Browser | Firecrawl

For agent workflows, use Interact. Interact is the supported CLI/MCP path and can be driven with prompts or code after a scrape; MCP also supports opening from a URL directly.

Surface	Use it for	Entry point	Agent surface
Browser Sandbox	Standalone browser sessions for API/SDK users that need a sandbox, CDP URL, live view, or persistent session lifecycle	`POST /v2/interact`	API and SDKs; hidden CLI browser command is legacy
Interact	Acting on a scraped page; MCP can also open from a URL with `firecrawl_interact` URL mode	`POST /v2/scrape/{scrapeId}/interact`, CLI `interact` after scrape, or MCP `firecrawl_interact`	Recommended for CLI/MCP agent workflows

Firecrawl Browser Sandbox gives API and SDK users a secure browser environment where agents can interact with the web. Fill out forms, click buttons, authenticate, and more. No local setup, no Chromium installs, no driver compatibility issues. Agent browser and playwright are pre-installed. Available via API, Node SDK, Python SDK, and Vercel AI SDK. The hidden firecrawl browser CLI command is legacy; CLI and MCP agent flows should use scrape + interact instead. To add Interact support to an AI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Open Code, Cursor, etc.), install the Firecrawl skill:

npx -y firecrawl-cli@latest init --all --browser

Each session runs in an isolated, disposable or persistent sandbox that scales without managing infrastructure.

Quick Start

Create a session, execute code, and close it:

// npm install firecrawl
import { Firecrawl } from 'firecrawl';

const firecrawl = new Firecrawl({ apiKey: "fc-YOUR-API-KEY" });

// 1. Launch a session
const session = await firecrawl.browser();
console.log(session.cdpUrl); // wss://cdp-proxy.firecrawl.dev/cdp/...

// 2. Execute code
const result = await firecrawl.browserExecute(session.id, {
  code: `
    await page.goto("https://news.ycombinator.com");
    const title = await page.title();
    console.log(title);
  `,
  language: "node",
});
console.log(result.result); // "Hacker News"

// 3. Close
await firecrawl.deleteBrowser(session.id);

No Driver Installation - No Chromium binary, no playwright install, no driver compatibility issues
Python, JavaScript & Bash - Send code via API, CLI, or SDK and get results back. All three languages run remotely in the sandbox
agent-browser - Pre-installed CLI with 60+ commands. AI agents write simple bash commands instead of Playwright code
Playwright loaded - Playwright comes pre-installed in the sandbox. Agents can write Playwright code if they prefer.
CDP Access - Connect your own Playwright instance over WebSocket when you need full control
Live View - Watch sessions in real time via embeddable stream URL
Interactive Live View - Let users interact with the browser directly through an embeddable interactive stream

Launch a Session

Returns a session ID, CDP URL, and live view URL.

import { Firecrawl } from 'firecrawl';

const firecrawl = new Firecrawl({ apiKey: "fc-YOUR-API-KEY" });

const session = await firecrawl.browser({
  ttl: 120,
  activityTtl: 60,
});

console.log(session.id);
console.log(session.cdpUrl);      // wss://cdp-proxy.firecrawl.dev/cdp/...
console.log(session.liveViewUrl); // https://liveview.firecrawl.dev/...

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "cdpUrl": "wss://browser.firecrawl.dev/cdp/550e8400...?token=abc123...",
  "liveViewUrl": "https://liveview.firecrawl.dev/...",
  "interactiveLiveViewUrl": "https://liveview.firecrawl.dev/...",
  "expiresAt": "2025-01-15T10:40:00Z"
}

Execute Code

Run Python, JavaScript, or bash code in your session. Output is returned via stdout; for Node.js, the last expression value is also available in result.

import { Firecrawl } from 'firecrawl';

const firecrawl = new Firecrawl({ apiKey: "fc-YOUR-API-KEY" });

const result = await firecrawl.browserExecute("YOUR_SESSION_ID", {
  code: 'await page.goto("https://example.com"); const title = await page.title(); console.log(title);',
  language: "node",
});

console.log(result);

