Show HN: Runtime – skills-based browser automation that uses fewer tokens

Hi HN, I’m Bayang. I’m launching Runtime — a desktop tool that automates your existing browser using small, reusable skills instead of big, fragile prompts.

Links

- README: https://github.com/runtime-org/runtime/blob/main/README.md - Skills guide: https://github.com/runtime-org/runtime/blob/main/SKILLS.md

Why did I build it?

I was using browser automation for my own work, but it got slow and expensive because it pushed huge chunks of a page to the model. I also saw agent systems like browser-use that try to stream the live DOM/processed and “guess” the next click. It looked cool, but it felt heavy and flaky.

I asked a few friends what they really wanted to have a browser that does some of their jobs, like repetitive tasks. All three said: “I want to teach my browser or just explain to it how to do my tasks.” Also: “Please don’t make me switch browsers—I already have my extensions, theme, and setup.” That’s where Runtime came from: keep your browser, keep control, make automation predictable

Runtime takes a task in chat (I’m open to challenging the User experience of conversing with runtime), then runs a short plan made of skills. A skill is a set of functions: it has inputs and an expected output. Examples: “search a site,” “open a result,” “extract product fields,” “click a button,” “submit a form.” Because plans use skills (not whole pages), prompts stay tiny, process stays deterministic and fast.

What’s different

- Uses your browser (Chrome/Edge, soon Brave). No new browser to install. - Deterministic by design. Skills are explicit and typed; runs are auditable. - Low token use. We pass compact actions, not the full DOM. And most importantly, we don’t take screenshots at all. We believe screenshots are useless if we use selectors to navigate. - Human-in-the-loop. You can watch the steps and stop/retry anytime.

Who it's for?

People who do research/ops on the web: pull structured info, file forms, move data between tools, or run repeatable flows without writing a full RPA script or without using any API. It’s just “runtime run at runtime”

Try this first (5–10 minutes)

1. Clone the repo and follow the quickstart in the README. 2. Run a sample flow: search → open → extract fields. 3. Read `SKILLS.md`, then make one tiny skill for a site you use daily.

What’s not perfect yet

Sites change. Skills also change, but we will post about addressing this issue.

I’d love to hear where it breaks.

Feedback I’m asking for

- Is the skills format clear? Being declarative, does that help? - Where does the planner over-/under-specify steps? - Which sites should we ship skills for first?

Happy to answer everything in the comments, and would love a teardown. Thanks!

Bayang