feat(cli): add no-snapshot navigation output by lmn451 · Pull Request #179 · kunchenguid/chrome-devtools-axi

lmn451 · 2026-10-15T12:44:45Z

Why

Navigation-to-eval and chained page-level workflows often do not use the automatically printed accessibility tree. Returning that unused tree adds output to the agent context, while UID-based click/fill workflows still benefit from the existing default. This opt-in flag lets the caller choose metadata-only output without changing that default.

This is an AXI presentation option, not a new MCP/browser capability. Snapshot capture remains in place to preserve the existing metadata and reference-freshness behavior. Token and latency savings have not been measured in real workflows; this PR does not claim reduced CDP/browser work. No environment-variable control or server/transport change is introduced.

Closes #178.

Local checks

pnpm run build passed.
pnpm test: 731 tests across 27 files passed.
pnpm exec prettier --check . passed.
The built CLI was also exercised against automation-owned Chrome; the pipeline live-validation evidence below covers the product scenarios.

What Changed

Add --no-snapshot to newpage and selectpage to print page metadata without the accessibility tree or snapshot-derived suggestions.
Continue capturing snapshots to preserve page metadata and fresh element-reference generations; the flag takes precedence over --full and works before or after the URL or page ID.
Document the new flag and its usage in the README and CLI help.

Risk Assessment

✅ Low: The change is limited to opt-in navigation output formatting; it retains snapshot capture and freshness handling, leaves default output unchanged, and matches the stated scope.

Testing

Drove the CLI against isolated headless Chrome and a disposable local counter page. Default trees, metadata-only navigation (including flag placement and --full precedence), selected-page eval, explicit snapshot UID click, and rejection outside navigation all behaved as expected. Captured CLI transcripts; a screenshot was not applicable to this terminal-only surface. No broad test suite, lint, or build was run in this assigned live-test phase.

Live validation: ✅ go - 5 of 5 scenarios driven live against the product

Scenario	Result	Live	Evidence
Navigation keeps automatic snapshots by default	✅ pass	live	Live `newpage https://example.com` and `selectpage 2` CLI runs; selectpage transcript is in the Default selectpage output artifact.
Opt-out keeps page metadata and suppresses automatic tree output, regardless of flag placement or --full	✅ pass	live	Live `newpage --no-snapshot http://127.0.0.1:19400`, `selectpage --no-snapshot 3 --full`, and `newpage http://127.0.0.1:19400 --full --no-snapshot` runs; see the metadata-only output artifacts.
Selecting a page without its printed snapshot preserves selection for eval	✅ pass	live	Live `selectpage --no-snapshot 3 --full` followed by `eval 'document.title'`; see the selected-page eval output artifact.
Explicit snapshot after navigation still provides a usable UID	✅ pass	live	Live `snapshot`, `click @g5:2_3`, then `eval 'document.querySelector("button").textContent'`; snapshot and resulting value `"1"` were observed in CLI output.
Other commands reject the navigation-only flag	✅ pass	live	Live `snapshot --no-snapshot` returned `Unknown flag --no-snapshot for snapshot` with `VALIDATION_ERROR`.

