cdpilot

Zero-dependency browser automation from your terminal. One command, full control.

Quick Start

npx cdpilot launch    # Start browser with CDP
npx cdpilot go https://example.com
npx cdpilot shot      # Take screenshot

No config files. No boilerplate. Just npx and go.

Why cdpilot?

AI agents and developers need browser control that just works:

• Zero config — npx cdpilot launch starts an isolated browser session

• Zero dependency — No Puppeteer, no Playwright, no Selenium. Pure CDP over HTTP

• 40+ commands — Navigate, click, type, screenshot, network, console, accessibility, and more

• AI-agent friendly — Designed for Claude, GPT, Gemini, and any LLM tool-use workflow

• Isolated sessions — Your personal browser stays untouched. cdpilot runs in its own profile

• Visual feedback — Green glow overlay, cursor visualization, click ripples, and keystroke display keep you informed during automation

• Multi-project isolation — Each project gets its own browser instance and port automatically, no conflicts

• AI control warning — Red toast notification appears when you hover during active automation

• Privacy-first — Everything runs locally. No data leaves your machine

Browser Selection (Workload-Aware Auto-Pick)

cdpilot picks the right browser for what you're doing. auto (default) is a two-axis policy — extension workload × platform stability:

Override anytime:

cdpilot browser            # show current pick + reason
cdpilot browser vivaldi    # pin to Vivaldi
cdpilot browser auto       # restore smart default

Why the split?

• Chrome 147+ silently drops --load-extension for unpacked extensions (no error, no warning). Verified — chrome://extensions shows 0 items.

• Vivaldi, Brave, Edge, Chromium honor --load-extension (tested).

• On macOS 26 (Tahoe) Brave 1.89 crashes deterministically at ~7min uptime (SIGTRAP in ThreadPoolForegroundWorker). cdpilot detects the OS and demotes Brave automatically until a fixed Brave release ships.

Each browser gets its own isolated profile (~/.cdpilot/.../profile-vivaldi etc.) so switching never causes prefs corruption.

Installation

# Use directly (no install needed)
npx cdpilot <command>

# Or install globally
npm i -g cdpilot

Requirements: Node.js 18+ and one of: Brave Browser, Google Chrome, or Chromium.

First-time setup

npx cdpilot setup     # Auto-detect browser, create isolated profile
npx cdpilot launch    # Start browser with CDP enabled
npx cdpilot status    # Check connection

Upgrading from 0.4.x → 0.5.0 — read this first

One breaking change, the rest is additive.

Breaking — Visual feedback default flipped to OFF. The green glow border, animated fake cursor, click ripples, and keystroke display made cdpilot feel like an amateur typing on every page. They are now opt-in:

cdpilot show on     # restore the old visual feedback layer
cdpilot show off    # default since 0.5.0

The MCP server's persistent-glow flow (CDPILOT_MCP_SESSION=1) is unchanged — AI agents that rely on visible feedback during a session still see it automatically. Only direct-CLI users see the difference.

New in 0.5.0 (no migration needed):

• cdpilot dismiss — heuristic auto-click for "Stay signed out / No thanks" buttons on LLM chat sign-up walls.

• cdpilot adaptive on — auto-escalate to stealth on CAPTCHA-protected hosts, with persistent per-host memory.

• cdpilot cookies save/load — export/import cookies as JSON to replay CF/DataDome clearance across runs.

• cdpilot context create/list/close + CDPILOT_TARGET — isolated browser contexts for true parallel automation inside a single browser.

• cdpilot fast / cdpilot show — bundled timing + visual toggles.

• Pure performance: post-load sleep 1500ms → 300ms, scrollIntoView instant, WebSocket connection pool, /json TTL cache.

See CHANGELOG.md for the full list with rationale.

