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Browser Automation

Hermes Agent includes a full browser automation toolset powered by Browserbase, enabling the agent to navigate websites, interact with page elements, fill forms, and extract information — all running in cloud-hosted browsers with built-in anti-bot stealth features.

Overview​

The browser tools use the agent-browser CLI with Browserbase cloud execution. Pages are represented as accessibility trees (text-based snapshots), making them ideal for LLM agents. Interactive elements get ref IDs (like @e1, @e2) that the agent uses for clicking and typing.

Key capabilities:

  • Cloud execution — no local browser needed
  • Built-in stealth — random fingerprints, CAPTCHA solving, residential proxies
  • Session isolation — each task gets its own browser session
  • Automatic cleanup — inactive sessions are closed after a timeout
  • Vision analysis — screenshot + AI analysis for visual understanding

Setup​

Required Environment Variables​

# Add to ~/.hermes/.env
BROWSERBASE_API_KEY=your-api-key-here
BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID=your-project-id-here

Get your credentials at browserbase.com.

Optional Environment Variables​

# Residential proxies for better CAPTCHA solving (default: "true")
BROWSERBASE_PROXIES=true

# Advanced stealth with custom Chromium — requires Scale Plan (default: "false")
BROWSERBASE_ADVANCED_STEALTH=false

# Session reconnection after disconnects — requires paid plan (default: "true")
BROWSERBASE_KEEP_ALIVE=true

# Custom session timeout in milliseconds (default: project default)
# Examples: 600000 (10min), 1800000 (30min)
BROWSERBASE_SESSION_TIMEOUT=600000

# Inactivity timeout before auto-cleanup in seconds (default: 300)
BROWSER_INACTIVITY_TIMEOUT=300

Install agent-browser CLI​

npm install -g agent-browser
# Or install locally in the repo:
npm install
info

The browser toolset must be included in your config's toolsets list or enabled via hermes config set toolsets '["hermes-cli", "browser"]'.

Available Tools​

browser_navigate​

Navigate to a URL. Must be called before any other browser tool. Initializes the Browserbase session.

Navigate to https://github.com/NousResearch
tip

For simple information retrieval, prefer web_search or web_extract — they are faster and cheaper. Use browser tools when you need to interact with a page (click buttons, fill forms, handle dynamic content).

browser_snapshot​

Get a text-based snapshot of the current page's accessibility tree. Returns interactive elements with ref IDs like @e1, @e2 for use with browser_click and browser_type.

  • full=false (default): Compact view showing only interactive elements
  • full=true: Complete page content

Snapshots over 8000 characters are automatically summarized by an LLM.

browser_click​

Click an element identified by its ref ID from the snapshot.

Click @e5 to press the "Sign In" button

browser_type​

Type text into an input field. Clears the field first, then types the new text.

Type "hermes agent" into the search field @e3

browser_scroll​

Scroll the page up or down to reveal more content.

Scroll down to see more results

browser_press​

Press a keyboard key. Useful for submitting forms or navigation.

Press Enter to submit the form

Supported keys: Enter, Tab, Escape, ArrowDown, ArrowUp, and more.

browser_back​

Navigate back to the previous page in browser history.

browser_get_images​

List all images on the current page with their URLs and alt text. Useful for finding images to analyze.

browser_vision​

Take a screenshot and analyze it with vision AI. Use this when text snapshots don't capture important visual information — especially useful for CAPTCHAs, complex layouts, or visual verification challenges.

What does the chart on this page show?

browser_close​

Close the browser session and release resources. Call this when done to free up Browserbase session quota.

Practical Examples​

Filling Out a Web Form​

User: Sign up for an account on example.com with my email john@example.com

Agent workflow:
1. browser_navigate("https://example.com/signup")
2. browser_snapshot()  → sees form fields with refs
3. browser_type(ref="@e3", text="john@example.com")
4. browser_type(ref="@e5", text="SecurePass123")
5. browser_click(ref="@e8")  → clicks "Create Account"
6. browser_snapshot()  → confirms success
7. browser_close()

Researching Dynamic Content​

User: What are the top trending repos on GitHub right now?

Agent workflow:
1. browser_navigate("https://github.com/trending")
2. browser_snapshot(full=true)  → reads trending repo list
3. Returns formatted results
4. browser_close()

Stealth Features​

Browserbase provides automatic stealth capabilities:

FeatureDefaultNotes
Basic StealthAlways onRandom fingerprints, viewport randomization, CAPTCHA solving
Residential ProxiesOnRoutes through residential IPs for better access
Advanced StealthOffCustom Chromium build, requires Scale Plan
Keep AliveOnSession reconnection after network hiccups
note

If paid features aren't available on your plan, Hermes automatically falls back — first disabling keepAlive, then proxies — so browsing still works on free plans.

Session Management​

  • Each task gets an isolated browser session via Browserbase
  • Sessions are automatically cleaned up after inactivity (default: 5 minutes)
  • A background thread checks every 30 seconds for stale sessions
  • Emergency cleanup runs on process exit to prevent orphaned sessions
  • Sessions are released via the Browserbase API (REQUEST_RELEASE status)

Limitations​

  • Requires Browserbase account — no local browser fallback
  • Requires agent-browser CLI — must be installed via npm
  • Text-based interaction — relies on accessibility tree, not pixel coordinates
  • Snapshot size — large pages may be truncated or LLM-summarized at 8000 characters
  • Session timeout — sessions expire based on your Browserbase plan settings
  • Cost — each session consumes Browserbase credits; use browser_close when done
  • No file downloads — cannot download files from the browser