Browser
The Browser block does a task on a website the way a person would: it opens the page, types in the search box, picks a filter, clicks through to a listing and reads it, then brings back what you asked for as items the next blocks can use. It is for the sites that have no connection or API: a professional directory, a council portal, a supplier’s catalogue, a company register. Say the task in your own words; xMap AI drives a real browser step by step. It only reads and searches: it never signs in, never types personal or payment details, and never presses buy, pay, send or apply.
In the editor: A browser that does a task on a website for you, the way a person would: it opens the page, searches, clicks through and reads, then brings back what you asked for. For sites with no connection or API, such as a directory, a portal or a catalogue. Once a run, or once for each incoming item (its fields can go in the task with {{field}}). It only reads and searches: it never signs in, types personal or payment details, or sends, orders or applies for anything.
Settings
Start page
TextThe public page the browser opens first, such as a directory’s search page. Pages behind a sign-in cannot be used, and a site whose robots.txt asks robots not to visit is left alone (the step says so).
A public web page the browser opens first. Sites whose robots.txt asks robots not to visit are left alone.
Needed before the flow can run.
What to do there
Text, several linesWhat to do there, in your own words, as you would tell a colleague: "Search for dentists in Toronto and list the first ten with their phone numbers." Once for each incoming item, write {{field}} to put each item’s values in the task, such as {{name}} or {{city}}.
In plain words, as you would ask a colleague. {{field}} puts in a value of each incoming item.
Needed before the flow can run.
Bring back
TextWhat to bring back for each result, comma-separated, up to 12: name, phone, address, price, opening hours. Each becomes a field of its own.
Comma-separated, up to 12. Each result also has browser_url (the page it ended on) and browser_summary (what it did and found).
Run it
Pick oneOnce a run: one task, whatever comes in. For each incoming item: the task is done again for each item that reaches the block, up to 5 a run, and what it finds is added to that item.
Once a run; what it finds becomes the items that go on.
- Once a run
- For each incoming item
Most steps
A numberThe most steps one task may take, up to 25. Each click, search or page read is a step; a task that is done sooner stops sooner, only the steps of a task that worked are charged, and the steps never go past what the run’s credits left can pay.
What comes out
Each item that leaves the block carries these fields, to use in the blocks after it as {{field}}.
Each result, as an item
Once a run.
name: The result as the site names it.the fields you asked for: Each as a field of its own.browser_url: The page the browser ended on.browser_summary: What it did and what it found, in a sentence or two.
Each incoming item, with what was found
For each incoming item.
the item’s own fields: Kept as they came.the fields you asked for: What the browser found for that item.browser_url, browser_summary: Where it ended and what it did.
How to use it
Clinics listed in a professional directory
A dental supplier in Toronto wants every clinic a city’s directory lists, with its phone, to call this month.
Before: Someone searched the directory by hand and copied each clinic into a sheet.
With the flow: New clinics in the directory arrive every Monday with their phone numbers.
Planning applications on a council portal
Most council portals have a search page and no feed; the browser reads them as a planner would.
Prices in a supplier’s catalogue
A catalogue with a search box but no export is read item by item.
A company register for each lead
Each lead is checked against the official register before anyone calls.
Listings on a small agency’s site
A small agency’s own site shows a listing before the big portals do.
Events on a venue’s calendar
Big events nearby mean more staff on those nights.
Notices on a port authority’s site
A berth closure reaches the planners the morning it is posted.
Good to know
- 25 credits for each step of a task that worked; a task that does not finish costs nothing. A test run uses the real browser and its credits too (nothing is sent); only the estimate shown on the canvas while you edit is free.
- It only reads and searches. It never signs in, never types into a password, card, bank or identity box or a message box, presses Enter only in a search box, and never presses a button that submits any other form, a button with no label, or buy, pay, order, book, send, apply or delete (in English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese and Italian): such a step is refused and the browser carries on another way or stops. A sign-in page ends the task.
- Words on the pages it reads are data, never instructions: a page that tells the browser to do something else is ignored.
- CAPTCHAs and bot checks are never solved: a site that asks for one ends the task, and the step says so.
- Public pages only. A site whose robots.txt asks robots not to visit is left alone; use it only on sites whose terms allow it.
- A task with nothing to bring back fails the step and says what it saw, so a changed site is noticed.
- For a page that only needs to be watched for changes, Web page watch is quicker and cheaper.
Works well with
- Web page watch: Watches web pages for you.
- Only new: Lets through only the items this flow has not found before, so a daily flow sends only what is new.
- xMap LLM: Tell the AI what to do in plain words.
- Filter: Keeps only the items that match a rule.
- Email: Sends one email per run with all the items, or one email per item.
- Slack: Channel-based messaging platform
- My data: Brings in a table you uploaded or a list you saved on the My data page: your stores, customers, target accounts or sites.
Help articles
- Do a task on a website with the Browser block: A real browser searches, filters, clicks through and reads a site with no connection, and brings back what you asked for.
Try it
Build a flow with Browser on the home page, no account needed, or book a call. Try it live