- name
- steel-browser
- description
- Control cloud browser sessions via Steel.dev for web automation and computer-use agents. Use when you need to browse the web, fill forms, click elements, take screenshots, scrape content, or build browser automation loops. Uses Playwright selectors (CSS/text/aria) instead of pixel coordinates — more reliable than e2b-desktop for pure web tasks. Supports residential proxies and CAPTCHA solving.
Steel Browser Skill
Cloud browser-use via Steel.dev + Playwright Python SDK. Ideal for web automation, scraping, form filling, and AI agent browser loops.
Prerequisites
pip install steel-sdk playwright
export STEEL_API_KEY=your_key_hereGet your API key at https://app.steel.dev → Settings → API Keys (free: 100 browser hours).
Steel API key should be set in OpenClaw config or environment:
openclaw config set env.STEEL_API_KEY "your_key"State Management
start_session.shsaves session ID to~/.steel_state- All scripts auto-load it from there
- Override anytime with
export STEEL_SESSION_ID=<id> - Sessions persist until
release_session.shor timeout
Scripts
| Script | Usage | Description | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
start_session.sh | [--proxy] [--captcha] [--timeout MS] | Create session; prints SESSION_ID + VIEWER_URL | |||
release_session.sh | [SESSION_ID] | Release session | |||
list_sessions.sh | _(none)_ | List active sessions | |||
navigate.sh | URL [--wait-until networkidle] | Go to URL | |||
screenshot.sh | [OUTPUT.png] [--full-page] | Take screenshot | |||
click.sh | SELECTOR | Click by CSS/text/aria selector | |||
click_coords.sh | X Y [--right] [--double] | Click at pixel coords (fallback) | |||
type.sh | SELECTOR "text" | Fill input field | |||
press_key.sh | KEY | Press key (e.g. Enter, Control+a) | |||
scroll.sh | `AMOUNT\ | --to-bottom\ | --to-top\ | SELECTOR` | Scroll page |
hover.sh | SELECTOR | Hover over element | |||
select.sh | SELECTOR VALUE | Select dropdown option | |||
get_content.sh | [--html] [SELECTOR] | Extract page text or HTML | |||
eval_js.sh | "js expression" | Execute JavaScript, print result | |||
wait_for.sh | SELECTOR [TIMEOUT_MS] | Wait for element to appear | |||
get_url.sh | _(none)_ | Print current URL and page title |
Selector Examples
Steel uses Playwright selectors — much more powerful than pixel coords:
# By CSS
click.sh "#submit-button"
click.sh ".nav-link:first-child"
# By text content
click.sh "text=Sign in"
click.sh "button:has-text('Continue')"
# By aria label
click.sh "[aria-label='Search']"
click.sh "[placeholder='Email address']"
# XPath
click.sh "xpath=//button[@type='submit']"Browser-Use Agent Loop Pattern
SCRIPTS="skills/steel-browser/scripts"
# 1. Start session (add --proxy --captcha for tough sites)
source <($SCRIPTS/start_session.sh)
echo "Session: $SESSION_ID"
echo "Watch at: $VIEWER_URL"
# 2. Navigate
$SCRIPTS/navigate.sh "https://example.com"
# 3. Agent loop
while true; do
$SCRIPTS/screenshot.sh /tmp/screen.png
# Get page text for LLM context
CONTENT=$($SCRIPTS/get_content.sh)
# LLM decides action...
ACTION=$(echo "$CONTENT" | llm_decide /tmp/screen.png)
case "$ACTION_TYPE" in
click) $SCRIPTS/click.sh "$SELECTOR" ;;
type) $SCRIPTS/type.sh "$SELECTOR" "$TEXT" ;;
navigate) $SCRIPTS/navigate.sh "$URL" ;;
done) break ;;
esac
done
# 4. Release
$SCRIPTS/release_session.shvs E2B Desktop
| Feature | Steel Browser | E2B Desktop |
|---|---|---|
| Selectors | Playwright CSS/text/aria ✅ | Pixel coords only |
| Proxy support | ✅ Residential proxies | ❌ |
| CAPTCHA solving | ✅ Built-in | ❌ |
| Non-browser tasks | ❌ | ✅ Desktop apps, terminal |
| Session viewer | ✅ Live URL | ✅ VNC stream |
Use Steel for web automation. Use E2B Desktop for desktop apps / full OS control.