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "stdout": "",
  "result": "Example Domain",
  "stderr": "",
  "exitCode": 0,
  "killed": false
}

Handling File Downloads

Files downloaded inside a session can be captured and returned as base64. Use Playwright’s download API via the execute endpoint:

import base64

async with page.expect_download() as download_info:
    await page.click('a#download-link')  # Click the element that triggers the download

download = download_info.value
path = await download.path()

# Optionally save to a known path
# await download.save_as('/tmp/myfile.pdf')

# Read and output file content as base64
with open(path, "rb") as f:
    content = base64.b64encode(f.read()).decode()
    print(content)

The sandbox filesystem is ephemeral — downloaded files are lost when the session ends. To persist files, read their content within the session and save it to your own storage. Persistent profiles preserve browser state (cookies, localStorage) but not files on disk.

agent-browser (Bash Mode)

agent-browser is a headless browser CLI pre-installed in every sandbox. Instead of writing Playwright code, agents send simple bash commands. The CLI auto-injects --cdp so agent-browser connects to your active session automatically.

The firecrawl browser CLI examples below are for legacy Browser Sandbox sessions. For CLI/MCP agent workflows, prefer firecrawl interact or the MCP firecrawl_interact tool.

Shorthand

The fastest way to use browser. Both the shorthand and execute send commands to agent-browser automatically. The shorthand just skips execute and auto-launches a session if needed:

firecrawl browser "open https://example.com"
firecrawl browser "snapshot"
firecrawl browser "click @e5"

CLI

The explicit form uses execute. Commands are sent to agent-browser automatically — you don’t need to type agent-browser or use --bash:

firecrawl browser execute "open https://example.com"
firecrawl browser execute "snapshot"

API & SDK

Use language: "bash" to run agent-browser commands via the API or SDKs:

curl -X POST "https://api.firecrawl.dev/v2/interact/YOUR_SESSION_ID/execute" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FIRECRAWL_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "code": "agent-browser snapshot",
    "language": "bash"
  }'

Session Management

Persistent Sessions

By default, each browser session starts with a clean slate. With profile, you can save and reuse browser state across sessions. This is useful for staying logged in and preserving preferences. To save or select a profile, use the profile parameter when creating a session.

const session = await firecrawl.browser({
  ttl: 600,
  profile: {
    name: "my-profile",
    saveChanges: true,
  },
});

Parameter	Default	Description
`name`	—	A name for the persistent profile. Sessions with the same name share storage.
`saveChanges`	`true`	When `true`, browser state is saved back to the profile on close. Set to `false` to load existing data without writing — useful when you need multiple concurrent readers.

Only one session can save to a profile at a time. If another session is already saving, you’ll get a 409 error. You can still open the same profile with saveChanges: false, or try again later.

The browser session state only saves when the session is closed. So we recommend closing the browser session when you are done with it so it can be reused. Once a session is closed, its session ID is no longer valid — you cannot reuse it. Instead, create a new session with the same profile name and use the new session ID returned in the response. To save and close it:

import { Firecrawl } from 'firecrawl';

const firecrawl = new Firecrawl({ apiKey: "fc-YOUR-API-KEY" });

await firecrawl.deleteBrowser("YOUR_SESSION_ID");

List Sessions

import { Firecrawl } from 'firecrawl';

const firecrawl = new Firecrawl({ apiKey: "fc-YOUR-API-KEY" });

const { sessions } = await firecrawl.listBrowsers();
console.log(sessions);

// Filter by status
const { sessions: active } = await firecrawl.listBrowsers({ status: "active" });
console.log(active);

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "sessions": [
    {
      "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
      "status": "active",
      "cdpUrl": "wss://browser.firecrawl.dev/cdp/550e8400...?token=abc123...",
      "liveViewUrl": "https://liveview.firecrawl.dev/...",
      "interactiveLiveViewUrl": "https://liveview.firecrawl.dev/...",
      "createdAt": "2025-01-15T10:30:00Z",
      "lastActivity": "2025-01-15T10:35:00Z"
    }
  ]
}

