[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":476},["ShallowReactive",2],{"project-42197741":3},{"id":4,"name":5,"line":6,"line_source":7,"title":8,"url":9,"domain":9,"maker":10,"posted_at":11,"year":12,"points":13,"comments":14,"rank_in_year":15,"shown_in_year":16,"top":17,"tier":18,"category":19,"subcategory":20,"format":21,"keywords":22,"reception":26,"sentiment":27,"stance_mix":28,"scored_comments":33,"aspects":34,"strip":45,"post_text":47,"what":48,"said":86,"maker_in_thread":217,"shape":230,"grid":234,"attempts":437,"same_week":438,"maker_shows":37,"maker_hidden":467,"reader_version":468,"card":469},"42197741","Autotab","Programmable AI browser for turning web tasks into APIs","title","Show HN: Autotab – Programmable AI browser for turning web tasks into APIs",null,"jonasnelle",1732134152,2024,159,82,527,3515,15,"notable","dev_tools","browser automation","desktop_app",[20,23,24,25],"ai agent","web automation api","rpa","curious",-0.154,{"positive":29,"neutral":30,"mixed":31,"critical":32},6,26,4,14,50,{"execution":35,"idea":38,"pricing":39,"privacy":41,"performance":42,"docs":43},{"positive":36,"critical":37},1,3,{"positive":37,"critical":31},{"positive":40,"critical":36},0,{"positive":40,"critical":37},{"positive":40,"critical":36},{"positive":40,"critical":44},2,[37,37,46,37,36,37,36,37,37,37,36,36,36,37,46,46,36,37,37,46,37,37,40,40,46,40,36,36,36,37,37,36,36,36,46,36,36,37,37,37],5,"Hey HN, we're Alexi and Jonas the co-founders of Autotab (https:\u002F\u002Fautotab.com). Autotab is a chrome-based browser you can teach to do complex tasks, with a simple API for running them from your app or backend.\n\nHere is a walkthrough of how it works: https:\u002F\u002Fyoutu.be\u002F63co74JHy1k, and you can try it for free at https:\u002F\u002Fautotab.com by downloading the app.\n\nWhy a dedicated editor?\n\nThe number one blocker we've found in building more flexible, agentic automations is performance quality BY FAR (https:\u002F\u002Fwww.langchain.com\u002Fstateofaiagents#barriers-and-challenges). For all the talk of cost, latency, and",{"problem":49,"audience":55,"pricing":9,"motivation":64,"time_to_build":9,"stack":68,"openness":83,"stage":84,"team_size":85},{"value":50,"source":51,"evidence":52},"Automating repetitive web tasks across sites that change, without site-specific APIs","maker",[53],{"id":54},"post",{"value":56,"source":51,"evidence":57},"Businesses and developers automating repetitive work tasks like CRM, invoicing and data entry",[58,61],{"id":59,"by":10,"text":60},"42200907","Thanks! Our most common use cases are repetitive tasks people have at work, think updating Hubspot with analytics data from an internal tool or reconciling payments between an…",{"id":62,"by":10,"text":63},"42198946","Thanks! We think of the browser as an authoring tool where you create, test and refine skills. After you've done that, the API is great for cases where you want to incorporate…",{"value":65,"source":51,"evidence":66},"Reliability for agentic automations needs intent specification and an owned browser",[67],{"id":54},[69,73,77],{"value":70,"source":51,"evidence":71},"Chrome-based browser",[72],{"id":54},{"value":74,"source":51,"evidence":75},"Python and Node client libraries",[76],{"id":54},{"value":78,"source":51,"evidence":79},"Anthropic Computer Use model available via instruct feature",[80],{"id":81,"by":10,"text":82},"42204656","If by pixel level you mean vision-first understanding and control of the UI then you’ve misunderstood my comment - Autotab primarily uses vision to reason about screens and