How to Use AI for Browser Automation (Automate Websites on Zo)

If you’ve searched for “browser use” or “AI browser automation”, you’re probably trying to do something concrete:

• log into a website and click through a workflow

• copy data from a page into a file or spreadsheet

• watch a page for changes and notify you

Zo Computer is a good fit for this because the AI can (1) access a real Linux server with your files and (2) browse the web when needed.

What you’ll build

A repeatable workflow where your AI:

1. opens a webpage

2. extracts the specific info you care about

3. writes the output to a file (or sends it to you)

4. optionally runs on a schedule (so you don’t babysit it)

Prerequisites

• A Zo Computer workspace

• If the workflow requires logging into a site: sign in once in Zo’s browser so the AI can access authenticated pages

Pick the right “mode” for the page

Zo has two ways to read a page:

• Fast text extraction (best for blogs, docs, static pages): use read_webpage

• Real browser rendering (best for dashboards, logged-in apps, JS-heavy sites): use view_webpage^1

Rule of thumb: if the page you want is visible only after a login, or it needs clicking/scrolling to reveal content, use view_webpage.

Example 1: Turn a webpage into structured notes

Goal: pull key facts from a page and save them in your workspace.

Tell your AI:

• “Open this URL and extract: (a) headline, (b) key bullet points, (c) any pricing tiers mentioned. Save it as Notes/<site>-<date>.md.”

This is the simplest form of browser automation: no clicking, just reliable extraction.

Example 2: Monitor a page and alert you when it changes

Goal: detect changes (price, availability, updated text).

Tell your AI:

• “Open this URL. Find the text under the heading ‘Status’. If it changed since yesterday, email me what changed and include the before/after.”

Implementation detail that makes this work: store “yesterday’s value” in a file in your workspace, then compare on the next run.

Example 3: Automate a logged-in workflow (browser-based)

Goal: do something you’d normally do by hand in a web UI.

Tell your AI:

• “Open the site and navigate to the billing page. Take a screenshot. Then summarize the current plan name and renewal date. Save both the screenshot and a summary note.”

This is where browser automation tools shine: you describe the outcome, the agent figures out where to click. This “tell the agent what you want, not which selector to click” approach is how modern browser automation agents are typically designed.^2

Make it reliable (what usually breaks)

Browser automation fails for boring reasons. These constraints help:

• Give the AI a target output (file path + format). “Write Reports/acme-status.json with keys status, checkedAt, sourceUrl.”

• Constrain scope. One URL, one objective. If you want 10 pages, run 10 small tasks.

• Tell it what not to do. “Do not purchase anything. Do not send messages. Stop if a payment screen appears.”

• Prefer durable identifiers. “Extract the number next to the label ‘Total’” is more stable than “the second number on the page.”

Schedule it with Agents (so it runs without you)

Once you have a workflow that works interactively, make it automatic:

1. Create an Agent

2. Set a schedule (daily/weekly)

3. Use an instruction like:

   “Every morning, open . Extract X. Compare to Data/previous.json. If changed, email me and update the file.”

Agents are the “run this later / repeatedly” primitive on Zo.^3

Where to go next

• Explore tool docs: https://docs.zocomputer.com/tools^4

• For browser-heavy pages, prefer: https://docs.zocomputer.com/tools/view-webpage^1

• For fast extraction: https://docs.zocomputer.com/tools/read-webpage^5

• Learn Agents: https://docs.zocomputer.com/agents^3