Overview

The Steel CLI lets you run full browser workflows from the terminal, end-to-end. You can start a browser session, navigate pages, click/fill/type, extract content, and stop the session without wiring custom browser infrastructure.

What it enables:

• Run browser automation in cloud mode (default) or self-hosted/local mode
• Drive pages with terminal-first browser commands (open, snapshot, fill, click, etc.)
• Use API tools for scrape, screenshot, and pdf
• Bootstrap projects quickly with forge and run templates instantly with run

Under the hood, steel browser is directly integrated with the agent-browser runtime. That means Steel adds session lifecycle, auth, and endpoint routing while preserving familiar browser command behavior.

• GitHub: steel-dev/cli

Documentation Index (for Agents)

If you are using an AI agent and want a complete docs index before exploring pages:

• https://docs.steel.dev/llms-full.txt

This returns a flattened, agent-friendly text map of the docs site.

Installation

Install with the official script (recommended):

curl -fsS https://setup.steel.dev | sh

This installs the native steel binary to ~/.steel/bin and runs steel init to log you in, verify connectivity, and install coding-agent skills.

Quick Start

Cloud Mode (Default)

steel login
steel browser start --session my-job
steel browser open https://example.com --session my-job
steel browser snapshot -i --session my-job
steel browser stop --session my-job

Self-Hosted Endpoint

steel browser start --api-url https://steel.your-domain.dev/v1 --session my-job
steel browser open https://example.com --api-url https://steel.your-domain.dev/v1 --session my-job

Local Runtime (localhost) Flow

steel dev install
steel dev start
steel browser start --local --session local-job
steel browser open https://example.com --session local-job
steel browser stop --session local-job
steel dev stop

Skills for Coding Agents

Steel ships a dedicated skill package for browser workflows:

• skills/steel-browser

This is designed for coding agents, including:

• Codex
• OpenCode
• OpenClaw
• Claude Code

Install from GitHub:

npx skills add github:steel-dev/cli/skills/steel-browser

Or from a local checkout:

npx skills add ./skills/steel-browser

After installation, restart your agent client so it can discover newly installed skills.

What this skill gives agents:

• Mode-aware command planning (cloud vs self-hosted)
• Named-session lifecycle discipline (start -> work -> stop)
• Reliable command patterns for steel browser passthrough actions
• Migration guidance from agent-browser
• Troubleshooting playbooks for auth/session/CAPTCHA failures

Typical Agent Skill Workflow

Most agent loops follow this pattern:

1. Start or attach a named session.
2. Open a page and inspect interactable elements (snapshot -i).
3. Perform actions (fill, select, check, click).
4. Wait for the post-action state and verify output.
5. Stop the session when done.

SESSION="signup-demo-$(date +%s)"
steel browser start --session "$SESSION"
steel browser open https://example.com/signup --session "$SESSION"
steel browser snapshot -i --session "$SESSION"
steel browser fill @e1 "Jane Doe" --session "$SESSION"
steel browser fill @e2 "jane@example.com" --session "$SESSION"
steel browser select @e3 "California" --session "$SESSION"
steel browser check @e4 --session "$SESSION"
steel browser click @e5 --session "$SESSION"
steel browser wait --load networkidle --session "$SESSION"
steel browser stop --session "$SESSION"

If you already know upstream agent-browser, the behavior is typically command-prefix only:

agent-browser open https://example.com/signup
agent-browser snapshot -i
agent-browser fill @e1 "Jane Doe"
agent-browser fill @e2 "jane@example.com"
agent-browser select @e3 "California"
agent-browser check @e4
agent-browser click @e5
agent-browser wait --load networkidle

Command Model

Steel-Owned Browser Lifecycle Commands

• steel browser start
• steel browser stop
• steel browser sessions
• steel browser live
• steel browser captcha solve

Inherited Browser Commands (Passthrough)

All non-lifecycle steel browser <command> calls are routed through the vendored agent-browser runtime.

