PinchTab Browser
Automates a browser through PinchTab to click, fill forms, scrape and export pages.
Install
npx skills add pinchtab/pinchtab --skill pinchtab -g -a claude-code -y- Repository
- pinchtab/pinchtab10.5k
- Category
- Engineering
- Updated
- 8d ago
- License
- MIT
- Context cost
- Mediumabout 3,000 tokens
- Runs scripts
- No, instructions only
What it does
Use this skill when a task needs browser automation through PinchTab: open a website, inspect interactive elements, click through flows, fill out forms, scrape page text, reuse a dedicated automation profile with user approval, export screenshots or PDFs, manage multiple browser instances, or fall back to the HTTP API when the CLI is unavailable. Prefer this skill for token-efficient browser work driven by stable accessibility refs such as `e5` and `e12`.
Browser Automation with PinchTab
CLI-first browser skill. Use pinchtab commands.
Core Workflow
- Create a session:
export PINCHTAB_SESSION=$(pinchtab session create --agent-id myagent), do this once before any browser command. - Navigate:
pinchtab nav <url> --snap, auto-starts the local server if needed, then returns tab ID + interactive snapshot in one call. - Interact:
pinchtab click <ref> --snap-diff, returns OK + only changed elements (most token-efficient).- Click behavior: omit
--modefor the normal click path, use--mode dom, or use--mode dispatch. - Treat
--modeas a broad, low-level escape hatch. Occlusion workaround is the common case:pinchtab click <ref> --mode domorpinchtab click <ref> --mode dispatch --modeand--humanizeare mutually exclusive.
- Click behavior: omit
- For read-only observation:
pinchtab textwhen you won't act on refs.
Key optimization: Use --snap-diff on nav, click, fill, select, press, scroll, back, forward, reload to get only added/changed/removed elements, most token-efficient for multi-step flows. Use --snap when you need the full snapshot (e.g., first navigation, or after major page changes). --text is available on nav, click, fill, select, press, back, forward, reload (but NOT on scroll) when you need prose content for verification (skips snap, returns page text directly). dblclick does not support any observation flag, run a separate snap after.
--snap-diff returns the same compact format as snap, but with change markers and a header showing counts:
# Page Title | URL | 57 nodes | +2 ~1 -0
e0:link "Home"
e5:button "Submit" [+]
e12:textbox val="updated" [~]
# removed: e99
[+] = added, [~] = changed, removed refs listed at end. All valid refs are shown, no need to remember previous snapshot. Do not follow with redundant snap; only call text when you need prose content.
