[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":593},["ShallowReactive",2],{"project-37943931":3},{"id":4,"name":5,"line":6,"line_source":7,"title":8,"url":9,"domain":10,"maker":11,"posted_at":12,"year":13,"points":14,"comments":15,"rank_in_year":16,"shown_in_year":17,"top":18,"tier":19,"category":20,"subcategory":21,"format":22,"keywords":23,"reception":28,"sentiment":29,"stance_mix":30,"scored_comments":35,"aspects":36,"strip":45,"post_text":46,"what":47,"said":97,"maker_in_thread":222,"shape":233,"grid":237,"attempts":558,"same_week":559,"maker_shows":18,"maker_hidden":585,"reader_version":586,"card":587},"37943931","Autotab","An AI-powered Chrome extension to create Selenium scripts","title","Show HN: Autotab – An AI-powered Chrome extension to create Selenium scripts","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.autotab.com\u002F","autotab.com","jonasnelle",1697728120,2023,376,126,92,3109,3,"legend","dev_tools","browser automation","browser_extension",[21,24,25,26,27],"selenium","python","web scraping","ai code generation","curious",0.017,{"positive":31,"neutral":32,"mixed":33,"critical":34},11,33,0,10,54,{"idea":37,"execution":39,"privacy":40,"design":42,"pricing":43,"docs":44},{"positive":38,"critical":18},5,{"positive":33,"critical":38},{"positive":41,"critical":41},1,{"positive":41,"critical":41},{"positive":33,"critical":33},{"positive":41,"critical":33},[38,18,38,41,38,38,33,38,18,18,33,18,18,18,18,18,41,38,41,18,33,38,18,38,18,18,33,33,18,18,18,41,41,41,41,33,33,41,33,38],null,{"problem":48,"audience":59,"pricing":46,"motivation":69,"time_to_build":46,"stack":75,"openness":94,"stage":95,"team_size":96},{"value":49,"source":50,"evidence":51},"Writing browser automation and Selenium scripts is tedious and selectors are brittle","maker",[52,55],{"id":53,"by":11,"text":54},"37943932","After a year of building in and around the AI agent space, Alexi (https:\u002F\u002Fnews.ycombinator.com\u002Fuser?id=alexirobbins) and I had an idea: Instead of dreaming up a flashy but…",{"id":56,"by":57,"text":58},"37946645","mherrmann","The CSS structure of a web site is an implementation detail and on a global average, CSS selectors break much more often than user-visible labels.",{"value":60,"source":61,"evidence":62},"Developers and people who need browser-based tasks automated","inferred",[63,66],{"id":64,"by":11,"text":65},"37967056","We’re actually mainly focused on automations more than testing. We want to build autotab into your intern\u002Fassistant for browser-based tasks that you would rather have someone…",{"id":67,"by":11,"text":68},"37947522","Interesting, what features are most impactful in making it more pleasant to work with? We picked Selenium because it seems much more widely used at least in the Python world…",{"value":70,"source":50,"evidence":71},"Earlier AI tool for non-technical users was not ready; focus on users who can review Python code",[72],{"id":73,"by":11,"text":74},"37947889","Hey, nice detective work :) This is definitely more of a pivot, though the ZTool product also went through a few bigger iterations itself. I think my learnings from building and…",[76,82,88],{"value":77,"source":50,"evidence":78},"OpenAI GPT-4",[79],{"id":80,"by":11,"text":81},"37949974","We use OpenAI's GPT4 to understand the position of the element being interacted with relative to the structure of the website overall. Lots of cool things we want to try out with…",{"value":83,"source":50,"evidence":84},"Selenium",[85],{"id":86,"by":11,"text":87},"37947296","That's awesome! We couldn't have built any of this without Selenium, definitely standing on the shoulders of giants :) Right now we