ego-lite is a free, open source browsers & extensions project written in JavaScript and released under MIT. It has 16,117 GitHub stars, 844 forks and 169 open issues, and was last pushed 18 hours ago. On this registry it ranks #24 of 65 tracked projects in Browsers & Extensions, with 5 head-to-head comparisons available. It gained 155 stars over the last 3 tracked days.

What is ego-lite?

ego-lite is an MIT-licensed browser from citrolabs that lets a person and their AI agents drive the same browser in parallel, aimed at developers who want Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or a custom agent CLI to automate real, logged-in web pages without surrendering the tabs they are using.

What it is

ego-lite is a single browser built so that a human and one or more AI agents share it. Each agent gets its own fully isolated Space, so agents run browser tasks in the background while the person's own tabs stay theirs. The project ships ego-browser, a skill that is added to every agent's skills directory on the machine and acts as the connection layer between any agent CLI and the browser. On first launch, ego-lite asks one question — whether to migrate Chrome data — and if the answer is yes, the agent inherits existing logins, cookies, extensions, and bookmarks.

The concrete problem it solves is the split that browser automation frameworks create. Tools such as browser-use and agent-browser are automation frameworks rather than browsers: they need a separate browser to drive, logins never carry cleanly into that browser, and the user and the agent end up competing for the same tabs. ego-lite replaces that arrangement with one browser designed from the start for two parties to share, with no extra setup and with the agent able to reach real logins and tabs through ego-browser.

Key capabilities

  • A dedicated, fully isolated Space per agent, with the ability to see which Space has an agent running and to take it over or stop it at any time.
  • Parallel Spaces inside the same browser: Claude Code enriching 10 leads in 10 parallel Spaces while Codex scrapes 5 competitor sites in 5 more, without collisions or stolen tabs.
  • A code-based rather than CLI-based interface: the capabilities exposed to the agent are wrapped as JavaScript functions it calls directly, letting a multi-step task be composed into a single output instead of a call-two-commands-and-check loop; complex workflows finish up to 2.5× faster with higher success rates and fewer tool calls.
  • ego-browser exposes in-page JavaScript tools — snapshot, fill, click, wait, navigate, capture — which the agent calls from a snippet that runs on the page in one pass.
  • A kernel-level customized page Snapshot that handles difficult cases such as deeply nested iframes, where other approaches break down.
  • First-launch Chrome migration that carries logins, cookies, extensions, and bookmarks into the agent's reach.
  • Local data handling: browsing data stays on the device, and the only thing recorded is whether the user opted into Chrome migration.

Who uses it and how

  • Developers running Claude Code who want many browser tasks in flight at once, such as enriching 10 leads across 10 Spaces.
  • Users of Codex or other agent CLIs who need concurrent scraping across multiple sites without disturbing their own browsing.
  • Teams or individuals with any agent CLI — Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or a custom one — connecting through ego-browser.
  • Solo macOS users who want an agent to act on real logged-in sessions, typing /ego-browser followed by a plain-language instruction and letting the agent open the page in its own Space, read a Snapshot, act, and report back.

Getting started

Download the macOS app from https://lite.ego.app, or install the skill alone with npx skills add citrolabs/ego-lite. A third path is to paste the setup prompt from the README into an agent and let it follow skills/ego-browser/references/install.md.

How it compares

Where browser-use and agent-browser are automation frameworks that require a separate browser to drive and leave logins carrying over poorly, ego-lite is itself the browser, so the agent and the person share one session and one set of credentials. The project is MIT-licensed and listed at zero cost with zero config, which places it apart from hosted automation services, though no paid product comparison is supplied in the available facts. Against the named frameworks, the distinguishing claim is not a feature added on top but the removal of the second browser entirely.

When to use it — and when not to

ego-lite runs on macOS today, with Windows and Linux only on the roadmap, so anyone on those platforms should wait rather than adopt it now. There is no server-side component described — no database, object storage, or SMTP to operate — which makes it light to run, but it also means there is no self-hosted deployment path to fall back on. It is the wrong choice for anyone unwilling to let an agent reach their real, logged-in browsing state, and its ego-browser skill is only as useful as the agent CLI driving it.

project readme (upstream, from github) — read inline

The fastest browser for AI agents to run browser automation

citrolabs%2Fego-lite | Trendshift

Download for Apple Silicon Download for Intel Discord Follow @ego_agent on X Docs License MIT

ego (lite) is a browser where you and your AI agents work in parallel. Your agents run multiple browser tasks in their own Spaces while your tabs stay yours, and tasks complete faster on fewer tokens.

Existing tools like browser-use and agent-browser are browser automation frameworks: they need a separate browser to drive, logins never carry cleanly, and you and the agent end up fighting for the same tabs. ego lite is one browser designed from the start for the two of you to share. No extra setup, and the agent can always reach your real logins and tabs through ego-browser.

