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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/szymdzum/browser-debugger-cli/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

The Chrome DevTools Protocol is organized into 53 domains, each providing methods and events for specific browser functionality. This page covers the most commonly used domains.

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Discovery Commands

Before diving into specific domains, use these commands to explore: 
# List all 53 domains
bdg cdp --list

# List methods in a domain
bdg cdp Network --list
bdg cdp Page --list

# Search across all methods
bdg cdp --search cookie
bdg cdp --search screenshot

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Core Domains

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Runtime

Exposes JavaScript runtime - Evaluate expressions, get object properties, and work with the JavaScript execution context. Key Methods:
  • Runtime.evaluate - Execute JavaScript expressions
  • Runtime.callFunctionOn - Call a function on an object
  • Runtime.getProperties - Get object properties
  • Runtime.getIsolateId - Get V8 isolate ID
Examples: 
# Evaluate JavaScript
bdg cdp Runtime.evaluate --params '{"expression":"document.title"}'

# Get element properties
bdg cdp Runtime.evaluate --params '{"expression":"document.querySelector(\"h1\").textContent"}'

# Execute complex script with return value
bdg cdp Runtime.evaluate --params '{
  "expression":"(() => ({ url: location.href, title: document.title }))()",
  "returnByValue":true
}'

​
Page

Page lifecycle and navigation - Control page loading, navigation, screenshots, and lifecycle events. Key Methods:
  • Page.navigate - Navigate to a URL
  • Page.reload - Reload the page
  • Page.getNavigationHistory - Get navigation history
  • Page.captureScreenshot - Capture screenshot (use bdg dom screenshot instead)
  • Page.printToPDF - Generate PDF of page
Examples: 
# Navigate to URL
bdg cdp Page.navigate --params '{"url":"https://example.com"}'

# Reload page
bdg cdp Page.reload

# Get navigation history
bdg cdp Page.getNavigationHistory

# Generate PDF
bdg cdp Page.printToPDF --params '{"landscape":true}'

​
Network

Network traffic monitoring - Inspect requests, responses, cookies, and caching. Key Methods:
  • Network.getCookies - Get browser cookies
  • Network.setCookie - Set a cookie
  • Network.deleteCookies - Delete cookies
  • Network.getAllCookies - Get all cookies (all URLs)
  • Network.clearBrowserCache - Clear browser cache
  • Network.clearBrowserCookies - Clear all cookies
Examples: 
# Get cookies for current page
bdg cdp Network.getCookies

# Get all cookies
bdg cdp Network.getAllCookies

# Set a cookie
bdg cdp Network.setCookie --params '{
  "name":"session",
  "value":"abc123",
  "domain":"example.com"
}'

# Clear cookies
bdg cdp Network.clearBrowserCookies

# Clear cache
bdg cdp Network.clearBrowserCache
Note: For inspecting captured network traffic, use bdg network commands instead.

​
DOM

Document Object Model inspection - Query, modify, and traverse the DOM tree. Key Methods:
  • DOM.getDocument - Get document root node
  • DOM.querySelector - Query selector (returns nodeId)
  • DOM.querySelectorAll - Query all matching elements
  • DOM.getAttributes - Get element attributes
  • DOM.getOuterHTML - Get element HTML
  • DOM.focus - Focus an element
Examples: 
# Get document root
bdg cdp DOM.getDocument

# Query for element (need root nodeId first)
bdg cdp DOM.querySelector --params '{"nodeId":1,"selector":"h1"}'

# Get element HTML
bdg cdp DOM.getOuterHTML --params '{"nodeId":123}'
Note: For higher-level DOM operations, use bdg dom commands which handle nodeId management automatically.

