panda97

LightPanda browser automation for pi coding agent via CDP. Lightweight, fast alternative to browse97 — no Chrome required.

Packages

Package details

extension

Install panda97 from npm and Pi will load the resources declared by the package manifest.

npm repo home report

$ pi install npm:panda97

Package: panda97
Version: 1.0.1
Published: Oct 2, 2026
Downloads: 321/mo · 321/wk
Author: saitanay
License: MIT
Types: extension
Size: 33.8 KB
Dependencies: 0 dependencies · 2 peers

Pi manifest JSON

{
  "extensions": [
    "./index.ts"
  ]
}

Security note

Pi packages can execute code and influence agent behavior. Review the source before installing third-party packages.

README

panda97

LightPanda browser automation for pi coding agent. Lightweight, fast alternative to browse97 — no Chrome required.

Each tab runs its own LightPanda instance via CDP. Zero npm dependencies. Pages load in milliseconds.

Prerequisites

Install LightPanda:

curl -fsSL https://get.lightpanda.io | bash

Verify it's available:

lightpanda version

Custom binary path via environment variable:

PANDA97_BINARY=/path/to/lightpanda

Install

pi install npm:panda97

Tools

Tool	Description
`panda97_start`	Open a new browser tab (launches a LightPanda instance). Call this first.
`panda97_alltabs`	List all open tabs (id, url, title)
`panda97_switchtab`	Switch to an existing tab by id
`panda97_closetab`	Close a tab and shut down its instance
`panda97_navigate`	Navigate the active tab to a URL
`panda97_snapshot`	List interactive elements. Scope with `container`, filter with `filter`
`panda97_click`	Click by CSS selector or visible text
`panda97_fill`	Fill multiple form fields by fuzzy matching name/id/placeholder/label
`panda97_upload`	Upload file to a file input (blob injection)
`panda97_eval`	Evaluate JavaScript in the page context
`panda97_wait`	Wait for an element or text to appear

How It Works

Unlike browse97 (which connects to a single shared Chrome instance), panda97 launches a separate LightPanda process per tab on sequential ports starting at 9400. This means:

Tabs are fully isolated — no shared state, cookies, or sessions
No Chrome installation needed
Sub-second startup per instance
Cleanup is automatic — closing a tab kills its process

Usage Examples

Open a page and inspect it:
  → panda97_start({url: "https://example.com"})
  → panda97_snapshot()
  → panda97_eval({expression: "document.body.innerText"})

Fill and submit a form:
  → panda97_start({url: "https://httpbin.org/forms/post"})
  → panda97_snapshot({filter: "input,textarea,select,button"})
  → panda97_fill({fields: {"custname": "Jane", "custtel": "555-1234"}})
  → panda97_click({target: "Submit"})

Work with multiple tabs:
  → panda97_start({url: "https://example.com"})
  → panda97_start({url: "https://httpbin.org/html"})
  → panda97_alltabs()
  → panda97_switchtab({id: "00000001"})
  → panda97_closetab({id: "00000002"})

Extract data:
  → panda97_eval({expression: "[...document.querySelectorAll('a')].map(a => a.href).join('\\n')"})

Wait for dynamic content:
  → panda97_wait({target: ".results-loaded", timeout: 5000})

snapshot Parameters

Parameter	Example	Description
(none)	`{}`	All interactive elements on page
`container`	`{container: ".main"}`	Scope to elements inside `.main`
`filter`	`{filter: "a,button"}`	Only show links and buttons
both	`{container: ".form", filter: "input,select"}`	Inputs and selects inside `.form`

click Auto-Detection

Starts with . # [ ( or contains > + ~ * → CSS selector
Otherwise → matches visible text of buttons, links, submit inputs

fill Fuzzy Matching

Field keys are matched case-insensitively against: name, id, placeholder, aria-label, associated <label> text.

panda97_fill({fields: {"email": "x@y.com"}})
  → matches: name="email", id="email", placeholder="Email address", label "Email"

Context Safety

panda97_snapshot and panda97_eval truncate results at 5000 characters by default to protect your context window.

panda97_snapshot({container: ".main", filter: "a"})    // scoped → likely fits
panda97_snapshot({allowWhole: true})                    // no truncation
panda97_eval({expression: "...", allowWhole: true})     // no truncation

panda97 vs browse97

	panda97	browse97
Browser	LightPanda (Zig)	Chrome
Install	`curl` one-liner	Chrome + launch flags
Startup	~1s per tab	Connects to running Chrome
JS engine	zig-js (partial V8 compat)	Full V8
Isolation	Full — separate process per tab	Shared Chrome instance
Cloudflare/bot detection	Blocked	Works (real Chrome)
CSS/images	Not rendered	Full rendering
Best for	Fast scraping, API testing, form automation	Sites needing real browser

Limitations

No visual rendering — LightPanda is headless-only with no CSS/image rendering
Partial JS support — zig-js covers most web APIs but not all. Complex SPAs may not work.
Bot detection — Sites with Cloudflare or similar anti-bot will block LightPanda
One target per instance — Multi-tab is achieved via multiple processes, not browser tabs

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
`PANDA97_BINARY`	`lightpanda`	Path to LightPanda binary

Ports are auto-assigned starting at 9400.

License

MIT