Browser Bridge Setup

⚠️ Important: Browser commands reuse your Chrome login session. You must be logged into the target website in Chrome before running commands.

OpenCLI connects to your browser through a lightweight Browser Bridge Chrome Extension + micro-daemon (zero config, auto-start).

Extension Installation

Method 1: Download Pre-built Release (Recommended)

1. Go to the GitHub Releases page and download the latest opencli-extension-v{version}.zip.
2. Unzip the file and open chrome://extensions, enable Developer mode (top-right toggle).
3. Click Load unpacked and select the unzipped folder.

Method 2: Load Unpacked Source (For Developers)

1. Open chrome://extensions and enable Developer mode.
2. Click Load unpacked and select the extension/ directory from the repository.

Verification

That's it! The daemon auto-starts when you run any browser command. No tokens, no manual configuration.

opencli doctor            # Check extension + daemon connectivity

Tab Targeting

Browser commands require an explicit <session> positional immediately after browser. Use the same session name for a multi-step flow, and use different names to isolate parallel work.

opencli browser baidu open https://www.baidu.com/
opencli browser baidu tab list
opencli browser baidu tab new https://www.baidu.com/
opencli browser baidu eval --tab <targetId> 'document.title'
opencli browser baidu tab select <targetId>
opencli browser baidu get title
opencli browser baidu tab close <targetId>

Key rules:

• opencli browser <session> open <url> and opencli browser <session> tab new [url] return a targetId.
• opencli browser <session> tab list prints the targetId values of tabs that already exist.
• --tab <targetId> routes a single browser command to that specific tab.
• tab new creates a new tab but does not change the default browser target.
• tab select <targetId> makes that tab the default target for later untargeted opencli browser ... commands.
• tab close <targetId> removes the tab; if it was the current default target, the stored default is cleared.

Session Lifecycle

Use a stable session name when you want multiple opencli browser commands to keep operating on the same page:

opencli browser my-session open https://example.com
opencli browser my-session state
opencli browser my-session extract "main"

Owned browser sessions use an interactive tab lease with a 10-minute idle timeout. Release it explicitly when done:

opencli browser my-session close

Use opencli browser <session> bind when you want to attach OpenCLI to a Chrome tab you already opened manually. Bound sessions do not have the owned-session idle close timer; they stay attached until unbind, tab close, window close, or daemon restart. For owned sessions, use --window foreground to watch OpenCLI work in a visible automation window, or --window background to keep that automation window out of the way.

How It Works

┌─────────────┐     WebSocket      ┌──────────────┐     Chrome API     ┌─────────┐
│  opencli    │ ◄──────────────► │  micro-daemon │ ◄──────────────► │  Chrome  │
│  (Node.js)  │    localhost:19825  │  (auto-start) │    Extension       │ Browser  │
└─────────────┘                    └──────────────┘                    └─────────┘

The daemon manages the WebSocket connection between your CLI commands and the Chrome extension. The extension executes JavaScript in the context of web pages, with access to the logged-in session.

Daemon Lifecycle

The daemon auto-starts on first browser command and stays alive persistently.

opencli daemon stop      # Graceful shutdown

The daemon is persistent — it stays alive until you explicitly stop it (opencli daemon stop) or uninstall the package.

Running OpenCLI from a remote machine

If you need to run opencli on a remote server (CI runner, agent host) but keep the browser session on your local machine, see Remote Orchestration. It walks through the SSH reverse-tunnel pattern so the daemon never leaves localhost.