Control Browser Via Http Api

---
name: control-browser-via-http-api
description: "BrowserWing Executor provides comprehensive browser automation capabilities through HTTP APIs. You can control browser navigation, interact with page elements, extract data, and analyze page structure."
category: "Web & Scraping"
author: community
version: "1.0.0"
icon: globe
---

# BrowserWing Executor API

## Overview

BrowserWing Executor provides comprehensive browser automation capabilities through HTTP APIs. You can control browser navigation, interact with page elements, extract data, and analyze page structure.

## Configuration

**API Base URL:** The BrowserWing Executor API address is configurable via environment variable.

- **Environment Variable:** `BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL`
- **Default Value:** `http://127.0.0.1:8080`
- **How to get the URL:** Read from environment variable `$BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL`, if not set, use default `http://127.0.0.1:8080`

**Base URL Format:** `${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor` or `http://127.0.0.1:8080/api/v1/executor` (if env var not set)

**Authentication:** Use `X-BrowserWing-Key: <api-key>` header or `Authorization: Bearer <token>` if required.

**Important:** Always construct the API URL by reading the environment variable first. In shell commands, use: `${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}`

## Core Capabilities

- **Page Navigation:** Navigate to URLs, go back/forward, reload
- **Element Interaction:** Click, type, select, hover on page elements
- **Data Extraction:** Extract text, attributes, values from elements
- **Accessibility Analysis:** Get accessibility snapshot to understand page structure
- **Advanced Operations:** Screenshot, JavaScript execution, keyboard input
- **Batch Processing:** Execute multiple operations in sequence

## API Endpoints

### 1. Discover Available Commands

**IMPORTANT:** Always call this endpoint first to see all available commands and their parameters.

```bash
EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X GET "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/help"
```

**Response:** Returns complete list of all commands with parameters, examples, and usage guidelines.

**Query specific command:**
```bash
EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X GET "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/help?command=extract"
```

### 2. Get Accessibility Snapshot

**CRITICAL:** Always call this after navigation to understand page structure and get element RefIDs.

```bash
EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X GET "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/snapshot"
```

**Response Example:**
```json
{
  "success": true,
  "snapshot_text": "Clickable Elements:\n  @e1 Login (role: button)\n  @e2 Sign Up (role: link)\n\nInput Elements:\n  @e3 Email (role: textbox) [placeholder: your@email.com]\n  @e4 Password (role: textbox)"
}
```

**Use Cases:**
- Understand what interactive elements are on the page
- Get element RefIDs (@e1, @e2, etc.) for precise identification
- See element labels, roles, and attributes
- The accessibility tree is cleaner than raw DOM and better for LLMs
- RefIDs are stable references that work reliably across page changes

### 3. Common Operations

**Note:** All examples below use `EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"` to read the API address from environment variable, with `http://127.0.0.1:8080` as fallback default.

#### Navigate to URL
```bash
EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/navigate" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com"}'
```

#### Click Element
```bash
EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/click" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"identifier": "@e1"}'
```
**Identifier formats:**
- **RefID (Recommended):** `@e1`, `@e2` (from snapshot)
- **CSS Selector:** `#button-id`, `.class-name`
- **XPath:** `//button[@type='submit']`
- **Text:** `Login` (text content)

#### Type Text
```bash
EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/type" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"identifier": "@e3", "text": "user@example.com"}'
```

#### Extract Data
```bash
EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/extract" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "selector": ".product-item",
    "fields": ["text", "href"],
    "multiple": true
  }'
```

#### Wait for Element
```bash
EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/wait" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"identifier": ".loading", "state": "hidden", "timeout": 10}'
```

#### Batch Operations
```bash
EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/batch" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "operations": [
      {"type": "navigate", "params": {"url": "https://example.com"}, "stop_on_error": true},
      {"type": "click", "params": {"identifier": "@e1"}, "stop_on_error": true},
      {"type": "type", "params": {"identifier": "@e3", "text": "query"}, "stop_on_error": true}
    ]
  }'
```

## Instructions

**Step-by-step workflow:**

0. **Get API URL:** First, read the API base URL from environment variable `$BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL`. If not set, use default `http://127.0.0.1:8080`. In shell commands, use: `EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"`

1. **Discover commands:** Call `GET /help` to see all available operations and their parameters (do this first if unsure).

2. **Navigate:** Use `POST /navigate` to open the target webpage.

3. **Analyze page:** Call `GET /snapshot` to understand page structure and get element RefIDs.

4. **Interact:** Use element RefIDs (like `@e1`, `@e2`) or CSS selectors to:
   - Click elements: `POST /click`
   - Input text: `POST /type`
   - Select options: `POST /select`
   - Wait for elements: `POST /wait`

5. **Extract data:** Use `POST /extract` to get information from the page.

6. **Present results:** Format and show extracted data to the user.

