About

| | | |---|---| | What | Control a Chromium-based browser from the terminal via CDP, run YAML tasks, and loop until done (Ralph Wiggum pattern) | | CDP | Chrome DevTools Protocol via relay + browser extension | | Tasks | Declarative steps: goto, click, explore, eval, screenshot | | Loops | Run until completion marker or max iterations / timeout | | Safety | Max iterations, timeout, backoff |

Install

| Step | Action | |------|--------| | 1. CLI | npm i -g glidercli | | 2. Extension | Install Glider from Chrome Web Store in the same browser/profile you will automate (required, bridges relay ↔ tab) | | 3. Daemon | glider install then glider connect | | 4. Browser (required setup) | Configure supported browser/profile + extension in the Browsers section below. |

Requirements

| Requirement | Minimum | |-------------|---------| | Node | 18+ | | Browser | Chromium-based (Chrome, Arc, Edge, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi) with the Glider extension installed/enabled in that browser profile. No Firefox/Safari/DuckDuckGo |

Browsers

| | | |---|---| | How it works | Chrome extension → WebSocket relay → CDP. Browser must support that extension (Chromium-based). |

Browser support

Extension: Install Glider from the Chrome Web Store in each browser/profile you plan to automate

| | Browser | Config | |:---:|--------|--------| | | Google Chrome | Default for glider connect| | | Arc | browser.json ({ "use": "arc" }) | | | Microsoft Edge | n/a | | | Brave | n/a | | | Opera | n/a | | | Vivaldi | n/a | | | Other Chromium | Must support installing extensions from the Chrome Web Store. |

Future

• not supported today
• Glider needs a Chromium-based browser that can install the extension from the Chrome Web Store
• no timeline implied- listed for clarity

| | Browser | Notes | |:---:|--------|--------| | | Firefox | Gecko (Firefox engine). Not Chromium, Glider uses a Chrome Web Store extension + CDP | | | Firefox Focus | Gecko- same constraints as Firefox | | | Firefox Klar | Gecko (Focus branding in some regions)- same constraints as Firefox | | | LibreWolf | Gecko- same constraints as Firefox | | | Waterfox | Gecko- same constraints as Firefox | | | Zen | Gecko- same constraints as Firefox | | | Floorp | Gecko- same constraints as Firefox | | | Tor Browser | Gecko- same constraints as Firefox | | | Mullvad Browser | Gecko- same constraints as Firefox | | | IceCat | Gecko- same constraints as Firefox | | | Safari | WebKit (Apple desktop). Not Chromium | | | Orion | WebKit-based desktop browser. Not Chromium | | | ChatGPT Atlas | AI-first browser, not in Glider’s supported Chromium + CWS model today | | | Perplexity Comet | AI-first browser, not in Glider’s supported Chromium + CWS model today | | | Bromite | Chromium-derived, no practical Chrome Web Store path for Glider | | | Chromite | Chromium-derived, no practical Chrome Web Store path for Glider | | | Vanadium | Chromium-derived (GrapheneOS), no practical Chrome Web Store path for Glider | | | DuckDuckGo | No practical Chrome Web Store extension install path for Glider |

Configuring the browser

Priority (highest first): config file -> default Google Chrome

Config file: $HOME/.glider/config/browser.json

Use a registry key or explicit name/path in the file

Option A- Registry key (recommended):

Set browser by key from the browsers registry. Run glider use <key> to write this.

{
  "use": "arc"
}

Registry is loaded from (first found): $HOME/.cursor/registry/browsers.json, $HOME/.glider/config/browsers-registry.json. Keys are predefined (e.g. arc, brave, chrome, edge, opera, vivaldi, chromium). Edit the registry to add or change paths

Option B- Explicit name/path:

| Field | Required | Description | |-------|:--------:|-------------| | name | Yes* | App name for open -a / AppleScript. Must match system (e.g. Arc, Google Chrome). | | path | No | If set, use open "<path>" instead of open -a "<name>". For non-default install location. | | processName | No | For pgrep -x. Defaults to name. |

* Omit name when using use (registry key).

