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firecrawl-instruct

firecrawl/cli

Interact with live browser sessions to click, fill forms, navigate, and extract data from JavaScript-heavy pages.

What is firecrawl-instruct?

Control a live browser on any scraped page using natural language prompts or code. Use when content requires interaction (login, forms, pagination, infinite scroll) or when regular scraping fails due to JavaScript rendering. Always scrape first, then instruct.

  • Click buttons and interact with page elements using natural language or code
  • Fill and submit forms with data
  • Navigate multi-step flows like checkouts, wizards, and pagination
  • Handle infinite scroll and dynamic content loading
  • Extract data after interaction completes
  • Persist browser state across sessions using profiles for authenticated scraping

How to install firecrawl-instruct

npx skills add null --skill firecrawl-instruct
Prerequisites
  • A prior firecrawl scrape call (scrape ID is saved automatically)
  • Firecrawl CLI installed and authenticated
Claude Code
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How to use firecrawl-instruct

  1. 1.Run firecrawl scrape on the target URL to create a browser session
  2. 2.Use firecrawl interact --prompt with natural language instructions to interact with the page
  3. 3.Optionally use firecrawl interact --code with bash, python, or node for precise control
  4. 4.For authenticated workflows, add --profile <name> to the scrape to persist cookies and localStorage
  5. 5.Run firecrawl interact stop when finished to free resources

Use cases

Good for
  • Log into a website and scrape authenticated content using saved profiles
  • Click through pagination or infinite scroll to collect all data
  • Submit a form and extract results from the response page
  • Navigate a multi-step checkout or wizard flow
  • Scrape content that failed with regular scrape because it requires JavaScript interaction
Who it's for
  • Web scrapers needing to interact with dynamic sites
  • Developers automating authenticated workflows
  • Teams extracting data from JavaScript-heavy applications
  • Anyone handling login flows or form submission at scale

firecrawl-instruct FAQ

Do I need to scrape before using instruct?

Yes. Always run firecrawl scrape first to create a browser session. The scrape ID is saved automatically for subsequent interact calls.

Can I use instruct for web searches?

No. Use firecrawl-search for web searches. Instruct is only for interacting with already-scraped pages.

How do I log into a site and keep the session?

Use --profile <name> on the scrape command to persist cookies and localStorage. Subsequent scrapes with the same profile will be authenticated.

What languages can I use for code-based interaction?

Bash, Python, and Node.js are supported via the --language option.

What's the maximum timeout for an interaction?

The default is 30 seconds; the maximum is 300 seconds (5 minutes).

Full instructions (SKILL.md)

Source of truth, from firecrawl/cli.


name: firecrawl-instruct description: | Control and interact with a live browser session on any scraped page — click buttons, fill forms, navigate flows, and extract data using natural language prompts or code. Replaces the old firecrawl-browser command. Use when the user needs to interact with a webpage beyond simple scraping: logging into a site, submitting forms, clicking through pagination, handling infinite scroll, navigating multi-step checkout or wizard flows, or when a regular scrape failed because content is behind JavaScript interaction. Also useful for authenticated scraping via profiles. Triggers on "browser", "instruct", "click", "fill out the form", "log in to", "sign in", "submit", "paginated", "next page", "infinite scroll", "interact with the page", "navigate to", "open a session", or "scrape failed". allowed-tools:

  • Bash(firecrawl *)
  • Bash(npx firecrawl *)

firecrawl instruct

Interact with scraped pages in a live browser session. Scrape a page first, then use natural language prompts or code to click, fill forms, navigate, and extract data.

When to use

  • Content requires interaction: clicks, form fills, pagination, login
  • scrape failed because content is behind JavaScript interaction
  • You need to navigate a multi-step flow
  • Last resort in the workflow escalation pattern: search → scrape → map → crawl → instruct
  • Never use instruct for web searches — use search instead

Quick start

# 1. Scrape a page (scrape ID is saved automatically)
firecrawl scrape "<url>"

# 2. Interact with the page using natural language
firecrawl interact --prompt "Click the login button"
firecrawl interact --prompt "Fill in the email field with test@example.com"
firecrawl interact --prompt "Extract the pricing table"

# 3. Or use code for precise control
firecrawl interact --code "agent-browser click @e5" --language bash
firecrawl interact --code "agent-browser snapshot -i" --language bash

# 4. Stop the session when done
firecrawl interact stop

Options

OptionDescription
--prompt <text>Natural language instruction (use this OR --code)
--code <code>Code to execute in the browser session
--language <lang>Language for code: bash, python, node
--timeout <seconds>Execution timeout (default: 30, max: 300)
--scrape-id <id>Target a specific scrape (default: last scrape)
-o, --output <path>Output file path

Profiles

Use --profile on the scrape to persist browser state (cookies, localStorage) across scrapes:

# Session 1: Login and save state
firecrawl scrape "https://app.example.com/login" --profile my-app
firecrawl interact --prompt "Fill in email with user@example.com and click login"

# Session 2: Come back authenticated
firecrawl scrape "https://app.example.com/dashboard" --profile my-app
firecrawl interact --prompt "Extract the dashboard data"

Read-only reconnect (no writes to profile state):

firecrawl scrape "https://app.example.com" --profile my-app --no-save-changes

Tips

  • Always scrape first — interact requires a scrape ID from a previous firecrawl scrape call
  • The scrape ID is saved automatically, so you don't need --scrape-id for subsequent interact calls
  • Use firecrawl interact stop to free resources when done
  • For parallel work, scrape multiple pages and interact with each using --scrape-id

See also

  • firecrawl-scrape — try scrape first, escalate to instruct only when needed
  • firecrawl-search — for web searches (never use instruct for searching)
  • firecrawl-agent — AI-powered extraction (less manual control)