gsd-browser

Native Rust browser automation CLI for Chrome/Chromium via CDP. gsd-browser keeps a persistent background daemon, auto-starts on first use, and exposes 92 top-level commands for navigation, interaction, authenticated live viewing, annotations, recording bundles, snapshots with versioned refs, assertions, structured extraction, network control, visual diffing, tracing, and stateful auth flows.

Built for AI agents, CI pipelines, and developers who want deterministic browser control without adopting a full browser test framework.

Install

Recommended: installer (macOS / Linux)

curl -fsSL https://install.gsd.build/browser | bash

The installer downloads the correct gsd-browser binary for your platform. If Chrome or Chromium is already installed, it uses that. Otherwise it downloads Chromium automatically when Chrome for Testing is available for your platform. Run gsd-browser update to install the current release.

Pre-built binaries

Download from GitHub Releases:

Platform	Asset
macOS (Apple Silicon)	gsd-browser-darwin-arm64
macOS (Intel)	gsd-browser-darwin-x64
Linux (ARM64)	gsd-browser-linux-arm64
Linux (x64)	gsd-browser-linux-x64

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/gsd-build/gsd-browser.git
cd gsd-browser
cargo install --path cli

Package registries

The public npm package (@gsd-build/gsd-browser) and crates.io package (gsd-browser) are not published yet. Use the installer, GitHub release assets, or a source build.

Quick Start

The daemon starts automatically on first use.

# Navigate to a page
gsd-browser navigate https://example.com

# Snapshot interactive elements and assign refs like @v1:e1
gsd-browser snapshot

# On example.com the only interactive element is the "More information..." link
gsd-browser click-ref @v1:e1

# Wait for navigation and assert the result
gsd-browser wait-for --condition network_idle
gsd-browser assert --checks '[{"kind":"url_contains","text":"iana.org"}]'

# Capture a PNG
gsd-browser screenshot --output page.png --format png

Interactive Workbench

gsd-browser view starts an authenticated localhost workbench for the active session. The URL is bound to the session, viewer id, loopback origin, expiry, and viewer capabilities. Use view --print-only when another tool needs the URL.

gsd-browser view
gsd-browser view --print-only
gsd-browser control-state
gsd-browser takeover
gsd-browser release-control
gsd-browser sensitive-on
gsd-browser sensitive-off

The viewer streams the real Chrome page, forwards pointer, wheel, keyboard, text, and paste input while in Control mode, creates annotations in Annotate mode, and starts/stops local recording bundles in Record mode. Sensitive mode keeps local human control available while cloud frame capture and evidence surfaces use redaction policy.

Annotations and recordings stay local to the daemon state directory:

gsd-browser annotations
gsd-browser annotation-get <id>
gsd-browser annotation-clear <id>
gsd-browser annotation-resolve <id>
gsd-browser annotation-export --output annotations.json

gsd-browser record-start --name checkout-bug
gsd-browser record-stop
gsd-browser recordings
gsd-browser recording-get <id>
gsd-browser recording-export <id> --output <path>
gsd-browser recording-discard <id>
gsd-browser recording-validate <id-or-path> --json

Command Surface

gsd-browser currently exposes 92 top-level commands:

Area	Commands
Navigation	navigate, back, forward, reload
Logs & JavaScript	console, network, dialog, eval
Interaction	click, type, press, hover, scroll, select-option, set-checked, drag, set-viewport, upload-file
Inspection	accessibility-tree, find, page-source
Waits	wait-for
Snapshots & refs	snapshot, get-ref, click-ref, hover-ref, fill-ref
Assertions & batching	assert, diff, batch
Pages & frames	list-pages, switch-page, close-page, list-frames, select-frame
Forms & semantic actions	analyze-form, fill-form, find-best, act
Live workbench	goal, view, control-state, takeover, release-control, pause, resume, step, abort, sensitive-on, sensitive-off
Annotations	annotations, annotation-get, annotation-clear, annotation-resolve, annotation-export, annotation-request
Recording bundles	record-start, record-stop, record-pause, record-resume, recordings, recording-get, recording-export, recording-discard, recording-validate
Diagnostics	timeline, session-summary, debug-bundle
Screenshots & document output	screenshot, zoom-region, save-pdf
Visual regression	visual-diff
Structured extraction	extract
Network control	mock-route, block-urls, clear-routes
Device & browser state	emulate-device, save-state, restore-state
Auth vault	vault-save, vault-login, vault-list
Recording & traces	generate-test, har-export, trace-start, trace-stop
Safety, caching & daemon management	action-cache, check-injection, daemon

