LaunchKit · 2026
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browser-ladder

Climb the browser ladder — start free, escalate.

3
2.2k downloads
by @ktpriyatham

Setup & Installation

openclaw skills install @ktpriyatham/browser-ladder

Or with the ClawHub CLI, for registry-managed skill folders outside a full OpenClaw workspace:

npx clawhub install browser-ladder

What This Skill Does

Automatically selects the cheapest browser access method that works for a given URL. Starts with plain HTTP fetch, escalates through local Playwright, cloud-free BrowserCat, and finally Browserless.io for CAPTCHA bypass, only when lower rungs fail.

Instead of always paying for cloud browsers or always fighting with local Docker, it routes each request to the cheapest tool that can handle it.

When to use it

  • Scraping a React SPA that needs JavaScript rendering
  • Bypassing Cloudflare bot detection on a target site
  • Extracting data from a static API endpoint without spinning up a browser
  • Falling back to cloud browser when Docker is unavailable locally
  • Accessing OAuth-protected or MFA-gated pages programmatically

Example Workflow

Here's how your AI assistant might use this skill in practice.

INPUT

User asks: 'Scrape the pricing table from a Cloudflare-protected SPA'

AGENT
  1. 1Attempts Rung 1 web_fetch — fails due to JavaScript rendering requirement
  2. 2Runs Rung 2 Playwright via Docker — blocked by Cloudflare bot detection
  3. 3Escalates to Rung 4 Browserless.io using BROWSERLESS_TOKEN
  4. 4Connects over CDP, CAPTCHA is handled automatically
  5. 5Returns rendered page content
OUTPUT

Full HTML of the pricing table extracted from the protected SPA

Requirements

Accounts, API keys, or tools you or your AI assistant may need to set up while using this skill.

BROWSERCAT_API_KEY environment variable (free tier at browsercat.com, optional)BROWSERLESS_TOKEN environment variable ($10/mo at browserless.io, optional)Docker installed (for Rung 2 local Playwright)