zaoqu-liu/scienceclaw/browser-automation
Claude Code and agent skill by zaoqu-liu/scienceclaw
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Checking that the SKILL.md file is still in the repository.
Browser automation for accessing scientific databases that lack REST APIs. Uses the browser-use Python framework (81k+ GitHub stars) to control a real browser via LLM vision. Enables data extraction from web-only databases like GEPIA2, GeneCards advanced features, COSMIC public data, and journal full-text access. Use as a fallback when curl-based API access fails or when the target database has no programmatic API. Requires pip install browser-use and a Chromium browser.
Install
npx vskill@latest install zaoqu-liu/scienceclaw/browser-automationSKILL.md
Browser Automation for Scientific Data Collection
Access scientific databases that have no REST API by controlling a real browser programmatically. Uses the browser-use framework (vision-based LLM browser automation).
When to Use
- Target database has no REST API (e.g., GEPIA2, some COSMIC pages)
- curl returns 403/captcha/login required and the data is publicly viewable in a browser
- Need to navigate multi-step web forms (e.g., TIMER2.0 correlation analysis)
- Need to download files from web interfaces (e.g., GEO supplementary data)
- API exists but is severely rate-limited and web access is faster
When NOT to use:
- REST API is available and working → use
curl - Data requires paid subscription → do not circumvent paywalls
- Data can be obtained from an alternative open API → prefer the API
Installation Check
Before using browser automation, verify the environment:
If not installed:
Usage Pattern
Basic: Extract data from a web page
Batch: Collect data across multiple databases
Target Database Recipes
GEPIA2 (no API)
GeneCards (enhanced data)
TIMER2.0 (immune analysis, web-only)
HPA (Human Protein Atlas)
Safety and Ethics
- Respect robots.txt: Check before scraping any site
- Rate limiting: Wait 2-5 seconds between page navigations
- No credential storage: Never save login credentials to disk
- Public data only: Do not circumvent paywalls or access restrictions
- Attribution: Record the source URL and access date for every data extraction
- Minimize requests: Cache extracted data in the project
data/directory
Integration with Research Recipes
When a recipe step fails due to API unavailability:
The browser fallback should:
- Try the browser approach
- If browser-use is not installed, suggest installation
- If the browser approach also fails, document what was attempted and move on
Limitations
- Requires a display server or headless Chromium (may not work in minimal Docker containers)
- Slower than API calls (5-30 seconds per page vs <1 second for curl)
- Vision-based extraction may misread complex layouts
- Some sites actively block automation (detect and skip gracefully)
- Requires an LLM API key for the browser agent (uses GPT-4o by default)
Security
- Security scanPassed, 100 of 100Pattern checks on the skill's files.
- Model reviewPassed
Quality evaluation
- Task evaluationNot runNo evaluation yet. Run one in Skill Studio.
Source
- SKILL.md in the repositoryCheckingskills/browser-automation/SKILL.md
Popularity
- Repository stars
- 39
- Repository forks
- 7
- 7-day trend score
- 18
Stars and forks are for the whole GitHub repository, not this skill alone. Refreshed 25 Mar 2026, 7 months ago.
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