Web Tools

Web Tools Skill

Comprehensive web interaction capabilities including search, scraping, browser automation, and screenshot capture for gathering information and automating web workflows.

Overview

The Web Tools Skill provides:

• Web Search: Search engines with structured results
• Web Scraping: Extract content from static and dynamic pages
• Browser Automation: Control real browsers with Playwright
• Screenshot Capture: Capture web pages and specific elements
• Concurrent Operations: Parallel scraping and requests
• Smart Extraction: Clean, structured content extraction

When to Use This Skill

Activate this skill when the user needs to:

• Search the web for information
• Extract content from websites
• Scrape multiple pages concurrently
• Automate browser interactions
• Take screenshots of web pages
• Monitor websites for changes
• Test web applications
• Gather data from web sources

Capabilities

Web Search

• Search Engines: Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo integration
• Structured Results: Title, URL, snippet, ranking
• Query Options: Safe search, region, language, date filters
• Result Filtering: Relevance scoring, deduplication
• API Integration: Direct search engine APIs when available

Web Scraping

• Static Pages: Fast HTML parsing with BeautifulSoup/lxml
• Dynamic Pages: JavaScript rendering with headless browser
• Content Extraction: Text, HTML, links, images, metadata
• Concurrent Scraping: Multiple URLs in parallel
• Smart Retry: Automatic retry with exponential backoff
• Rate Limiting: Respect robots.txt and rate limits
• User Agent Rotation: Avoid detection and blocking
• Proxy Support: Rotate through proxy servers

Browser Automation

• Navigation: Go to URLs, forward, back, refresh
• Interaction: Click, type, scroll, hover, drag
• Extraction: Text, links, attributes, computed styles
• JavaScript: Execute custom scripts in page context
• Waiting: Smart waits for elements, network, animations
• Screenshots: Full page, visible area, specific elements
• File Handling: Downloads, uploads, file choosers
• Multi-Tab: Manage multiple browser tabs/windows

Screenshot Capture

• Full Page: Entire page including scrollable content
• Viewport: Visible area only
• Element: Specific DOM elements
• Formats: PNG, JPEG, PDF
• Options: Quality, dimensions, device emulation
• Annotations: Add markers, highlights, text overlays

MCP Tools Available

This skill integrates with the fstrent_mcp_browser_use MCP server:

Search Tools

• web_search: Search the web with query and filters
• web_search_advanced: Advanced search with custom parameters

Scraping Tools

• web_scrape: Scrape single URL with content extraction
• web_scrape_batch: Scrape multiple URLs concurrently
• web_extract_links: Extract all links from page
• web_extract_text: Extract clean text content
• web_extract_metadata: Extract page metadata (title, description, keywords)

Browser Automation Tools

• browser_navigate: Navigate to URL in browser
• browser_click: Click element on page
• browser_type: Type text into input field
• browser_extract: Extract content from page
• browser_execute_js: Execute JavaScript in page
• browser_wait: Wait for element or condition
• browser_screenshot: Capture screenshot

Screenshot Tools

• screenshot_webpage: Take screenshot of web page
• screenshot_element: Screenshot specific element
• screenshot_fullpage: Full scrollable page screenshot

Usage Examples

Example 1: Web Search

User: "Search for latest information about Claude AI skills"

Workflow:
1. Use web_search tool with query
2. Get structured results (10 results)
3. Format results with title, URL, snippet
4. Optionally scrape top results for details
5. Summarize findings

Example 2: Web Scraping - Single Page

User: "Scrape the documentation from docs.anthropic.com/claude"

Workflow:
1. Use web_scrape with URL
2. Extract content (text, HTML, links)
3. Clean and structure content
4. Extract metadata (title, description)
5. Return formatted content

Example 3: Concurrent Scraping

User: "Scrape product info from these 10 URLs"

Workflow:
1. Validate all URLs
2. Use web_scrape_batch for parallel scraping
3. Set concurrency limit (5 concurrent)
4. Configure retry logic (3 retries, exponential backoff)
5. Extract structured data from each page
6. Combine and return results

