Surf Browser Automation

Surf Browser Automation

Control Chrome browser via CLI.

CLI Quick Reference

surf --help                    # Full help
surf <group>                   # Group help (tab, scroll, page, wait, dialog, emulate, form, perf)
surf --list                    # All 60+ tools
surf --find <term>             # Search tools

Core Workflow

# 1. Navigate to page
surf navigate "https://example.com"

# 2. Read page to get element refs
surf page.read

# 3. Click by ref or coordinates
surf click --ref "e1"
surf click --x 100 --y 200

# 4. Type text
surf type --text "hello"

# 5. Screenshot
surf screenshot --output /​tmp/​shot.png

Tab Management

surf tab.list
surf tab.new "https://google.com"
surf tab.switch 12345
surf tab.close 12345

# Named tabs (aliases)
surf tab.name myapp            # Name current tab
surf tab.switch myapp          # Switch by name
surf tab.named                 # List named tabs

Window Management

surf window.list                              # List all windows
surf window.new                               # New window
surf window.new --url "https://example.com"   # New window with URL
surf window.new --incognito                   # New incognito window
surf window.focus 12345                       # Focus window by ID
surf window.close 12345                       # Close window
surf window.resize --width 1920 --height 1080 # Resize current window

Input Methods

# CDP method (real events) - default
surf type --text "hello"
surf click --x 100 --y 200

# JS method (DOM manipulation) - for contenteditable
surf type --text "hello" --selector "#input" --method js

# Keys
surf key Enter
surf key "cmd+a"
surf key.repeat --key Tab --count 5           # Repeat key presses

Page Inspection

surf page.read                 # Accessibility tree with refs (viewport only)
surf page.read --ref e5        # Get specific element details
surf page.read --all           # All elements (may hit 50K char limit on large pages)
surf page.text                 # Full page text content (no limit)
surf page.state                # Modals, loading state, scroll info

When to use which:

• page.text - Get full page text content. No size limit. Best for reading/​understanding page content.
• page.read - Get element refs for visible viewport. Use when you need to interact (click, type).
• page.read --all - All elements with refs. Can fail on large pages (50K char limit).

Note: page.read returns only elements in the visible viewport. Refs remain valid for off-screen elements - you can still click e5 even after scrolling. Use scroll.to --ref e5 to bring an element into view.

Scrolling

surf scroll down               # Scroll down (default amount)
surf scroll up                 # Scroll up
surf scroll down --amount 5    # Scroll down more (1-10)
surf scroll.bottom             # Scroll to bottom of page
surf scroll.top                # Scroll to top of page
surf scroll.to --ref e5        # Scroll element into view
surf scroll.info               # Get scroll position

Waiting

surf wait 2                    # Wait 2 seconds
surf wait.element ".loaded"    # Wait for element
surf wait.network              # Wait for network idle
surf wait.url "/​success"       # Wait for URL pattern
surf wait.dom --stable 100     # Wait for DOM stability
surf wait.load                 # Wait for page load complete

Dialog Handling

surf dialog.info               # Get current dialog type/​message
surf dialog.accept             # Accept (OK)
surf dialog.accept --text "response"  # Accept prompt with text
surf dialog.dismiss            # Dismiss (Cancel)

Device/​Network Emulation

# Network throttling
surf emulate.network slow-3g   # Presets: slow-3g, fast-3g, 4g, offline
surf emulate.network reset     # Disable throttling

# CPU throttling  
surf emulate.cpu 4             # 4x slower
surf emulate.cpu 1             # Reset

# Device emulation
surf emulate.device "iPhone 14"
surf emulate.device --list     # List available devices

# Geolocation
surf emulate.geo --lat 37.7749 --lon -122.4194
surf emulate.geo --clear

Form Automation

surf page.read                 # Get element refs first

# Fill by ref
surf form.fill --data '[{"ref":"e1","value":"John"},{"ref":"e2","value":"[email protected]"}]'

# Checkboxes: true/​false
surf form.fill --data '[{"ref":"e7","value":true}]'

File Upload

surf upload --ref e5 --files "/​path/​to/​file.txt"
surf upload --ref e5 --files "/​path/​file1.txt,/​path/​file2.txt"

Network Inspection

surf network                   # List captured requests
surf network --stream          # Real-time network events
surf network.body --id "req-123"  # Get response body
surf network.clear             # Clear captured requests

Console

surf console                   # Get console messages
surf console --stream          # Real-time console
surf console --stream --level error  # Errors only

JavaScript Execution

surf js "return document.title"
surf js "document.querySelector('.btn').click()"

Iframe Handling

surf frame.list                # List frames with IDs
surf frame.js --id "FRAME_ID" --code "return document.title"

Performance

surf perf.metrics              # Current metrics snapshot
surf perf.start                # Start trace
surf perf.stop                 # Stop and get results

Screenshots

surf screenshot                           # To stdout (base64)
surf screenshot --output /​tmp/​shot.png    # Save to file
surf screenshot --selector ".card"        # Element only
surf screenshot --full-page               # Full page scroll capture

Cookies & Storage

surf cookies                   # List cookies for current page
surf cookies --domain .google.com
surf cookie.set --name "token" --value "abc123"
surf cookie.delete --name "token"

History & Bookmarks

surf history --query "github" --max 20
surf bookmarks --query "docs"
surf bookmark.add --url "https://..." --title "My Bookmark"

Health Checks & Smoke Tests

surf health --url "http://localhost:3000"
surf smoke --urls "http://localhost:3000" "http://localhost:3000/​about"
surf smoke --urls "..." --screenshot /​tmp/​smoke

Error Diagnostics

# Auto-capture screenshot + console on failure
surf wait.element ".missing" --auto-capture --timeout 2000
# Saves to /​tmp/​surf-error-*.png

Common Options

--tab-id <id>         # Target specific tab
--json                # Raw JSON output  
--auto-capture        # Screenshot + console on error
--timeout <ms>        # Override default timeout

Tips

1. First CDP operation is slow (~5-8s) - debugger attachment overhead, subsequent calls fast
2. Use refs from page.read for reliable element targeting over CSS selectors
3. JS method for contenteditable - Modern editors (Notion, etc.) need --method js
4. Named tabs for multi-step tasks - tab.name app then tab.switch app
5. Auto-capture for debugging - --auto-capture saves diagnostics on failure