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OpenClaw Browser Server

This is the browser control plane for OpenClaw browser use.

It provides:

  • a Playwright-backed openclaw browser profile
  • a Chrome extension relay-backed chrome browser profile
  • loopback/private-network/file URL navigation guards
  • HTTP routes for browser actions
  • a WebSocket bridge for the browser extension

Action coverage:

  • openclaw profile: tabs, snapshot, screenshot, navigate, click, type, press, hover, scrollIntoView, drag, select, fill, wait, evaluate, cookies, storage, pdf, download, waitDownload, upload, dialog, offline, headers, credentials, geolocation, media, timezone, locale, and device
  • chrome profile: tabs, snapshot, screenshot, navigate, click, type, press, hover, scrollIntoView, drag, select, fill, wait, evaluate, resize, cookies, and storage
  • chrome relay still does not expose console capture, pdf export, file upload, dialog hooks, or host-side emulation/network overrides

Notable behavior details:

  • host screenshots accept ref and CSS element; element shots reject fullPage
  • host snapshots accept mode, compact, depth, selector, frame, and optional overlay labels
  • host upload accepts inputRef, CSS element, or a clickable ref that arms a file chooser
  • host cookies/storage actions work against the full Playwright context
  • relay cookies/storage actions work against the current page origin and visible page state only
  • relay screenshots can return jpeg and crop to a visible ref inside the current viewport
  • host console capture accepts level filtering such as error

Run

cd openclaw/browser-server
npm install
npx playwright install chromium
npm start

npx playwright install chromium is required for the managed host profile and for the relay smoke tests. The relay smoke defaults to the Playwright-bundled Chromium because extension sideloading is no longer a reliable automation path in Chrome/Edge.

When OpenClaw itself runs with a browser provider whose server_url points at http://127.0.0.1:19790, go run ./cmd/openclaw now probes that address and auto-starts this browser-server if needed. Auto-start expects the dependencies above to already be installed and logs the managed process under <state_dir>/debug/services/browser-server.log. If your checkout lives somewhere custom, point OPENCLAW_BROWSER_SERVER_DIR at openclaw/browser-server.

Environment variables:

  • OPENCLAW_BROWSER_SERVER_ADDR
    • default: 127.0.0.1:19790
  • OPENCLAW_BROWSER_SERVER_TOKEN
    • optional bearer token for HTTP APIs
    • extension relay passes it as ?token=... on the WebSocket URL
  • OPENCLAW_BROWSER_HEADLESS
    • default: true
  • OPENCLAW_BROWSER_EXECUTABLE_PATH
    • optional system browser path such as /usr/bin/chromium-browser
  • OPENCLAW_BROWSER_ALLOWED_DOMAINS
    • comma-separated
  • OPENCLAW_BROWSER_BLOCKED_DOMAINS
    • comma-separated
  • OPENCLAW_BROWSER_ALLOW_LOOPBACK
    • default: false
  • OPENCLAW_BROWSER_ALLOW_PRIVATE_NETWORKS
    • default: false
  • OPENCLAW_BROWSER_ALLOW_FILE_URLS
    • default: false

Smoke tests

After npm install, you can run:

cd openclaw/browser-server
npm run smoke:host
npm run smoke:relay
npm run smoke:host:headed
npm run smoke:relay:headed

What they verify:

  • smoke:host
    • starts the browser server
    • launches a managed browser profile
    • opens https://example.com
    • verifies snapshot, labeled snapshot, scrollIntoView, wait, wait-by-fn, cookies, storage, offline toggles, timezone override, evaluate, download, wait-download, and screenshot
    • injects a file input and verifies upload through both CSS selector and clickable ref flows
  • smoke:relay
    • starts the browser server
    • launches Chromium with the relay extension loaded
    • attaches the current tab through the extension background
    • verifies profile=chrome tabs, snapshot, scrollIntoView, wait, wait-by-fn, cookies, storage, evaluate, and cropped jpeg screenshots
  • smoke:host:headed
    • repeats the managed browser smoke with a visible Chromium window
  • smoke:relay:headed
    • repeats the relay smoke with a visible Chromium window

If you want to override the default bundled browser for relay smokes, set OPENCLAW_BROWSER_EXECUTABLE_PATH to a Chromium-compatible executable before running the command.

Main routes

  • GET /
  • GET /profiles
  • GET /extension/status
  • POST /start
  • POST /stop
  • GET /tabs
  • POST /tabs/open
  • POST /tabs/focus
  • DELETE /tabs/:id
  • POST /snapshot
  • POST /screenshot
  • POST /navigate
  • POST /console
  • GET /cookies
  • POST /cookies/set
  • POST /cookies/clear
  • GET /storage/local
  • POST /storage/local/set
  • POST /storage/local/clear
  • GET /storage/session
  • POST /storage/session/set
  • POST /storage/session/clear
  • POST /pdf
  • POST /download
  • POST /wait/download
  • POST /upload
  • POST /dialog
  • POST /set/offline
  • POST /set/headers
  • POST /set/credentials
  • POST /set/geolocation
  • POST /set/media
  • POST /set/timezone
  • POST /set/locale
  • POST /set/device
  • POST /act

The extension WebSocket endpoint is:

  • GET /extension/ws

If you enable OPENCLAW_BROWSER_SERVER_TOKEN, set the extension server URL to include the same token, for example:

http://127.0.0.1:19790?token=secret-token