BrowserWing Executor API

Overview

BrowserWing Executor provides comprehensive browser automation capabilities through HTTP APIs. You can control browser navigation, interact with page elements, extract data, and analyze page structure.

Configuration

API Base URL: The BrowserWing Executor API address is configurable via environment variable.

Environment Variable:
```
BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL
```
Default Value:
```
http://127.0.0.1:8080
```
How to get the URL: Read from environment variable
```
$BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL
```
, if not set, use default
```
http://127.0.0.1:8080
```

Base URL Format:

${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor

http://127.0.0.1:8080/api/v1/executor

(if env var not set)

Authentication: Use

X-BrowserWing-Key: <api-key>

header or

Authorization: Bearer <token>

if required.

Important: Always construct the API URL by reading the environment variable first. In shell commands, use:

${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}

Core Capabilities

Page Navigation: Navigate to URLs, go back/forward, reload
Element Interaction: Click, type, select, hover on page elements
Data Extraction: Extract text, attributes, values from elements
Accessibility Analysis: Get accessibility snapshot to understand page structure
Advanced Operations: Screenshot, JavaScript execution, keyboard input
Batch Processing: Execute multiple operations in sequence

API Endpoints

1. Discover Available Commands

IMPORTANT: Always call this endpoint first to see all available commands and their parameters.

EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X GET "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/help"

Response: Returns complete list of all commands with parameters, examples, and usage guidelines.

Query specific command:

EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X GET "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/help?command=extract"

2. Get Accessibility Snapshot

CRITICAL: Always call this after navigation to understand page structure and get element RefIDs.

EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X GET "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/snapshot"

Response Example:

{
  "success": true,
  "snapshot_text": "Clickable Elements:\n  @e1 Login (role: button)\n  @e2 Sign Up (role: link)\n\nInput Elements:\n  @e3 Email (role: textbox) [placeholder: your@email.com]\n  @e4 Password (role: textbox)"
}

Use Cases:

Understand what interactive elements are on the page
Get element RefIDs (@e1, @e2, etc.) for precise identification
See element labels, roles, and attributes
The accessibility tree is cleaner than raw DOM and better for LLMs
RefIDs are stable references that work reliably across page changes

3. Common Operations

Note: All examples below use

EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"

to read the API address from environment variable, with

http://127.0.0.1:8080

as fallback default.

Navigate to URL

EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/navigate" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com"}'

Click Element

EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/click" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"identifier": "@e1"}'

Identifier formats:

RefID (Recommended):
```
@e1
```
,
```
@e2
```
(from snapshot)
CSS Selector:
```
#button-id
```
,
```
.class-name
```
XPath:
```
//button[@type='submit']
```
Text:
```
Login
```
(text content)

Type Text

EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/type" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"identifier": "@e3", "text": "user@example.com"}'

Extract Data

EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/extract" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "selector": ".product-item",
    "fields": ["text", "href"],
    "multiple": true
  }'

Wait for Element

EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/wait" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"identifier": ".loading", "state": "hidden", "timeout": 10}'

Batch Operations

EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/batch" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "operations": [
      {"type": "navigate", "params": {"url": "https://example.com"}, "stop_on_error": true},
      {"type": "click", "params": {"identifier": "@e1"}, "stop_on_error": true},
      {"type": "type", "params": {"identifier": "@e3", "text": "query"}, "stop_on_error": true}
    ]
  }'

Instructions

Step-by-step workflow:

Get API URL: First, read the API base URL from environment variable
```
$BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL
```
. If not set, use default
```
http://127.0.0.1:8080
```
. In shell commands, use:
```
EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
```
Discover commands: Call
```
GET /help
```
to see all available operations and their parameters (do this first if unsure).
Navigate: Use
```
POST /navigate
```
to open the target webpage.
Analyze page: Call
```
GET /snapshot
```
to understand page structure and get element RefIDs.
Interact: Use element RefIDs (like
```
@e1
```
,
```
@e2
```
) or CSS selectors to:
- Click elements:
```
POST /click
```
- Input text:
```
POST /type
```
- Select options:
```
POST /select
```
- Wait for elements:
```
POST /wait
```
Extract data: Use
```
POST /extract
```
to get information from the page.
Present results: Format and show extracted data to the user.

Complete Example

User Request: "Search for 'laptop' on example.com and get the first 5 results"

Your Actions:

Navigate to search page:

curl -X POST 'http://127.0.0.1:18085/api/v1/executor/navigate' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com/search"}'

Get page structure to find search input:

curl -X GET 'http://127.0.0.1:18085/api/v1/executor/snapshot'

Response shows:

@e3 Search (role: textbox) [placeholder: Search...]

