What is Stagehand?
Stagehand is Browserbase's MIT-licensed browser automation SDK for TypeScript and Python. It gives you act, extract, observe, and agent primitives, plus precise locators when you want to skip the model. It runs locally against Chromium, and pairs with Browserbase when you want hosted sessions, caching, and replay. For automation you commit to a repo and run on a schedule, it remains an excellent choice.
Is ego(lite) a good Stagehand alternative?
For agent-driven browser work, yes: run /ego-browser and describe the task. For committed automation you ship to CI, with typed extraction and deterministic locators, keep Stagehand. Stagehand is for workflows you encode; ego(lite) is for workflows your agent handles directly.
Do I need Browserbase to use Stagehand?
No. Stagehand runs locally against Chromium on its own. Browserbase is optional when you want hosted sessions, server-side caching, and replay. The Browserbase vs Stagehand pairing matters for cloud fleets, not for a local script on your laptop. ego(lite) has no hosted path: local only, free, no account.
Browserbase vs Stagehand: do I need both?
Often yes in production, but for different reasons. Stagehand is the SDK you write act, extract, and observe calls in. Browserbase is where those scripts run when you need cloud scale. For your own agent chores on logged-in sites, you may need neither: run /ego-browser and let Claude Code or Codex drive ego(lite) directly.
How much does Stagehand cost compared to ego(lite)?
Stagehand is MIT-licensed and free to install. You pay model tokens for every act, extract, or observe call that is not cached, plus Browserbase browser minutes if you host it there. ego(lite) is free. You only pay the model tokens your coding agent already uses.
Can Stagehand use my existing Chrome profile and logins?
Not dependably in local mode today. Pointing Stagehand at your Chrome profile still has an open bug in v3, and cookie workarounds often miss the HttpOnly session cookies that matter. ego(lite) imports your Chrome profile once, and every task starts signed in.
Stagehand vs Browser Use: which one should I compare against?
They aim at different developers. Stagehand is TypeScript-first with act, extract, and observe primitives for hybrid code-plus-AI automation. Browser Use is Python-first and runs a more autonomous agent loop. Both are frameworks you write and fund. ego(lite) is the Chromium browser your coding agent controls via /ego-browser. See ego(lite) vs Browser Use for that side.
Stagehand vs agent-browser: what's the difference?
Stagehand is an SDK: you write act, extract, and observe calls in TypeScript or Python. agent-browser is a CLI your agent shells out to, one command at a time. ego(lite) is neither. Run /ego-browser and your coding agent controls ego(lite) with batched JavaScript. See ego(lite) vs agent-browser.
Can I use Stagehand with Claude Code?
Not as a native skill. Claude Code would run a Stagehand script you wrote, with model API keys and a project to maintain. ego(lite) is the shorter path: run /ego-browser in Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor and describe the task. No SDK install, no schema, no separate model billing loop.
Why does my Stagehand script behave differently between runs?
When an action is not cached, the model picks the target again each time, so a shifting page can resolve differently. Caches can also go stale after the DOM changes. Use Stagehand's precise locators when a flow must not vary. ego(lite) is built for agent-driven browser work across changing pages and workflows.
Does ego(lite) need an SDK or an MCP server?
Neither. Run /ego-browser in Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, or OpenCode. Free on macOS and Windows, no account required.
Can Stagehand automate downloading a report and uploading it to Google Drive?
Yes, when the account, report, and destination are authorized and the workflow is explicit. Use Stagehand's browser actions for the download, verify the filename and contents, then upload to a review-approved Drive folder; keep the file path and source URL in the run log. Require human approval before sharing, overwriting, or publishing a report, and stop at MFA or other access-control prompts.
How do I make Stagehand UI tests less flaky on complex flows?
Separate test data per worker, wait for meaningful UI state, and use stable role, label, or test-id locators for assertions that must not vary. Stagehand's natural-language act is useful for exploration, but a release gate should use deterministic locators, explicit fixtures, traces on failure, and a bounded retry policy. ego(lite) is a visible investigation path, not a replacement for a committed CI suite.
What is a practical migration path from Stagehand to ego(lite)?
Keep Stagehand scripts that already run in CI or on a schedule. Move browser workflows by installing ego(lite), importing an authorized Chrome context, and asking your coding agent to run the task in a Space. Preserve the old assertions and expected output, compare one run, and move the task back to Stagehand if it needs deterministic replay, typed extraction, or cloud scale.
Is ego(lite) production-ready local mode for a Python SDK workflow?
ego(lite) is a local browser for supervised agent work, not a Python SDK runtime or unattended production service. It can complement a local Stagehand or Browser Use project across research, testing, and workflow development, while production jobs still need process supervision, secrets management, retries, observability, and deterministic test boundaries.
Can an LLM scraper cache and reuse selectors like Stagehand?
Selector reuse can reduce repeated model work when the page contract and locator remain valid, but a cache must be versioned and invalidated when markup, route, locale, or account state changes. Store the selector with its source URL, matched role or label, and last verification; rerun the original assertion before trusting it. Never let a stale cache silently target a different control.
How can I make the Stagehand Python SDK work with Patchright locally?
Treat Patchright as a browser-runtime integration that must match the SDK's supported Playwright and Chromium versions; verify the documented launch or CDP connection path in a disposable local profile first. Do not use stealth patches to bypass a site's controls. If the integration is brittle, keep the supported Stagehand runtime for committed tests and use ego(lite) for an observable, human-supervised local check.
Stagehand vs Playwright: which is better for natural-language sanity checks?
Stagehand adds model-driven act, observe, and extract calls for a quick plain-language check; Playwright gives deterministic code, fixtures, traces, and cross-browser CI. Use Stagehand or ego(lite) for exploratory sanity checks, then encode a high-value workflow in Playwright once the expected behavior is known. That division keeps natural-language flexibility from becoming an unstable release gate.