## Complete Example

**User Request:** "Search for 'laptop' on example.com and get the first 5 results"

**Your Actions:**

1. Navigate to search page:
```bash
curl -X POST 'http://127.0.0.1:18085/api/v1/executor/navigate' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com/search"}'
```

2. Get page structure to find search input:
```bash
curl -X GET 'http://127.0.0.1:18085/api/v1/executor/snapshot'
```
Response shows: `@e3 Search (role: textbox) [placeholder: Search...]`

3. Type search query:
```bash
curl -X POST 'http://127.0.0.1:18085/api/v1/executor/type' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"identifier": "@e3", "text": "laptop"}'
```

4. Press Enter to submit:
```bash
curl -X POST 'http://127.0.0.1:18085/api/v1/executor/press-key' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"key": "Enter"}'
```

5. Wait for results to load:
```bash
curl -X POST 'http://127.0.0.1:18085/api/v1/executor/wait' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"identifier": ".search-results", "state": "visible", "timeout": 10}'
```

6. Extract search results:
```bash
curl -X POST 'http://127.0.0.1:18085/api/v1/executor/extract' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "selector": ".result-item",
    "fields": ["text", "href"],
    "multiple": true
  }'
```

7. Present the extracted data:
```
Found 15 results for 'laptop':
1. Gaming Laptop - $1299 (https://...)
2. Business Laptop - $899 (https://...)
...
```

## Key Commands Reference

### Navigation
- `POST /navigate` - Navigate to URL
- `POST /go-back` - Go back in history
- `POST /go-forward` - Go forward in history
- `POST /reload` - Reload current page

### Element Interaction
- `POST /click` - Click element (supports: RefID `@e1`, CSS selector, XPath, text content)
- `POST /type` - Type text into input (supports: RefID `@e3`, CSS selector, XPath)
- `POST /select` - Select dropdown option
- `POST /hover` - Hover over element
- `POST /wait` - Wait for element state (visible, hidden, enabled)
- `POST /press-key` - Press keyboard key (Enter, Tab, Ctrl+S, etc.)

### Data Extraction
- `POST /extract` - Extract data from elements (supports multiple elements, custom fields)
- `POST /get-text` - Get element text content
- `POST /get-value` - Get input element value
- `GET /page-info` - Get page URL and title
- `GET /page-text` - Get all page text
- `GET /page-content` - Get full HTML

### Page Analysis
- `GET /snapshot` - Get accessibility snapshot (⭐ **ALWAYS call after navigation**)
- `GET /clickable-elements` - Get all clickable elements
- `GET /input-elements` - Get all input elements

### Advanced
- `POST /screenshot` - Take page screenshot (base64 encoded)
- `POST /evaluate` - Execute JavaScript code
- `POST /batch` - Execute multiple operations in sequence
- `POST /scroll-to-bottom` - Scroll to page bottom
- `POST /resize` - Resize browser window
- `POST /tabs` - Manage browser tabs (list, new, switch, close)
- `POST /fill-form` - Intelligently fill multiple form fields at once

### Debug & Monitoring
- `GET /console-messages` - Get browser console messages (logs, warnings, errors)
- `GET /network-requests` - Get network requests made by the page
- `POST /handle-dialog` - Configure JavaScript dialog (alert, confirm, prompt) handling
- `POST /file-upload` - Upload files to input elements
- `POST /drag` - Drag and drop elements
- `POST /close-page` - Close the current page/tab

## Element Identification

You can identify elements using:

1. **RefID (Recommended):** `@e1`, `@e2`, `@e3`
   - Most reliable method - stable across page changes
   - Get RefIDs from `/snapshot` endpoint
   - Valid for 5 minutes after snapshot
   - Example: `"identifier": "@e1"`
   - Works with multi-strategy fallback for robustness

2. **CSS Selector:** `#id`, `.class`, `button[type="submit"]`
   - Standard CSS selectors
   - Example: `"identifier": "#login-button"`

3. **XPath:** `//button[@id='login']`, `//a[contains(text(), 'Submit')]`
   - XPath expressions for complex queries
   - Example: `"identifier": "//button[@id='login']"`

4. **Text Content:** `Login`, `Sign Up`, `Submit`
   - Searches buttons and links with matching text
   - Example: `"identifier": "Login"`

5. **ARIA Label:** Elements with `aria-label` attribute
   - Automatically searched

## Guidelines

**Before starting:**
- **Get API URL first:** Read from `$BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL` environment variable, or use `http://127.0.0.1:8080` as default
- Call `GET /help` if you're unsure about available commands or their parameters
- Ensure browser is started (if not, it will auto-start on first operation)

**During automation:**
- **Always call `/snapshot` after navigation** to get page structure and RefIDs
- **Prefer RefIDs** (like `@e1`) over CSS selectors for reliability and stability
- **Re-snapshot after page changes** to get updated RefIDs
- **Use `/wait`** for dynamic content that loads asynchronously
- **Check element states** before interaction (visible, enabled)
- **Use `/batch`** for multiple sequential operations to improve efficiency

**Error handling:**
- If operation fails, check element identifier and try different format
- For timeout errors, increase timeout value
- If element not found, call `/snapshot` again to refresh page structure
- Explain errors clearly to user with suggested solutions

**Data extraction:**
- Use `fields` parameter to specify what to extract: `["text", "href", "src"]`
- Set `multiple: true` to extract from multiple elements
- Format extracted data in a readable way for user