Commands

Navigation & Content

cdpilot go <url>              # Navigate to URL
cdpilot content               # Get page text content
cdpilot html                  # Get page HTML
cdpilot shot [file]           # Take screenshot (PNG)
cdpilot pdf [file]            # Save page as PDF

Interaction

cdpilot click <selector>      # Click element
cdpilot type <selector> <text># Type into input
cdpilot fill <selector> <val> # Set input value (React-compatible)
cdpilot submit <form>         # Submit form
cdpilot hover <selector>      # Hover element
cdpilot keys <combo>          # Keyboard shortcut (ctrl+a, enter, etc.)
cdpilot scroll-to <selector>  # Scroll element into view
cdpilot drag <from> <to>      # Drag and drop

Debugging

cdpilot console [url]         # Capture console logs
cdpilot network [url]         # Monitor network requests
cdpilot debug [url]           # Full diagnostic (console+network+perf+shot)
cdpilot perf                  # Performance metrics
cdpilot eval <js>             # Execute JavaScript
cdpilot eval-batch <json>     # Run N JS expressions in 1 roundtrip (5-30x faster)

# Example: read 4 DOM values in a single CDP roundtrip instead of 4
cdpilot eval-batch '["document.title","location.href","document.links.length","document.images.length"]'
# → [{"ok":true,"value":"..."}, {"ok":true,"value":"..."}, ...]

Performance

cdpilot block                                # Show status
cdpilot block on                             # Enable (default preset: images+fonts+ads)
cdpilot block off                            # Disable
cdpilot block preset images,fonts,ads,media  # Set patterns from named presets
cdpilot block patterns '*.png' '*.woff2'     # Custom URL patterns
cdpilot block clear                          # Drop all patterns

Stealth caveat: block changes the fingerprint surface — real browsers fetch images, fonts, and analytics. Cloudflare-class bot detectors notice missing requests. Keep block off for stealth/anti-bot targets; turn it on for known-safe internal sites where speed matters more than blending in.

cdpilot fast                       # Show status (effective auto-wait ms)
cdpilot fast on                    # Auto-wait 5s → 2s, less idle padding
cdpilot fast off                   # Back to defaults
CDPILOT_WAIT_MS=1000 cdpilot click # Per-command override (env wins over fast mode)

cdpilot show                       # Show status (visual feedback on/off)
cdpilot show on                    # Re-enable glow border + cursor + ripples + keystrokes
cdpilot show off                   # Default since 0.4.4 — quiet, professional output

Visual feedback default changed in 0.4.4 — the old animations (green glow, moving cursor, click ripples) used to make every action look like an amateur driving the screen. They're now opt-in via cdpilot show on. The MCP server's persistent-glow flow (CDPILOT_MCP_SESSION=1) is unaffected — AI agents that rely on visible feedback during a session still see it automatically.

Tab Management

cdpilot tabs                  # List open tabs
cdpilot new-tab [url]         # Open new tab
cdpilot switch-tab <id>       # Switch to tab
cdpilot close-tab [id]        # Close tab
cdpilot close                 # Close active tab

Network Control

cdpilot throttle slow3g       # Simulate slow 3G
cdpilot throttle fast3g       # Simulate fast 3G
cdpilot throttle offline      # Go offline
cdpilot throttle off          # Back to normal
cdpilot proxy <url>           # Set proxy
cdpilot proxy off             # Remove proxy

Request Interception

cdpilot intercept block <pattern>                    # Block requests
cdpilot intercept mock <pattern> <json-file>         # Mock responses
cdpilot intercept headers <pattern> <header:value>   # Add headers
cdpilot intercept list                               # List active rules
cdpilot intercept clear                              # Clear all rules

Device Emulation

cdpilot emulate iphone        # iPhone emulation
cdpilot emulate ipad          # iPad emulation
cdpilot emulate android       # Android emulation
cdpilot emulate reset         # Back to desktop

Geolocation

cdpilot geo istanbul          # Set location to Istanbul
cdpilot geo london            # Set location to London
cdpilot geo 41.01 28.97       # Custom coordinates
cdpilot geo off               # Remove override

Accessibility

cdpilot a11y                  # Full accessibility tree
cdpilot a11y summary          # Quick summary
cdpilot a11y find <role>      # Find elements by ARIA role

Session Management

cdpilot session               # Current session info
cdpilot sessions              # List all sessions
cdpilot session-close [id]    # Close session

Advanced

cdpilot cookies [domain]      # List cookies (filter by domain)
cdpilot cookies save <file> [<domain>]
                              # Export cookies as JSON (optional domain filter)
cdpilot cookies load <file>   # Import cookies (replay CF clearance across runs)
cdpilot storage               # localStorage contents
cdpilot upload <sel> <file>   # Upload file to input
cdpilot multi-eval <js>       # Execute JS in all tabs
cdpilot headless [on|off]     # Toggle headless mode
cdpilot frame list            # List iframes
cdpilot dialog auto-accept    # Auto-accept dialogs
cdpilot permission grant geo  # Grant geolocation

Parallel Contexts

cdpilot context create [url]  # Make fresh browser context + tab (prints JSON)
cdpilot context list          # Tree of contexts and their tabs
cdpilot context close <ctx>   # Destroy a context (refuses 'default')

Address a specific context's tab in subsequent commands via the env pin:

ID=$(cdpilot context create https://example.com | jq -r .target_id)
CDPILOT_TARGET=$ID cdpilot eval 'document.title'

True isolation — each context has its own cookie/storage jar. Designed for running N AI chat queries in parallel without history pollution, or A/B testing logged-in vs logged-out flows without spinning up multiple browsers.

