Show HN: Token efficient command line tool for textual operation of browsers

WebCLI, a new command-line tool for controlling Chromium and Firefox browsers via CDP and BiDi protocols, has been publicly released. The tool allows users to perform browser operations like navigation, clicking, typing, and form submission using numbered action sheets instead of CSS selectors, with support for profiles, tabs, frames, and human-agent handoffs.

Public release artifacts for WebCLI are published here by the private source tree release workflow. see more: https://webcli.sh https://webcli.sh Install: curl -fsSL https://webcli.sh/install.sh | bash Windows PowerShell: irm https://webcli.sh/install.ps1 | iex Release assets are immutable per tag and include SHA256SUMS.txt . Claude Fable told me to put this here: rVEtFlb2oFA I guess so it could be found web --help : web - web controls a real Chromium or Firefox browser session over CDP and BiDi. Running web inspect returns a numbered action sheet — stable refs you click, type into, and act on without writing selectors. Refs reset after page-state changes; re-inspect before the next action to get fresh numbers. Usage: web --json|--no-json|--text --profile <name --frame <frame <command web no command — opens an interactive REPL Core commands: go Navigate or move through history. --new opens in a new tab. inspect List numbered actions on the page. <query can be a ref number, visible text, or a selector: prefix. do Run a numbered action. <query is a ref number 3 , visible text Submit , or selector: prefix. click Click a matched element. <query is a ref number, visible text e.g. Issues, Submit , or selector: prefix. Bare numbers are refs; use text:<n to match a numeric label. Omit query with --coords to click at absolute page coordinates. type Type into a field. -t / --target accepts a text label or CSS selector. read Read page text or a target region. status Show session and page state. find Find matching elements or tabs. <query is visible text e.g. Submit, Issues , a ref number, or a selector: prefix. Returns a numbered ref sheet — text matches may return multiple results; act on the ref if unambiguous, or use --all to see every match. form List visible form fields. submit Submit the nearest form. press Send a key press. keydown Hold a key down without releasing. keyup Release a held key. Pairs with keydown. pointerdown Press pointer down without releasing starts drag or long-press . pointermove Move pointer while held continues drag . pointerup Release pointer ends drag or long-press . Pairs with pointerdown. say Paste text into the focused element. Click to focus first if needed. clear Clear an editable target. choose Choose a native select option. switch Switch tabs or frames. Both 'web switch tab N' and 'web tab switch N' are accepted. tab Manage tabs. frame Manage frames. profiles Manage profiles. A profile is a named directory holding browsing data and daemon state. Ephemeral profiles start fresh each session. Named profiles persist across sessions. Temporary profiles are named but self-destruct on 'web quit'. The user-default profile copies your real browser's cookies and sessions for sites that need established trust. scroll Scroll the page or bring a match into view. <query is a ref number or visible text. Bare numbers are refs; use text:<number to match numeric labels. back Go back in history. forward Go forward in history. reload Reload the tab. quit Stop the local browser session or all/specific profiles . Temporary profiles are deleted on quit. Handoff commands: human-drives Hand browser control to a human. agent-drives Return control to the agent. pause Record a human checkpoint. resume Reconnect to the current session. Configure commands: use Choose the active browser. set Enable a sticky setting. unset Disable a sticky setting. get Show sticky settings. teach Write the skill file into agent directories. agents-md Print agent instructions. skill-md Print the skill sheet. Advanced commands: resize Resize the browser window e.g. 1280x800 . stop Stop the in-flight page load. reveal Scroll a ref or match into view. Bare numbers are refs; use text:<number for numeric text. search Search the web. wait Wait for a page condition. snap Take a screenshot and save to a file default: screenshot.png . observe Return a one-shot page snapshot. refs Show saved refs. last Show the latest refs. focus Focus a target. caret Move the caret. select-text Select a text range. hover Hover a target. options List native select options. connect Set a remote connection target. disconnect Clear the saved connection target. license Manage the local license. Debug commands: disambiguate List all elements matching a query for explicit selection. transcript Inspect the local transcript. report-issue Open a GitHub issue in the current web CLI session or system browser with --system-browser . eval Evaluate JavaScript in the page context. highlight Highlight a ref with a visible overlay. describe Print node handle, selector, role, tag, and bounds for a ref. scroll-element Scroll a specific element popover, panel, list, dropdown using wheel gestures. readme Print quickstart docs. version Print version information. BrowserBox commands: join Get a BrowserBox join link. browserbox Run BrowserBox tools. Core parameters: --json Emit machine-readable JSON. --profile <name Override the current profile for this command. --frame <frame Override the frame target for this command. Advanced parameters: --no-json Force human-readable output. --text Force human-readable output. Alias for --no-json. --quiet Suppress successful human-readable output. Debug parameters: --continue-on-error Keep going after errors in batch input. --help-json Print scoped help as JSON.