cosinusalpha

5 ms·

1.
by cosinusalpha 8mo ago
Do you experience any context pollution with that approach?
2.
by cosinusalpha 8mo ago
Yes, you can create isolated environments using the "--session NAME" flag. It isolates cookies and local storage for that specific run. Since it's a V1 release, there might be some edge cases in the session isolation - if you
3.
by cosinusalpha 8mo ago
Thanks! I actually tried a raw HTML when I was exploring solutions. It worked for "one-off" tasks, but I ran into major issues with replayability on modern SPAs. In React apps, the raw DOM structure and auto-generated IDs shift so
4.
by cosinusalpha 8mo ago
I actually think the CLI approach helps with those boundaries. Because webctl commands are discrete and pipeable (e.g. webctl snapshot | llm | webctl click), the "authority" is reset at every step of the pipeline. It feels easier
5.
by cosinusalpha 8mo ago
Thanks! To clarify: webctl allows you to manually interact with the browser window at any time. It even returns "manual interaction" breakpoints to stdout if it detects an SSO/login wall. But I agree, attaching to the OS &quo
6.
by cosinusalpha 8mo ago
I am also not sure if MCP will eventually be fixed to allow more control over context, or if the CLI approach really is the future for Agentic AI. Nevertheless, I prefer the CLI for other reasons: it is built for humans and is much easier t
7.
by cosinusalpha 8mo ago
A background daemon holds the session state between different CLI calls. This daemon is started automatically on the first webctl call and auto-closes after a timeout period of inactivity to save resources.
8.
by cosinusalpha 8mo ago
I don't have an objective benchmark yet. I tried several existing solutions, especially the MCP servers for browser automation, and none of them were able to reproducibly solve my specific task. An objective benchmark is a great idea,
9.
by cosinusalpha 8mo ago
To be honest, I hadn't seen that one yet! The main difference is likely the targeting philosophy. webctl relies heavily on ARIA roles/semantics (e.g. role=button name="Save") rather than injected IDs or CSS selectors. I
10.
Show HN: Webctl – Browser automation for agents based on CLI instead of MCP(github.com)
134 points by cosinusalpha 8mo ago|38 comments