take…","unknown","launched","team",{"praise":87,"objections":104,"requests":150,"questions":173,"alternatives":195},[88],{"value":89,"source":90,"evidence":91},"Impressive product and idea for AI browser automation","commenter",[92,96,100],{"id":93,"by":94,"text":95},"42198908","pacifi30","Pretty slick. I recorded a session for ordering from a restaurant website, and it did repeat the entire workflow. It had some issues with a modal popped up but all in all well…",{"id":97,"by":98,"text":99},"42199516","pugio","I love the idea - owning the browser definitely seems like the right approach. I tried it out on a workflow I've been manually piecing together and it gave me a bunch of \"Error…",{"id":101,"by":102,"text":103},"42202559","N4der","Super cool. Congrats & well done. Can I install a Chrome extension within this browser and automate some actions on it?",[105,116,123,135],{"value":106,"source":90,"evidence":107},"Pricing unclear and seems expensive",[108,112],{"id":109,"by":110,"text":111},"42198441","Carrok","You say \"try it for free\" but your website has no pricing information at all. Is this free for just a while? Free forever? What is your monetization strategy? Can I point it at…",{"id":113,"by":114,"text":115},"42199039","replwoacause","Looks nice. Anybody else in this space? This one is on the pricier end but I’m just a single user so maybe not the target customer",{"value":117,"source":90,"evidence":118},"Privacy policy broadly collects desktop recordings and shares with affiliates",[119],{"id":120,"by":121,"text":122},"42207096","alex_c","The functionality looks very very cool. But the privacy policy raises an eyebrow - am I overreacting? Usage Information. To help us understand how you use our Services and to…",{"value":124,"source":90,"evidence":125},"Errors and failures on forms and modals in testing",[126,127,131],{"id":97,"by":98,"text":99},{"id":128,"by":129,"text":130},"42209392","eddjlsh","I tried it out on a website I am testing at work but sadly it failed to complete a form :(",{"id":132,"by":133,"text":134},"42203656","surrTurr","MacBook Pro m3 max; latest macos version: Autotab has exited due to multiple fatal errors. Please contact support for assistance: contact@autotab.com.",{"value":136,"source":90,"evidence":137},"Docs and install instructions are lacking",[138,142,146],{"id":139,"by":140,"text":141},"42207060","linuxrebe1","One thing I would recommend. Install instructions for Linux\u002FWindows\u002FMac. Not finding them in the documentation.",{"id":143,"by":144,"text":145},"42243617","hmontazeri","I don't read docs. Didn't get it to work the way I wanted... It needs simplification.",{"id":147,"by":148,"text":149},"42207206","wruza","Honestly, the video feels like just any low\u002Fnocode tutorial video in a sense “that we’re going to automate something” and a minute later we are copying urls into some complex…",[151,158,162],{"value":152,"source":90,"evidence":153},"Add Google SSO and Microsoft SSO",[154],{"id":155,"by":156,"text":157},"42205780","artificialLimbs","'Google SSO' Urgh. I was excited about this. Anxiously awaiting email\u002Fother SSO (we use MS).",{"value":159,"source":90,"evidence":160},"Export scripts that run locally",[161],{"id":97,"by":98,"text":99},{"value":163,"source":90,"evidence":164},"Lower-cost or personal plan for testing",[165,169],{"id":166,"by":167,"text":168},"42199204","alexirobbins","That sounds like a really good use case! we're constrained by model costs but are interested in offering a lower cost plan – if you email me I'll see what we can do…",{"id":170,"by":171,"text":172},"42217375","sciencesama","Is it possible to get a personal license for testing ??",[174,181,188],{"value":175,"source":90,"evidence":176},"How is 2FA and CAPTCHA handled",[177],{"id":178,"by":179,"text":180},"42202132","nagisa12321","Have you considered how to handle mobile verification codes, graphic verification codes, and \"proving you are not a robot\" verification methods?",{"value":182,"source":90,"evidence":183},"How IP blocking is handled",[184],{"id":185,"by":186,"text":187},"42200069","diegolazcano","This is awesome. I was just trying to get a rudimentary version of this for some \"user\" interaction heavy data extraction. Definitely giving it a try. For a case with lots of…",{"value":189,"source":90,"evidence":190},"Whether it violates website terms of service",[191],{"id":192,"by":193,"text":194},"42198656","smashah","If this was an OSS project automating a specific service many HN-ers would come and bleet about TOS violations & being scared\u002Fwary of C&Ds. How does this not violate TOS? Do you…",[196,203,210],{"value":197,"source":90,"evidence":198},"Scribe",[199],{"id":200,"by":201,"text":202},"42200804","adamkhakhar","This is awesome! What is your most common use case? Have you thought of competing with https:\u002F\u002Fscribehow.com\u002F in the documentation space?",{"value":204,"source":90,"evidence":205},"AskUI vision agent",[206],{"id":207,"by":208,"text":209},"42199318","hailpixel","AskUI could be a solution. It's also not just in browser, but the whole desktop: https:\u002F\u002Fgithub.com\u002Faskui\u002Fvision-agent",{"value":211,"source":90,"evidence":212},"OpenAdapt",[213],{"id":214,"by":215,"text":216},"42209139","abrichr","https:\u002F\u002Fopenadapt.ai is open source (MIT license).",{"comments":218,"answered":219,"key":220},23,18,[221,224,227],{"id":222,"text":223},"42203371","Indeed! A little secret: Internally we call the skills\u002Fworkflows in Autotab macros :) Currently there is a bit of a learning curve for training Autotab to be really reliable in…",{"id":225,"text":226},"42203391","Agree on the tradeoff between ability to handle novel situations and speed\u002Fcost. Autotab uses a “ladder of compute” system that escalates to the minimal level of compute required…",{"id":228,"text":229},"42198523","Autotab is definitely a hybrid approach, because when it comes to deciding where on the page to take an action, Autotab has to be fast & cheap (humans are both of those) while…",{"commenters":231,"max_depth":31,"maker_replies":218,"first_comment_mins":232,"lifespan_hours":233},40,78,150,[235,239,241,243,245,247,251,253,257,258,262,263,265,268,271,273,276,278,279,282,284,286,289,293,297,299,303,307,309,311,313,316,318,320,323,325,328,330,332,334,337,339,342,344,346,348,350,355,358,361,364,367,369,371,374,376,379,381,383,384,386,389,392,394,395,398,399,402,403,405,408,411,415,418,420,421,423,427,429,431,433,435],[236,40,37,237,238,40],"42202898","project\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone","slfnflctd",[222,40,40,240,10,36],"maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fexecution",[97,36,37,242,98,40],"project\u002Fmixed\u002Fexecution",[244,36,37,240,167,40],"42199573",[246,36,37,237,98,40],"42200048",[248,44,46,249,250,40],"42202265","project\u002Fpositive\u002Fidea","rava-dosa",[225,44,40,252,10,36],"maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fperformance",[254,37,37,255,256,40],"42198389","project\u002Fneutral\u002Fexecution","MattDaEskimo",[228,37,40,252,10,36],[259,37,36,260,261,40],"42203632","project\u002Fcritical\u002Fexecution","thelastparadise",[81,37,40,240,10,36],[109,31,37,264,110,40],"project\u002Fneutral\u002Fpricing",[266,31,37,267,167,40],"42198492","maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