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Changelog

Per-release notes from the v0.1 MVP through the planned v0.13 BiDi expansion & hardening. Shipped releases are solid; planned releases are dashed.

v0.1 — MVP Architecture Must-Have ✓ shipped​

2026-07-28 · initial release

The foundational architecture proving the token-efficient CLI + daemon model.

  • CLI + Daemon process architecture — short-lived CLI sends one JSON line to a long-lived daemon over a Unix socket / Windows named pipe.
  • Basic commands: open, close, goto, click, fill, type, press, snapshot, screenshot, eval, title, url.
  • Aria snapshot injection script + data-se-ref reference mechanism.
  • Named session management (-s=<name>) and multi-browser support (Chrome, Edge, Firefox).
  • Code generation replay — every action emits the equivalent Selenium code.

v0.2 — Practical Capability Completion Must-Have ✓ shipped​

2026-07 · practical layer

The capabilities that make se-cli usable for real workflows beyond demos.

  • Storage management: cookie-list/get/set/delete, localstorage-*, sessionstorage-*.
  • State save/load: export cookies + storage to JSON, restore by loading in reverse.
  • Tab management: tab-list, tab-new, tab-close, tab-select.
  • install --skills: copy SKILL.md to .claude/skills/se-cli/ or .agents/skills/se-cli/.
  • --profile=<path> persistent user data directory and --persistent auto-assign.

v0.3 — iframe & Shadow DOM Must-Have ✓ shipped​

2026-07 · structural depth

Full DOM coverage — snapshots no longer stop at frame or shadow boundaries.

  • iframe recursive snapshot: cross-frame refs (e.g. f3e15) navigate into framed content.
  • Shadow DOM recursion: traverse el.shadowRoot for open shadow roots.
  • find command enhancement: search across frames and shadow DOM boundaries.

v0.4 — Wait & Retry Configuration Layer Must-Have ✓ shipped​

2026-07 · wait & retry foundation

Surfaces Selenium's implicit/explicit wait, pageLoad/script timeout, and ExpectedConditions as CLI-native configuration. Every capability that previously required code is exposed through the 4-tier priority: flag > ENV > config file > default.

  • Flag layer: --timeout, --wait, --retry, --retry-interval, --implicit-wait, --page-load-timeout, --script-timeout, --no-wait.
  • ENV layer: SE_CLI_TIMEOUT, SE_CLI_WAIT, SE_CLI_RETRY, SE_CLI_RETRY_INTERVAL, SE_CLI_IMPLICIT_WAIT, SE_CLI_PAGE_LOAD_TIMEOUT, SE_CLI_SCRIPT_TIMEOUT.
  • Config file layer: .se-cli.json or ~/.config/se-cli/config.json with per-command overrides.
  • New commands: config get/set/list/init (list shows the source per item: flag/env/file/default).
  • Codegen reflects the effective strategy: await driver.wait(until.elementIsVisible(el), 5000);

v0.5 — Interaction Completion Must-Have ✓ shipped​

2026-07 · interaction parity

Closes the gap with Playwright CLI on basic interactions. All Actions commands automatically consume the v0.4 wait/retry configuration.

  • hover, dblclick, drag <start> <end> via driver.actions().
  • dialog-accept [text] / dialog-dismiss via driver.switchTo().alert().
  • upload <ref> <file> via sendKeys(path); resize <w> <h> viewport control.
  • Fine-grained keyboard/mouse: keydown/keyup, mousemove, mousedown/mouseup, mousewheel.
  • actions-chain command: combine multiple actions into a single perform() to reduce round-trips.

v0.6 — Web-First Assertions Core ✓ shipped​

2026-08-01 · CI-friendly testing

Playwright's expect(locator).toBeVisible() retry-until-timeout model, ported to a CLI with exit codes scripts can chain on.

  • expect <ref> visible|hidden|enabled|disabled|checked|unchecked.
  • expect <ref> text "..." [--exact], value "...", count N, attribute <name> <value>.
  • expect title "..." / expect url "...".
  • Exit codes: success 0, failure 1 — chain with && in CI.
  • --not inverts the assertion; defaults to v0.4 --timeout.

v0.7 — Network & Debugging Core ✓ shipped​

2026-08-01 · BiDi network & debug

Leverages the Selenium BiDi protocol (selenium-webdriver@4.46.0) for cross-browser network interception, console log capture, and request inspection — plus persistent element highlighting for visual debugging.

