Stagehand

What is Stagehand?

Stagehand is an open-source browser automation framework built by Browserbase for developers who want AI agents to reliably interact with the web. It serves as an alternative to Playwright, designed to be easier to use while adding native support for large language models. Rather than writing complex selectors or brittle scripts, developers can instruct Stagehand using natural language to extract data, perform actions, or complete multi-step tasks in a browser. The project is written in TypeScript, licensed under MIT, and actively maintained on GitHub with over 21,800 stars and contributions from 37 developers.

Key Features

• Hot Swap Computer Use Models: Switch between any computer use model in two lines of code and is simple to test or deploy different AI backends.
• Natural Language Interface: Intuitive APIs accept plain language instructions for browser actions like extracting content or clicking elements, reducing the learning curve compared to traditional automation tools.
• Full Compatibility with Playwright: Stagehand can be added to existing Playwright scripts so teams to introduce AI-assisted steps without rewriting their current automation code.
• Core Action Primitives: The SDK exposes simple methods including extract, act, and agent.execute for reading data from pages, interacting with elements, and running higher-level agentic tasks.
• Research, Task, and Authenticated Agent Support: The framework is built to handle multiple agent patterns, including open-web research, form completion and task execution, and workflows that require authentication.

Use Cases

• Web Research Agents: Developers building agents that need to gather live information from the web, such as finding active clinical trials or monitoring prices, can use Stagehand to navigate and extract structured data from sites at runtime.
• Task Automation Agents: Teams that need to automate repetitive browser workflows, such as adding items to a cart and completing checkout, can script these flows in natural language rather than brittle CSS selectors.
• Authenticated Browser Workflows: Agents that need to log in and operate inside web applications can use Stagehand's authenticated agent support to interact with gated content or internal tools.
• Enhancing Existing Playwright Scripts: Developers with established Playwright test suites can incrementally add Stagehand to make specific steps more resilient to UI changes by replacing fragile selectors with AI-driven actions.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths:

• Large and active open-source community, reflected in over 21,800 GitHub stars and 1,455 forks.
• MIT license means there are no restrictions on commercial or personal use.
• Playwright compatibility lowers the barrier for teams already using that ecosystem.
• Natural language commands reduce the code needed to automate complex browser interactions.

Weaknesses:

• No structured user review data is publicly available and is difficult to assess real-world reliability at scale.
• With 187 open issues on GitHub, some edge cases and bugs remain unresolved.
• Pricing for the associated Browserbase cloud infrastructure is not publicly listed on the Stagehand site, which may complicate cost planning.

Getting Started

Stagehand is open source and free to use. The quickest way to start is by running npx create-browser-app in a terminal, which scaffolds a new project. Full documentation is available at docs.stagehand.dev, and the source code is hosted at github.com/browserbase/stagehand under the MIT license. A Discord community is also available for support and discussion. For production deployments, Stagehand integrates with Browserbase, though pricing for that service is not publicly listed on the Stagehand website.

FAQ

What is Stagehand?

Stagehand is an open-source browser automation framework built by Browserbase for developers who want AI agents to reliably interact with the web. It is written in TypeScript, licensed under MIT, and maintained on GitHub with over 21,800 stars.

What is Stagehand used for?

Stagehand is used to automate browser workflows such as web research, form completion, task execution, and authenticated browser interactions. Developers can also use it to enhance existing Playwright scripts with AI-driven steps.

What is Stagehand an alternative to?

Stagehand is designed as an alternative to Playwright, built to be easier to use while adding native support for large language models.

How do you interact with Stagehand?

Instead of writing complex selectors or brittle scripts, developers instruct Stagehand using natural language to extract data, perform actions, or complete multi-step tasks in a browser.

What core methods does Stagehand expose?

The SDK exposes three core action primitives: extract for reading data from pages, act for interacting with elements, and agent.execute for running higher-level agentic tasks.

Is Stagehand compatible with existing Playwright scripts?

Yes, Stagehand can be added to existing Playwright scripts so teams to introduce AI-assisted steps without rewriting their current automation code.

What AI models does Stagehand support?

Stagehand supports hot-swappable computer use models, meaning developers can switch between different AI backends in two lines of code to test or deploy different configurations.

What license does Stagehand use?

Stagehand is licensed under MIT, which means there are no restrictions on commercial or personal use.

How active is the Stagehand project?

Stagehand has over 21,800 GitHub stars, 1,455 forks, and contributions from 37 developers, indicating a large and active open-source community.

What types of agents does Stagehand support?

Stagehand is built to handle web research agents, task automation agents, and authenticated browser workflows that require logging in to access gated content or internal tools.

Can Stagehand handle authenticated workflows?

Yes, Stagehand includes authenticated agent support so agents can log in and operate inside web applications to interact with gated content or internal tools.

What programming language is Stagehand written in?

Stagehand is written in TypeScript.

Where can developers find the Stagehand project?

Stagehand is actively maintained on GitHub as an open-source project under an MIT license.