AI-controlled browser: browser-use - A comprehensive introduction
How does AI technology revolutionize browser automation interaction? The browser-use project brings a new solution.
Core content:
1. Overview of the browser-use project and its YCombinator support background
2. Introduction to the core functions of browser-use, including visual + HTML extraction, multi-tab management, etc.
3. Project application scenarios, community support and future development prospects
Project Overview
browser-use is a tool designed for AI agents. It aims to enable AI to autonomously perform web page operations, such as clicking buttons, filling out forms, or navigating pages, by extracting interactive elements of websites (such as buttons, forms, and links). The project not only provides a bridge for AI to access the Internet, but also provides powerful automation solutions for developers and enterprises. The core goal of browser-use is to enable AI agents to focus on the core value of the task, such as optimizing the user experience, without having to deal with complex web page interaction logic.
The project is supported by YCombinator and recently completed a $17 million seed round of financing. It is actively recruiting, showing strong momentum. Its official website [1] and GitHub repository [2] provide detailed documentation and resources to help users get started quickly.
Core Features
The functional design of browser-use fully considers the needs of AI agents in the web environment. The following are its main features:
| Function | describe |
| Visual + HTML Extraction | |
| Multi-label management | |
| Element Tracking | |
| Custom Actions | |
| Self-correcting mechanism | |
| Wide LLM compatibility |
Vision + HTML Extraction
By combining computer vision algorithms and HTML structure parsing, browser-use enables AI agents to accurately understand the visual and structural information of web pages. This approach goes beyond traditional web crawling techniques and can handle dynamic content and complex layouts.
Multi-tab Management
Supports operating multiple browser tabs simultaneously, which is suitable for tasks that require parallel processing. For example, AI can search for information, compare data, or execute multi-step workflows in different tabs at the same time.
Element Tracking
By recording the XPath of interactive elements, browser-use ensures repeatability of AI actions. This is especially important for automated tasks that require consistent execution, such as repeatedly filling out a form or clicking a specific button.
Custom Actions
Users can extend the functionality of browser-use and add custom actions, such as saving data to files, performing database operations, sending notifications, or introducing human intervention. This flexibility makes it suitable for a variety of specific scenarios.
Self-correcting
With intelligent error handling and automatic recovery, browser-use continues to run even when the page structure changes or unexpected errors occur, reducing the need for manual intervention.
Any LLM Support
Through the LangChain framework, browser-use supports a variety of large language models, including GPT-4, Claude 3, Llama 2, etc. This compatibility allows developers to choose the appropriate AI model according to task requirements.
Vision and HTML Extraction : Computer vision algorithms are used to parse the visual content of web pages, while HTML parsing techniques are combined to extract structured data. This dual approach ensures AI’s comprehensive understanding of web pages.
Multi-tab management : Through browser automation technology (such as Playwright or similar frameworks), browser-use can manage multiple tabs at the same time and support parallel task execution.
Element tracking : By recording the XPaths of interactive elements, the system is able to repeat operations accurately even if the web page content changes slightly.
Self-correction mechanism : With intelligent error detection and recovery algorithms, browser-use can automatically adjust its strategy when encountering problems, such as reloading the page or choosing an alternative path.
LLM Integration : Through the LangChain framework, browser-use integrates seamlessly with a variety of LLMs, supporting a wide range of choices from open source models to commercial models.
In addition, browser-use also provides a Gradio-based Web UI [3] that supports most core functions and provides a user-friendly interface. The interface supports custom browsers and persistent browser sessions, making it easier for users to maintain state between different tasks.
Technical Architecture
The technical architecture of browser-use combines multiple advanced technologies to achieve efficient web page interaction:
In addition, browser-use allows users to use their own browser, eliminating the hassle of repeated logins or authentication. It also supports high-definition screen recording and persistent browser sessions, allowing users to view the complete history of AI interactions.
Application Scenario
The flexibility and power of browser-use make it suitable for a variety of scenarios. Here are some typical application cases:
| Scenario | describe |
| Automated Network Research | |
| E-commerce Automation | |
| Social Media Management | |
| Form filling and data entry | |
| Testing and Quality Assurance (QA) |
For example, browser-use can process tasks in parallel, such as searching for contact information for 100 companies at the same time, and aggregate the results to the master agent for further processing. This parallelization capability significantly improves efficiency, surpassing traditional manual operations.
COMMUNITY & SUPPORT
browser-use has a fast-growing community where users can share ideas, ask questions, and collaborate via Discord [4] . The official X account ( @gregpr07 [5] ) regularly posts updates and announcements. In addition, the GitHub repository provides an awesome-prompts [6] repository containing prompt inspiration to help users get started quickly.
Users can also submit issues or feature requests through GitHub and contribute to the documentation (located in the /docs folder). The open source nature of the project encourages community collaboration and developers can easily participate in improvements.
Pricing Plans
browser-use offers a variety of pricing plans to meet the needs of different users:
| plan | price | Target Users |
| Standard | ||
| Pro |
