Tab Agent

Browser control for Claude Code and Codex — click-to-activate security.

┌─────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐
│  Claude Code    │────▶│  Relay Server   │────▶│    Extension    │
│    or Codex     │◀────│   (background)  │◀────│    (Chrome)     │
└─────────────────┘     └─────────────────┘     └─────────────────┘
                                                       │
                                                       ▼
                                             ┌───────────────────┐
                                             │  Your Active Tab  │
                                             │   🟢 Click to ON  │
                                             └───────────────────┘

Features

• Full browser control — navigate, click, type, scroll, screenshot, run JavaScript
• Uses your login sessions — access GitHub, Gmail, Amazon without sharing credentials
• Runs in background — relay starts automatically, works while you do other things
• Click-to-activate security — only tabs you explicitly enable, others stay private
• AI-optimized snapshots — pages converted to text with refs [e1], [e2] for easy targeting
• Works with Claude Code & Codex — installs skills automatically

Quick Start

# 1. Install extension
git clone https://github.com/DrHB/tab-agent
# Chrome: chrome://extensions → Developer mode → Load unpacked → select extension/

# 2. Setup
npx tab-agent setup

# 3. Activate & go
# Click extension icon on any tab (turns green)
# Ask Claude: "Search Amazon for mechanical keyboards and find the best rated"

Example Tasks

# Research
"Go to Hacker News and summarize the top 5 stories"

# Shopping (uses your login!)
"Search Amazon for protein powder, filter by 4+ stars, find the best value"

# Social Media
"Check my GitHub notifications and list unread ones"

# Data Extraction
"Get the titles and prices of the first 10 products on this page"

# Automation
"Fill out this form with my details"

Commands

# Core workflow
npx tab-agent snapshot                # Get page content with refs [e1], [e2]...
npx tab-agent click <ref>             # Click element (e.g., click e5)
npx tab-agent type <ref> <text>       # Type into element
npx tab-agent fill <ref> <value>      # Fill form field

# Navigation
npx tab-agent navigate <url>          # Go to URL
npx tab-agent scroll <dir> [amount]   # Scroll up/down
npx tab-agent press <key>             # Press key (Enter, Escape, Tab)

# Utilities
npx tab-agent tabs                    # List active tabs
npx tab-agent wait <text>             # Wait for text to appear
npx tab-agent screenshot              # Capture page (fallback for complex UIs)

Workflow: snapshot → use refs → click/type → snapshot again → repeat

Installation

1. Load Extension

git clone https://github.com/DrHB/tab-agent

1. Open chrome://extensions
2. Enable Developer mode (top right)
3. Click Load unpacked
4. Select the extension/ folder

2. Run Setup

npx tab-agent setup

This auto-detects your extension and configures everything.

3. Activate Tabs

Click the Tab Agent icon on any tab you want to control. Green = active.

Security Model

| Feature | Tab Agent | Traditional Automation | |---------|--------------|----------------------| | Access | Only tabs you click to activate | Entire browser | | Sessions | Uses your cookies | Requires credentials | | Visibility | Green badge shows active tabs | Hidden/background | | Control | You choose what AI can access | Full access by default |

Your banking, email, and sensitive tabs stay completely isolated unless you explicitly activate them.

Supported Browsers

• Google Chrome
• Brave
• Microsoft Edge
• Chromium

Troubleshooting

Extension not detected?

• Make sure Developer mode is enabled in chrome://extensions
• Reload the extension

Commands not working?

• Click the extension icon — must show green "ON"
• Run npx tab-agent status to check configuration

No active tabs?

• Activate at least one tab by clicking the extension icon

How It Works

1. Chrome Extension — Injects into activated tabs, captures DOM snapshots
2. Relay Server — Bridges AI ↔ Extension via Chrome Native Messaging (runs in background)
3. CLI — Simple commands for Claude Code and Codex

You: "Find cheap flights to Tokyo"
 ↓
Claude → npx tab-agent navigate "google.com/flights"
    → npx tab-agent snapshot
    → npx tab-agent type e5 "Tokyo"
    → npx tab-agent click e12
    → ...

License

MIT

Keywords: browser automation, claude code, codex, AI browser control, web automation, puppeteer alternative, playwright alternative