Smart Navigation (LLM-aware)

cdpilot dismiss               # Click best "Stay signed out / No thanks" button
cdpilot dismiss aggressive    # Handle chained modals (cookie banner → signup)

Built-in English + Turkish pattern library. Explicitly excludes destructive lookalikes (Delete account, Sign out, Subscribe) — safe to chain into a query workflow.

Stealth & CAPTCHA

Zero-dependency anti-fingerprint layer — patches navigator.webdriver, chrome.runtime, plugins (proper PluginArray inheritance), WebGL vendor/renderer, permissions, hardware concurrency, and the Worker constructor. Injected via Page.addScriptToEvaluateOnNewDocument before any page script runs. Disabled by default; opt-in.

cdpilot stealth on            # enable fingerprint patches (opt-in)
cdpilot stealth off           # disable (default)
cdpilot stealth status        # show which patches are applied

cdpilot captcha-check         # JSON detection of Turnstile/hCaptcha/reCAPTCHA/
                              # DataDome/PerimeterX/Arkose/GeeTest. Exit 0/3
cdpilot captcha-wait [sec]    # block until user solves (interactive)
                              # or poll with JSON stream (non-interactive)

cdpilot adaptive [on|off|status]
                              # Auto-escalate to stealth on hosts that show
                              # CAPTCHA. Persistent per-host memory.
cdpilot adaptive forget <host>
                              # Remove a hostname from the stealth list
cdpilot adaptive clear        # Drop the stealth host memory entirely

Adaptive mode is the "run fast, climb walls when seen" automation: cdpilot runs in the open lane by default, detects CAPTCHA after each navigation, and when it sees one — adds the host to a persistent list, retries once with stealth on. Never auto-demotes. Conservative by design.

Verified against public bot-detection panels:

• bot.sannysoft.com: 24/24 PASS (WebDriver, Chrome obj, Plugins as PluginArray, WebGL, PHANTOM_, HEADCHR_, SELENIUM_DRIVER)

• bot.incolumitas.com intoli: 6/6 OK — new-tests: 6/7 OK (one FAIL = pure CDP presence, cannot be JS-patched)

• nowsecure.nl (Cloudflare full challenge): passed

• arh.antoinevastel.com/areyouheadless: "You are not Chrome headless"

Reliability

cdpilot browser [name|auto]   # workload-aware browser selection
cdpilot health                # JSON: alive, port, tabs, browser, today's crashes

cdpilot health is designed for shell watchdogs:

until cdpilot health >/dev/null; do cdpilot launch; sleep 2; done

Surfaces today's Brave crash count from ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ on macOS — spot degradation before your automation silently stalls.

Use with AI Agents

cdpilot is designed to be called by AI agents as a tool:

Claude Code (MCP)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cdpilot": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["cdpilot", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Any LLM (tool-use)

{
  "name": "browser",
  "description": "Control a browser via CDP",
  "parameters": {
    "command": "go https://example.com"
  }
}

Python (subprocess)

import subprocess
result = subprocess.run(["npx", "cdpilot", "go", url], capture_output=True, text=True)
print(result.stdout)

Environment Variables

How It Works

┌─────────────┐     HTTP/WebSocket      ┌──────────────┐
│  cdpilot │ ◄──────────────────────► │ Brave/Chrome │
│   (CLI)     │    Chrome DevTools       │  (CDP mode)  │
└─────────────┘     Protocol             └──────────────┘
       │                                        │
       │  Zero dependencies                     │  Isolated profile
       │  Pure HTTP + WebSocket                 │  Separate from your
       │  ~2500 lines, single file              │  personal browser
       └────────────────────────────────────────┘

No Puppeteer. No Playwright. No Selenium. Just direct CDP communication.

Comparison

Monetization / Pro (Coming Soon)

cdpilot CLI is and will always be free and open source (MIT).

