Home Tutorials Categories Skills About
ZH EN JA KO
Skills-Plugins

openclaw browser: Headless Browser Control Guide

· 7 min read

Command Overview

The openclaw browser command manages OpenClaw's built-in headless browser capabilities. The AI assistant can use the browser tool to visit web pages, extract content, take screenshots, and perform automated operations.

Enable the Browser

openclaw browser enable

This installs the necessary browser engine (Chromium) and configures the browser tool.

Basic Operations

Open a Web Page

openclaw browser open "https://example.com"

Take a Screenshot

openclaw browser screenshot "https://example.com" --output screenshot.png
openclaw browser screenshot "https://example.com" --output screenshot.png --full-page

Extract Content

openclaw browser extract "https://example.com" --format text
openclaw browser extract "https://example.com" --format markdown
openclaw browser extract "https://example.com" --format html

Configure the Browser

{
  "browser": {
    "enabled": true,
    "engine": "chromium",
    "headless": true,
    "timeout": 30000,
    "viewport": {
      "width": 1280,
      "height": 720
    },
    "userAgent": "OpenClaw Bot/1.0",
    "proxy": null,
    "blockedDomains": [
      "ads.example.com"
    ]
  }
}

Using in AI Conversations

After configuring the browser as an AI tool, users can ask the AI to visit web pages through natural language:

{
  "channels": {
    "telegram-main": {
      "tools": ["browser"]
    }
  }
}

Example conversation:

User: Check the latest release of OpenClaw on GitHub
AI: Let me look that up... [uses browser to visit GitHub]
    The latest version of OpenClaw is v1.2.3, released on 2026-03-15.
    Key updates include...

Browser Status

openclaw browser status
Browser Status:
  Engine: Chromium 122
  Status: Running
  Active pages: 2
  Memory usage: 85MB
  Uptime: 2h 15m

Manage Browser Instances

# Restart the browser
openclaw browser restart

# Stop the browser
openclaw browser stop

# Clear cache and cookies
openclaw browser clear-cache
openclaw browser clear-cookies

Security Restrictions

Configure browser security limits:

{
  "browser": {
    "security": {
      "allowedDomains": ["*.example.com", "github.com"],
      "blockedDomains": ["malware.com"],
      "maxPagesPerMinute": 10,
      "maxConcurrentPages": 3,
      "disableJavaScript": false,
      "disableImages": false
    }
  }
}

Proxy Configuration

openclaw browser set-proxy "http://proxy:8080"
openclaw browser set-proxy "socks5://proxy:1080"

Debug Mode

# Run in non-headless mode (shows the browser window)
openclaw browser --no-headless open "https://example.com"

Summary

openclaw browser adds web browsing capabilities to the AI assistant, enabling it to fetch real-time information and handle web-based tasks. With proper security and resource limits configured, the browser tool can operate safely and efficiently.

OpenClaw is a free, open-source personal AI assistant that supports WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, and many more platforms