---
title: 'Observe'
description: 'Get candidate DOM elements for actions'
icon: 'lightbulb'
---

`observe()` is used to get a list of actions that can be taken on the current page. It's useful for adding context to your planning step, or if you unsure of what page you're on.
```javascript
  const observations = await page.observe();
```

`observe()` returns an array of objects, each with an XPath `selector` and short `description`.

If you are looking for a specific element, you can also pass in an instruction to observe via: `observe({ instruction: "your instruction"})`.
```javascript
  const observations = await page.observe({
    instruction: "Find the buttons on this page",
  });
```
Observe can also return a suggested action for the candidate element by setting the `returnAction` option to true. Here is a sample `ObserveResult`:
```json
  {
    "description": "A brief description of the component",
    "method": 'click',
    "arguments": [],
    "selector": 'xpath=/html/body[1]/div[1]/main[1]/button[1]'
  }
```

### **Arguments:** [`ObserveOptions`](https://github.com/browserbase/stagehand/blob/main/types/stagehand.ts)

  <ParamField path="instruction" type="string" optional>
    Provides instructions for the observation. Defaults to "Find actions that can be performed on this page."
  </ParamField>

  <ParamField path="returnAction" type="boolean" optional>
    Returns an observe result object that contains a suggested action for the candidate element. The suggestion includes method, and arguments (if any). Defaults to `true`.
  </ParamField>

  <ParamField path="onlyVisible" type="boolean" optional>
    If true, returns only visible elements. Uses DOM inspection instead of accessibility trees. Defaults to `false`.
  </ParamField>

  <ParamField path="modelName" type="AvailableModel" optional>
    Specifies the model to use
  </ParamField>

  <ParamField path="modelClientOptions" type="object" optional>
    Configuration options for the model client
  </ParamField>

  <ParamField path="domSettleTimeoutMs" type="number" optional>
    Timeout in milliseconds for waiting for the DOM to settle
  </ParamField>

### **Returns:** [`Promise<ObserveResult[]>`](https://github.com/browserbase/stagehand/blob/main/types/stagehand.ts)

Each `ObserveResult` object contains a `selector` and `description`.
  <ParamField path="selector" type="string" required>
    A string representing the element selector
  </ParamField>

  <ParamField path="description" type="string" required>
    A string describing the possible action
  </ParamField>

 **If the `returnAction` option is set to `true`, the following fields will be included in the result:**
  <ParamField path="method" type="string" optional>
    The method to call on the element
  </ParamField>

  <ParamField path="arguments" type="object" optional>
    The arguments to pass to the method
  </ParamField>