Steel

Steel is the open-source browser API for AI agents and apps. The Steel Cloud REST API (https://api.steel.dev/v1) launches and manages cloud browser sessions, runs stateless quick actions (scrape, screenshot, pdf, search), and exposes a live session viewer, while long-running automation connects to a per-session Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) WebSocket driven with Playwright, Puppeteer, or Selenium. The same surface ships self-hosted under Apache-2.0 as steel-browser.

Steel publishes 4 APIs on the APIs.io network, including Files API, Quick Actions API, Session Actions API, and 1 more. Tagged areas include Browser, Web Automation, Scraping, AI Agents, and Open Source.

Steel’s developer surface includes authentication, documentation, and 8 more developer resources.

🌐 Visit website 📡 Source on GitHub
37.7/100 thin ▬ flat Agent 31/100 agent aware Full breakdown ↓
scored 2026-08-05 · rubric v0.9.1
AccessFreemiumSelf serve⚡ Free to try
4 APIs
BrowserWeb AutomationScrapingAI AgentsOpen Source

Kin Score

Kin Score Kin Score How this is scored →
scored 2026-08-05 · rubric v0.9.1
Composite quality — 37.7/100 · thin
Contract Quality 13.7 / 25
Developer Ergonomics 3.9 / 20
Commercial Clarity 7.9 / 20
Operational Transparency 4.8 / 13
Governance 0.0 / 12
Discoverability 7.4 / 10
Agent readiness — 31/100 · agent aware
Machine-Readable Contract 18 / 18
Agentic Access Contract 10 / 10
MCP Server 0 / 12
Machine-Readable Auth 10 / 10
Idempotency 0 / 9
Stable Error Semantics 0 / 8
Request/Response Examples 0 / 7
Rate-Limit Signaling 7 / 7
Typed Event Surface 0 / 6
Agent Skills 0 / 5
Well-Known Catalog 0 / 4
Consent & Bot Identity 0 / 3
A2A Agent Card 0 / 8
Dry-Run / Simulate Mode 0 / 4
Improve this rating by publishing the missing artifacts — every area above can be raised, and the full rubric is at apis.io/rating/. This rating is computed from github.com/api-evangelist/steel-dev: open an issue to ask a question, or submit a pull request to add artifacts. Want it done for you? Prioritized profiling — $2,500 →

APIs 4

Individual APIs this provider publishes, each with its own machine-readable definition.

Steel Files API

Manage files inside a session's browser context.

Steel Quick Actions API

Stateless one-off scrape, screenshot, PDF, and search.

Steel Session Actions API

Scrape, screenshot, and PDF the page in a running session.

Steel Sessions API

Launch, inspect, and release cloud browser sessions.

Open Collections 1

Open, tool-agnostic API collections (OpenAPI-derived and Bruno).

Steel API

OPEN COLLECTION

Pricing Plans 1

Published pricing tiers and plan structures.

Steel Dev Plans Pricing

6 plans

PLANS

Rate Limits 1

Documented rate limits and quota policies.

Steel Dev Rate Limits

5 limits

RATE LIMITS

FinOps 1

Cost, billing, and metering signals for API financial operations.

Steel Dev Finops

FINOPS

Security Posture 2

Authentication, domain security, vulnerability disclosure, and trust-center signals.

Steel Dev Authentication

apiKey · 1 scheme

SECURITY

Steel Dev Domain Security

TLSv1.3 · HSTS

SECURITY

Agentic Access 1

Recommended x-agentic-access execution contracts for AI agents.

Steel Dev Agentic Access

17 operations · 12 acting

17 operations · 12 acting

AGENTIC

Resources

Documentation 1

Reference material describing how the API behaves

Documentation
Documentation

Agent Surfaces 1

MCP servers, agent skills, and machine-readable catalogs

AgenticAccess
AgenticAccess

Build 1

SDKs, sample code, and the tooling you integrate with

GitHubOrganization
GitHubOrganization

Access & Security 2

Authentication, authorization, and security posture

DomainSecurity
DomainSecurity
 Authentication
Authentication

Operate 1

Status, limits, changes, and where to get help

RateLimits
RateLimits

Commercial 2

Pricing, plans, and the legal terms of use

Plans
Plans
 FinOps
FinOps

Company 2

The organization behind the API

LinkedIn
LinkedIn
 Website
Website

Source (apis.yml)

