Stagehand is an open source AI browser automation framework. It lets developers choose what to write in code vs. natural language. By integrating with Kernel, you can run Stagehand automations with cloud-hosted browsers.

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Adding Kernel to existing Stagehand implementations

If you already have a Stagehand implementation, you can easily switch to using Kernel’s cloud browsers by updating your browser configuration.

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1. Install the Kernel SDK

npm install @onkernel/sdk

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2. Initialize Kernel and create a browser

Import the libraries and create a cloud browser session: 
import { Stagehand } from "@browserbasehq/stagehand";
import Kernel from '@onkernel/sdk';
import { z } from "zod";

const client = new Kernel({
  apiKey: process.env.KERNEL_API_KEY
});

const kernelBrowser = await client.browsers.create({ stealth: true });

console.log("Live view url: ", kernelBrowser.browser_live_view_url);

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3. Update your browser configuration

Replace your existing browser setup to use Kernel’s CDP URL: 
const stagehand = new Stagehand({
  env: 'LOCAL',
  verbose: 1,
  domSettleTimeoutMs: 30_000,
  modelName: 'openai/gpt-4.1',
  modelClientOptions: {
    apiKey: process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY
  },
  localBrowserLaunchOptions: {
    cdpUrl: kernelBrowser.cdp_ws_url
  }
});

await stagehand.init();

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4. Use your Stagehand automation

Use Stagehand’s page methods with the Kernel-powered browser: 
const page = stagehand.page;
await page.goto("https://onkernel.com");
await page.act("Click on Blog in the navbar");
await page.act("Click on the newest blog post");
const output = await page.extract({
  instruction: "Extract a summary of the blog post",
  schema: z.object({ summary: z.string() })
});

console.log("Newest blog post summary: ", output.summary);

await stagehand.close();

// Clean up the Kernel Browser Session
await client.browsers.deleteByID(kernelBrowser.session_id);

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Quick setup with our Stagehand example app

Alternatively, you can use our Kernel app template that includes a pre-configured Stagehand integration: 
npx @onkernel/create-kernel-app my-stagehand-app
Choose TypeScript as the programming language and then select Stagehand as the template. Then follow the Quickstart guide to deploy and run your Stagehand automation on Kernel’s infrastructure.

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Benefits of using Kernel with Stagehand

  • No local browser management: Run automations without installing or maintaining browsers locally
  • Scalability: Launch multiple browser sessions in parallel
  • Stealth mode: Built-in anti-detection features for web scraping
  • Session persistence: Maintain browser state across automation runs
  • Live view: Debug your automations with real-time browser viewing

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Next steps