openclaw browser

Manage OpenClaw's browser control surface and run browser actions (lifecycle, profiles, tabs, snapshots, screenshots, navigation, input, state emulation, and debugging).

Related:

• Browser tool + API: Browser tool

Common flags

• --url <gatewayWsUrl>: Gateway WebSocket URL (defaults to config).
• --token <token>: Gateway token (if required).
• --timeout <ms>: request timeout (ms).
• --expect-final: wait for a final Gateway response.
• --browser-profile <name>: choose a browser profile (default from config).
• --json: machine-readable output (where supported).

Quick start (local)

openclaw browser profilesopenclaw browser --browser-profile openclaw startopenclaw browser --browser-profile openclaw open https://example.comopenclaw browser --browser-profile openclaw snapshot

Agents can run the same readiness check with browser({ action: "doctor" }).

Quick troubleshooting

If start fails with not reachable after start, troubleshoot CDP readiness first. If start and tabs succeed but open or navigate fails, the browser control plane is healthy and the failure is usually navigation SSRF policy.

Minimal sequence:

openclaw browser --browser-profile openclaw doctoropenclaw browser --browser-profile openclaw startopenclaw browser --browser-profile openclaw tabsopenclaw browser --browser-profile openclaw open https://example.com

Detailed guidance: Browser troubleshooting

Lifecycle

openclaw browser statusopenclaw browser doctoropenclaw browser doctor --deepopenclaw browser startopenclaw browser start --headlessopenclaw browser stopopenclaw browser --browser-profile openclaw reset-profile

Notes:

• doctor --deep adds a live snapshot probe. It is useful when basic CDP readiness is green but you want proof that the current tab can be inspected.
• For attachOnly and remote CDP profiles, openclaw browser stop closes the active control session and clears temporary emulation overrides even when OpenClaw did not launch the browser process itself.
• For local managed profiles, openclaw browser stop stops the spawned browser process.
• openclaw browser start --headless applies only to that start request and only when OpenClaw launches a local managed browser. It does not rewrite browser.headless or profile config, and it is a no-op for an already-running browser.
• On Linux hosts without DISPLAY or WAYLAND_DISPLAY, local managed profiles run headless automatically unless OPENCLAW_BROWSER_HEADLESS=0, browser.headless=false, or browser.profiles.<name>.headless=false explicitly requests a visible browser.

If the command is missing

If openclaw browser is an unknown command, check plugins.allow in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.

When plugins.allow is present, list the bundled browser plugin explicitly unless the config already has a root browser block:

{  plugins: {    allow: ["telegram", "browser"],  },}

An explicit root browser block, for example browser.enabled=true or browser.profiles.<name>, also activates the bundled browser plugin under a restrictive plugin allowlist.

Related: Browser tool

Profiles

Profiles are named browser routing configs. In practice:

• openclaw: launches or attaches to a dedicated OpenClaw-managed Chrome instance (isolated user data dir).
• user: controls your existing signed-in Chrome session via Chrome DevTools MCP.
• custom CDP profiles: point at a local or remote CDP endpoint.

openclaw browser profilesopenclaw browser create-profile --name work --color "#FF5A36"openclaw browser create-profile --name chrome-live --driver existing-sessionopenclaw browser create-profile --name remote --cdp-url https://browser-host.example.comopenclaw browser delete-profile --name work

Use a specific profile:

openclaw browser --browser-profile work tabs

Tabs

openclaw browser tabsopenclaw browser tab new --label docsopenclaw browser tab label t1 docsopenclaw browser tab select 2openclaw browser tab close 2openclaw browser open https://docs.openclaw.ai --label docsopenclaw browser focus docsopenclaw browser close t1

tabs returns suggestedTargetId first, then the stable tabId such as t1, the optional label, and the raw targetId. Agents should pass suggestedTargetId back into focus, close, snapshots, and actions. You can assign a label with open --label, tab new --label, or tab label; labels, tab ids, raw target ids, and unique target-id prefixes are all accepted. When Chromium replaces the underlying raw target during a navigation or form submit, OpenClaw keeps the stable tabId/label attached to the replacement tab when it can prove the match. Raw target ids remain volatile; prefer suggestedTargetId.

Snapshot / screenshot / actions

Snapshot:

openclaw browser snapshotopenclaw browser snapshot --urls

Screenshot:

openclaw browser screenshotopenclaw browser screenshot --full-pageopenclaw browser screenshot --ref e12openclaw browser screenshot --labels

Notes:

• --full-page is for page captures only; it cannot be combined with --ref or --element.
• existing-session / user profiles support page screenshots and --ref screenshots from snapshot output, but not CSS --element screenshots.
• --labels overlays current snapshot refs on the screenshot.
• snapshot --urls appends discovered link destinations to AI snapshots so agents can choose direct navigation targets instead of guessing from link text alone.