have the basic sanity check that the Selenium…",{"value":89,"source":50,"evidence":90},"Python",[91],{"id":92,"by":11,"text":93},"37949081","The main difference is probably that autotab outputs a Python script, which is easier to integrate with existing Python codebases. Going forward I think the flexibility of Python…","open_source","launched","team",{"praise":98,"objections":118,"requests":148,"questions":170,"alternatives":193},[99,111],{"value":100,"source":101,"evidence":102},"Useful for automating repetitive browser tasks","commenter",[103,107],{"id":104,"by":105,"text":106},"37946462","pedrolins","This is amazing!! I've found myself writing selenium scripts to automate tasks for my dad's job (things such as getting a name from a spreadsheet, putting that name in a…",{"id":108,"by":109,"text":110},"37953340","dbmikus","Congrats on the launch! This definitely seems useful for some stuff I've been doing, like filling out a CRM spreadsheet with the right user data.",{"value":112,"source":101,"evidence":113},"Good use of the sidepanel API and polished demo",[114],{"id":115,"by":116,"text":117},"37948155","jsf01","This is a great use of the sidepanel API. Really like the idea and how you implemented it. The Firefox equivalent to that API isn’t identical to Chrome’s, and I believe that…",[119,130,137],{"value":120,"source":101,"evidence":121},"Requires logging into Google to use",[122,126],{"id":123,"by":124,"text":125},"37951021","btbuildem","> This will launch a Chrome session controlled by Selenium and then log you in to Google Why is logging into Google a requirement?",{"id":127,"by":128,"text":129},"37947655","Tokumei-no-hito","why does it require logging into google to use?",{"value":131,"source":101,"evidence":132},"Only supports macOS at launch",[133],{"id":134,"by":135,"text":136},"37951425","boromi","macOS only? Wanted to try this on Windows",{"value":138,"source":101,"evidence":139},"Sending page inputs to an LLM raises privacy concerns",[140,144],{"id":141,"by":142,"text":143},"37948410","matt3D","How comfortable should I feel about having this record the input of potentially sensitive information if it's going to send those inputs off to an LLM? One way I can see around…",{"id":145,"by":146,"text":147},"37960610","mthoms","Hopefully you're still monitoring this page: Do the HTML contents of the page get sent to your server for processing? What guarantees are there over privacy? One of the uses I…",[149,156,163],{"value":150,"source":101,"evidence":151},"Support for Playwright output",[152],{"id":153,"by":154,"text":155},"37948417","derac","I'd love if it could output Playwright code as well. I haven't tried it but if this works well it's a great concept!",{"value":157,"source":101,"evidence":158},"Firefox or Safari support",[159],{"id":160,"by":161,"text":162},"37947790","jondwillis","This is amazing. I will try to have it automate my system of agents web app in a meaningful way (turtles all the way down.) Shameless plug:…",{"value":164,"source":101,"evidence":165},"Support for two-factor authentication logins",[166],{"id":167,"by":168,"text":169},"37948848","dr_kiszonka","Hey, it looks very neat. I was wondering if Autotab currently supports logging into websites that require 2FA. (Your readme mentions Google only.)",[171,178],{"value":172,"source":101,"evidence":173},"How does it avoid AI hallucinating selectors?",[174],{"id":175,"by":176,"text":177},"37946392","hugs","Selenium project creator here... Very cool! I totally expect testing to be one of the killer apps for AI. And this is an easy way to get there. How do you ensure the AI isn't…",{"value":179,"source":101,"evidence":180},"How