Skip to main content

​
openclaw browser

Manage OpenClaw’s browser control surface and run browser actions (lifecycle, profiles, tabs, snapshots, screenshots, navigation, input, state emulation, and debugging). Related:

​
Common flags

  • --url <gatewayWsUrl>: Gateway WebSocket URL (defaults to config).
  • --token <token>: Gateway token (if required).
  • --timeout <ms>: request timeout (ms).
  • --expect-final: wait for a final Gateway response.
  • --browser-profile <name>: choose a browser profile (default from config).
  • --json: machine-readable output (where supported).

​
Quick start (local)

openclaw browser profiles
openclaw browser --browser-profile openclaw start
openclaw browser --browser-profile openclaw open https://example.com
openclaw browser --browser-profile openclaw snapshot

​
Lifecycle

openclaw browser status
openclaw browser start
openclaw browser stop
openclaw browser --browser-profile openclaw reset-profile
Notes:
  • For attachOnly and remote CDP profiles, openclaw browser stop closes the active control session and clears temporary emulation overrides even when OpenClaw did not launch the browser process itself.
  • For local managed profiles, openclaw browser stop stops the spawned browser process.

​
If the command is missing

If openclaw browser is an unknown command, check plugins.allow in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json. When plugins.allow is present, the bundled browser plugin must be listed explicitly: 
{
  plugins: {
    allow: ["telegram", "browser"],
  },
}
browser.enabled=true does not restore the CLI subcommand when the plugin allowlist excludes browser. Related: Browser tool

​
Profiles

Profiles are named browser routing configs. In practice:
  • openclaw: launches or attaches to a dedicated OpenClaw-managed Chrome instance (isolated user data dir).
  • user: controls your existing signed-in Chrome session via Chrome DevTools MCP.
  • custom CDP profiles: point at a local or remote CDP endpoint.
openclaw browser profiles
openclaw browser create-profile --name work --color "#FF5A36"
openclaw browser create-profile --name chrome-live --driver existing-session
openclaw browser create-profile --name remote --cdp-url https://browser-host.example.com
openclaw browser delete-profile --name work
Use a specific profile: 
openclaw browser --browser-profile work tabs

​
Tabs

openclaw browser tabs
openclaw browser tab new
openclaw browser tab select 2
openclaw browser tab close 2
openclaw browser open https://docs.openclaw.ai
openclaw browser focus <targetId>
openclaw browser close <targetId>

​
Snapshot / screenshot / actions

Snapshot: 
openclaw browser snapshot
Screenshot: 
openclaw browser screenshot
openclaw browser screenshot --full-page
openclaw browser screenshot --ref e12
Notes:
  • --full-page is for page captures only; it cannot be combined with --ref or --element.
  • existing-session / user profiles support page screenshots and --ref screenshots from snapshot output, but not CSS --element screenshots.
Navigate/click/type (ref-based UI automation): 
openclaw browser navigate https://example.com
openclaw browser click <ref>
openclaw browser type <ref> "hello"
openclaw browser press Enter
openclaw browser hover <ref>
openclaw browser scrollintoview <ref>
openclaw browser drag <startRef> <endRef>
openclaw browser select <ref> OptionA OptionB
openclaw browser fill --fields '[{"ref":"1","value":"Ada"}]'
openclaw browser wait --text "Done"
openclaw browser evaluate --fn '(el) => el.textContent' --ref <ref>
File + dialog helpers: 
openclaw browser upload /tmp/openclaw/uploads/file.pdf --ref <ref>
openclaw browser waitfordownload
openclaw browser download <ref> report.pdf
openclaw browser dialog --accept

​
State and storage

Viewport + emulation: 
openclaw browser resize 1280 720
openclaw browser set viewport 1280 720
openclaw browser set offline on
openclaw browser set media dark
openclaw browser set timezone Europe/London
openclaw browser set locale en-GB
openclaw browser set geo 51.5074 -0.1278 --accuracy 25
openclaw browser set device "iPhone 14"
openclaw browser set headers '{"x-test":"1"}'
openclaw browser set credentials myuser mypass
Cookies + storage: 
openclaw browser cookies
openclaw browser cookies set session abc123 --url https://example.com
openclaw browser cookies clear
openclaw browser storage local get
openclaw browser storage local set token abc123
openclaw browser storage session clear

​
Debugging

openclaw browser console --level error
openclaw browser pdf
openclaw browser responsebody "**/api"
openclaw browser highlight <ref>
openclaw browser errors --clear
openclaw browser requests --filter api
openclaw browser trace start
openclaw browser trace stop --out trace.zip

​
Existing Chrome via MCP

Use the built-in user profile, or create your own existing-session profile: 
openclaw browser --browser-profile user tabs
openclaw browser create-profile --name chrome-live --driver existing-session
openclaw browser create-profile --name brave-live --driver existing-session --user-data-dir "~/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser"
openclaw browser --browser-profile chrome-live tabs
This path is host-only. For Docker, headless servers, Browserless, or other remote setups, use a CDP profile instead. Current existing-session limits:
  • snapshot-driven actions use refs, not CSS selectors
  • click is left-click only
  • type does not support slowly=true
  • press does not support delayMs
  • wait --load networkidle is not supported
  • screenshots support page captures and --ref, but not CSS --element
  • responsebody, download interception, PDF export, and batch actions still require a managed browser or raw CDP profile

​
Remote browser control (node host proxy)

If the Gateway runs on a different machine than the browser, run a node host on the machine that has Chrome/Brave/Edge/Chromium. The Gateway will proxy browser actions to that node (no separate browser control server required). Use gateway.nodes.browser.mode to control auto-routing and gateway.nodes.browser.node to pin a specific node if multiple are connected. Security + remote setup: Browser tool, Remote access, Tailscale, Security