Evidence: Default selectpage output

page:
  title: Example Domain
  refs: 9
snapshot:
uid=g3:1_0 RootWebArea "Example Domain" url="https://example.com/"
  uid=g3:1_1 StaticText "This domain is for use in documentation examples without needing permission. This is not a service; avoid relying on it for testing and monitoring purposes."
  uid=g3:1_2 StaticText "هذا النطاق مُخصص للاستخدام في أمثلة التوثيق دون الحاجة إلى إذن. هذه ليست خدمة، يُرجى تجنب الاعتماد عليها لأغراض الاختبار والمراقبة."
  uid=g3:1_3 StaticText "该域名仅用于文档示例，无需获得许可。这并非一项服务，请勿将其用于测试和监控目的。"
  uid=g3:1_4 StaticText "L’usage de ce domaine est réservé à des exemples de documentation, sans autorisation préalable. Il ne s’agit pas d’un service ; son utilisation à des fins de test ou de surveillance est à éviter."
  uid=g3:1_5 StaticText "Данный домен предназначен для использования в примерах документации без необходимости получения предварительного разрешения. Это не сервис; не рекомендуется его использование для тестирования и мониторинга."
  uid=g3:1_6 StaticText "Este dominio está destinado al uso en ejemplos de documentación sin necesidad de permiso. Esto no es un servicio; evitar utilizarlo para realizar pruebas o monitoreos."
  uid=g3:1_7 link "Learn more" url="https://iana.org/help/example-domains"
    uid=g3:1_8 StaticText "Learn more"
help[3]:
  Run `chrome-devtools-axi click @g3:1_7` to click the "Learn more" link
  Run `chrome-devtools-axi scroll down` to scroll down
  Use `chrome-devtools-axi eval <expr>` for JS expressions. For multi-statement code, pass a function: `eval "() => { ...; return result }"`

Evidence: Metadata-only newpage output

page:
  title: AXI Counter Fixture
  url: "http://127.0.0.1:19400"
  refs: 4

Evidence: Metadata-only selectpage with --full

page:
  title: AXI Counter Fixture
  refs: 4

Evidence: Selected-page eval output

result: "\"AXI Counter Fixture\""
help[1]:
  Run `chrome-devtools-axi snapshot` to see current page state

Evidence: Explicit snapshot with fresh UID

page:
  title: AXI Counter Fixture
  refs: 4
snapshot:
uid=g5:2_0 RootWebArea "AXI Counter Fixture" url="http://127.0.0.1:19400/"
  uid=g5:2_1 main
    uid=g5:2_2 heading "Counter" level="1"
    uid=g5:2_3 button "0"
help[2]:
  Run `chrome-devtools-axi click @g5:2_3` to click the "0" button
  Use `chrome-devtools-axi eval <expr>` for JS expressions. For multi-statement code, pass a function: `eval "() => { ...; return result }"`

Evidence: newpage --full --no-snapshot output

page:
  title: AXI Final Fixture
  url: "http://127.0.0.1:19400"
  refs: 2

Pipeline

Updates from git push no-mistakes

✅ **intent** - passed

✅ No issues found.

✅ **Rebase** - passed

✅ No issues found.

✅ **Review** - passed

✅ No issues found.

✅ **Test** - passed

✅ No issues found.

Live validation: ✅ go - 5 of 5 scenarios driven live against the product

Scenario	Result	Live	Evidence
Navigation keeps automatic snapshots by default	✅ pass	live	Live `newpage https://example.com` and `selectpage 2` CLI runs; selectpage transcript is in the Default selectpage output artifact.
Opt-out keeps page metadata and suppresses automatic tree output, regardless of flag placement or --full	✅ pass	live	Live `newpage --no-snapshot http://127.0.0.1:19400`, `selectpage --no-snapshot 3 --full`, and `newpage http://127.0.0.1:19400 --full --no-snapshot` runs; see the metadata-only output artifacts.
Selecting a page without its printed snapshot preserves selection for eval	✅ pass	live	Live `selectpage --no-snapshot 3 --full` followed by `eval 'document.title'`; see the selected-page eval output artifact.
Explicit snapshot after navigation still provides a usable UID	✅ pass	live	Live `snapshot`, `click @g5:2_3`, then `eval 'document.querySelector("button").textContent'`; snapshot and resulting value `"1"` were observed in CLI output.
Other commands reject the navigation-only flag	✅ pass	live	Live `snapshot --no-snapshot` returned `Unknown flag --no-snapshot for snapshot` with `VALIDATION_ERROR`.