Future paid offerings:

• cdpilot cloud — Remote browser instances, no local browser needed

• Team dashboard — Shared sessions, audit logs, usage analytics

• Priority support — Direct help for enterprise integrations

Security

• Isolated browser profile — cdpilot runs in ~/.cdpilot/profile, separate from your daily browser. Your cookies, passwords, and history are never exposed.

• No arbitrary file access — MCP screenshot filenames are sanitized and restricted to the screenshots directory. Path traversal is blocked.

• Safe CSS selectors — All selectors passed to querySelector are JSON-escaped to prevent injection.

• No network exposure — CDP listens on 127.0.0.1 only. Remote connections are not possible by default.

• No dependencies — Zero npm/Python runtime dependencies means zero supply-chain attack surface.

Found a vulnerability? Please email the maintainer directly instead of opening a public issue.

Roadmap

The only browser MCP with built-in test assertions. Here's what we've shipped and what's next:

Shipped

• 60+ CLI commands (navigate, click, fill, screenshot, PDF, console, network...)

• MCP server for AI agent integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.)

• 10 built-in test assertions — assert, assert-url, assert-title, assert-count, assert-value, assert-attr, assert-visible/hidden, wait-for, check (batch), screenshot-diff

• Accessibility tree snapshot (a11y-snapshot) — structured data with @ref references, 500x fewer tokens than screenshots

• Token-efficient screenshots — element-level crop (13x smaller), JPEG quality control, format selection

• Vision fallback (describe) — a11y + screenshot + text in one call

• Annotated screenshots — @N badge overlays on interactive elements

• Auto-wait — MutationObserver-based, 5s automatic element waiting

• wait-for-text — adaptive text-based waiting (subtree + characterData) for streaming AI responses, async toasts, and selector-less synchronization

• eval-batch — run N JS expressions in 1 CDP roundtrip (5-30x speedup vs sequential eval)

• block — request blocking via Network.setBlockedURLs with built-in presets (images/fonts/ads/media), 3-10x faster page loads on opt-in

• dismiss — heuristic auto-click for LLM chat sign-up walls (EN+TR pattern library, destructive-action guards)

• adaptive — auto-escalate to stealth on CAPTCHA-protected hosts, persistent per-host memory ("run fast, climb walls")

• cookies save/load — export/import cookies as JSON (replay CF/DataDome clearance across runs)

• context pool + CDPILOT_TARGET — isolated browser contexts for true parallel automation in a single browser (Playwright's parallel-tabs model)

• fast / show — bundled timing + visual toggles. Default quiet/fast in 0.5.0

• WebSocket pool + /json TTL cache — zero-regression connection reuse for MCP/batch workloads

• Batch commands — pipe JSON arrays via stdin for multi-step automation

• Visual feedback system (persistent green glow, cursor, ripples, keystroke display)

• AI control warning toast (red warning when user interacts during automation)

• Multi-project browser isolation (each project gets its own port + profile)

• Pre-flight wizard (auto-installs dependencies on first run)

• Persistent MCP glow (stays on during entire AI session, like Claude's orange glow)

• DevExtension system (native JS injection without browser store)

• Smart commands — smart-click, smart-fill, smart-select — interact by visible text, no CSS selectors needed, no LLM required

• Data extraction (extract) — structured DOM data in text, JSON, or list format

• Page observation (observe) — list all interactive elements with available actions

• Script runner (run) — execute .cdp script files with pass/fail reporting

Coming Soon

• iframe & Shadow DOM support — interact with elements inside iframes and shadow roots

• Session recording & replay — record browser sessions and replay them deterministically

• Stealth mode (Pro) — human-like mouse/typing, anti-fingerprint, CAPTCHA solving

• cdpilot Cloud — hosted browser sessions API, REST + WebSocket MCP endpoint

• Chrome Extension — use cdpilot from any browser without CLI

• Performance audit — Core Web Vitals (LCP, CLS, INP) via CDP Performance domain

• WCAG accessibility audit — automated a11y compliance reporting

• Claude Code Skill mode — run as a .claude/skills/ skill in addition to MCP

Have an idea? Open an issue or submit a PR!

Contributing

git clone https://github.com/mehmetnadir/cdpilot.git
cd cdpilot
npm install
npm test

PRs welcome! Please read CONTRIBUTING.md first.

License

MIT — do whatever you want.