fpricing",[269,31,36,270,110,40],"42198502","project\u002Fcritical\u002Fpricing",[272,31,37,264,167,40],"42198545",[274,31,40,275,10,36],"42198572","maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fdocs",[200,46,37,277,201,40],"project\u002Fneutral\u002Fidea",[59,46,40,277,10,36],[280,46,37,255,281,40],"42203736","_1tem",[283,46,40,255,10,36],"42204731",[120,29,36,285,121,40],"project\u002Fcritical\u002Fprivacy",[287,29,37,288,167,40],"42207499","maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fprivacy",[290,29,36,291,292,40],"42212624","maker\u002Fcritical\u002Fprivacy","alienallys",[294,295,37,255,296,40],"42198620",7,"handfuloflight",[298,295,40,255,10,36],"42198758",[300,295,36,301,302,40],"42200153","project\u002Fcritical\u002Fidea","grugagag",[304,305,37,277,306,40],"42201529",8,"thedays",[308,305,40,240,10,36],"42203428",[192,310,46,249,193,40],9,[312,310,40,237,10,36],"42198816",[314,310,46,315,193,40],"42199325","maker\u002Fpositive\u002Fnone",[185,317,37,237,186,40],10,[319,317,40,252,10,36],"42200095",[321,317,36,285,322,40],"42200277","throwup238",[324,317,40,288,10,36],"42200913",[326,317,37,327,186,40],"42200565","project\u002Fmixed\u002Fperformance",[329,317,40,252,10,36],"42200666",[178,331,37,255,179,40],11,[333,331,40,240,10,36],"42203455",[93,335,46,336,94,40],12,"project\u002Fpositive\u002Fexecution",[62,335,40,338,10,36],"maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fidea",[340,335,37,341,94,40],"42199080","project\u002Fneutral\u002Fdocs",[343,335,40,275,10,36],"42199147",[345,335,37,255,296,40],"42199368",[347,335,37,288,167,40],"42199541",[349,335,40,240,10,36],"42198960",[351,352,40,353,354,40],"42201971",13,"other\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone","treetalker",[356,352,40,353,357,40],"42202001","beacon294",[359,352,40,353,360,40],"42202273","earthlingdavey",[362,352,40,353,363,40],"42202102","globalise83",[365,32,46,249,366,40],"42202242","amarsharma",[368,32,40,353,10,36],"42203303",[370,32,40,353,366,40],"42203933",[372,32,40,353,373,40],"42211251","angoragoats",[143,17,36,375,144,40],"project\u002Fcritical\u002Fdocs",[147,377,37,378,148,40],16,"project\u002Fmixed\u002Fdocs",[132,380,36,260,133,40],17,[382,380,40,240,10,36],"42204782",[139,219,36,375,140,40],[385,219,37,275,167,40],"42207090",[113,387,37,388,114,40],19,"project\u002Fmixed\u002Fpricing",[390,387,40,391,167,40],"42199064","commenter\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone",[393,387,37,237,114,40],"42199094",[166,387,37,267,167,40],[396,387,36,301,397,40],"42199143","Onavo",[207,387,36,301,208,40],[400,387,40,401,114,40],"42199337","commenter\u002Fpositive\u002Fnone",[214,387,36,301,215,40],[404,387,40,391,114,40],"42209146",[101,406,46,407,102,40],20,"project\u002Fpositive\u002Fnone",[409,406,40,410,10,36],"42203309","maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone",[412,413,37,237,414,40],"42252188",21,"rno321",[128,416,36,417,129,40],22,"project\u002Fcritical\u002Fperformance",[419,416,37,410,167,40],"42209417",[155,218,36,260,156,40],[422,218,40,410,10,36],"42205873",[424,425,37,237,426,40],"42202238",24,"kQsWEeE",[428,425,40,410,10,36],"42203291",[170,430,37,264,171,40],25,[432,430,37,264,167,40],"42217433",[434,30,37,341,281,40],"42203757",[436,30,40,275,10,36],"42204622",[],[439,444,449,454,458,462],{"id":440,"name":441,"points":442,"category":443},"42156977","lanparty.house",1117,"consumer_social",{"id":445,"name":446,"points":447,"category":448},"42174829","FastGraphRAG",457,"ai",{"id":450,"name":451,"points":452,"category":453},"42185668","Black 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