"
# IMPORTANT: wrap complex logic in IIFE to avoid "already declared" errors
opencli operate eval "(function(){ const items = [...document.querySelectorAll('.item')]; return JSON.stringify(items.map(e => e.textContent)); })()"
Selector safety: Always use fallback selectors — querySelector returns null on miss:
# BAD: crashes if selector misses
opencli operate eval "document.querySelector('.title').textContent"
# GOOD: fallback with || or ?.
opencli operate eval "(document.querySelector('.title') || document.querySelector('h1') || {textContent:''}).textContent"
opencli operate eval "document.querySelector('.title')?.textContent ?? 'not found'"
Network (API Discovery)
opencli operate network # Show captured API requests (auto-captured since open)
opencli operate network --detail 3 # Show full response body of request #3
opencli operate network --all # Include static resources
Sedimentation (Save as CLI)
opencli operate init hn/top # Generate adapter scaffold at ~/.opencli/clis/hn/top.ts
opencli operate verify hn/top # Test the adapter (adds --limit 3 only if `limit` arg is defined)
initauto-detects the domain from the active browser session (no need to specify it)initcreates the file + populatessite,name,domain, andcolumnsfrom current pageverifyruns the adapter end-to-end and prints output; if nolimitarg exists in the adapter, it won't pass--limit 3
Session
opencli operate close # Close automation window
Example: Extract HN Stories
opencli operate open https://news.ycombinator.com
opencli operate state # See [1] a "Story 1", [2] a "Story 2"...
opencli operate eval "JSON.stringify([...document.querySelectorAll('.titleline a')].slice(0,5).map(a => ({title: a.textContent, url: a.href})))"
opencli operate close
Example: Fill a Form
opencli operate open https://httpbin.org/forms/post
opencli operate state # See [3] input "Customer Name", [4] input "Telephone"
opencli operate type 3 "OpenCLI" && opencli operate type 4 "555-0100"
opencli operate get value 3 # Verify: "OpenCLI"
opencli operate close
Saving as Reusable CLI — Complete Workflow
Step-by-step sedimentation flow:
# 1. Explore the website
opencli operate open https://news.ycombinator.com
opencli operate state # Understand DOM structure
# 2. Discover APIs (crucial for high-quality adapters)
opencli operate eval "fetch('/api/...').then(r=>r.json())" # Trigger API calls
opencli operate network # See captured API requests
opencli operate network --detail 0 # Inspect response body
# 3. Generate scaffold
opencli operate init hn/top # Creates ~/.opencli/clis/hn/top.ts
# 4. Edit the adapter (fill in func logic)
# - If API found: use fetch() directly (Strategy.PUBLIC or COOKIE)
# - If no API: use page.evaluate() for DOM extraction (Strategy.UI)
# 5. Verify
opencli operate verify hn/top # Runs the adapter and shows output
# 6. If verify fails, edit and retry
# 7. Close when done
opencli operate close
Example adapter:
// ~/.opencli/clis/hn/top.ts
import { cli, Strategy } from '@jackwener/opencli/registry';
cli({
site: 'hn',
name: 'top',
description: 'Top Hacker News stories',
domain: 'news.ycombinator.com',
strategy: Strategy.PUBLIC,
browser: false,
args: [{ name: 'limit', type: 'int', default: 5 }],
columns: ['rank', 'title', 'score', 'url'],
func: async (_page, kwargs) => {
const limit = Math.min(Math.max(1, kwargs.limit ?? 5), 50);
const resp = await fetch('https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/topstories.json');
const ids = await resp.json();
return Promise.all(
ids.slice(0, limit).map(async (id: number, i: number) => {
const item = await (await fetch(`https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/item/${id}.json`)).json();
return { rank: i + 1, title: item.title, score: item.score, url: item.url ?? '' };
})
);
},
});
Save to ~/.opencli/clis/<site>/<command>.ts → immediately available as opencli <site> <command>.
Strategy Guide
| Strategy | When | browser: |
|---|---|---|
Strategy.PUBLIC | Public API, no auth | false |
Strategy.COOKIE | Needs login cookies | true |
Strategy.UI | Direct DOM interaction | true |
Always prefer API over UI — if you discovered an API during browsing, use fetch() directly.
Tips
- Always
statefirst — never guess element indices, always inspect first - Sessions persist — browser stays open between commands, no need to re-open
- Use
evalfor data extraction —eval "JSON.stringify(...)"is faster than multiplegetcalls - Use
networkto find APIs — JSON APIs are more reliable than DOM scraping - Alias:
opencli opis shorthand foropencli operate
Common Pitfalls
-
form.submit()fails in automation — Don't useform.submit()orevalto submit forms. Navigate directly to the search URL instead:# BAD: form.submit() often silently fails opencli operate eval "document.querySelector('form').submit()" # GOOD: construct the URL and navigate opencli operate open "https://github.com/search?q=opencli&type=repositories" -
GitHub DOM changes frequently — Prefer
data-testidattributes when available; they are more stable than class names or tag structure. -
SPA pages need
waitbefore extraction — Afteropenorclickon single-page apps, the DOM isn't ready immediately. Alwayswait selectororwait textbeforeeval. -
Use
statebefore clicking — Runopencli operate stateto inspect available interactive elements and their indices. Never guess indices from memory. -
evaluateruns in browser context —page.evaluate()in adapters executes inside the browser. Node.js APIs (fs,path,process) are NOT available. Usefetch()for network calls, DOM APIs for page data. -
Backticks in
page.evaluatebreak JSON storage — When writing adapters that will be stored/transported as JSON, avoid template literals insidepage.evaluate. Use string concatenation or function-style evaluate:// BAD: template literal backticks break when adapter is in JSON page.evaluate(`document.querySelector("${selector}")`) // GOOD: function-style evaluate page.evaluate((sel) => document.querySelector(sel), selector)
Troubleshooting
| Error | Fix |
|---|---|
| "Browser not connected" | Run opencli doctor |
| "attach failed: chrome-extension://" | Disable 1Password temporarily |
| Element not found | opencli operate scroll down && opencli operate state |
| Stale indices after page change | Run opencli operate state again to get fresh indices |
FAQ
What does the opencli-operate skill do?
Make websites accessible for AI agents. Navigate, click, type, extract, wait — using Chrome with existing login sessions. No LLM API key needed.
How do I install opencli-operate?
Run npx skills add https://github.com/jackwener/opencli --skill opencli-operate in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/opencli-operate/ (personal) or .claude/skills/opencli-operate/ (project).
Which AI agents can use opencli-operate?
Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.
Is opencli-operate safe to install?
No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.
Who maintains opencli-operate?
It is published by jackwener in jackwener/opencli. It has 1,906 recorded installs.
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