Stagehand is the SDK for browser agents. Read the Docs
## What is Stagehand?
Stagehand is the SDK for browser agents. Playwright was built for testing, Stagehand is built for agents. Use familiar APIs, self-healing actions, and network-level security across TypeScript, Python, and Go.
## Why Stagehand?
Stagehand gives browser agents an interface built for how they actually work. It combines familiar Playwright-style APIs with self-healing actions, agent-optimized page context, and native support for complex DOM structures like out-of-process iframes and closed Shadow DOMs.
Agents use fewer tokens, recover when websites change, and complete tasks more reliably. With a complete browser driver across TypeScript, Python, and Go, Stagehand delivers the flexibility of AI without sacrificing the speed, control, determinism, reliability, and observability required in production.
### 1. Familiar APIs
The Playwright-style methods you and your agents already know and love (`goto`, `click`, `locator`, `screenshot`).
### 2. Token efficiency as a priority
Stagehand's hybrid accessibility tree trimming gives your agents exactly what they need to understand the page and nothing more.
### 3. Faster in production
Stagehand runs as an extension next to the browser, closing the distance and reducing round-trip latency for all actions on the page.
### 4. Self-healing primitives
Use `act`, `observe`, and `extract` with natural language to automate pages. When sites change, Stagehand detects it and refreshes how the actions happen on the page automatically.
### 5. Features agents need
WebMCP, clipboard support, self-healing actions, batch commands, deep locators for nested iframes, and OTel support.
## Getting Started
Check out our [Quickstart Guide](https://docs.stagehand.dev/v4/first-steps/quickstart) for more information:
## Example
Here's how to build a sample browser automation with Stagehand:
```typescript
import { browserbase, Stagehand } from "@browserbasehq/stagehand";
import { z } from "zod/v4";
const { BROWSERBASE_API_KEY, OPENAI_API_KEY } = process.env;
const browser = await browserbase.launch({
apiKey: BROWSERBASE_API_KEY,
});
const stagehand = await Stagehand.create({
browser,
model: {
modelName: "openai/gpt-5.4-mini",
apiKey: OPENAI_API_KEY,
},
});
// Stagehand's CDP engine provides an optimized, low level interface to the browser built for automation
const [page] = await browser.context.pages();
await page.goto("https://github.com/browserbase");
// Use act() to execute individual actions
await stagehand.act("click on the stagehand repo");
// Use observe() to see what's actionable on the page
const { data: actions } = await stagehand.observe("find the latest PR");
// Use locators for deterministic Playwright-style actions
await page.locator(actions[0].selector).click();
// Use extract() to get structured data from the page
const {
data: { author, title },
} = await stagehand.extract(
"extract the author and title of the PR",
z.object({
author: z.string().describe("The username of the PR author"),
title: z.string().describe("The title of the PR"),
}),
);
```
See the [Python](./packages/sdk-python/README.md) and [Go](./packages/sdk-go/README.md) READMEs for equivalent examples.
The same `browserbase` facade also exposes Browserbase Search and Fetch without launching a browser:
```typescript
const results = await browserbase.search({
apiKey: BROWSERBASE_API_KEY,
query: "browser agent frameworks",
numResults: 5,
});
const fetchResult = await browserbase.fetch({
apiKey: BROWSERBASE_API_KEY,
url: results.results[0].url,
format: "markdown",
});
```
## Documentation
Visit [docs.stagehand.dev](https://docs.stagehand.dev) to view the full documentation.
### Build and Run from Source
Stagehand is a TypeScript, Python, and Go monorepo. We use [`just`](https://github.com/casey/just) to drive `pnpm`, `uv`, and `go` together.
```bash
git clone https://github.com/browserbase/stagehand.git
cd stagehand
just install
just generate
just build
```
Stagehand is best when you have an API key for an LLM provider and Browserbase credentials. Export them so they're available on `process.env`:
```bash
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-openai-api-key"
export BROWSERBASE_API_KEY="your-browserbase-api-key"
```
Then run any of the scripts in [`packages/sdk-ts/examples`](./packages/sdk-ts/examples):
```bash
just example act # runs packages/sdk-ts/examples/act.ts
```
See [CONTRIBUTING.md](./CONTRIBUTING.md) for the full TypeScript, Python, and Go setup.
## Contributing
> [!NOTE]
> We highly value contributions to Stagehand! For questions or support, please join our [Discord community](https://discord.gg/stagehand).
We're focused on improving reliability, extensibility, speed, and cost in that order of priority. If you're interested in contributing, **bug fixes and small improvements are the best way to get started**. For more involved features, we strongly recommend reaching out to [Miguel Gonzalez](https://x.com/miguel_gonzf) or [Paul Klein](https://x.com/pk_iv) in our [Discord community](https://discord.gg/stagehand) before starting to ensure that your contribution aligns with our goals.
## Acknowledgements
We'd like to thank the following people for their major contributions to Stagehand:
- [Paul Klein](https://github.com/pkiv)
- [Sean McGuire](https://github.com/seanmcguire12)
- [Miguel Gonzalez](https://github.com/miguelg719)
- [Sameel Arif](https://github.com/sameelarif)
- [Thomas Katwan](https://github.com/tkattkat)
- [Filip Michalsky](https://github.com/filip-michalsky)
- [Anirudh Kamath](https://github.com/kamath)
- [Jeremy Press](https://x.com/jeremypress)
- [Navid Pour](https://github.com/navidpour)
- [Nick Sweeting](https://github.com/pirate)
- [Sam Finton](https://github.com/monadoid)
- [Shrey Pandya](https://github.com/shrey150)
- [Shriya Lolabattu](https://github.com/shriyatheunicorn)
- [Alyssa Maruyama](https://github.com/akeimach)
## License
Licensed under the MIT License.
Copyright 2026 Browserbase, Inc.
"Stagehand" is a trademark of Browserbase, Inc.