Demo

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/ffe7954b-58ee-411e-b35d-ec30c58a08bc

Quick Start

ego lite runs on macOS today. Windows and Linux are on the roadmap.

1. Install

Pick whichever fits your flow.

1.1 Download the macOS app

Download ego lite for Apple Silicon Download ego lite for Intel

Click to download, then open it to install. Either way, ego lite adds the ego-browser skill to every agent's skills directory on your machine.

1.2 Add the skill with npx

Install just the ego-browser skill:

npx skills add citrolabs/ego-lite

The first time your agent runs a browser task, it walks you through installing the ego lite app.

1.3 Let your agent set it up

Paste this into your agent:

Set up ego lite for me: https://github.com/citrolabs/ego-lite

Read `skills/ego-browser/references/install.md` and follow the steps to install ego lite.

On first launch, ego lite asks one question, whether to migrate your Chrome data. Say yes and your agent inherits your existing logins, cookies, extensions, and bookmarks.

2. Run your first task

In your agent CLI, type /ego-browser followed by a space, then describe what you want in plain language:

ego-browser follow @ego_agent on x.com for me

The agent picks up the ego-browser skill, opens the page in its own Space, reads a Snapshot, acts on the page, and reports back, all while your own tabs stay untouched.

Your browsing data stays on your device. ego lite only records whether you opted into Chrome migration during setup.

Highlight of ego lite

Feature What it does
Code base, not CLI base, for faster runs with fewer tokens on complex tasks The capabilities ego lite exposes to the agent are wrapped as JavaScript functions the agent calls directly. The agent gets to do what it does best: write code, composing a multi-step task into a single output instead of getting stuck in a "call two commands, look at the result, call two more commands" loop. Compared to the conventional CLI approach, complex workflows finish up to 2.5× faster with higher task success rates and far fewer tool calls per task.
A dedicated Space for every agent ego lite gives each agent its own fully isolated Space. You browse up front, your agent works in the background, and they don't get in each other's way. You can see which Space has an agent running at any moment, and take it over or stop it whenever you want.
Your agents multitask in Spaces, parallel workspaces inside the same browser Each Space gets its own AI agent or its own task, all running at the same time. Claude Code enriching 10 leads in 10 parallel Spaces. Codex scraping 5 competitor sites in 5 more. They don't collide or steal your tabs. Your mouse stays where you left it.
The strongest page Snapshot on the market Thanks to kernel-level customization, ego lite produces the highest-quality page snapshots, the view text models rely on to "see" and act on a webpage. It reliably handles tough cases like deeply nested iframes, exactly where other approaches consistently break down.
Any agent can drive it through ego-browser ego-browser is the connection layer between any agent CLI (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or a custom one) and ego lite. It exposes the browser as a set of in-page JavaScript tools: snapshot, fill, click, wait, navigate, capture. The agent writes a JavaScript snippet calling those tools, and ego-browser runs it on the page in one pass.
Experience accumulation that makes your agent faster the more you use it (coming soon) Most of an agent's time on browser tasks goes to trial and error. ego lite's official Skill distills every successful action into reusable tools and workflows, so similar tasks down the line run up to 5x faster.

ego lite vs existing products

Most tools can automate a browser. The real questions are what browser the agent gets, whether you can keep working at the same time, and whether the tool is built for the agent you already use or a built-in one.

Capability ego lite Browser-Use agent-browser (Vercel) ChatGPT Atlas Perplexity Comet
Multitask in parallel
Reusable skills
Inherits Chrome's data
Same browser, separate workspace
Compressed semantic input
Controllable by external agents
Data stored locally
No login friction
Daily-use browser
Free

Two other categories try to solve the same problem. Browser automation frameworks like Browser-Use and Vercel's agent-browser are libraries the agent calls; they ship no browser of their own, so they need a separate one to drive and your logins rarely carry cleanly. AI browsers like ChatGPT Atlas and Perplexity Comet ship a built-in agent, and only that agent can drive the browser. ego lite is one browser, designed from the start for you and any agent you bring to share.

Benchmarks

We benchmarked ego lite against Vercel's agent-browser on four complex browser automation tasks. ego lite finished each task up to 2.5× faster, with substantially fewer tokens. The harder the task, the bigger the gap. Check the comparison.

Docs

Tutorials, the full tool reference, and integration guides live at lite.ego.app/document/.

Community

Star History

readme truncated — read the full docs on github

Frequently asked questions

Is ego-lite free to use?

ego-lite is open source under the MIT licence. There is no licence fee and no seat count — you can self-host it or, where the project offers one, pay a vendor for a managed version instead.

What does ego-lite do?

The fastest browser for AI agents to run browser automation, built for sharing your logged-in browser state with your AI agents, like Codex or Claude Code, with

What is ego-lite written in?

ego-lite is primarily written in JavaScript. Its source is publicly available at https://github.com/citrolabs/ego-lite, and it has 16,117 GitHub stars.