is it different from Chrome Recorder, UI.Vision, or Playwright codegen?",[181,185,189],{"id":182,"by":183,"text":184},"37948471","typosaur","How is this different from the \"Recorder\" feature available in Chrome (Dev Tools > Recorder)? It can record a user-journey and print out a puppeteer script.",{"id":186,"by":187,"text":188},"37946841","xnx","What distinguishes this from UI.Vision's (https:\u002F\u002Fui.vision\u002F) session recorder?",{"id":190,"by":191,"text":192},"37955768","shantnutiwari","How is this different from Playwright? There, You can record your steps and get a python script?",[194,198,205,209,216],{"value":195,"source":101,"evidence":196},"Chrome DevTools Recorder",[197],{"id":182,"by":183,"text":184},{"value":199,"source":101,"evidence":200},"Playwright code generator",[201],{"id":202,"by":203,"text":204},"37946464","pid-1","Related: https:\u002F\u002Fplaywright.dev\u002F has a built-in code generator. In *my opinion*, it's also more pleasant to work with than Selenium.",{"value":206,"source":101,"evidence":207},"UI.Vision",[208],{"id":186,"by":187,"text":188},{"value":210,"source":101,"evidence":211},"Katalon Recorder",[212],{"id":213,"by":214,"text":215},"37966148","clay09","Nice work! What are some differences between this project and Katalon Recorder? Katalon Recorder is also a chrome extension, allows recording of actions, and export to Python.",{"value":217,"source":101,"evidence":218},"Helium",[219],{"id":220,"by":57,"text":221},"37946258","I don't get why people still use XPaths, CSS selectors or HTML IDs to identify elements, even when they are \"recorded\". Please please please just use my…",{"comments":223,"answered":224,"key":225},34,18,[226,227,230],{"id":86,"text":87},{"id":228,"text":229},"37955198","Yes! Two things we’re working on that would be very cool are 1) seeing the mirrored actions executed live as you record and 2) even if the website changes later, using AI at…",{"id":231,"text":232},"38018409","I agree, to really debug they need coding knowledge today. But there's something in between where you can say \"try again\" or even give high level feedback like \"don't click the…",{"commenters":234,"max_depth":235,"maker_replies":223,"first_comment_mins":33,"lifespan_hours":236},61,6,150,[238,240,242,246,247,250,254,255,257,260,262,264,268,270,274,276,279,282,285,287,291,295,298,299,300,302,305,309,310,312,314,316,320,323,325,328,332,334,336,338,342,344,346,348,351,354,356,359,361,363,365,368,370,372,375,378,381,385,387,392,394,397,401,403,405,409,413,414,416,419,423,426,428,430,432,434,436,438,440,442,444,446,448,451,453,455,457,459,461,463,466,467,471,473,477,479,483,484,488,490,492,495,498,500,503,504,506,510,513,515,518,520,523,525,528,531,532,535,537,538,541,543,545,548,550,551,555],[175,33,38,239,176,33],"project\u002Fpositive\u002Fidea",[86,33,33,241,11,41],"project\u002Fneutral\u002Fexecution",[243,33,18,244,245,33],"37954663","project\u002Fneutral\u002Fidea","eddtries",[228,33,33,244,11,41],[248,33,38,249,245,33],"37956651","maker\u002Fpositive\u002Fnone",[251,33,41,252,253,33],"38012319","project\u002Fcritical\u002Fexecution","eastendguy",[231,33,33,244,11,41],[160,41,38,256,161,33],"project\u002Fpositive\u002Fnone",[258,41,33,259,11,41],"37948024","project\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone",[261,41,41,252,161,33],"37948885",[263,41,33,241,11,41],"37948973",[265,41,33,266,267,33],"37952320","other\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone","justusthane",[269,41,33,266,161,33],"37952793",[271,41,33,272,273,33],"37961901","other\u002Fneutral\u002Fidea","jdthedisciple",[104,275,38,239,105,33],2,[277,275,38,249,278,33