Navigate/click/type (ref-based UI automation):

openclaw browser navigate https://example.comopenclaw browser click <ref>openclaw browser click-coords 120 340openclaw browser type <ref> "hello"openclaw browser press Enteropenclaw browser hover <ref>openclaw browser scrollintoview <ref>openclaw browser drag <startRef> <endRef>openclaw browser select <ref> OptionA OptionBopenclaw browser fill --fields '[{"ref":"1","value":"Ada"}]'openclaw browser wait --text "Done"openclaw browser evaluate --fn '(el) => el.textContent' --ref <ref>openclaw browser evaluate --timeout-ms 30000 --fn 'async () => { await window.ready; return true; }'

Use evaluate --timeout-ms <ms> when the page-side function may need longer than the default evaluate timeout.

Action responses return the current raw targetId after action-triggered page replacement when OpenClaw can prove the replacement tab. Scripts should still store and pass suggestedTargetId/labels for long-lived workflows.

File + dialog helpers:

openclaw browser upload /tmp/openclaw/uploads/file.pdf --ref <ref>openclaw browser waitfordownloadopenclaw browser download <ref> report.pdfopenclaw browser dialog --acceptopenclaw browser dialog --dismiss --dialog-id d1

Managed Chrome profiles save ordinary click-triggered downloads into the OpenClaw downloads directory (/tmp/openclaw/downloads by default, or the configured temp root). Use waitfordownload or download when the agent needs to wait for a specific file and return its path; those explicit waiters own the next download. When an action opens a modal dialog, the action response returns blockedByDialog with browserState.dialogs.pending; pass --dialog-id to answer it directly. Dialogs handled outside OpenClaw appear under browserState.dialogs.recent.

State and storage

Viewport + emulation:

openclaw browser resize 1280 720openclaw browser set viewport 1280 720openclaw browser set offline onopenclaw browser set media darkopenclaw browser set timezone Europe/Londonopenclaw browser set locale en-GBopenclaw browser set geo 51.5074 -0.1278 --accuracy 25openclaw browser set device "iPhone 14"openclaw browser set headers '{"x-test":"1"}'openclaw browser set credentials myuser mypass

Cookies + storage:

openclaw browser cookiesopenclaw browser cookies set session abc123 --url https://example.comopenclaw browser cookies clearopenclaw browser storage local getopenclaw browser storage local set token abc123openclaw browser storage session clear

Debugging

openclaw browser console --level erroropenclaw browser pdfopenclaw browser responsebody "**/api"openclaw browser highlight <ref>openclaw browser errors --clearopenclaw browser requests --filter apiopenclaw browser trace startopenclaw browser trace stop --out trace.zip

Existing Chrome via MCP

Use the built-in user profile, or create your own existing-session profile:

openclaw browser --browser-profile user tabsopenclaw browser create-profile --name chrome-live --driver existing-sessionopenclaw browser create-profile --name brave-live --driver existing-session --user-data-dir "~/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser"openclaw browser --browser-profile chrome-live tabs

This path is host-only. For Docker, headless servers, Browserless, or other remote setups, use a CDP profile instead.

Current existing-session limits:

• snapshot-driven actions use refs, not CSS selectors
• browser.actionTimeoutMs defaults supported act requests to 60000 ms when callers omit timeoutMs; per-call timeoutMs still wins.
• click is left-click only
• type does not support slowly=true
• press does not support delayMs
• hover, scrollintoview, drag, select, fill, and evaluate reject per-call timeout overrides
• select supports one value only
• wait --load networkidle is not supported
• file uploads require --ref / --input-ref, do not support CSS --element, and currently support one file at a time
• dialog hooks do not support --timeout
• screenshots support page captures and --ref, but not CSS --element
• responsebody, download interception, PDF export, and batch actions still require a managed browser or raw CDP profile

Remote browser control (node host proxy)

If the Gateway runs on a different machine than the browser, run a node host on the machine that has Chrome/Brave/Edge/Chromium. The Gateway will proxy browser actions to that node (no separate browser control server required).

Use gateway.nodes.browser.mode to control auto-routing and gateway.nodes.browser.node to pin a specific node if multiple are connected.

Security + remote setup: Browser tool, Remote access, Tailscale, Security

Related

• CLI reference
• Browser