Migration is usually command-prefix only:

• Before: agent-browser <command> ...
• After: steel browser <command> ...

Essential Inherited Commands

These are the most common inherited commands agents use:

• Page navigation: open, back, forward, reload
• Page understanding: snapshot, snapshot -i
• Interaction: click, fill, type, select, check, press, hover
• Data retrieval: get text, get html, get title, get url
• Synchronization: wait, wait --load networkidle, wait --text
• Debugging: screenshot, errors, console

Use command help directly when needed:

steel browser --help
steel browser click --help
steel browser wait --help

For full command references:

• Steel browser commands reference
• Steel browser session lifecycle reference

Command Overview

Group	Commands
Onboarding	init, forge
Browser lifecycle	browser start, browser stop, browser sessions, browser live, browser captcha solve
Browser passthrough	steel browser <inherited-command>
API tools	scrape, screenshot, pdf
Local runtime	dev install, dev start, dev stop
Profiles	profile import, profile sync, profile list, profile delete
Credentials	credentials list, credentials create, credentials update, credentials delete
Account + utility	login, logout, config, doctor, cache, update

Common Workflows

1. Named Session Lifecycle

SESSION="job-$(date +%s)"
steel browser start --session "$SESSION"
steel browser open https://example.com --session "$SESSION"
steel browser snapshot -i --session "$SESSION"
steel browser get title --session "$SESSION"
steel browser stop --session "$SESSION"

2. CAPTCHA-Aware Sessions

# Manual solve mode
steel browser start --session my-job --session-solve-captcha
steel browser captcha solve --session my-job

# Auto solve mode (stealth preset)
steel browser start --session my-job --stealth

3. agent-browser Migration

# Before
agent-browser open https://example.com
agent-browser snapshot -i
agent-browser click @e3

# After
steel browser open https://example.com
steel browser snapshot -i
steel browser click @e3

4. API Tool Commands

# Scrape (markdown-first output by default)
steel scrape https://example.com

# Screenshot
steel screenshot https://example.com --full-page

# PDF
steel pdf https://example.com

forge (Templates)

Use forge to scaffold a project from a template.

# Scaffold a project
steel forge playwright --name my-bot

List all templates and flags:

steel forge --help

Endpoint Resolution

For browser lifecycle, passthrough bootstrap, and API tools (scrape, screenshot, pdf), endpoint selection is deterministic.

Self-hosted precedence:

1. --api-url <url>
2. STEEL_BROWSER_API_URL
3. STEEL_LOCAL_API_URL
4. browser.apiUrl in ~/.config/steel/config.json
5. http://localhost:3000/v1

Cloud precedence:

1. STEEL_API_URL
2. https://api.steel.dev/v1

Attach-flag override:

• If --cdp or --auto-connect is provided, Steel skips bootstrap injection and forwards passthrough arguments unchanged.

Auth, Config, and Updates

steel login
steel config
steel logout
steel cache --clean
steel update
steel update --check
steel update --force

Disable auto-update checks (24-hour cache window):

steel scrape https://example.com --no-update-check
STEEL_CLI_SKIP_UPDATE_CHECK=true steel scrape https://example.com
CI=true steel scrape https://example.com
NODE_ENV=test steel scrape https://example.com

Runtime and Output Notes

• steel scrape defaults to markdown-first output; use --raw for full JSON payload.
• steel browser start and steel browser sessions return display-safe connect_url values with sensitive query parameters redacted.
• Browser command paths bypass auto-update checks to reduce interactive latency.

Troubleshooting

• Missing browser auth...: run steel login or set STEEL_API_KEY.
• Failed to reach Steel session API ...: confirm mode and endpoint settings (--local, --api-url, env vars).
• Session reuse issues: use a consistent --session <name> across every step.
• Local runtime issues: run steel dev install once, then steel dev start.
• Stale state: run steel browser stop --all and start a fresh named session.

References

• Steel CLI README
• Generated CLI Reference
• Steel Browser Reference
• Steel Browser Skill Package