Sero Browser

Use the visible Sero Browser panel for user-facing web browsing and recordings. Use hidden automation only when the user explicitly asks for headless/runtime browser automation or when testing a locally running app.

Visible browser workflow

• Prefer sero-cli for visible browser tasks.
• Start by showing the panel: sero browser show.
• Navigate the current tab with sero browser goto <url>.
• Use sero browser open <url> only when the user asks for a new tab/window or multiple pages side-by-side.
• If unsure what tabs exist, run sero browser list before opening anything new.
• For page text/content, prefer sero browser get-text over screenshots.
• To move the visible page, use sero browser scroll --amount <px> or sero browser scroll --direction up --amount <px>; do not use sero app scroll for Browser pages.
• Use sero browser screenshot only when visual evidence is needed.

Recording workflow

For prompts like “record the browser while opening a site”:

1. sero browser show
2. sero browser goto <initial-url>
3. sero app record start
4. Continue navigation with sero browser goto <next-url> or sero browser navigate <tab-id> <url>
5. After the final navigation completes, wait 3–5 seconds for the page to render.
6. Run sero app record stop as its own separate command.

You may batch browser show, initial navigation, app record start, and intermediate browser goto commands when that is convenient. Do not include app record stop in the same multi-command invocation as the final browser goto, because the recording can stop before the last page renders.

Do not use sero app screenshot --app web or open the web app for browser pages. The web app/plugin is separate from the Sero Browser panel.

Single-tab rule

• Keep one browser tab for a single browsing task.
• Do not repeatedly call sero browser open during one task.
• After the first tab exists, use goto to reuse the active tab.
• Use navigate <tab-id> <url> only when you intentionally selected a tab from sero browser list.

Hidden automation browser

automation_browser is hidden. It does not create visible tabs and is not captured by sero app record / sero app screenshot.

Use automation_browser for:

• testing a locally running app,
• taking hidden automation screenshots,
• verifying DOM interactions when no visible recording is requested.

Do not use automation_browser for user-facing browsing or visible screen recordings.

Common routing examples

• “Open BBC News, record the browser, go to Sport, then Football, then Premier League Table” → visible browser workflow; one tab; use goto for each navigation; wait 3–5 seconds after the table page loads, then stop app recording in a separate command.
• “Take a screenshot of this website” → sero browser show, sero browser goto <url> if needed, then sero browser screenshot.
• “Test my local web UI with clicks and assertions” → local dev server + automation_browser is acceptable unless the user asks for visible recording.