apis.yml Raw ↑ 
aid: steel-dev
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/steel-dev/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
name: Steel
kind: company
description: Steel is the open-source browser API for AI agents and apps. The Steel Cloud REST API (https://api.steel.dev/v1)
  launches and manages cloud browser sessions, runs stateless quick actions (scrape, screenshot, pdf, search), and exposes
  a live session viewer, while long-running automation connects to a per-session Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) WebSocket
  driven with Playwright, Puppeteer, or Selenium. The same surface ships self-hosted under Apache-2.0 as steel-browser.
accessModel:
  pricing: freemium
  onboarding: self-serve
  trial: false
  try_now: true
  public: false
  label: Freemium · Self-serve signup
  confidence: high
  source:
  - plans
  - authentication
  generated: '2026-07-22'
  method: derived
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/icons/steel-dev.png
tags:
- Browser
- Web Automation
- Scraping
- AI Agents
- Open Source
created: '2026-06-20'
modified: '2026-06-20'
specificationVersion: '0.19'
apis:
- aid: steel-dev:steel-dev-files-api
  name: Steel Files API
  description: Manage files inside a session's browser context.
  humanURL: https://docs.steel.dev/overview/sessions-api
  baseURL: https://api.steel.dev/v1
  tags:
  - Files
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/steel-dev-files-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.steel.dev/overview/sessions-api
  - type: APIReference
    url: https://docs.steel.dev/api-reference
  - type: PostmanCollection
    url: collections/steel-dev.postman_collection.json
  - type: OpenCollection
    url: collections/steel-dev.opencollection.json
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.steel.dev/overview/quick-actions-api
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.steel.dev/overview/guides/connect-with-playwright
  - type: Review
    url: review.yml
- aid: steel-dev:steel-dev-quick-actions-api
  name: Steel Quick Actions API
  description: Stateless one-off scrape, screenshot, PDF, and search.
  humanURL: https://docs.steel.dev/overview/sessions-api
  baseURL: https://api.steel.dev/v1
  tags:
  - Quick Actions
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/steel-dev-quick-actions-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.steel.dev/overview/sessions-api
  - type: APIReference
    url: https://docs.steel.dev/api-reference
  - type: PostmanCollection
    url: collections/steel-dev.postman_collection.json
  - type: OpenCollection
    url: collections/steel-dev.opencollection.json
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.steel.dev/overview/quick-actions-api
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.steel.dev/overview/guides/connect-with-playwright
  - type: Review
    url: review.yml
- aid: steel-dev:steel-dev-session-actions-api
  name: Steel Session Actions API
  description: Scrape, screenshot, and PDF the page in a running session.
  humanURL: https://docs.steel.dev/overview/sessions-api
  baseURL: https://api.steel.dev/v1
  tags:
  - Session Actions
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/steel-dev-session-actions-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.steel.dev/overview/sessions-api
  - type: APIReference
    url: https://docs.steel.dev/api-reference
  - type: PostmanCollection
    url: collections/steel-dev.postman_collection.json
  - type: OpenCollection
    url: collections/steel-dev.opencollection.json
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.steel.dev/overview/quick-actions-api
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.steel.dev/overview/guides/connect-with-playwright
  - type: Review
    url: review.yml
- aid: steel-dev:steel-dev-sessions-api
  name: Steel Sessions API
  description: Launch, inspect, and release cloud browser sessions.
  humanURL: https://docs.steel.dev/overview/sessions-api
  baseURL: https://api.steel.dev/v1
  tags:
  - Sessions
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/steel-dev-sessions-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.steel.dev/overview/sessions-api
  - type: APIReference
    url: https://docs.steel.dev/api-reference
  - type: PostmanCollection
    url: collections/steel-dev.postman_collection.json
  - type: OpenCollection
    url: collections/steel-dev.opencollection.json
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.steel.dev/overview/quick-actions-api
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.steel.dev/overview/guides/connect-with-playwright
  - type: Review
    url: review.yml
common:
- type: AgenticAccess
  url: agentic-access/steel-dev-agentic-access.yml
- type: DomainSecurity
  url: security/steel-dev-domain-security.yml
- type: Authentication
  url: authentication/steel-dev-authentication.yml
- type: GitHubOrganization
  url: https://github.com/steel-dev
- type: LinkedIn
  url: https://www.linkedin.com/company/steel-dev
- type: Website
  url: https://steel.dev
- type: Documentation
  url: https://docs.steel.dev
- type: Plans
  url: plans/steel-dev-plans-pricing.yml
- type: RateLimits
  url: rate-limits/steel-dev-rate-limits.yml
- type: FinOps
  url: finops/steel-dev-finops.yml
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com