],"37948195","alexirobbins",[280,18,38,239,281,33],"37953450","keepamovin",[283,18,33,284,11,41],"37955228","commenter\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone",[286,18,33,284,281,33],"37955481",[288,289,33,272,290,33],"37951395",4,"lucgagan",[292,289,33,293,294,33],"37951887","other\u002Fneutral\u002Fdesign","wackget",[296,289,33,266,297,33],"37999215","brianjking",[182,38,18,244,183,33],[92,38,33,244,11,41],[301,38,38,239,183,33],"37949252",[303,38,33,284,304,33],"37950082","Havoc",[306,235,18,307,308,33],"37947632","maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone","Freddie111",[73,235,33,244,11,41],[123,311,18,241,124,33],7,[313,311,33,241,11,41],"37951547",[315,311,33,284,124,33],"37957669",[317,311,33,318,319,33],"37962684","commenter\u002Fneutral\u002Fdocs","eshack94",[321,311,33,318,322,33],"37964074","vincengomes",[324,311,33,318,319,33],"37964525",[326,311,33,327,11,41],"38018457","project\u002Fpositive\u002Fexecution",[329,330,18,244,331,33],"37948610",8,"gHA5",[333,330,18,244,278,33],"37948953",[335,330,33,244,11,41],"37948992",[337,330,18,244,331,33],"37949629",[339,340,18,244,341,33],"37950472",9,"omarfarooq",[343,340,33,244,11,41],"37951017",[345,340,18,259,341,33],"37951045",[347,340,18,259,278,33],"38005613",[349,34,18,244,350,33],"37946625","mkonecny",[352,34,18,241,353,33],"37946673","monkpit",[355,34,18,244,278,33],"37947332",[357,34,18,244,358,33],"37947477","jamesmcintyre",[360,34,18,244,278,33],"37947699",[362,34,18,241,353,33],"37948431",[364,34,33,241,11,41],"37950305",[366,34,18,241,367,33],"37950020","invertednz",[369,34,33,241,11,41],"37950276",[141,31,41,371,142,33],"project\u002Fcritical\u002Fprivacy",[373,31,18,374,278,33],"37949106","project\u002Fneutral\u002Fprivacy",[115,376,38,377,116,33],12,"project\u002Fpositive\u002Fdesign",[379,376,33,380,11,41],"37948228","project\u002Fneutral\u002Fdesign",[382,383,33,266,384,33],"37948212",13,"loeing",[386,383,33,284,176,33],"37951709",[388,389,41,390,391,33],"37948009",14,"project\u002Fcritical\u002Fidea","atum47",[393,389,33,244,11,41],"37948068",[395,389,33,396,391,33],"37949792","commenter\u002Fneutral\u002Fpricing",[398,389,18,399,400,33],"37960076","project\u002Fneutral\u002Fpricing","j0hnyl",[186,402,18,244,187,33],15,[404,402,33,244,11,41],"37947336",[406,407,33,266,408,33],"37954525",16,"taneq",[410,411,33,272,412,33],"37985021",17,"jimmySixDOF",[145,224,18,374,146,33],[415,224,33,374,11,41],"37961025",[417,224,38,418,146,33],"37968018","maker\u002Fpositive\u002Fprivacy",[420,421,33,266,422,33],"37952440",19,"kazinator",[424,421,33,266,425,33],"37953385","kamray23",[427,421,33,266,319,33],"37962689",[213,429,18,244,214,33],20,[431,429,33,244,11,41],"37967093",[108,433,38,239,109,33],21,[435,433,33,249,11,41],"37955324",[167,437,18,244,168,33],22,[439,437,33,244,11,41],"37948900",[441,437,18,244,168,33],"37951325",[443,437,33,374,11,41],"37955275",[153,445,18,244,154,33],23,[447,445,33,244,11,41],"37949013",[449,445,33,266,450,33],"37950860","lobochrome",[452,445,33,284,11,41],"37951581",[454,445,33,284,450,33],"38010451",[456,445,33,266,245,33],"37954766",[458,445,33,284,11,41],"37955291",[460,445,33,284,245,33],"37956631",[190,462,18,244,191,33],24,[464,465,18,244,319,33],"37962695",25,[64,465,33,244,11,41],[468,469,18,244,470,33],"37954920",26,"revolt2tech",[472,469,33,244,11,41],"37955233",[474,475,18,399,476,33],"37947874",27,"tr33house",[478,475,33,399,11,41],"37948007",[480,481,18,244,482,33],"37949786",28,"pkaye",[80,481,33,244,11,41],[485,486,18,244,487,33],"37951595",29,"nomilk",[489,486,33,244,11,41],"37951840",[134,491,41,252,135,33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