Overview

This guide will walk you through setting up your Steel account, creating your first browser session in the cloud, and driving it using Typescript/Playwright. In just a few minutes, you'll be up and programmatically controlling a Steel browser Session.

Initial Setup

1. Create a Steel Account

1. Sign up for a free account at steel.dev

2. The free plan includes 100 browser hours to get you started

3. No credit card required

2. Get Your API Key

1. After signing up, navigate to Settings > API Keys

2. Create an API key and save it somewhere safe. You will not be able to generate the same key again.

3. Set Up Environment Variables

1. Create a .env file in your project root (if you don't have one)

2. Add your Steel API key:

Make sure to add .env to your .gitignore file to keep your key secure

Installing Dependencies

Install the Steel SDK and Playwright:

steel-sdk playwright

Create Your First Session

Let's create a simple script that launches and then releases a Steel session:

import Steel from 'steel-sdk';
import dotenv from 'dotenv';

dotenv.config();

const client = new Steel({
  steelAPIKey: process.env.STEEL_API_KEY,
});

async function main() {
  // Create a session
  const session = await client.sessions.create();
  console.log('Session created:', session.id);
  console.log(`View live session at: ${session.sessionViewerUrl}`);

  // Your session is now ready to use!
  // When done, release the session
  await client.sessions.release(session.id);
  console.log('Session released');
}

main().catch(console.error);

Connecting to Your Session

Now that you have a session, you can connect to it using your preferred automation tool.

import puppeteer from 'puppeteer';

const browser = await puppeteer.connect({
    browserWSEndpoint: `wss://connect.steel.dev?apiKey=${process.env.STEEL_API_KEY}&sessionId=${session.id}`,
});

const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto('https://example.com');

Session Features

Want to do more with your session? Here are some common options you can add when creating:

const session = await client.sessions.create({
    useProxy: true,           // Use Steel's residential proxy network
    solveCaptcha: true,       // Enable automatic CAPTCHA solving
    timeout: 1800000,      // Set 30-minute timeout (default is 5 minutes)
    userAgent: 'custom-ua'    // Set a custom user agent
});

You've now created your first Steel session and learned the basics of session management. With these fundamentals, you can start building more complex automations using Steel's cloud browser infrastructure.

:::callout type: help

Need help building with the Sessions API?

Reach out to us on the #help channel on Discord under the ⭐ community section. :::