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Give a coding-agent host a Webcompute browser through MCP, then keep the work in short observed Playwright steps.

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Runtime loop

  • The coding-agent runtime loop: create a browser, execute Playwright, read observation/status, repeat, then clean up.
  • The difference between model-free runtime tools and delegated run_web_agent.
  • Debug UI and CDP URLs as inspection capabilities.

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Setup

web mcp setup

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Ask the host

Create a Webcompute browser, go to https://www.sec.gov/edgar/search/, search for Apple's latest 10-Q filings, return filing date, accession number, and filing URL, then close the browser.
The host should use:
  • manage_browsers for browser lifecycle, status, Debug UI, CDP URL, and cleanup.
  • execute_playwright_code for browser work that needs page state and post-step observation.

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Expected output

Latest Apple 10-Q filings

1. Filing date: ...
   Accession number: ...
   Filing URL: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/...

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Optional delegated agent mode

If the MCP host should delegate the whole browsing goal to Webcompute, enable the agent or all surface and use run_web_agent. 
web mcp setup codex --surface all --model browsing
The browsing model profile affects MCP only through run_web_agent. The default runtime tools remain model-free.

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Production notes

  • Use runtime tools when the host plans each step.
  • Use run_web_agent when the user explicitly delegates the whole browsing goal.
  • Treat Debug UI and CDP URLs as bearer capabilities.
  • Close browsers when the task is done.

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Inspect

  • Tool calls in the host transcript.
  • Browser status through manage_browsers.
  • Observations from execute_playwright_code.
  • Debug UI for live page review.

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Cleanup

Ask the host to close the browser when the task is done, or call manage_browsers with the close action for the browser ID it created.

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Common failures

  • If the host claims it browsed without calling the MCP tools, ask it to rerun with browser tool use visible in the transcript.
  • If the host needs proxy setup, use SDK, CLI browser creation, REST, or quick actions; current MCP tool schemas do not expose a custom proxy field.