Highlights

• Persistent daemon with automatic startup for fast repeated commands
• Durable named sessions with explicit health reporting and no silent session replacement
• Versioned refs from snapshot for deterministic interaction (@v1:e1, @v2:e3)
• Explicit assertions with assert and multi-step automation with batch
• Shared inspection semantics across snapshot, find, wait-for, assert, and ref-driven actions
• Semantic find-best and act flows covering 15 built-in intents
• Named sessions via --session for isolated parallel browser workers
• Authenticated local viewer with human takeover, pause/step/abort, annotations, sensitive mode, and bounded recording bundles
• Structured JSON output on every command via --json
• Visual diffing, HAR export, PDF generation, and CDP tracing in the same tool
• Saved browser state plus encrypted credential replay through the auth vault
• Prompt injection scanning for agent-facing browsing workflows

Configuration

gsd-browser merges configuration in this order:

1. Built-in defaults
2. User config: ~/.gsd-browser/config.toml
3. Project config: ./gsd-browser.toml
4. Environment variables: GSD_BROWSER_*
5. CLI flags

Example gsd-browser.toml:

[browser]
path = "/usr/bin/chromium"
cdp_url = "http://localhost:9222"   # attach to existing Chrome instead of launching
headless = true

[daemon]
port = 9222
host = "127.0.0.1"

[screenshot]
quality = 90
format = "png"
full_page = false

[settle]
timeout_ms = 500
poll_ms = 40
quiet_window_ms = 100

[logs]
max_buffer_size = 1000

[artifacts]
dir = "./browser-artifacts"

[timeline]
enabled = true
max_entries = 500

Supported environment variable overrides use GSD_BROWSER_<SECTION>_<FIELD> naming:

export GSD_BROWSER_BROWSER_PATH=/usr/bin/chromium
export GSD_BROWSER_BROWSER_CDP_URL=http://localhost:9222
export GSD_BROWSER_BROWSER_HEADLESS=true
export GSD_BROWSER_DAEMON_PORT=9333
export GSD_BROWSER_SCREENSHOT_QUALITY=90
export GSD_BROWSER_SETTLE_TIMEOUT_MS=1000
export GSD_BROWSER_ARTIFACTS_DIR=./browser-artifacts
export GSD_BROWSER_VAULT_KEY=your-encryption-key

How It Works

• The CLI parses commands and sends them to a local daemon over a loopback HTTP channel.
• The daemon maintains the browser lifecycle, page/frame routing, network hooks, action timeline, and session manifest state.
• --session <name> creates isolated daemon and browser instances for parallel workflows.

For AI Agents

• The daemon auto-starts. You almost never need gsd-browser daemon start.
• gsd-browser daemon health reports the current session state and does not auto-start the daemon.
• Use --json when you need structured output.
• Prefer snapshot then click-ref or fill-ref for stable interaction, and re-snapshot after page changes.
• Use assert and batch when you need deterministic pass/fail automation.
• find-best and act cover 15 built-in semantic intents for common navigation, form, dialog, auth, and pagination actions.
• Read SKILL.md for the full command reference and workflow patterns.

License

Licensed under either of:

• MIT License
• Apache License, Version 2.0

at your option.