Automation, extensions, and devtools

Driving the browser from a terminal, an agent, or Siri

Automation is off by default, and it unlocks in layers. Reading pages, running scripts, taking screenshots, and sending genuine mouse clicks are four separate switches, and real clicks additionally need macOS Accessibility permission.

For recurring agent work, use Scheduled Tasks in Settings, Agent. The screenshots below show an unsaved Voyager update-check draft. The provider, origins, permissions, and budgets need review before any task is enabled.

An unsaved Voyager mission updates task with daily timing, a time zone, daylight-saving options, and a provider snapshot — Configure Task opens a review sheet. Name the job, describe its scope, set local time and time zone, and verify the provider snapshot. This draft was cancelled, not scheduled.

Things to try

about 7 minutes

01In Settings, Agent, open Scheduled Tasks and prepare a Voyager mission-update check. Inspect Configure Task before saving.Review the provider snapshot, allowed origins, browser session, capabilities, hard limits, overlap, catch-up, and notifications. Cancel the draft if you only want to demonstrate the setup.
02In Settings, Security, turn on agent automation, then enable only page reading.
03Link the CLI that ships inside the app bundle.sudo ln -sf /Applications/Browser.app/Contents/Helpers/browser-cli /usr/local/bin/browser-cli
04Open a page from the terminal and read it back.browser-cli open https://example.com && browser-cli wait, then browser-cli snapshot. Commands travel through an owner-only named pipe.
05Send yourself a message in the real browser window.browser-cli notify "Please solve the captcha". This is the whole point: the automation can hand a login or a captcha back to a human and pick up afterward.
06Connect an AI tool that speaks MCP.browser-cli install-mcp all wires up Codex and Claude Code if they are installed. 53 BrowserOS-compatible tools, stable per-window page handles, and parallel hidden pages. It uses the same in-app switches, and its events join the same local timeline.
07Open the Shortcuts app and look for Browser's actions. Then ask Siri for a new tab.Open URL, Search the Web, and New Tab show up in Shortcuts, Spotlight, and Siri.
08From the Extensions menu, load an unpacked extension folder and approve its scopes.⌥⌘EOpen its popup, control whether it sees private tabs, and remove it from the management panel.
09Open developer tools, the console, and the element picker.⌥⌘I⌥⌘J⌥⌘CSettings, Appearance docks devtools to the bottom, left, or right, or keeps them in their own window.

Worth filming

The captcha handoff. A script stops, a human solves it in the window that was there all along, the script continues.

Settings panes behind this chapter: Agent, Security.