Agents on web pages
Watch an agent use a web page for you, hand it the steps only you can do, and take control at any time.
An agent in hob can use a web page the way you do. It clicks, types, chooses options, uploads project files, reads the page, and checks the result, with real input in a web pane. You watch the pointer move and the page change. You can slow it down, step in, or stop it.
Use this for any site, not only your own app: walk through an analytics dashboard, research a product page, fill in a form you check before it is sent, or test a change in your running app.
Web panes need the hob desktop app. The app can run on the same computer as the Host or connect to it from another computer. The browser IDE and hob mobile alone cannot show or operate web pages.
Have an agent walk you through a site
Open the site in a web pane beside the agent, or let the agent open it. Then ask for a walkthrough at demo pace:
Ask your agent
At demo pace, a visible cursor moves to each control and rests before it acts. Values change in a way you can follow: a slider moves, an option is chosen from its list. Ask the agent to stop and explain at any point; it can also point at the part of the page you should look at.
Have an agent test your app while you watch
When the agent changes your app, ask it to try the change in the running page before you review the code:
Ask your agent
The agent waits for each target to be ready, uses real input, and reads what changed. You see the same page. If something looks wrong, click in the page to take over, then tell the agent what you saw. For checks you repeat, the agent can save the steps as a flow file that runs the same way each time; see Run in the background.
Choose the pace
| Pace | What you see |
|---|---|
| Fast | The default. Steps run as fast as the page allows. Use it for normal work. |
| Human | The pointer moves like a person's, and typing and scrolling run at a person's speed, with short pauses between steps. |
| Demo | For showing you how to do something. A visible cursor moves and rests before each action, and values change visibly. |
| Fixed delay | A fixed pause, in milliseconds, after each action. The pointer moves as at fast pace. |
Ask the agent for a pace, or set one yourself for a pane. Choose Pace in the pane's menu, or select the robot icon in its address bar. Agent's choice lets the agent decide; Fast, Human, or Demo applies to every agent in that pane from its next step.
See when an agent is working
A robot icon in the web pane's address bar shows agent activity:
- It is solid while an agent works in the page, and fades after the agent stops.
- It blinks when your pointer is over a page an agent is working in.
- A ring pulses around it while the agent waits for you.
- A small badge shows when the pane is Read only or No access for agents.
Hover over the icon to see what the agent is doing and how to take over.
Take control at any time
You always win. To take over, click in the page, press a key in the page, or select the robot icon and choose Stop. The agent's work ends at once, and your first click does not act on the page. Moving the pointer over the pane or scrolling does not interrupt the agent.
To look at the page without ending the work, choose Pause in the robot menu, then Resume when you are ready. A pause of more than 10 minutes ends the work as a takeover.
When you take over, hob sends the agent a message, and the agent does not retry without asking you. Tell it what to do next in the conversation.
Do the steps only you should do
Some steps belong to you: signing in, entering a two-factor code, or making a choice only you can judge. The agent hands those steps to you. A card in the page shows its request, for example "Sign in, then press Continue", with Continue and Cancel. Work in the page as usual; your clicks and keys do not count as a takeover while the card waits. Choose Continue when you are done, and the agent goes on. Cancel ends its work.
You can hide the card and show it again from the robot pill. A request waits 10 minutes by default.
Sign-ins persist in the pane, so you usually sign in once. The agent uses a password only when you give it one. It asks you before a purchase, a payment, sending a message, or deleting data, even when a step would do it. It uploads files only from the project. Review what the agent did before the step that counts.
Decide what agents can do
Site rules are your decision. The agent cannot change them or work around them.
- Site access, in the pane's menu or the robot menu, sets a level for the current site: Full access, Read only, or No access. Agents and automations or scripts each have their own level.
- Pane access limits every caller in one pane: Read only or No access. Follow site rules removes the limit.
- Settings → Web → Site rules lists every site. Project rules can only add restrictions to the global rules.
Read only lets an agent read the page but not type, click, navigate, upload, or ask you for a handoff. No access also stops it from reading the page or taking screenshots. When a rule blocks a step, the agent tells you; it does not look for another way to reach the site.
Run in the background
An agent can also work in a web pane that no window shows: a pane in another workspace, in a background project, or a hidden pane opened for a flow. The work runs out of sight; open the pane to watch it. If a hidden page moves to a more local network, such as from the internet to your local development server, hob asks you first.
Flow files keep a sequence of steps that you can run again, for example to sign in and check that a page loads. A flow can run in a pane you watch, or hidden, showing its pane only when a step fails. Automations can run the same web steps as part of a repeatable workflow.
For agents
Read hob web --help once before you operate a web page; it is the complete
guide to hob web act, its steps, paces, handoffs, and error codes. The core
loop:
hob pane list # find the web pane ID
hob pane view <pane-id> # read the page; refs such as n7 are targets
hob web act <pane-id> click 'role=button[name="Sign in"]'
hob web act <pane-id> --steps - --pace demo <<'EOF'
- fill: label=Email
value: [email protected]
- handoff: Please sign in, then press Continue
- expect: role=heading[name="Account"]
EOF- Use fast pace for normal work. Use demo when the person wants to see how to do something, and human when they ask you to slow down. A pane pace that the person sets replaces yours; do not work around it.
- Hand off sign-ins and choices only the person can make. Ask before a purchase, a payment, sending a message, or deleting data.
user_took_overmeans the person clicked, pressed a key, chose Stop, or paused for more than 10 minutes. Do not retry without asking.blocked_by_policymeans a site rule or pane access blocks the step. Tell the person; do not try another pane, tool, or address for the same site.- To wait for the person without taking control, use
hob pane view <pane-id> --wait-for <predicate>instead of polling. hob web flow run <file>runs flow files as observable tests. Seehob web flow --helpfor--show always|on-failure|never.
Ask an agent