# Steel Browser

> Open-source browser API and cloud browser infrastructure that gives AI agents and apps controllable browser sessions.

Steel, developed by the steel-dev organization, provides browser infrastructure for AI agents and apps. Steel Browser is the open-source, self-hostable server released under Apache 2.0, while Steel Cloud is the managed version that adds scale, stealth, proxies and CAPTCHA solving. The README notes the project is in public beta, and the latest listed release is v0.5.4-beta.

## What It Is

Steel Browser is a browser API that manages sessions, pages and browser processes so developers can build web agents and automation without building their own browser infrastructure. It uses Puppeteer and the Chrome DevTools Protocol, so Puppeteer, Playwright or Selenium scripts can connect to it. Steel describes itself as infrastructure rather than an agent: your own agent or framework connects to it and Steel handles the browser lifecycle.

## How Sessions and Quick Actions Work

The Sessions API creates browser sessions with options such as proxies, ad blocking, custom dimensions and extensions, and keeps cookies, local storage and state across requests. A Selenium mode is available for existing WebDriver workflows, though it does not support every feature of the CDP-based sessions. For simple read-only jobs, the Quick Actions endpoints scrape pages, take screenshots and produce PDFs, and the browser tools can also convert pages to markdown or readability output. Node.js and Python SDKs and a REST API work with both Steel Cloud and self-hosted instances.

## Self-Hosting and Cloud Options

The server can run from a pre-built Docker image that serves the API and a debugging UI, via docker compose, or directly with Node.js and Chrome. Railway and Render one-click deployments are listed. Steel's site says Steel Cloud adds session persistence, profiles, a live session viewer with human takeover, readable traces, residential proxies and CAPTCHA solving. It also lists Stealth Browser on its Enterprise plan and self-hosting options for enterprise customers.

## Features
- Isolated cloud browser sessions via API
- Puppeteer, Playwright and Selenium compatibility over CDP
- Session management with persistent cookies and local storage
- Persistent profiles for signed-in workflows
- Proxy support with IP rotation
- Stealth plugins and fingerprint management
- CAPTCHA solving on Steel Cloud
- Chrome extension loading
- Live session viewer with human-in-the-loop takeover
- Session traces and replays
- Quick Actions API for scrape, screenshot and PDF
- Markdown and readability page conversion
- Node.js and Python SDKs and REST API
- CLI and agent skills
- Docker and one-click cloud deployment for self-hosting

## Integrations
Puppeteer, Playwright, Selenium, Docker, Railway, Render, Claude, Codex, Cursor, Gemini, MCP, OpenAI Agents SDK, LangChain, CrewAI, Hermes Agent, Stripe Projects

## Platforms
API, CLI, DEVELOPER_SDK, LINUX, MACOS, WINDOWS, WEB

## Pricing
Open Source, Free tier available

## Version
v0.5.4-beta

## Links
- Website: https://steel.dev
- Documentation: https://docs.steel.dev/
- Repository: https://github.com/steel-dev/steel-browser
- EveryDev.ai: https://www.everydev.ai/tools/steel-browser