Browser Frameworks

Kernel provides first-class support for browser automation frameworks, supporting CDP (Chrome DevTools Protocol) connections like Playwright and Puppeteer out of the box.

Unlike other browsers-as-a-service platforms, Kernel co-locates your app code with the browser environment in the cloud. This solves common issues with remote browsers:

Reduced latency: Your code runs directly alongside the browser, reducing round-trip latency
Improved reliability: No unexpected disconnects between your code and browser
Higher throughput: Eliminates bandwidth bottlenecks during data-intensive operations like screenshots
Simplified debugging: Access to browser logs and execution context in the same environment

Creating a browser automation app

To create a browser automation app with Kernel, simply define an app and action that creates a Kernel browser.

Install our sample apps to get up and running with Playwright, Browser Use, or Stagehand!

1. Create an app and define a browser action

Start by creating your app and defining an action for your browser automation:

import { Kernel } from '@onkernel/sdk';

const kernel = new Kernel();
const app = kernel.app('browser-automation');

const playwrightScript = async (runtimeContext, payload) => {
	// ...
};

app.action("my-action-name", playwrightScript);

2. Connect to a browser in your action

Within your action, use Kernel’s browsers.create() method to generate a CDP websocket URL for your browser automation framework.

browsers.create() requires the runtime’s invocation_id to be passed. This is provided to you in the runtimeContext object generated during the invocation’s lifecycle:

const playwrightScript = async (runtimeContext, payload) => {
	const kernelBrowser = await Kernel.browsers.create({ invocation_id: runtimeContext.invocation_id });
	const browser = await chromium.connectOverCDP(kernelBrowser.cdp_ws_url);
	// ...
};

3. Complete example

import { Kernel } from '@onkernel/sdk';
import { chromium } from 'playwright';

const kernel = new Kernel();
const app = kernel.app('browser-automation');

const playwrightScript = async (runtimeContext, payload) => {
	const kernelBrowser = await Kernel.browsers.create({ invocation_id: runtimeContext.invocation_id });
	const browser = await chromium.connectOverCDP(kernelBrowser.cdp_ws_url);

	try {
		const context = await browser.newContext();
		const page = await context.newPage();
		await page.goto("https://www.google.com");
		const title = await page.title();
	} catch (error) {
		console.error(error);
	} finally {
		await browser.close();
	}
};

app.action("my-action-name", playwrightScript);

Make sure to call browser.close() at the end of your action to ensure the browser connection is properly closed.