​
Input

Simulated user input - Dispatch keyboard, mouse, and touch events. Key Methods:
  • Input.dispatchKeyEvent - Dispatch keyboard events
  • Input.dispatchMouseEvent - Dispatch mouse events
  • Input.insertText - Insert text at cursor
Examples: 
# Type text
bdg cdp Input.insertText --params '{"text":"Hello World"}'

# Press Enter key
bdg cdp Input.dispatchKeyEvent --params '{
  "type":"keyDown",
  "key":"Enter"
}'

# Click at coordinates
bdg cdp Input.dispatchMouseEvent --params '{
  "type":"mousePressed",
  "x":100,
  "y":200,
  "button":"left",
  "clickCount":1
}'
Note: For form filling and clicking, use bdg dom fill and bdg dom click which handle element targeting automatically.

​
Debugging Domains

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Console

Console message access - Enable console logging and message inspection. Key Methods:
  • Console.enable - Enable console domain
  • Console.disable - Disable console domain
Note: For viewing console messages, use bdg console commands instead.

​
Debugger

JavaScript debugging - Set breakpoints, step through code, and evaluate in scope. Key Methods:
  • Debugger.enable - Enable debugger
  • Debugger.setBreakpoint - Set breakpoint
  • Debugger.pause - Pause execution
  • Debugger.resume - Resume execution
  • Debugger.stepOver - Step over statement

​
Log

Log message access - Browser log entries and violations. Key Methods:
  • Log.enable - Enable log domain
  • Log.clear - Clear log

​
Performance Domains

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Performance

Performance metrics - Timing, memory, and performance measurement. Key Methods:
  • Performance.enable - Enable performance tracking
  • Performance.getMetrics - Get current metrics
  • Performance.disable - Disable performance tracking
Examples: 
# Get performance metrics
bdg cdp Performance.enable
bdg cdp Performance.getMetrics

​
Profiler

CPU profiling - Sampling profiler for JavaScript performance analysis. Key Methods:
  • Profiler.enable - Enable profiler
  • Profiler.start - Start CPU profiling
  • Profiler.stop - Stop profiling and get data
Event-based: Results arrive after calling Profiler.stop, not from the start method. Examples: 
# Collect CPU profile
bdg cdp Profiler.enable
bdg cdp Profiler.start
# ... perform actions ...
bdg cdp Profiler.stop  # Returns profile data

​
HeapProfiler

Memory profiling - Heap snapshots and sampling heap profiler. Key Methods:
  • HeapProfiler.enable - Enable heap profiler
  • HeapProfiler.takeHeapSnapshot - Take heap snapshot
  • HeapProfiler.startSampling - Start sampling
  • HeapProfiler.stopSampling - Stop and get samples
Event-based: Snapshot data arrives via events after takeHeapSnapshot.

​
Tracing

Performance tracing - Detailed performance traces for analysis. Key Methods:
  • Tracing.start - Start tracing
  • Tracing.end - End tracing
  • Tracing.getCategories - Get trace categories
Event-based: Data arrives via Tracing.dataCollected events after calling Tracing.end.

​
Accessibility

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Accessibility

Accessibility tree inspection - Query accessibility properties and ARIA attributes. Key Methods:
  • Accessibility.getFullAXTree - Get full accessibility tree
  • Accessibility.getPartialAXTree - Get partial tree from node
  • Accessibility.queryAXTree - Query accessibility tree
Examples: 
# Get full accessibility tree
bdg cdp Accessibility.getFullAXTree

# Query by role
bdg cdp Accessibility.queryAXTree --params '{
  "role":"button"
}'
Note: For higher-level accessibility inspection, use bdg dom a11y commands.

​
Visual Debugging

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Overlay

Visual debugging overlays - Highlight elements, show layout information. Key Methods:
  • Overlay.enable - Enable overlay
  • Overlay.highlightNode - Highlight element (visual only)
  • Overlay.hideHighlight - Clear highlights
  • Overlay.setShowViewportSizeOnResize - Show viewport size
Event-based: Methods like highlightNode show visual feedback but return empty responses. Examples: 
# Highlight element by nodeId
bdg cdp Overlay.highlightNode --params '{
  "nodeId":123,
  "highlightConfig":{
    "contentColor":{"r":255,"g":0,"b":0,"a":0.3}
  }
}'