Example:

{
  "name": "Arc",
  "path": "/Applications/Arc.app",
  "processName": "Arc"
}

By browser:

| Browser | name | path (optional) | processName (optional) | |---------|--------|-------------------|---------------------------| | Arc | Arc | /Applications/Arc.app | Arc | | Edge | Microsoft Edge | n/a | Microsoft Edge | | Chrome (custom) | Google Chrome | /Users/me/Applications/Google Chrome.app | Google Chrome |

Check app name in Finder/Spotlight, process name: ps aux | grep -i <name>

Browser registry (keymap)

A single registry file can define all Chromium browsers, Glider picks one by key

Registry location (first found):

• $HOME/.cursor/registry/browsers.json
• $HOME/.glider/config/browsers-registry.json

Registry format:

{
  "version": "1.0",
  "registry": {
    "arc": { "name": "Arc", "path": "/Applications/Arc.app", "processName": "Arc" },
    "brave": { "name": "Brave Browser", "path": "/Applications/Brave Browser.app", "processName": "Brave Browser" },
    "chrome": { "name": "Google Chrome", "path": "/Applications/Google Chrome.app", "processName": "Google Chrome" },
    "edge": { "name": "Microsoft Edge", "path": "/Applications/Microsoft Edge.app", "processName": "Microsoft Edge" }
  }
}

Commands:

| Command | Effect | |---------|--------| | glider use arc | Set $HOME/.glider/config/browser.json to { "use": "arc" } (resolved from registry). | | glider use brave | Switch to Brave. | | glider use | Show current key and list of registry keys. | | glider browser | Show resolved name, path, processName (and use key if set). |

Add or edit entries in the registry to match your machine (e.g. custom install paths). Keys are stable, point Glider at one by name.

Platform

| Platform | Behavior | |----------|----------| | macOS | open -a "<name>" or open "<path>", AppleScript for tab/window. name = exact app name | | Linux / Windows | Not fully implemented. Future: path may be executable. |

Browser summary

| Topic | Detail | |-------|--------| | Supported | Chromium-based + Chrome Web Store extension (see table above). | | Not supported | See Future in this README. | | Configure | $HOME/.glider/config/browser.json (use key or name/path). Registry: $HOME/.cursor/registry/browsers.json or $HOME/.glider/config/browsers-registry.json | | Switch | glider use <key> (e.g. glider use arc, glider use brave). | | Path | Optional, use when app is not in default location |

Usage

glider connect
glider status
glider goto "https://reddit.com"
glider eval "document.title"
glider run task.yaml
glider loop task.yaml -n 50

| Daemon | Logs | |--------|------| | glider install / glider uninstall | ~/.glider/daemon.log |

Task files

name: "Reddit"
steps:
 - goto: "https://reddit.com"
 - wait: 2
 - eval: "document.title"
 - screenshot: "/tmp/out.png"

Commands

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | glider install | Install daemon (relay at login) | | glider uninstall | Remove daemon | | glider connect | Connect to browser | | glider status | Server / extension / tabs | | glider browser | Show browser config (name, path) | | glider goto <url> | Navigate | | glider eval <js> | Run JS in page | | glider click <sel> | Click element | | glider type <sel> <text> | Type into input | | glider screenshot [path] | Capture page | | glider run <file> | Run YAML task | | glider loop <file> [-n N] | Loop until done or limit |

Full list: glider --help

Docs

| Doc | Contents | |-----|----------| | This README | Install, usage, commands, full browser support/config | | config/browser.json.example | Example browser config |

Roadmap

• [x] CDP relay + extension, YAML tasks, loop, daemon, multi-tab
• [ ] Linux / Windows
• [ ] headless (cloud)
• [ ] task chaining
• [ ] crawling templates

Contact