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ai-coding-skills/skills/web-automation/pi/SKILL.md
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---
name: web-automation
description: Browse and scrape web pages using Playwright-compatible CloakBrowser. Use when automating web workflows, extracting rendered page content, handling authenticated sessions, or running multi-step browser flows.
---
# Web Automation with CloakBrowser (Pi)
Automated web browsing and scraping for pi using the shared runtime bundle in `scripts/`.
## Requirements
- Node.js 20+
- `pnpm`
- Network access to download the CloakBrowser binary on first use
## First-Time Setup
Global install:
```bash
mkdir -p ~/.pi/agent/skills/web-automation
cp -R skills/web-automation/pi/* ~/.pi/agent/skills/web-automation/
cd ~/.pi/agent/skills/web-automation/scripts
pnpm install
npx cloakbrowser install
pnpm approve-builds
pnpm rebuild better-sqlite3 esbuild
```
Project-local install:
```bash
mkdir -p .pi/skills/web-automation
cp -R skills/web-automation/pi/* .pi/skills/web-automation/
cd .pi/skills/web-automation/scripts
pnpm install
npx cloakbrowser install
pnpm approve-builds
pnpm rebuild better-sqlite3 esbuild
```
Pi can also load this repo through settings or package installs as documented in [docs/PI.md](../../../docs/PI.md).
If you installed this repo from a local checkout with `./scripts/install-pi-package.sh`, the runtime stays in the checkout mirror at `pi-package/skills/web-automation/scripts`.
## Updating CloakBrowser
Run inside the installed `scripts/` directory for the pi skill. The commands below work for both global and project-local installs as long as you run them from the installed `scripts/` directory.
```bash
pnpm up cloakbrowser playwright-core
npx cloakbrowser install
pnpm approve-builds
pnpm rebuild better-sqlite3 esbuild
```
## Prerequisite Check (MANDATORY)
Before running automation, verify the runtime from the location that matches your install style:
- local checkout package install: `pi-package/skills/web-automation/scripts`
- project-local copied install: `.pi/skills/web-automation/scripts`
- global copied install: `~/.pi/agent/skills/web-automation/scripts`
```bash
cd pi-package/skills/web-automation/scripts
node check-install.js
```
If the check fails, stop and return:
`Missing dependency/config: web-automation requires cloakbrowser and playwright-core with CloakBrowser-based scripts. Run setup in this skill, then retry.`
If runtime fails with missing native bindings for `better-sqlite3` or `esbuild`, run the same commands from your installed `scripts/` directory:
```bash
cd pi-package/skills/web-automation/scripts
pnpm approve-builds
pnpm rebuild better-sqlite3 esbuild
```
## When To Use Which Command
- Use `node extract.js "<URL>"` for a one-shot rendered fetch with JSON output.
- Use `npx tsx scrape.ts ...` when you need markdown extraction, Readability cleanup, or selector-based scraping.
- Use `npx tsx browse.ts ...`, `auth.ts`, or `flow.ts` when the task needs login handling, persistent sessions, clicks, typing, screenshots, or multi-step navigation.
- Use `npx tsx scan-local-app.ts` when you need a configurable local-app smoke pass driven by `SCAN_*` and `CLOAKBROWSER_*` environment variables.
## Quick Reference
- Install check: `node check-install.js`
- One-shot JSON extract: `node extract.js "https://example.com"`
- Browse page: `npx tsx browse.ts --url "https://example.com"`
- Scrape markdown: `npx tsx scrape.ts --url "https://example.com" --mode main --output page.md`
- Authenticate: `npx tsx auth.ts --url "https://example.com/login"`
- Natural-language flow: `npx tsx flow.ts --instruction 'go to https://example.com then click on "Login" then type "user@example.com" in #email then press enter'`
- Local app smoke scan: `SCAN_BASE_URL=http://localhost:3000 SCAN_ROUTES=/,/dashboard npx tsx scan-local-app.ts`
## Local App Smoke Scan
`scan-local-app.ts` is intentionally generic. Configure it with environment variables instead of editing the file:
- `SCAN_BASE_URL`
- `SCAN_LOGIN_PATH`
- `SCAN_USERNAME`
- `SCAN_PASSWORD`
- `SCAN_USERNAME_SELECTOR`
- `SCAN_PASSWORD_SELECTOR`
- `SCAN_SUBMIT_SELECTOR`
- `SCAN_ROUTES`
- `SCAN_REPORT_PATH`
- `SCAN_HEADLESS`
If `SCAN_USERNAME` or `SCAN_PASSWORD` are omitted, the script falls back to `CLOAKBROWSER_USERNAME` and `CLOAKBROWSER_PASSWORD`.
## Notes
- Sessions persist in CloakBrowser profile storage.
- Use `--wait` for dynamic pages.
- Use `--mode selector --selector "..."` for targeted extraction.
- `extract.js` keeps a bounded stealth/rendered fetch path without needing a long-lived automation session.
- Package installs use the repo's `pi-package/skills/web-automation/` mirror so the installed skill directory name matches `web-automation`.