Automated session - Click inside to take control

``` - Streams real-time browser output using **WebRTC + H.264** - Works in all major browsers with baseline H.264 support - `interactive=true` allows remote mouse/keyboard input for collaborative debugging or human-in-the-loop workflows > **Note:** For security reasons, debug URLs are **unauthenticated**. > Anyone with the debug URL can view or interact with that session. > Use your own-access controls if embedding in a user-facing product. --- ### Supported Parameters (Headful) | Parameter | Type | Default | Description | |------------|------|----------|-------------| | `interactive` | boolean | `true` | Enables or disables remote control of the live session. | Example: ```html ``` Disabling interactivity makes the view read-only, ideal for watch-only monitoring scenarios. --- ## Headless (Legacy) > Headless live sessions remain supported for existing workflows. > They use Chrome’s screencasting instead of WebRTC and expose additional configuration options. ### Configuration Options (Headless Only) | Parameter | Type | Default | Description | |------------|------|----------|-------------| | `theme` | string | `"dark"` | UI theme (`dark` or `light`) | | `interactive` | boolean | `true` | Enable or disable interaction | | `showControls` | boolean | `true` | Show or hide navigation UI | | `pageId` | string | (empty) | Focus the view on a specific page/tab | | `pageIndex` | string | (empty) | Display a specific tab by index | Example: ```html ``` --- ### Common Use Cases **Read-only viewer** ```html ``` **Human-in-the-loop control** Allow humans to take over automation tasks or debug live workflows interactively using `interactive=true`. --- ### Troubleshooting If the embedded view appears blank or unresponsive: - Ensure the session is active (default timeout: 5 min). - Confirm your browser supports **H.264 baseline** playback. - Check your container has fixed dimensions (`width` and `height`). - Verify the correct session and valid API key were used. --- ### Summary All new sessions now run **headful by default**, streaming real-time video with WebRTC. Use the same `debugUrl` to embed or view — Steel automatically determines the correct playback mode. Headless live streams remain available for legacy sessions but will be phased out over time. # Past Sessions URL: /overview/sessions-api/embed-sessions/past-sessions --- title: Past Sessions sidebarTitle: Past Sessions description: How to access recordings of past browser sessions and display them within your app llm: false --- Steel automatically records every session so you can replay it later. With the new headful session recordings, you can now embed real MP4 playback — no event reconstruction, no missing UI elements. For older implementations, we still support headless playback via rrweb. ## Embed Headful Session Recordings (Recommended) ### What Changed Steel has moved from slow, unreliable screencasting and event-based playback to full OS-level streaming and MP4 recordings. - 25fps WebRTC-based video streaming - MP4 recordings showing the exact screen output - No discrepancies between actual sessions and replays > **Tip:** Headful sessions are now **default** for all Steel sessions. > No changes are needed to your integration — this gives you direct control over embedding playback. ### Retrieving the Recording Playlist ```typescript !! Typescript -wcn const playlist = await fetch("https://api.steel.dev/v1/sessions/{session_id}/hls", { headers: { "steel-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY" } }); ``` ```python !! Python -wcn import requests url = "https://api.steel.dev/v1/sessions/{session_id}/hls" headers = { "steel-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY" } response = requests.get(url, headers=headers) playlist = response.text ``` This returns an HLS playlist that can be used in any compatible video player. ### Embedding in a Web Page ```html

``` **Notes:** - Works with any HLS-compatible player (e.g., Safari, HLS.js, JW Player, Video.js). - Recordings are durable MP4 streams for accurate, 1:1 playback. ## Headless > Headless playback is supported for legacy sessions. > New sessions use headful replays for full visual fidelity — we recommend migrating when possible. ### Overview Every Steel browser session records page events. You can fetch those events from the `/v1/sessions/:id/events` endpoint and replay them using `rrweb-player`. ### Retrieve the Recorded Events **SDK Example** ```ts const events = await client.sessions.events(session.id); ``` or ```python events = client.sessions.events(session_id=session.id) ``` **Direct API** ```text GET /v1/sessions/:id/events ``` ### Replay with rrweb-player **Install** ```bash npm install rrweb-player ``` **Usage** ```ts import rrwebPlayer from "rrweb-player"; import "rrweb-player/dist/style.css"; const events = await client.sessions.events(session.id); const playerElement = document.getElementById("player-container"); new rrwebPlayer({ target: playerElement, props: { events: events, width: 800, height: 600, autoPlay: true, skipInactive: true } }); ``` **HTML** ```html

``` --- ### Summary All new sessions now run **headful by default**. Headless event-based playback remains available for legacy recordings but will be deprecated in the future. Use headful recordings for the most accurate, reliable replays.