qz-browser-agent

qz is an open-source browser agent that runs in your own browser as a Chrome extension. Describe a task in one sentence, and it works across the sites you're already signed in to, extracts the data, and delivers tables, files, or reports with sources. Connect any model, including DeepSeek, OpenAI, and Claude, with your own API key; your data stays local and goes only to the model you choose. Agents like Grok Bot, Claude Code, and Codex can also hand web tasks to qz through its CLI and MCP.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/26ee85fd-540f-4427-af59-c196fadfa221

Why qz?

Reliable browser execution for AI agents

General-purpose AI agents often break on real-world browsing: login walls, long click sequences, and pages that load as you scroll. qz runs these flows in your real local Chrome and hands clean results back to your agent.

Visible to you, callable by your agent

Other browser agents usually let you watch them work, but stepping in mid-task is hard, and each is built for either people or agents, not both. qz lives in the side panel, so you see every step and result, and you can step in or stop it at any time. Coding agents such as Claude Code and Codex can also send tasks to qz through the CLI or MCP.

Parallel research, from web data to reusable Skills

qz runs many tasks at once, and each task can spawn subtasks, so a large research job is split up and worked in parallel instead of stalling a single agent. It pulls the figures you want to compare from scattered, inconsistent websites and turns them into comparison tables or local files. Once a task works, say "Save this as a Skill" and reuse it next time with one sentence.

Your everyday browser, your data stays local

No virtual environment to set up. qz uses the Chrome you already use, so your logins, cookies, and extensions just work. Task data is stored locally, and you choose the model behind it.

What you can ask

Start with a simple task

Plan a 3-day cultural walk through Luxembourg City linking the Old Town, museums, and historic quarters. Check tourism-office and venue websites for opening hours, tickets, and booking rules, build a daily route table with sources, and flag anything unverified.

Pull together multiple sources

Compare the major open-weight LLMs released in the last 6 months, one per row: release date, parameters, context length, license, and key benchmarks, with official sources.

Get it right once, save it as a Skill in one sentence

Find 10 arXiv papers on browser agents from the past month, with titles, one-line takeaways, and links.

Once it works, say "Save this as a Skill". Next time, just say "This week's browser agent papers" to reuse it.

Run research tasks in parallel

Find the 10 fastest-growing AI agent repos on GitHub this week, read their READMEs, and write a weekly report with links.

Let your agent hand tasks to qz

In a coding agent such as pi, say:

Use qz to find this week's hottest AI agent projects on GitHub and send me a weekly report.

Quick start

1. Install: Click Add to Chrome on the Chrome Web Store, then click the qz icon in your toolbar to open the side panel.

2. Connect a model: Open Settings, select a provider (e.g., DeepSeek, Claude), paste your API key, and save. Have a ChatGPT account? Select OpenAI Codex and sign in—no API key required.

3. Run a task: Enter a prompt in the side panel, for example:

   Find this year's Nobel Prize winners in every category and put them in a table with source links.
   

4. (Optional) Connect external agents: Run npx --yes qz-browser-agent@latest connect in your terminal to let other agents trigger qz. See Make your agents actually good at browsing for details.

1. Download the ZIP from the latest release and extract it.
2. Open chrome://extensions and enable Developer mode.
3. Click Load unpacked and select the extracted qz-browser-agent-extension folder.
4. Open the side panel and configure a model as described above.

Make your agents actually good at browsing

Agents like Grok Bot, Claude Code, Codex, and pi can hand web tasks to qz. qz runs them in your browser's side panel, where you can watch every step, then returns the results so your agent can keep going.

1. Install the Skill so your agent knows how to use qz.

   npx skills add alibaba/qz-browser-agent -g
   

2. Pair once. Requires Node.js 22 or later. The command pairs automatically with your default browser.

   npx qz-browser-agent@latest connect
   

3. Just ask. Tell your agent: "Use qz to compare open-weight LLMs released in the last 6 months and put them in a table with sources."

npx qz-browser-agent@latest create "your task" --stream

• --stream shows progress, any questions qz needs you to answer, and the final result.
• For MCP clients, run npx qz-browser-agent@latest mcp after pairing and use the HTTP URL it returns.
• For regular use, install globally with npm install --global qz-browser-agent, then use qz in place of npx qz-browser-agent@latest.
• See the CLI and MCP reference for multi-browser pairing, follow-ups, and exports.

Comparison

	qz	Nanobrowser	Browser Use	agent-browser	Playwright MCP
Delegate the whole task, not every click	✅	◐	◐	◐	❌
Runs in your own logged-in Chrome	✅	✅	◐	◐	◐
Real-time control of every step, for humans and agents	✅	◐	◐	◐	◐
Many tasks in parallel, each with subtasks	✅	◐	◐	◐	◐
Save a run as a reusable Skill	✅	❌	◐	❌	❌

✅ built in · ◐ partial or needs setup/code · ❌ not supported. As of October 2026, based on each project's public docs.

Local first

qz runs entirely in your browser. Sessions, Skills, and collected data stay on your machine, and the CLI/MCP bridge runs locally too. There's no qz server: your data only goes to the model you configure and the websites you work on.

See privacy policy and browser permissions.

FAQ

Is qz free?

The extension and CLI are free under Apache-2.0. Model costs depend on your provider; compatible local models are supported. ChatGPT access and limits depend on your account and plan.

How do I sign in with ChatGPT?

In Settings, select OpenAI Codex and follow the device-code instructions at auth.openai.com. Return to qz, select a model, and save. If device-code login is disabled, follow OpenAI's authentication guidance.

Which models can I use?

Use a provider with a supported protocol and tool calling, including a compatible local server. Presets include OpenAI Codex, OpenRouter, DeepSeek, Kimi For Coding, OpenCode Go, OpenCode Zen, Fireworks AI, and more. See providers.

Does qz support Edge or Firefox?

qz works in Chrome and Edge. Firefox is not supported.

Development

To change qz's behavior or inspect how it runs, build and load the extension locally.

Build from source

Install Node.js 24 LTS and npm, then run from a local checkout:

npm ci
npm run build

Open chrome://extensions, enable Developer mode, click Load unpacked, and select dist/extension/.

Develop and test

Set up the test environment, then use:

npm run dev       # Rebuild on source changes
npm test          # Run the default test suites
npm run verify    # Type-check and run all automated suites with coverage

After a rebuild, reload the extension at chrome://extensions and reopen the side panel.

Add a capability

To add a tool, view, setting, or provider that qz doesn't include yet, see the capability guide.

More docs

• Architecture
• Commands and build options
• Contributing

License

For reuse or redistribution, follow Apache-2.0 and the dependencies' own licenses listed in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.