xbrowser

Appearance

Command Chains ​

Guide to chaining multiple commands in xbrowser.

Overview ​

Command chains allow you to execute multiple commands in a single invocation. This is especially useful for automation and scripting.

Chain Separators ​

&& (AND Separator) ​

Execute commands sequentially, stop on first failure.

bash
xbrowser "goto https://example.com && title && screenshot"

Behavior:

  • All commands execute if all succeed
  • Stops immediately if any command fails

, (Comma Separator) ​

Execute commands sequentially, continue on errors.

bash
xbrowser "goto https://example.com , title , screenshot"

Behavior:

  • All commands execute regardless of success/failure
  • Errors are logged but don't stop execution

+ (Plus Separator) ​

Same as comma, continue on errors.

bash
xbrowser "goto https://example.com + title + screenshot"

-> (Arrow Separator) ​

Visual flow indicator, same as comma.

bash
xbrowser "goto https://example.com -> title -> screenshot"

; (Semicolon Separator) ​

Flush current pipeline, start new pipeline.

bash
xbrowser "goto https://example.com ; goto https://other.com"

Behavior:

  • Commands before ; execute in one pipeline
  • Commands after ; execute in a new pipeline
  • Useful for grouping related commands

|| (OR Separator) ​

Execute commands, stop on first success.

bash
xbrowser "goto https://primary.com || goto https://fallback.com"

Behavior:

  • Skips subsequent commands if any succeeds
  • Useful for fallback logic

Examples ​

Basic Chain ​

bash
xbrowser "goto https://example.com && title && screenshot"

Multi-Step Automation ​

bash
xbrowser "goto https://example.com/login && fill '#username' 'alice' && fill '#password' 'secret' && click '#submit' && wait '.dashboard' && screenshot"

Fallback Logic ​

bash
xbrowser "goto https://primary.com || goto https://fallback.com && title"

Grouping with Semicolon ​

bash
xbrowser "goto https://site1.com ; goto https://site2.com ; title"

Error Continuation ​

bash
xbrowser "goto https://example.com , click '#button' , text --selector '#result'"

Advanced Usage ​

Nested Conditions ​

bash
xbrowser "goto https://example.com && (click '#login' || click '#signin') && fill '#username' 'user'"

Loops with Shell ​

bash
for url in https://site1.com https://site2.com https://site3.com; do
  xbrowser "goto $url && title && screenshot"
done

Conditionals ​

bash
xbrowser "goto https://example.com && eval 'document.title.includes(\"Error\")' && (click '#retry' || exit 1)"

Parallel Execution ​

bash
xbrowser "goto https://example.com & title & screenshot" &

Command Chain Parsing ​

Quote Rules ​

bash
# Good - quoted selector
xbrowser "goto https://example.com && click '#button'"

# Good - selector quoted
xbrowser goto https://example.com && click '#button'

# Bad - # is shell comment
xbrowser goto https://example.com && click #button

Argument Handling ​

bash
# Long arguments
xbrowser "goto https://example.com && fill '#input' 'very long text with spaces'"

# Flags
xbrowser "goto https://example.com --waitUntil networkidle && screenshot --full-page"

# Multiple flags
xbrowser "goto https://example.com && screenshot --full-page --type jpeg --quality 90"

Output Control ​

JSON Output for Chain ​

bash
xbrowser --json "goto https://example.com && title"

Output:

json
{
  "success": true,
  "steps": [
    {
      "command": "goto",
      "success": true,
      "duration": 523,
      "result": { "ok": true }
    },
    {
      "command": "title",
      "success": true,
      "duration": 12,
      "result": { "ok": true, "title": "Example Domain" }
    }
  ],
  "totalDuration": 535
}

YAML Output for Chain ​

bash
xbrowser --yaml "goto https://example.com && title"

Error Handling ​

Stop on Error (&&) ​

bash
xbrowser "goto https://example.com && click '#nonexistent' && title"

Result: Stops at click command, title never executes.

Continue on Error (,) ​

bash
xbrowser "goto https://example.com , click '#nonexistent' , title"

Result: All commands execute, errors logged.

Fallback (||) ​

bash
xbrowser "goto https://nonexistent.com || goto https://example.com && title"

Result: First URL fails, second URL succeeds.

Practical Examples ​

Web Scraping ​

bash
xbrowser "goto https://example.com/products && html --selector '.product' > products.html"

Form Automation ​

bash
xbrowser <<EOF
goto https://example.com/register
fill '#username' 'newuser'
fill '#email' 'user@example.com'
fill '#password' 'securepass'
click '#submit'
wait '.success'
screenshot
EOF

Data Collection ​

bash
xbrowser "goto https://example.com && text --selector '.price' | jq '.split(\"\\n\") | .[]' > prices.txt"

Multi-Site Monitoring ​

bash
for site in site1.com site2.com site3.com; do
  xbrowser "goto https://$site && title && screenshot --path $site.png"
done

Login and Navigation ​

bash
xbrowser "goto https://example.com/login && fill '#user' 'admin' && fill '#pass' 'secret' && click '#login' && wait '.dashboard' && goto https://example.com/admin"

Search and Extract ​

bash
xbrowser "goto https://example.com && fill '#search' 'playwright' && click '#search-btn' && wait '.results' && html --selector '.results' > results.html"

Performance Tips ​

Use Semicolon for Independent Operations ​

bash
# Slower - each waits for previous
xbrowser "goto https://site1.com && goto https://site2.com && goto https://site3.com"

# Faster - each is independent pipeline
xbrowser "goto https://site1.com ; goto https://site2.com ; goto https://site3.com"

Minimize Screenshot Overhead ​

bash
# Multiple screenshots
xbrowser "goto https://example.com && screenshot && click '#button' && screenshot"

# Single screenshot at end
xbrowser "goto https://example.com && click '#button' && screenshot"

Use Daemon for Frequent Commands ​

bash
# Start daemon
xbrowser daemon start

# Commands are faster with daemon
xbrowser "goto https://example.com && title && screenshot"

Best Practices ​

1. Quote Selectors ​

bash
# Good
xbrowser "click '#button'"

# Bad
xbrowser click '#button'

2. Use Meaningful Separators ​

bash
# Good - && for dependent commands
xbrowser "goto https://example.com && click '#button'"

# Good - , for independent commands
xbrowser "title , screenshot"

3. Handle Errors Appropriately ​

bash
# Good - stop on critical failure
xbrowser "login && navigate && extract"

# Good - continue on non-critical
xbrowser "title , screenshot , log"

4. Use Heredoc for Complex Chains ​

bash
xbrowser <<EOF
goto https://example.com
fill '#username' 'user'
fill '#password' 'pass'
click '#submit'
wait '.dashboard'
screenshot
EOF

Troubleshooting ​

Quotes Not Working ​

bash
# Problem: # is shell comment
xbrowser goto https://example.com && click #button

# Solution: quote selector
xbrowser "goto https://example.com && click '#button'"

Chain Not Executing ​

bash
# Problem: command not recognized
xbrowser goto https://example.com && non-existent

# Solution: quote entire chain
xbrowser "goto https://example.com && title"

Timeout in Chain ​

bash
# Problem: long-running command times out
xbrowser "goto https://example.com && long-operation && screenshot"

# Solution: increase timeout for specific command
xbrowser "goto https://example.com && long-operation --timeout 120000 && screenshot"

See Also ​

MIT Licensed