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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

Open app.skyvern.com and you’ll land on the Discover page. Discover page with a prompt entered The Discover page has a single input field. Type your instructions and include the target URL in the same prompt. For this example, enter: 
Get the title of the #1 post on the front page for https://news.ycombinator.com
That’s it. Skyvern parses the URL and figures out how to navigate the page and extract the data. 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.
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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Step 2: Create and run the agent

Click the send button (arrow icon to the right of the input). Skyvern generates an agent from your prompt using the default Skyvern 1.0 task engine and opens it in the agent editor. Click Run in the top right, confirm the parameters, then click Run agent to start execution.
Click the gear icon next to send to configure additional options before running:
SettingWhat it does
Webhook Callback URLEndpoint to receive the extracted data when the run completes
Proxy LocationRoute Skyvern through one of the available proxies
Browser Session IDReuse a persistent browser session to keep login state
CDP AddressConnect to your own browser via Chrome DevTools Protocol
2FA IdentifierIdentifier for a 2FA code to handle two-factor auth automatically
Extra HTTP HeadersCustom HTTP request headers (dict format)
Generate ScriptAuto-generate reusable scripts from a successful run
Publish AgentCreate an agent alongside this task run
Max Steps OverrideCap the number of steps the AI can take
Data SchemaDefine structured JSON output format
Max Screenshot ScrollsLimit scrolls for post-action screenshots (default: 3)
These are all optional. The defaults work for most tasks.

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Step 3: Watch the live browser

This is where it gets interesting. Once the task starts, you’ll see the run detail page with a live view of the browser: Run detail page showing a live browser navigating Hacker News On the left, a live browser view. You’ll see pages load, elements highlight, and actions fire. 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

When the task finishes, the status badge flips to completed and the extracted data appears at the top of the page. Completed run showing extracted data and result tabs

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Extracted data

The Extracted Information block shows your results as structured JSON: 
[
  {
    "top_post_title": "Don't rent the cloud, own instead"
  }
]
Your result will differ, since the #1 post changes constantly. The structure is what matters. The agent log on the right confirms what happened. You’ll see a final Thought summarizing the result.

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Tabs

Below the extracted data, five tabs give you different views of the run:
  • Overview: The AI’s reasoning timeline alongside browser screenshots. Each Thought, Block, and Action card shows what the agent saw and why it acted.
  • Output: The complete JSON output and any downloaded files.
  • Parameters: The exact configuration that was submitted (URL, prompt, engine, schema). Useful for reproducing or tweaking the run.
  • Recording: Full video replay of the browser session, start to finish.
  • Code: Auto-generated Python code to reproduce this task via the API or SDK.

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Try something bigger

Now that you’ve seen the basic flow, here are a few ideas to try next:
  • Fill a form: Point Skyvern at a contact form and tell it what to enter in each field
  • Compare prices: Extract product names and prices from an e-commerce page using a data schema
  • Navigate a flow: Build an agent to walk through a multi-page checkout or signup process
  • Use an Agent template: Check the Agents section in the sidebar for pre-built automations you can run instantly

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Next steps

Run a Task via API

Trigger automations programmatically with the Skyvern API

Core Concepts

Understand tasks, agents, and other building blocks