Quickstart

Overview

This guide will walk you through setting up your Steel account, creating your first browser session in the cloud, and driving it using Typescript/Playwright. In just a few minutes, you'll be up and programatically controlling a Steel browser Session.

Initial Setup

1. Create a Steel Account

1. 1

   Sign up for a free account at steel.dev

2. 2

   The free plan includes 100 browser hours to get you started

3. 3

   No credit card required

2. Get Your API Key

1. 1

   After signing up, navigate to Settings > API Keys

2. 2

   Create an API key and save it somewhere safe. You will not be able to generate the same key again.

3. Set Up Environment Variables

1. 1

   Create a .env file in your project root (if you don't have one)

2. 2

   Add your Steel API key:

Make sure to add .env to your .gitignore file to keep your key secure

Installing Dependencies

Install the Steel SDK and Playwright:

$ 
npm install steel-sdk playwrightCopy

Create Your First Session

Let's create a simple script that launches and then releases a Steel session:

1
import Steel from 'steel-sdk';
2
import dotenv from 'dotenv';
3

4
dotenv.config();
5

6
const client = new Steel({
7
  steelAPIKey: process.env.STEEL_API_KEY,
8
});
9

10
async function main() {
11
  // Create a session
12
  const session = await client.sessions.create();
13
  console.log('Session created:', session.id);
14
  console.log(`View live session at: ${session.sessionViewerUrl}`);
15

16
  // Your session is now ready to use!
17
  // When done, release the session
18
  await client.sessions.release(session.id);
19
  console.log('Session released');
20
}
21

22
main().catch(console.error);

Connecting to Your Session

Now that you have a session, you can connect to it using your preferred automation tool.

1
import puppeteer from 'puppeteer';
2

3
const browser = await puppeteer.connect({
4
    browserWSEndpoint: `wss://connect.steel.dev?apiKey=${process.env.STEEL_API_KEY}&sessionId=${session.id}`,
5
});
6

7
const page = await browser.newPage();
8
await page.goto('https://example.com');

Session Features

Want to do more with your session? Here are some common options you can add when creating:

1
const session = await client.sessions.create({
2
    useProxy: true,           // Use Steel's residential proxy network
3
    solveCaptcha: true,       // Enable automatic CAPTCHA solving
4
    apiTimeout: 1800000,      // Set 30-minute timeout (default is 5 minutes)
5
    userAgent: 'custom-ua'    // Set a custom user agent
6
});

You've now created your first Steel session and learned the basics of session management. With these fundamentals, you can start building more complex automations using Steel's cloud browser infrastructure.