  • route <pattern> --status=/--body=/--headers=, route-list, unroute <index> / unroute --all via BiDi Network.addIntercept.
  • console [level] — captures console.log/error/warn/info and JS exceptions via BiDi log.entryAdded; --since=5m time filter, --clear, js-error sub-filter.
  • requests — list all buffered network requests with --filter, --status, --method, --clear; request <index> shows full details (headers, body, response).
  • highlight <ref> [--style=] persistent element highlighting via CSS overlay; highlight <ref> --hide removes one; highlight --hide --all clears all; bare highlight lists active highlights.

v0.8 — Device & Environment Emulation Core ✓ shipped​

2026-08-02 · CDP-first, BiDi fallback

All capabilities via CDP Emulation.* / Network.* domains, BiDi as a fallback (viewport on Firefox). Selenium has no native equivalent — CDP makes this trivial to port from Playwright.

  • open --geolocation= --timezone= --locale= --color-scheme= --viewport= --user-agent= --permissions=.
  • device "iPhone 13" preset and device-list (reference Playwright DeviceDescriptors).
  • emulate --offline, --throttle-network=slow3g|fast3g|custom:..., --throttle-cpu=4, --reset.
  • Emulation state integrated into state-save.

v0.9 — MCP Server & AI Ecosystem Must-Have ✓ shipped​

2026-08 · MCP Server & AI ecosystem

Exposes se-cli as an MCP Server. Dual-track: CLI+SKILLS (token-efficient for coding agents) and MCP Server (persistent state for autonomous workflows) — both share the same underlying tool implementation. MCP server wrapper published as se-mcp.

  • se-cli mcp-server: 40+ tools over custom JSON-RPC (no SDK dependency); stdio (default) and Streamable HTTP (--http, POST|GET|DELETE /mcp, Mcp-Session-Id).
  • run-code "async driver => ...": execute arbitrary Selenium snippets; returned elements become refs.
  • generate-locator <ref>: best locator (new By('role', …)/By.css) with match counts; role-based codegen via --locator-style=role|css|ref.
  • SKILL.md frontmatter compliance (name, description, license, compatibility) and multi-target install --skills (auto-detect, --agent, --path, --force, --list-agents).

v0.10 — Remote, Grid & Custom Browsers Core planned​

planned · the Selenium moat

The differentiated stronghold — the area Playwright will never match. Extends browser coverage and connection capabilities.

  • --browser=safari via safaridriver (macOS only, no headless/BiDi/CDP).
  • --endpoint=<url>: Selenium Grid 4 or remote WebDriver; grid status/attach/distribute --shard=x/y.
  • --browser-binary, --driver-binary, --browser-args, --browser-prefs, --capabilities (cover all W3C WebDriver endpoints).
  • Cloud browser integration: Browserbase, Sauce Labs, BrowserStack.
  • pdf --filename=f via CDP Page.printToPDF (Chromium only).
  • --browser=edge-ie: Edge IE mode for legacy IE scenarios (Windows Edge Enterprise only, auto-configures policy).

v0.11 — Recording & Visualization Marginal planned​

planned · dev & debug workflows

High implementation complexity but significant differentiation potential. Scheduled late; may slip.

  • se-cli record: recording mode — user actions generate a complete test file.
  • tracing-start / tracing-stop: simplified operation tracing (see "Will Never Implement").
  • video-start / video-stop / video-chapter <title>: CDP or ffmpeg frame capture.
  • show dashboard for multi-session monitoring; show --annotate for design feedback.

v0.12 — VSCode Extension Marginal partially delivered​

2026-08 · separate GitHub repo — initial implementation delivered

A separate repo (se-extension-vscode) that depends on se-cli CLI being globally installed. Initial implementation includes MCP registration, commands, webview, and status bar.

  • Task Provider: register se-cli commands as VSCode custom tasks.
  • Webview: browser screenshot and aria snapshot preview via postMessage.
  • MCP Server auto-registration: write .vscode/mcp.json on install.
  • attach --extension: connect to a real browser through the extension.

v0.13 — BiDi Expansion & Hardening Core planned​

planned · issues #76 #77 #78

Expand WebDriver BiDi coverage beyond v0.7 and harden the daemon for production reliability.

  • BiDi protocol expansion: browsingContext (viewport, print, CSP bypass, downloads), input (file dialogs), script (preload scripts), emulation (cross-browser alternative to CDP).
  • Performance optimization: lazy driver loading, incremental snapshots (snapshot --diff), memory-efficient buffers, gzip compression.
  • Stability hardening: driver crash auto-recovery, BiDi WebSocket reconnection, circuit breaker retry, standardized exit codes.

Will Never Implement​

Will Never Implement.

  • Native aria ref engine — relies on data-se-ref attributes permanently.
  • Playwright-level full tracing parity — only a simplified version is pursued.
  • Real IE 11 (IEDriverServer) — replaced by Edge IE mode in v0.10.