> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.maiagent.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.maiagent.ai/maiagent-user-guide/maiagent-user-guide-en/agent-builder/browser-tool.md).

# Browser Tool

## What Is This? <a href="#what-is-this" id="what-is-this"></a>

Browser Tool lets an Agent **control a browser**: navigate to web pages on its own, click buttons, fill out forms, scroll the page, and take screenshots to "see" what's currently displayed before deciding what to do next.

This capability is also commonly referred to as **Browser Use** or **Computer Use** in the industry. MaiAgent's Browser Tool is a built-in version integrated directly into the Agent — once enabled, it can be used right within a conversation without connecting any external services.

## What Can It Do? <a href="#what-it-can-do" id="what-it-can-do"></a>

* **Navigate & explore**: Open a specified URL, follow links across pages
* **Interact with page elements**: Click, double-click, type text, press keys, scroll
* **Visual understanding**: Captures a screenshot after each action; the Agent reads the screen to decide the next step
* **Multi-step tasks**: Sequential workflows like login → search → filter → retrieve data

## How Is It Different from Tools and Code Interpreter? <a href="#how-is-it-different" id="how-is-it-different"></a>

|                         | Tools (API / MCP)                               | Code Interpreter                                  | Browser Tool                      |
| ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------- |
| **Acts on**             | Backend services / APIs                         | Sandbox programming environment                   | Real browser & web pages          |
| **Can see the screen?** | No (JSON responses only)                        | Can see sandbox output                            | **Yes** (screenshots)             |
| **Best for**            | Structured data queries, well-defined API calls | Computation, file processing, document generation | Services with a web UI but no API |

**Quick rule of thumb**: The target has an API → Tools; you need to compute or generate files → Code Interpreter; you can only interact via a web page → Browser Tool.

## When to Use <a href="#when-to-use" id="when-to-use"></a>

* Internal systems with no public API but a Web UI you can operate
* Scraping information from third-party websites that require login or interaction
* Automating multi-page, multi-step web workflows (search, filter, download)
* Anything "a person would do in a browser" that you want the Agent to handle automatically

## Caveats <a href="#caveats" id="caveats"></a>

* **Optimized for Claude models**: Browser Tool relies on model capabilities for interpreting visual screenshots. It works best with the Claude series; other models may produce inconsistent results.
* **Same-origin pages work best**: Cross-domain iframes and pages with strict CSP may have limited interactivity.
* **Execution takes time**: Each step requires loading the page, taking a screenshot, and reasoning. Multi-step tasks will be slower than a single API call — design your scenarios accordingly.

## What Do I Need to Do? <a href="#what-do-i-need-to-do" id="what-do-i-need-to-do"></a>

1. **Go to Agent settings** — Open the settings page of the AI Assistant you want to enable it for
2. **Enable Browser Tool** — Turn it on in the tools or advanced capabilities section
3. **Use a Claude model (recommended)** — For the best visual interpretation results
4. **Test** — Ask the Agent to perform a task that requires web interaction in a conversation, and verify that the browser panel displays and interacts correctly


---

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