Arslan3847/vessel-browser

Vessel is a simple, clean web browser with an AI assistant built in. Browse the web normally, then ask Vessel to help research, navigate pages, summarize what you are reading, fill forms, or keep track of longer tasks.
Unlike invisible browser automation, Vessel shows you what the AI is doing in a real browser window. You can follow along, approve important actions, pause or redirect the work, and take over whenever you want.
- **A familiar browser, with AI help nearby** — tabs, bookmarks, reader mode, downloads, and a sidebar assistant for web tasks
- **Great for longer browsing sessions** — durable conversation threads, a cross-source run inbox, named sessions, checkpoints, notes, bookmarks, and page changes make interrupted work recoverable
- **You stay in control** — review what the AI is doing, approve sensitive actions once or for a scoped run/domain, reject with steering, undo recent changes, and switch back to manual browsing at any time
- **Open source and extensible** — built on Chromium, with advanced automation support for MCP clients and agent tools when you need it
Linux is the most mature install target today. macOS release packaging is available from source.
_Vessel is in active development. Treat it as early software, especially for sensitive browsing or account access._
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/0a72b48a-873a-4eb0-b8f2-23e34d8472c4
Quick Start
Want the complete AI toolkit from day one? Start a 7-Day Free Trial of Vessel Premium — $5.99/mo.
Fastest Install Today
Linux AppImage from GitHub Releases:
1. Download the latest Vessel- -x64.AppImage
2. Mark it executable: chmod +x Vessel-*.AppImage
3. Launch it: ./Vessel-*.AppImage
4. Open Settings (Ctrl+,) to choose your AI provider and review advanced connection options
Install via npm
Or run it directly without installing:
Source Install
Development From Source
Vessel development uses Node.js 22. If you use fnm, run fnm use from the repo root to pick up .node-version.
If you want extra local AI tracing in development, create an optional src/main/telemetry/trace-logger.local.cjs file. Vessel will load it only in local dev builds, and packaged production builds ignore it.
Why Vessel?
Most AI tools can answer questions about the web. Vessel is for actually working on the web: reading pages, following links, comparing information, filling forms, tracking changes, and keeping longer browsing sessions organized.
Vessel keeps that work visible. The AI uses a real browser, so you can see the pages it opens, the choices it makes, and the places where it needs your approval. You are never stuck watching a hidden automation run or guessing what happened after the fact.
For power users and developers, the same foundation also supports external agents, MCP clients, persistent sessions, checkpoints, and browser automation workflows.
Features
- **AI-assisted browsing** — ask Vessel to help with research, page reading, navigation, form work, and multi-step web tasks
- **Human-visible browser UI** — pages render like a normal browser so AI activity stays legible instead of disappearing into a hidden run
- **Command Bar** (Ctrl+L) — a secondary operator surface for harness-driven workflows and future runtime commands
- **Supervisor Sidebar** (Ctrl+Shift+L) — live supervision across ten tabs, including a durable Run Inbox, conversation Threads, approvals, checkpoints, changes, and Research
- **Chat Assistant** — built-in conversational AI in the sidebar Chat tab; supports Anthropic, OpenAI, Ollama, llama.cpp, Mistral, xAI, Google Gemini, OpenRouter, and any OpenAI-compatible endpoint; reads the current page automatically; has full access to the same browser tools as external agents; multi-turn session history; configure provider, model, and API key in Settings
- **Skills** (Premium) — reusable browser skills in the sidebar Skills tab; import, view, run, or delete skills the built-in agent can use for research, shopping, and site-specific workflows
- **Research Desk** (Beta) — a dedicated sidebar Research tab for structured research reports; start with a topic, complete an in-tab briefing, let Vessel draft research objectives, approve the plan, then dispatch browser sub-agents to collect source-backed claims and synthesize a markdown-exportable report. Starting the brief is free; plan approval, sub-agent execution, and report export require Vessel Premium.