HOME=<worktree-local temp HOME> CHROME_DEVTOOLS_AXI_SESSION=nav-live CHROME_DEVTOOLS_AXI_PORT=19324 pnpm exec tsx bin/chrome-devtools-axi.ts newpage https://example.com
pnpm exec tsx bin/chrome-devtools-axi.ts newpage --no-snapshot http://127.0.0.1:19400
pnpm exec tsx bin/chrome-devtools-axi.ts selectpage 2
pnpm exec tsx bin/chrome-devtools-axi.ts selectpage --no-snapshot 3 --full
pnpm exec tsx bin/chrome-devtools-axi.ts eval 'document.title'
pnpm exec tsx bin/chrome-devtools-axi.ts snapshot
pnpm exec tsx bin/chrome-devtools-axi.ts click @g5:2_3
pnpm exec tsx bin/chrome-devtools-axi.ts eval 'document.querySelector("button").textContent'
pnpm exec tsx bin/chrome-devtools-axi.ts snapshot --no-snapshot
pnpm exec tsx bin/chrome-devtools-axi.ts newpage http://127.0.0.1:19400 --full --no-snapshot
Closed disposable pages where possible, stopped both isolated bridges and the local fixture server, removed .test-runtime, and confirmed the worktree had no reported changes.

✅ **Document** - passed

✅ No issues found.

✅ **Lint** - passed

✅ No issues found.

✅ **Push** - passed

✅ No issues found.

Closes kunchenguid#178

greptile-apps · 2026-10-15T12:47:16Z

Confidence Score: 5/5

[Medium impact] The PR appears safe to merge.

_{Reviews (1) · Last reviewed commit: "feat(cli): allow metadata-only navigatio..." · Reviewed by Greptile}

kunchenguid · 2026-10-15T17:31:43Z

Speaking as Kun's firstmate: triaged against VISION.md on main b27878f (0.1.42).

VISION per-rule

Scope / MCP parity: aligns. No new browser capability; new_page / select_page / take_snapshot calls are unchanged (stampFresh() still runs).
No functionality chrome-devtools-mcp cannot provide: aligns. Presentation only, in formatPageOutput (src/cli.ts).
AXI interface / agent use: aligns. Opt-out of a large auto tree for navigate-then-eval chains; the flag is declared in COMMAND_FLAGS so other commands still fail loud on it. Dropping snapshot-derived help is consistent, since those suggestions would point at UIDs that were not printed.
Reshape without expanding capability: aligns.
Reliability: aligns (neutral). Generation / fresh-ref semantics unchanged because capture still runs.
Not an independent automation implementation: aligns.

Contract-class: opt-in. The unconfigured newpage / selectpage output is unchanged; the early return only happens when --no-snapshot is passed.

CI green (build-and-test, generated-files guard, no-mistakes), Greptile 5/5, diff reviewed. Squash-merged as 73d1020.

Speaking as Kun's firstmate: this is merged. Thank you @lmn451 — really appreciate you taking the time on this.

github-actions · 2026-10-16T13:37:55Z

Released in https://github.com/kunchenguid/chrome-devtools-axi/releases/tag/chrome-devtools-axi-v0.1.43.

feat(cli): allow metadata-only navigation output

2db56d4

Closes kunchenguid#178

kunchenguid merged commit 73d1020 into kunchenguid:main Oct 15, 2026
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kunchenguid mentioned this pull request Oct 15, 2026

Add --no-snapshot output option to newpage and selectpage #178

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github-actions Bot mentioned this pull request Oct 15, 2026

chore(main): release chrome-devtools-axi 0.1.43 #181

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siddvrth mentioned this pull request Oct 16, 2026

fix(cli): resolve relative upload paths from the caller's cwd #183

Merged

kunchenguid mentioned this pull request Oct 24, 2026

Prevent AXI bridge and Chrome CDP port collisions #116

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feat(cli): add no-snapshot navigation output - #179

feat(cli): add no-snapshot navigation output#179
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Why

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What Changed

Risk Assessment

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Confidence Score: 5/5

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