An advanced CLI-based browser automation skill that wraps chrome-devtools-mcp for high-performance and token-efficient AI agent web interactions.
Install & Download
1. ClawHub CLI
The fastest way to install a skill directly from the registry.
npx clawhub@latest install chrome-devtools-axi
2. Manual Installation
Copy the skill folder to one of these locations
~/.openclaw/skills/ <project>/skills/ Priority: Workspace > Local > Bundled
3. Prompt Installation
Copy this prompt to OpenClaw to install it automatically.
Help me install chrome-devtools-axi using Clawhub. If Clawhub is not installed, install it first (npm i -g clawhub).
Prefer to download?
Get the raw skill files in a ZIP archive.
What is chrome-devtools-axi?
chrome-devtools-axi is an advanced browser automation tool designed to bring Chrome DevTools Protocol control directly to agentic environments. Built as an NPM CLI wrapper around chrome-devtools-mcp, it allows developer agents to command active browser sessions with minimal latency. It is a vital asset among Openclaw Skills, providing a robust interface for web debugging and interaction.
Rather than transferring heavy HTML streams, chrome-devtools-axi produces compact, action-oriented accessibility snapshots. This token-efficient format simplifies structural interpretation for LLMs and provides precise interaction references. It is specifically optimized to perform tasks requiring console analysis, network request monitoring, screenshots, and visual trace inspections directly through the command line.
chrome-devtools-axi Use Cases
- Performing complex browser automation sequences on live Chrome sessions.
- Creating highly compressed accessibility snapshots optimized for AI consumption.
- Interacting with elements safely via stale-ref-safe clicks, text inputs, and keyboard actions.
- Extracting live network requests, console error streams, and performance metrics from active sessions.
- Generating screenshots and auditing pages via Lighthouse or heap snapshots directly from the CLI.
How chrome-devtools-axi Works
- Initialize Bridge: The CLI establishes a persistent local bridge process to host or connect to a Chrome instance.
- Generate Snapshot: The agent requests an accessibility snapshot of the page, mapping elements to unique, short-lived references (such as @g1:1_7).
- Perform Action: The user or agent sends commands like click, fill, or press Enter targeting specific accessibility references.
- Re-snapshot: The state updates dynamically; a new snapshot is generated to acquire updated, safe references.
- Inspect & Verify: Live diagnostics retrieve console errors and network transactions to ensure target operations completed successfully.
- Terminate Session: The bridge stops execution when the interaction sequence completes, freeing system resources.
chrome-devtools-axi Setup
This node-based skill can be initialized on demand via npx, making it immediately accessible inside Openclaw Skills installations.
Direct Execution
To query commands or launch the bridge without a permanent installation, use npx:
npx -y chrome-devtools-axi --help
Global Installation
For frequent CLI execution, install the package globally:
npm install -g chrome-devtools-axi
Dynamic Environment Configuration
Fine-tune the browser session by setting inline environment variables:
CHROME_DEVTOOLS_AXI_AUTO_CONNECT: Set to1to automatically connect to an active user Chrome instance (v144+).CHROME_DEVTOOLS_AXI_HEADED: Set to1to spawn a visible browser instead of headless mode.CHROME_DEVTOOLS_AXI_USER_DATA_DIR: Set an absolute path to launch with a persistent user profile.
chrome-devtools-axi Data Schema & Taxonomy
The skill maintains session states and configurations within a standardized home directory.
File and Directory Structure
All background state is stored under the default directory:
~/.chrome-devtools-axi/
| Path / Resource | Type | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| PID Log | Temp File | Contains the active background local bridge process ID |
| Snapshot Register | Internal | Sequences accessibility snapshot counters (e.g., @g1, @g2) to prevent stale selector execution |
| Browser Profiles | Directory | Holds localized browser cookies and session state when persistent mode is active |
| Response Outputs | File | Saved JSON payloads extracted from network operations |
chrome-devtools-axi Advanced Features
- Live Debugger Connections: Connect to existing, authorized user sessions via remote debugging using the
CHROME_DEVTOOLS_AXI_BROWSER_URLoption. - Headed WebGL/WebGPU Integration: Forward specific Chrome engine arguments to render and debug high-performance graphical web applications.
- Cold Start Optimizations: Force immediate script resolution using
CHROME_DEVTOOLS_AXI_MCP_PATHto bypass standard npx download delays. - Deep Diagnostics Exporters: Dump entire authenticated fetch/XHR response payloads directly to local files instead of polluting active console logs.
SKILL.md
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