Type search query:

curl -X POST 'http://127.0.0.1:18085/api/v1/executor/type' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"identifier": "@e3", "text": "laptop"}'

Press Enter to submit:

curl -X POST 'http://127.0.0.1:18085/api/v1/executor/press-key' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"key": "Enter"}'

Wait for results to load:

curl -X POST 'http://127.0.0.1:18085/api/v1/executor/wait' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"identifier": ".search-results", "state": "visible", "timeout": 10}'

Extract search results:

curl -X POST 'http://127.0.0.1:18085/api/v1/executor/extract' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "selector": ".result-item",
    "fields": ["text", "href"],
    "multiple": true
  }'

Present the extracted data:

Found 15 results for 'laptop':
1. Gaming Laptop - $1299 (https://...)
2. Business Laptop - $899 (https://...)
...

Key Commands Reference

Navigation

```
POST /navigate
```
- Navigate to URL
```
POST /go-back
```
- Go back in history
```
POST /go-forward
```
- Go forward in history
```
POST /reload
```
- Reload current page

Element Interaction

```
POST /click
```
- Click element (supports: RefID
```
@e1
```
, CSS selector, XPath, text content)
```
POST /type
```
- Type text into input (supports: RefID
```
@e3
```
, CSS selector, XPath)
```
POST /select
```
- Select dropdown option
```
POST /hover
```
- Hover over element
```
POST /wait
```
- Wait for element state (visible, hidden, enabled)
```
POST /press-key
```
- Press keyboard key (Enter, Tab, Ctrl+S, etc.)

Data Extraction

```
POST /extract
```
- Extract data from elements (supports multiple elements, custom fields)
```
POST /get-text
```
- Get element text content
```
POST /get-value
```
- Get input element value
```
GET /page-info
```
- Get page URL and title
```
GET /page-text
```
- Get all page text
```
GET /page-content
```
- Get full HTML

Page Analysis

```
GET /snapshot
```
- Get accessibility snapshot (⭐ ALWAYS call after navigation)
```
GET /clickable-elements
```
- Get all clickable elements
```
GET /input-elements
```
- Get all input elements

Advanced

```
POST /screenshot
```
- Take page screenshot (base64 encoded)
```
POST /evaluate
```
- Execute JavaScript code
```
POST /batch
```
- Execute multiple operations in sequence
```
POST /scroll-to-bottom
```
- Scroll to page bottom
```
POST /resize
```
- Resize browser window
```
POST /tabs
```
- Manage browser tabs (list, new, switch, close)
```
POST /fill-form
```
- Intelligently fill multiple form fields at once

Debug & Monitoring

```
GET /console-messages
```
- Get browser console messages (logs, warnings, errors)
```
GET /network-requests
```
- Get network requests made by the page
```
POST /handle-dialog
```
- Configure JavaScript dialog (alert, confirm, prompt) handling
```
POST /file-upload
```
- Upload files to input elements
```
POST /drag
```
- Drag and drop elements
```
POST /close-page
```
- Close the current page/tab

Element Identification

You can identify elements using:

RefID (Recommended):
```
@e1
```
,
```
@e2
```
,
```
@e3
```
- Most reliable method - stable across page changes
- Get RefIDs from
```
/snapshot
```
  endpoint
- Valid for 5 minutes after snapshot
- Example:
```
"identifier": "@e1"
```
- Works with multi-strategy fallback for robustness

CSS Selector:

#id

.class

button[type="submit"]

Standard CSS selectors
Example:
```
"identifier": "#login-button"
```

XPath:

//button[@id='login']

//a[contains(text(), 'Submit')]

XPath expressions for complex queries
Example:
```
"identifier": "//button[@id='login']"
```

Text Content:
```
Login
```
,
```
Sign Up
```
,
```
Submit
```
- Searches buttons and links with matching text
- Example:
```
"identifier": "Login"
```
ARIA Label: Elements with
```
aria-label
```
attribute
- Automatically searched

Guidelines

Before starting:

Get API URL first: Read from
```
$BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL
```
environment variable, or use
```
http://127.0.0.1:8080
```
as default
Call
```
GET /help
```
if you're unsure about available commands or their parameters
Ensure browser is started (if not, it will auto-start on first operation)

During automation:

Always call
/snapshot
after navigation to get page structure and RefIDs
Prefer RefIDs (like
```
@e1
```
) over CSS selectors for reliability and stability
Re-snapshot after page changes to get updated RefIDs
Use
/wait
for dynamic content that loads asynchronously
Check element states before interaction (visible, enabled)
Use
/batch
for multiple sequential operations to improve efficiency

Error handling:

If operation fails, check element identifier and try different format
For timeout errors, increase timeout value
If element not found, call
```
/snapshot
```
again to refresh page structure
Explain errors clearly to user with suggested solutions

Data extraction:

Use
```
fields
```
parameter to specify what to extract:
```
["text", "href", "src"]
```
Set
```
multiple: true
```
to extract from multiple elements
Format extracted data in a readable way for user

Complete Workflow Example

Scenario: User wants to login to a website

User: "Please log in to example.com with username 'john' and password 'secret123'"

Your Actions:

Step 1: Navigate to login page

EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/navigate" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com/login"}'

