AxaFrance.WebEngine.Cli 3.26.282.2

AxaFrance.WebEngine.Cli

AxaFrance.WebEngine.Cli is the command-line and local-daemon distribution of WebEngine. The CLI is intentionally a thin client: browser sessions are owned by one long-running daemon so separate agent commands can reuse the same session.

Install

dotnet tool install --global AxaFrance.WebEngine.Cli

Add --prerelease only when the stable package is absent from the configured NuGet feeds. To move an older installation to a newer version, run dotnet tool update --global AxaFrance.WebEngine.Cli.

The tool requires the .NET 10 SDK. Browser automation also requires a supported browser. Selenium Manager resolves the matching WebDriver for Edge, Chrome, or Firefox when a session is opened. Edge is the default; use --browser to select another engine.

Daemon lifecycle

The daemon owns the browser sessions. It starts automatically when a web command needs it, serves every later command, and stops itself after an idle period (15 minutes by default) with no open session. Set WEBENGINE_DAEMON_IDLE_MINUTES to tune the timeout, or 0 to disable it:

webengine -c "daemon status"
webengine -c "daemon stop"

Each command is a short-lived process. Use one command per shell invocation with -c (the equivalent direct subcommands also work):

webengine -c "web session open"
webengine -c "web navigate --session <id> --url https://example.test"
webengine -c "web inspect --session <id>"
webengine -c "web click --session <id> --ref ref=3"
webengine -c "web session close --session <id>"

A command failure is returned as a structured error and a nonzero exit code. Because no command holds a process open, a timed-out command never kills the browser: the daemon keeps the session and the next command continues.

The default webengine command starts a persistent shell, and webengine --json a prompt-free JSON-lines shell: send one command per line and read one response line before sending the next. These shells are useful for interactive debugging, but agent harnesses that cannot keep a process handle between tool calls should use -c instead.

Web commands

The default browser session is visible:

web session open
web session list
web navigate --session <id> --url https://example.test
web wait --session <id> --text "Ready"
web inspect --session <id>
web click --session <id> --ref ref=3
web type --session <id> --selector '#query' --text 'example'
web check --session <id> --id agreeTerms
web uncheck --session <id> --name marketing
web select --session <id> --name country --text France
web type --session <id> --selector '#notes' --text-file .\notes.txt
web key --session <id> --selector '#query' --key Enter
web select --session <id> --selector '#country' --text 'France'
web actions --session <id>
web session close --session <id>

Use --headless for CI/CD or cloud/remote sessions without a desktop display. Do not silently use headless mode when the user wants to observe the browser or build and debug tests.

Use web wait for a SPA route, visible text, or CSS selector that proves an asynchronous page state is ready. This avoids arbitrary sleeps:

web wait --session <id> --url /userstory/TQSI-3457
web wait --session <id> --text "Test Cases"
web wait --session <id> --selector "[role='alert']"

web type requires exactly one of --text, --text-file, or --stdin. File input is read as UTF-8 and both file and stdin content are sent as one value, so embedded CR/LF characters are preserved without being placed in the daemon command line. These modes do not bypass the action log: only recognized password fields are redacted. Use web key for intentional Enter, Tab, Escape, Backspace, Delete, Space, Home, End, PageUp, PageDown, or arrow-key actions. Prefer --text-file or --stdin for multiline values; in the -c form, --stdin consumes the command's standard input.

Inspection references are invalidated after navigation and after every action. Inspect again before using another --ref. The action log records the element metadata used by each successful action, and secret field values are redacted.

Inspection metadata is collected in one browser-side snapshot instead of issuing separate WebDriver calls for every attribute on every element. Reference-based actions reuse that snapshot metadata; use --limit when a workflow only needs a small part of a large page. Inspection also reports accessible names, associated labels, values, checkbox state, expanded state, links, status roles, and alert roles when the page exposes them.

Element actions use the same native locator concepts as WebEngine: --ref, --id, --name, --tag, --element-text, --link-text, --class, --aria-label, --xpath, --selector, and --index.

Mobile/Appium commands are not exposed yet. They will be added through the shared WebEngine automation service without changing the CLI/daemon contract.

Use --pipe <name> for development or for isolating multiple local daemon instances. The default pipe name is scoped to the current user.