browsh

Modern text-based web browser for terminals

TLDR

Start browsh

$ browsh

Open a specific URL

$ browsh [https://example.com]

Run with a visible Firefox GUI window instead of headless mode

$ browsh --firefox.with-gui

Use a custom Firefox binary path

$ browsh --firefox.path [/path/to/firefox]

Run in HTTP server mode for browser-based access

$ browsh --http-server-mode

Connect to an already running Firefox instance

$ browsh --firefox.use-existing

browsh is a fully modern text-based browser that renders to TTY terminals. It uses a headless Mozilla Firefox to fetch and render web pages, then converts the output into ANSI or Unicode characters for terminal display.The browser supports HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, images, WebGL content, and video playback within the terminal.

PARAMETERS

--firefox.path path

Path to Firefox executable. Default is "firefox".

--firefox.use-existing

Connect to an already running Firefox instance instead of launching a new one. Firefox must have been started with the --marionette flag.

--firefox.with-gui

Run Firefox with a visible GUI window instead of headless mode.

--http-server-mode

Run as an HTTP server for browser access.

--startup-url url

URL to open on startup. Default is "https://google.com".

--time-limit seconds

Kill browsh after the specified number of seconds.

--debug

Enable debug logging to ./debug.log.

KEY BINDINGS

ALT+SHIFT+p

Take screenshot

ALT+m

Toggle monochrome mode (helps with rendering issues)

ALT+u

Toggle user agent between desktop and mobile

CTRL+q

Quit browsh

Display help

REQUIREMENTS

Requires Firefox 57 or newer installed on the system. The browser runs Firefox in headless mode with a webextension that captures and converts rendered output.

CAVEATS

Resource intensive due to running a full Firefox instance. Best used for bandwidth reduction over SSH connections. Sessions on the public demo server (ssh brow.sh) are limited to 5 minutes and logged.

HISTORY

Browsh was created as a modern replacement for text browsers like Lynx, capable of rendering modern websites that rely heavily on JavaScript and CSS.