TTL Configuration

Sessions have two TTL controls:

Parameter	Default	Description
`ttl`	600s (10 min)	Maximum session lifetime (30-3600s)
`activityTtl`	300s (5 min)	Auto-close after inactivity (10-3600s)

Close a Session

import { Firecrawl } from 'firecrawl';

const firecrawl = new Firecrawl({ apiKey: "fc-YOUR-API-KEY" });

await firecrawl.deleteBrowser("YOUR_SESSION_ID");

Live View

Every session returns a liveViewUrl in the response that you can embed to watch the browser in real time. Useful for debugging, demos, or building browser-powered UIs.

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "cdpUrl": "wss://browser.firecrawl.dev/cdp/550e8400...?token=abc123...",
  "liveViewUrl": "https://liveview.firecrawl.dev/...",
  "interactiveLiveViewUrl": "https://liveview.firecrawl.dev/...",
  "expiresAt": "2025-01-15T10:40:00Z"
}

<iframe src="LIVE_VIEW_URL" width="100%" height="600" />

Interactive Live View

The response also includes an interactiveLiveViewUrl. Unlike the standard live view which is view-only, the interactive live view allows users to click, type, and interact with the browser session directly through the embedded stream. This is useful for building user-facing browser UIs, collaborative debugging, or any scenario where the viewer needs to control the browser.

<iframe src="INTERACTIVE_LIVE_VIEW_URL" width="100%" height="600" />

Connecting via CDP

Every session exposes a CDP WebSocket URL. The execute API and --bash flag cover most use cases, but if you need full local control you can connect directly.

import { Firecrawl } from 'firecrawl';
import { chromium } from "playwright-core";

const firecrawl = new Firecrawl({ apiKey: "fc-YOUR-API-KEY" });
const session = await firecrawl.browser();

const browser = await chromium.connectOverCDP(session.cdpUrl);
const context = browser.contexts()[0];
const page = context.pages()[0] || (await context.newPage());

await page.goto("https://example.com");
console.log(await page.title());

await browser.close();
await firecrawl.deleteBrowser(session.id);

When to Use Browser

Use Case	Right Tool
Extract content from a known URL	Scrape
Search the web and get results	Search
Navigate pagination, fill forms, click through flows	Browser
Multi-step workflows with interaction	Browser
Parallel browsing across many sites	Browser (each session is isolated)

Use Cases

Competitive intelligence - Browse competitor sites, navigate search forms and filters, extract pricing and features into structured data
Knowledge base ingestion - Navigate help centers, docs, and support portals that require clicks, pagination, or authentication
Market research - Launch parallel browser sessions to build datasets from job boards, real estate listings, or legal databases

Pricing

Pricing is straightforward: 2 credits per browser minute. Free users get 5 hours of free usage.

Rate limits

For the initial launch, we allow all plans up to have up to 20 concurrent browser sessions.

API Reference

Have feedback or need help? Email help@firecrawl.com or reach out on Discord.

Are you an AI agent that needs a Firecrawl API key? See firecrawl.dev/agent-onboarding/SKILL.md for automated onboarding instructions.

​Quick Start

​Launch a Session

​Execute Code

​Handling File Downloads

​agent-browser (Bash Mode)

​Shorthand

​CLI

​API & SDK

​Session Management

​Persistent Sessions

​List Sessions

​TTL Configuration

​Close a Session

​Live View

​Interactive Live View

​Connecting via CDP

​When to Use Browser

​Use Cases

​Pricing

​Rate limits

​API Reference

Quick Start

Launch a Session

Execute Code

Handling File Downloads

agent-browser (Bash Mode)

Shorthand

CLI

API & SDK

Session Management

Persistent Sessions

List Sessions

TTL Configuration

Close a Session

Live View

Interactive Live View

Connecting via CDP

When to Use Browser

Use Cases

Pricing

Rate limits

API Reference