# Clear highlights
bdg cdp Overlay.hideHighlight

​
Security & Auditing

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Security

Security state inspection - Certificate info, mixed content, security issues. Key Methods:
  • Security.enable - Enable security domain
  • Security.setIgnoreCertificateErrors - Ignore cert errors

​
Audits

Automated audits - Accessibility, contrast, and other automated checks. Key Methods:
  • Audits.enable - Enable audits
  • Audits.checkContrast - Check color contrast
Event-based: Results arrive via Audits.issueAdded events, not method responses. Examples: 
# Enable and check contrast
bdg cdp Audits.enable
bdg cdp Audits.checkContrast
# Results arrive via events
Alternative: Use bdg dom eval 'getComputedStyle(element).color' for direct contrast checking.

​
Storage

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Storage

Storage inspection - IndexedDB, localStorage, sessionStorage, cache. Key Methods:
  • Storage.getStorageKeyForFrame - Get storage key
  • Storage.clearDataForOrigin - Clear origin data
  • Storage.getCookies - Get cookies (alternative to Network.getCookies)

​
IndexedDB

IndexedDB inspection - Query and modify IndexedDB databases. Key Methods:
  • IndexedDB.requestDatabaseNames - List databases
  • IndexedDB.requestDatabase - Get database metadata

​
CacheStorage

Cache Storage API - Service worker cache inspection. Key Methods:
  • CacheStorage.requestCacheNames - List caches
  • CacheStorage.requestEntries - Get cache entries

​
Device Emulation

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Emulation

Device and sensor emulation - Viewport, user agent, geolocation, device metrics. Key Methods:
  • Emulation.setDeviceMetricsOverride - Set viewport size
  • Emulation.setUserAgentOverride - Set user agent
  • Emulation.setGeolocationOverride - Set geolocation
  • Emulation.setTouchEmulationEnabled - Enable touch events
Examples: 
# Set mobile viewport
bdg cdp Emulation.setDeviceMetricsOverride --params '{
  "width":375,
  "height":667,
  "deviceScaleFactor":2,
  "mobile":true
}'

# Set user agent
bdg cdp Emulation.setUserAgentOverride --params '{
  "userAgent":"Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 13_0 like Mac OS X)"
}'

​
Advanced Domains

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Target

Target management - Create, attach to, and manage browser targets (pages, workers). Key Methods:
  • Target.getTargets - List all targets
  • Target.createTarget - Create new page
  • Target.attachToTarget - Attach to target

​
Browser

Browser-level operations - Version info, permissions, downloads. Key Methods:
  • Browser.getVersion - Get browser version
  • Browser.getBrowserCommandLine - Get launch arguments
  • Browser.grantPermissions - Grant permissions
Examples: 
# Get browser version
bdg cdp Browser.getVersion

# Grant geolocation permission
bdg cdp Browser.grantPermissions --params '{
  "permissions":["geolocation"]
}'

​
SystemInfo

System information - GPU, process info. Key Methods:
  • SystemInfo.getInfo - Get system info
  • SystemInfo.getProcessInfo - Get process info

​
Complete Domain List

To see all 53 domains with descriptions and method counts: 
bdg cdp --list
All domains: Accessibility, Animation, Audits, BackgroundService, Browser, CacheStorage, Cast, Console, CSS, Database, Debugger, DeviceAccess, DeviceOrientation, DOM, DOMDebugger, DOMSnapshot, DOMStorage, Emulation, EventBreakpoints, Fetch, FileSystem, HeadlessExperimental, HeapProfiler, IndexedDB, Input, Inspector, IO, LayerTree, Log, Media, Memory, Network, Overlay, Page, Performance, PerformanceTimeline, Preload, Profiler, PWA, Runtime, Schema, Security, ServiceWorker, Storage, SystemInfo, Target, Tethering, Tracing, WebAudio, WebAuthn, and more.

​
External Resources

  • CDP Overview - How to use the bdg cdp command
  • bdg dom - High-level DOM operations
  • bdg network - Network request inspection
  • bdg console - Console message inspection

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