Steel is an open-source browser API for building AI agents and applications that interact with the web.
Steel solves the problem of infrastructure complexity when automating web interactions for AI applications. Rather than building browser automation infrastructure from scratch, it provides a managed browser sandbox that handles session management, browser lifecycle, and resource cleanup. The tool uses Puppeteer and Chrome DevTools Protocol for full browser control while supporting connections through Puppeteer, Playwright, or Selenium. It manages browser state including cookies and local storage across requests, includes built-in proxy chain management for IP rotation, and offers anti-detection features through stealth plugins and fingerprint management.
Developers building AI agents or applications that need to interact with web interfaces should consider Steel. It suits projects requiring reliable, scalable browser automation without the operational burden of managing infrastructure. The tool distinguishes itself through capabilities like custom Chrome extension support, built-in debugging tools with session visualization, and browser utilities that convert pages to markdown, readability format, screenshots, or PDFs. Steel offers both a cloud-hosted option and the ability to deploy locally or to cloud providers.
The project is actively maintained with ongoing development and welcomes community feedback through Discord and GitHub issues. The maintainers explicitly acknowledge the tool is in public beta and evolving, indicating they are responsive to user suggestions and bug reports.