Example 4: Browser Automation - Form Filling

User: "Fill out the contact form on example.com"

Workflow:
1. browser_navigate to example.com/contact
2. browser_wait for form to load
3. browser_type name into #name field
4. browser_type email into #email field
5. browser_type message into #message textarea
6. browser_click submit button
7. browser_wait for confirmation
8. browser_screenshot to capture result

Example 5: Dynamic Content Scraping

User: "Extract all products from this infinite scroll page"

Workflow:
1. browser_navigate to page
2. Loop:
   a. browser_extract current products
   b. browser_execute_js to scroll down
   c. browser_wait for new content to load
   d. Check if more products appeared
3. Combine all extracted products
4. Return structured data

Example 6: Screenshot Capture

User: "Take screenshot of the hero section on landing page"

Workflow:
1. browser_navigate to landing page
2. browser_wait for hero section to load
3. screenshot_element targeting hero section
4. Save screenshot with annotation
5. Return screenshot path

Example 7: Website Monitoring

User: "Monitor pricing page and alert if prices change"

Workflow:
1. web_scrape pricing page
2. Extract current prices
3. Compare with previous scrape
4. If changes detected:
   a. screenshot_webpage for evidence
   b. Extract specific changed elements
   c. Alert user with details
5. Store current state for next check

Example 8: Multi-Page Data Collection

User: "Collect all article titles and dates from blog archive"

Workflow:
1. browser_navigate to blog archive
2. Extract pagination links
3. For each page:
   a. web_extract_metadata for articles
   b. Extract title, date, URL, excerpt
   c. Follow next page link
4. Compile all articles
5. Export as structured data (CSV/JSON)

Configuration

Scraping Settings

# Concurrent scraping
max_concurrent: 5              # Max parallel requests
timeout: 30                    # Request timeout (seconds)
retry_max: 3                   # Max retry attempts
retry_delay: 2                 # Initial retry delay (seconds)

# Content extraction
extract_text: true             # Extract clean text
extract_html: false            # Include raw HTML
extract_links: true            # Extract all links
extract_metadata: true         # Extract page metadata

# Politeness
respect_robots_txt: true       # Honor robots.txt
rate_limit: 1.0                # Delay between requests (seconds)
user_agent: "Mozilla/5.0..."   # User agent string

Browser Settings

# Browser configuration
headless: true                 # Headless mode (no GUI)
browser: chromium              # chromium, firefox, webkit
viewport_width: 1920           # Viewport width
viewport_height: 1080          # Viewport height
device_emulation: null         # Desktop, mobile device name

# Performance
disable_images: false          # Disable images for speed
disable_javascript: false      # Disable JS (static only)
timeout: 30000                 # Navigation timeout (ms)

# Privacy
clear_cookies: true            # Clear cookies between sessions
disable_cache: false           # Disable browser cache

Screenshot Settings

# Screenshot options
format: png                    # png, jpeg, pdf
quality: 90                    # JPEG quality (0-100)
fullpage: false                # Capture full scrollable page
clip: null                     # Clip to specific region {x, y, width, height}
omit_background: false         # Transparent background

Integration Requirements

MCP Server Setup

Ensure fstrent_mcp_browser_use is configured in .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fstrent_mcp_browser_use": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "C:\\.ai\\mcps\\fstrent_mcp_browser_use",
        "run",
        "fstrent_mcp_browser_use"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Required Dependencies

The MCP server handles all dependencies including:

• Playwright (browser automation)
• BeautifulSoup4 (HTML parsing)
• Requests (HTTP client)
• lxml (fast XML/HTML parsing)

No additional setup required.

