CLI Reference

Installation

npm install -g @browserwire/cli

The CLI is available as the bw command. Requires Node.js 22+ on macOS or Linux.

Authenticate with BrowserWire via your browser.

bw login

Opens your default browser to the BrowserWire sign-in page. After authentication, a session token is saved to ~/.config/browserwire/config.json with 0600 permissions. The token is valid for 30 days. If the browser doesn’t open automatically, the CLI prints a URL you can visit manually. Timeout: 120 seconds. If authentication isn’t completed in time, the command exits with an error.

`bw record <url>`

Open a browser, navigate to a URL, and record a session.

bw record https://example.com

How it works

Launches a Chrome browser and navigates to the URL
You browse freely — recording hasn’t started yet
Press Enter to start recording (page reloads for a clean snapshot)
Interact with the site — every DOM mutation, click, keystroke, and navigation is captured
Press Enter to stop recording
Events are uploaded and a training run is triggered automatically
The dashboard opens in your browser to the recording detail page

Terminal output

Launching browser for https://example.com...

Navigate the site freely.
Press Enter to START recording, then Enter again to STOP.

Reloading page for clean snapshot...
Recording started. Navigate the site, then press Enter to stop.

Captured 847 events.
Uploading recording...
Upload complete.
Starting training...
Opening dashboard: https://app.browserwire.io/dashboard/recordings/abc123

Authentication

If your session token is missing or expired, the CLI prompts you to log in before uploading. You won’t lose your recording — the auth flow runs after the session is captured.

New tabs

Links that would open in a new tab are redirected into the current page so the recording stays continuous.

`bw run`

Start a local execution server that serves your discovered APIs.

bw run [options]

Flags

Flag	Description	Default
`-p, --port <number>`	Port to listen on	`8787`
`--headless`	Run the browser in headless mode (no visible window)	`false` (headed)
`--max-concurrent <number>`	Maximum concurrent browser pages for parallel requests	`3`

What it does

Verifies you’re logged in (exits with error if not)
Fetches all your manifests from the BrowserWire API
Launches a persistent Chrome browser (headed by default)
Starts an HTTP server on 127.0.0.1:<port>

Endpoints served

Method	Endpoint	Description
`GET`	`/api/health`	Health check
`GET`	`/api/sites`	List all cached manifests
`GET`	`/api/sites/:slug/manifest`	Full manifest JSON
`GET`	`/api/sites/:slug/views/:state/:view`	Execute a view
`POST`	`/api/sites/:slug/actions/:state/:action`	Execute an action

Examples

Start with defaults (port 8787, headed, 3 concurrent):

bw run

Start on a different port in headless mode:

bw run --port 3000 --headless

Allow more concurrent executions:

bw run --max-concurrent 5

Concurrency

Each API request opens a new browser page. If the maximum concurrent limit is reached, additional requests receive a 429 Too Many Requests response. Increase --max-concurrent if you need more parallelism.

Graceful shutdown

Press Ctrl+C to stop the server. The browser is closed and the process exits cleanly.

`bw --version`

Print the CLI version.

`bw --help`

Show usage information for all commands.

Environment variables

Variable	Description	Default
`BW_TOKEN`	Session token (overrides config file, useful for CI)	—
`BW_API_URL`	BrowserWire backend URL	`https://app.browserwire.io`

Get Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Reference

Installation

`bw record <url>`

How it works

Terminal output

Authentication

New tabs

`bw run`

Flags

What it does

Endpoints served

Examples

Concurrency

Graceful shutdown

`bw --version`

`bw --help`

Environment variables

​Installation

​bw login

​bw record <url>

​How it works

​Terminal output

​Authentication

​New tabs

​bw run

​Flags

​What it does

​Endpoints served

​Examples

​Concurrency

​Graceful shutdown

​bw --version

​bw --help

​Environment variables

Installation

`bw login`

`bw record <url>`

How it works

Terminal output

Authentication

New tabs

`bw run`

Flags

What it does

Endpoints served

Examples

Concurrency

Graceful shutdown

`bw --version`

`bw --help`

Environment variables