## Complete Workflow Example

**Scenario:** User wants to login to a website

```
User: "Please log in to example.com with username 'john' and password 'secret123'"
```

**Your Actions:**

**Step 1:** Navigate to login page
```bash
EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/navigate" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com/login"}'
```

**Step 2:** Get page structure
```bash
EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X GET "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/snapshot"
```
Response:
```
Clickable Elements:
  @e1 Login (role: button)

Input Elements:
  @e2 Username (role: textbox)
  @e3 Password (role: textbox)
```

**Step 3:** Enter username
```bash
POST http://127.0.0.1:18085/api/v1/executor/type
{"identifier": "@e2", "text": "john"}
```

**Step 4:** Enter password
```bash
POST http://127.0.0.1:18085/api/v1/executor/type
{"identifier": "@e3", "text": "secret123"}
```

**Step 5:** Click login button
```bash
POST http://127.0.0.1:18085/api/v1/executor/click
{"identifier": "@e1"}
```

**Step 6:** Wait for login success (optional)
```bash
POST http://127.0.0.1:18085/api/v1/executor/wait
{"identifier": ".welcome-message", "state": "visible", "timeout": 10}
```

**Step 7:** Inform user
```
"Successfully logged in to example.com!"
```

## Batch Operation Example

**Scenario:** Fill out a form with multiple fields

Instead of making 5 separate API calls, use one batch operation:

```bash
EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/batch" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "operations": [
      {
        "type": "navigate",
        "params": {"url": "https://example.com/form"},
        "stop_on_error": true
      },
      {
        "type": "type",
        "params": {"identifier": "#name", "text": "John Doe"},
        "stop_on_error": true
      },
      {
        "type": "type",
        "params": {"identifier": "#email", "text": "john@example.com"},
        "stop_on_error": true
      },
      {
        "type": "select",
        "params": {"identifier": "#country", "value": "United States"},
        "stop_on_error": true
      },
      {
        "type": "click",
        "params": {"identifier": "#submit"},
        "stop_on_error": true
      }
    ]
  }'
```

## Best Practices

1. **Discovery first:** If unsure, call `/help` or `/help?command=<name>` to learn about commands
2. **Structure first:** Always call `/snapshot` after navigation to understand the page
3. **Use accessibility indices:** They're more reliable than CSS selectors (elements might have dynamic classes)
4. **Wait for dynamic content:** Use `/wait` before interacting with elements that load asynchronously
5. **Batch when possible:** Use `/batch` for multiple sequential operations
6. **Handle errors gracefully:** Provide clear explanations and suggestions when operations fail
7. **Verify results:** After operations, check if desired outcome was achieved

## Common Scenarios

### Form Filling
1. Navigate to form page
2. Get accessibility snapshot to find input elements and their RefIDs
3. Use `/type` for each field: `@e1`, `@e2`, etc.
4. Use `/select` for dropdowns
5. Click submit button using its RefID

### Data Scraping
1. Navigate to target page
2. Wait for content to load with `/wait`
3. Use `/extract` with CSS selector and `multiple: true`
4. Specify fields to extract: `["text", "href", "src"]`

### Search Operations
1. Navigate to search page
2. Get accessibility snapshot to locate search input
3. Type search query into input
4. Press Enter or click search button
5. Wait for results
6. Extract results data

### Login Automation
1. Navigate to login page
2. Get accessibility snapshot to find RefIDs
3. Type username: `@e2`
4. Type password: `@e3`
5. Click login button: `@e1`
6. Wait for success indicator

## Important Notes

- Browser must be running (it will auto-start on first operation if needed)
- Operations are executed on the **currently active browser tab**
- Accessibility snapshot updates after each navigation and click operation
- All timeouts are in seconds
- Use `wait_visible: true` (default) for reliable element interaction
- **API address:** Always read from `$BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL` environment variable, fallback to `http://127.0.0.1:8080` if not set
- Authentication required: use `X-BrowserWing-Key` header or JWT token if configured

## Troubleshooting

**Element not found:**
- Call `/snapshot` to see available elements
- Try different identifier format (accessibility index, CSS selector, text)
- Check if page has finished loading

**Timeout errors:**
- Increase timeout value in request
- Check if element actually appears on page
- Use `/wait` with appropriate state before interaction

**Extraction returns empty:**
- Verify CSS selector matches target elements
- Check if content has loaded (use `/wait` first)
- Try different extraction fields or type

## Quick Reference

```bash
EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"

# Discover commands
curl -X GET "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/help"

# Navigate
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/navigate" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"url": "..."}'

# Get page structure
curl -X GET "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/snapshot"

# Click element
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/click" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"identifier": "@e1"}'

# Type text
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/type" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"identifier": "@e3", "text": "..."}'

# Extract data
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/extract" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"selector": "...", "fields": [...], "multiple": true}'
```

## Response Format

All operations return:
```json
{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Operation description",
  "timestamp": "2026-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "data": {
    // Operation-specific data
  }
}
```

**Error response:**
```json
{
  "error": "error.operationFailed",
  "detail": "Detailed error message"
}
```