Best Practices

Web Scraping Ethics

1. Respect robots.txt: Always check and honor robots.txt rules
2. Rate Limiting: Don't overwhelm servers with requests
3. Attribution: Credit sources when using scraped content
4. Terms of Service: Review and comply with website ToS
5. Personal Data: Be careful with personal/sensitive information
6. Load: Minimize server load, use caching when possible

Efficient Scraping

1. Use Static Scraping First: Faster and lighter than browser automation
2. Browser Only When Needed: Use browser for JavaScript-heavy sites
3. Concurrent Wisely: Balance speed vs server load (5-10 concurrent max)
4. Cache Results: Store results to avoid re-scraping
5. Incremental Updates: Only scrape changed content
6. Error Handling: Implement robust retry logic

Browser Automation

1. Wait Properly: Use smart waits, not fixed delays
2. Target Stable Selectors: Use IDs or stable classes
3. Handle Popups: Close cookie notices, ads, modals
4. Stealth Mode: Rotate user agents, disable automation flags
5. Resource Management: Close browsers properly, clean up

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Scraping Returns Empty Content

• Check if site requires JavaScript (use browser automation)
• Verify user agent isn't blocked
• Check if IP is rate-limited
• Inspect robots.txt restrictions

Browser Automation Timing Out

• Increase timeout values
• Use explicit waits for elements
• Check network connectivity
• Verify selectors are correct

Screenshots Are Blank

• Wait for page to fully load
• Check if content is dynamically loaded
• Verify viewport size is adequate
• Ensure element is visible

Rate Limiting / IP Blocking

• Reduce concurrent requests
• Increase delay between requests
• Rotate user agents
• Use proxy rotation
• Check robots.txt compliance

Content Extraction Issues

• Verify page structure hasn't changed
• Check if site uses anti-scraping measures
• Try different extraction methods
• Inspect raw HTML for clues

Comparison to Other Tools

Web Tools vs Computer Use Agent

• Web Tools: Browser and web page automation only
• Computer Use: Entire desktop control, any application
• Use Web Tools For: Web scraping, search, web testing
• Use Computer Use For: Desktop apps, system operations

Static vs Dynamic Scraping

• Static (web_scrape): Fast, low resource, simple HTML
• **Dynamic (browser_)*: Handles JavaScript, slower, full rendering
• Choose Static: Static pages, APIs, simple content
• Choose Dynamic: SPAs, infinite scroll, complex interactions

Advanced Features

Proxy Rotation

proxies:
  - http://proxy1:8080
  - http://proxy2:8080
  - http://proxy3:8080
proxy_strategy: rotate        # rotate, random, failover

Custom Headers

headers:
  User-Agent: "Custom User Agent"
  Accept-Language: "en-US,en;q=0.9"
  Referer: "https://google.com"
  Cookie: "session=abc123"

JavaScript Execution

// Execute custom JavaScript in page context
const result = await browser_execute_js(`
  return {
    title: document.title,
    links: Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('a'))
      .map(a => ({href: a.href, text: a.textContent}))
  };
`);

Content Cleaning

• Remove HTML tags, keep text
• Extract structured data (JSON-LD, microdata)
• Normalize whitespace and formatting
• Remove ads, nav, footer elements
• Extract main content only

Security Considerations

Safe Scraping

• Validate URLs: Check domain, protocol before scraping
• Sanitize Content: Clean scraped HTML before processing
• Timeout Limits: Prevent infinite loops and hangs
• Resource Limits: Cap memory, disk usage
• Sandboxing: Use browser in isolated environment

Data Privacy

• Don't Scrape PII: Avoid personal identifiable information
• Respect Privacy: Honor privacy policies
• Secure Storage: Encrypt stored credentials, cookies
• Audit Logging: Log all web interactions for audit trail

Reference Materials

For detailed implementation information, see:

• [reference/scrapingguide.md](reference/scrapingguide.md) - Web scraping best practices
• [reference/browserautomationguide.md](reference/browserautomationguide.md) - Browser automation patterns
• [reference/searchengines.md](reference/searchengines.md) - Search engine integration
• [examples/scrapingworkflows.md](examples/scrapingworkflows.md) - Example workflows

Related Skills

• computer-use-agent: For desktop application automation
• database-tools: For storing scraped data
• data-processing: For processing scraped content

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Note: Always respect website terms of service, robots.txt, and rate limits. Web scraping should be done ethically and legally.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: wrm3
• Source: wrm3/aiproject_template
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.