Step 2: Get page structure

EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X GET "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/snapshot"

Response:

Clickable Elements:
  @e1 Login (role: button)
Input Elements:
@e2 Username (role: textbox)
@e3 Password (role: textbox)

Step 3: Enter username

POST http://127.0.0.1:18085/api/v1/executor/type
{"identifier": "@e2", "text": "john"}

Step 4: Enter password

POST http://127.0.0.1:18085/api/v1/executor/type
{"identifier": "@e3", "text": "secret123"}

Step 5: Click login button

POST http://127.0.0.1:18085/api/v1/executor/click
{"identifier": "@e1"}

Step 6: Wait for login success (optional)

POST http://127.0.0.1:18085/api/v1/executor/wait
{"identifier": ".welcome-message", "state": "visible", "timeout": 10}

Step 7: Inform user

"Successfully logged in to example.com!"

Batch Operation Example

Scenario: Fill out a form with multiple fields

Instead of making 5 separate API calls, use one batch operation:

EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/batch" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "operations": [
      {
        "type": "navigate",
        "params": {"url": "https://example.com/form"},
        "stop_on_error": true
      },
      {
        "type": "type",
        "params": {"identifier": "#name", "text": "John Doe"},
        "stop_on_error": true
      },
      {
        "type": "type",
        "params": {"identifier": "#email", "text": "john@example.com"},
        "stop_on_error": true
      },
      {
        "type": "select",
        "params": {"identifier": "#country", "value": "United States"},
        "stop_on_error": true
      },
      {
        "type": "click",
        "params": {"identifier": "#submit"},
        "stop_on_error": true
      }
    ]
  }'

Best Practices

Discovery first: If unsure, call
```
/help
```
or
```
/help?command=<name>
```
to learn about commands
Structure first: Always call
```
/snapshot
```
after navigation to understand the page
Use accessibility indices: They're more reliable than CSS selectors (elements might have dynamic classes)
Wait for dynamic content: Use
```
/wait
```
before interacting with elements that load asynchronously
Batch when possible: Use
```
/batch
```
for multiple sequential operations
Handle errors gracefully: Provide clear explanations and suggestions when operations fail
Verify results: After operations, check if desired outcome was achieved

Common Scenarios

Form Filling

Navigate to form page
Get accessibility snapshot to find input elements and their RefIDs
Use
```
/type
```
for each field:
```
@e1
```
,
```
@e2
```
, etc.
Use
```
/select
```
for dropdowns
Click submit button using its RefID

Data Scraping

Navigate to target page
Wait for content to load with
```
/wait
```
Use
```
/extract
```
with CSS selector and
```
multiple: true
```
Specify fields to extract:
```
["text", "href", "src"]
```

Search Operations

Navigate to search page
Get accessibility snapshot to locate search input
Type search query into input
Press Enter or click search button
Wait for results
Extract results data

Login Automation

Navigate to login page
Get accessibility snapshot to find RefIDs
Type username:
```
@e2
```
Type password:
```
@e3
```
Click login button:
```
@e1
```
Wait for success indicator

Important Notes

Browser must be running (it will auto-start on first operation if needed)
Operations are executed on the currently active browser tab
Accessibility snapshot updates after each navigation and click operation
All timeouts are in seconds
Use
```
wait_visible: true
```
(default) for reliable element interaction
API address: Always read from
```
$BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL
```
environment variable, fallback to
```
http://127.0.0.1:8080
```
if not set
Authentication required: use
```
X-BrowserWing-Key
```
header or JWT token if configured

Troubleshooting

Element not found:

Call
```
/snapshot
```
to see available elements
Try different identifier format (accessibility index, CSS selector, text)
Check if page has finished loading

Timeout errors:

Increase timeout value in request
Check if element actually appears on page
Use
```
/wait
```
with appropriate state before interaction

Extraction returns empty:

Verify CSS selector matches target elements
Check if content has loaded (use
```
/wait
```
first)
Try different extraction fields or type

Quick Reference

EXECUTOR_URL="${BROWSERWING_EXECUTOR_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8080}"
Discover commands
curl -X GET "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/help"
Navigate
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/navigate" 

-H 'Content-Type: application/json' 

-d '{"url": "..."}'
Get page structure
curl -X GET "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/snapshot"
Click element
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/click" 

-H 'Content-Type: application/json' 

-d '{"identifier": "@e1"}'
Type text
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/type" 

-H 'Content-Type: application/json' 

-d '{"identifier": "@e3", "text": "..."}'
Extract data
curl -X POST "${EXECUTOR_URL}/api/v1/executor/extract" 

-H 'Content-Type: application/json' 

-d '{"selector": "...", "fields": [...], "multiple": true}'

Response Format

All operations return:

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Operation description",
  "timestamp": "2026-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "data": {
    // Operation-specific data
  }
}

Error response:

{
  "error": "error.operationFailed",
  "detail": "Detailed error message"
}

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