132 lines
5.6 KiB
Plaintext
132 lines
5.6 KiB
Plaintext
---
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title: Your First Task
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slug: cloud/your-first-task
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subtitle: Run a browser automation from start to finish
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---
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Let's run a real automation. You'll tell Skyvern to visit a website, extract data, and return it as JSON. Then watch the entire thing happen live.
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## Step 1: Write your prompt
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Open [app.skyvern.com](https://app.skyvern.com) and you'll land on the **Discover** page.
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<img src="/images/cloud/skyvern-cloud-discover.png" alt="Discover page with a prompt entered" />
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The Discover page has a single input field. Type your instructions and include the target URL in the same prompt. For this example, enter:
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```
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Get the title of the #1 post on the front page for https://news.ycombinator.com
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```
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That's it. Skyvern parses the URL and figures out how to navigate the page and extract the data.
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Below the input, you'll see quick-action chips like "Add a product to cart" and "What's the top post on hackernews". Click any of these to try a pre-filled example instead.
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<Tip>
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The more specific your prompt, the better. "Get the title of the #1 post" works much better than "get some data." Include the exact fields you want, what success looks like, and any constraints.
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</Tip>
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## Step 2: Pick an engine and run
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Next to your prompt, you'll see an engine selector. Click it to switch engines:
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| Engine | When to use it |
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|--------|---------------|
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| **Skyvern 1.0** | Tasks with a simple, single goal: filling a form, searching for information on Google, reading content from a page |
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| **Skyvern 2.0** | Complex, multi-step tasks. Scores state-of-the-art 85.85% on the WebVoyager benchmark |
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| **Skyvern 2.0 with code** | The default engine. Same capabilities as Skyvern 2.0, plus auto-generates reusable code and a workflow from the run |
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For this example, keep the default **Skyvern 2.0 with code** selected.
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Click the **send button** (arrow icon to the right of the input). Skyvern generates a workflow from your prompt and opens it in the workflow editor. Click **Run** in the top right, confirm the parameters, then click **Run workflow** to start execution.
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<Accordion title="Optional: Advanced settings">
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Click the **gear icon** next to send to configure additional options before running:
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| Setting | What it does |
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|---------|-------------|
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| **Webhook Callback URL** | Endpoint to receive the extracted data when the run completes |
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| **Proxy Location** | Route Skyvern through one of the available proxies |
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| **Browser Session ID** | Reuse a persistent browser session to keep login state |
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| **Browser Address** | Connect to a specific browser server for the task run |
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| **2FA Identifier** | Identifier for a 2FA code to handle two-factor auth automatically |
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| **Extra HTTP Headers** | Custom HTTP request headers (dict format) |
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| **Generate Script** | Auto-generate reusable scripts from a successful run |
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| **Publish Workflow** | Create a workflow alongside this task run |
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| **Max Steps Override** | Cap the number of steps the AI can take |
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| **Data Schema** | Define structured JSON output format |
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| **Max Screenshot Scrolls** | Limit scrolls for post-action screenshots (default: 3) |
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These are all optional. The defaults work for most tasks.
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</Accordion>
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## Step 3: Watch the live browser
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This is where it gets interesting. Once the task starts, you'll see the run detail page with a live view of the browser:
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<img src="/images/cloud/discover-prompt-in-process.png" alt="Run detail page showing a live browser navigating Hacker News" />
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On the left, a **live browser view**. You'll see pages load, elements highlight, and actions fire.
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On the right, the **agent log**. A running stream of the AI's Thoughts, Decisions, and block executions. If something goes wrong, this is where you'll figure out why.
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## Step 4: Review the results
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When the task finishes, the status badge flips to **completed** and the extracted data appears at the top of the page.
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<img src="/images/cloud/discover-workflow-completed.png" alt="Completed run showing extracted data and result tabs" />
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### Extracted data
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The **Extracted Information** block shows your results as structured JSON:
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```json
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[
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{
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"top_post_title": "Don't rent the cloud, own instead"
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}
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]
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```
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The agent log on the right confirms what happened. You'll see a final Thought summarizing the result.
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### Tabs
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Below the extracted data, five tabs give you different views of the run:
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- **Overview**: The default view. Shows extracted data and the agent log with every Thought and Decision.
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- **Output**: The raw JSON output from the run.
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- **Parameters**: The exact configuration that was submitted (URL, prompt, engine, schema). Useful for reproducing or tweaking the run.
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- **Recording**: Full video replay of the browser session, start to finish.
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- **Code**: Auto-generated code snippets to reproduce this task via the API or SDK.
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## Try something bigger
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Now that you've seen the basic flow, here are a few ideas to try next:
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- **Fill a form**: Point Skyvern at a contact form and tell it what to enter in each field
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- **Compare prices**: Extract product names and prices from an e-commerce page using a data schema
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- **Navigate a flow**: Use the Advanced engine to walk through a multi-page checkout or signup process
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- **Use an Agent template**: Check the **Agents** section in the sidebar for pre-built automations you can run instantly
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---
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## Next steps
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<CardGroup cols={2}>
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<Card
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title="Run a Task via API"
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icon="code"
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href="/running-automations/run-a-task"
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>
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Trigger automations programmatically with the Skyvern API
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</Card>
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<Card
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title="Core Concepts"
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icon="book"
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href="/getting-started/core-concepts"
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>
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Understand tasks, workflows, and other building blocks
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</Card>
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</CardGroup>
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