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Dimitris Dimitrov
Dimitris Dimitrov

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I built a free open-source alternative to OpenAI Operator — control your browser with Claude AI via Telegram

#opensource #python #automation #ai

The problem

OpenAI Operator costs $20/month and you have zero control over it.
I wanted something I could run myself, customize freely, and pay
nothing for the hosting.

So I built Phantomix.

What it does

Phantomix is a self-hostable AI browser agent powered by Claude.
You send it tasks via Telegram from your phone and it controls a
real browser to complete them automatically.

Examples of what you can tell it:

  • "Search for the cheapest flight to London next week"
  • "Go to amazon.com and find laptops under $1000"
  • "Take a screenshot of this page and summarize it"
  • "Fill out the contact form on this website"

How it works

The stack is simple:

  • Claude API — the brain, handles reasoning and decisions
  • Playwright — controls the actual browser
  • FastAPI — backend API server
  • Telegram Bot — your mobile interface to control everything
  • Docker — one command to run the whole thing

Why self-hosted?

Because you own everything. Your API key, your data, your server.
No subscription, no limits, no black box.

Getting started 


bash
git clone https://github.com/dimitrisdimitrov5-blip/Phantomix
cp .env.example .env
# Add your Anthropic API key and Telegram token
docker-compose up -d


That’s it. Three commands and Phantomix is running.

What’s coming next

    • Web dashboard to monitor tasks visually
    • Multi-model support (GPT-4, Gemini, local models via Ollama)
    • Scheduled tasks that run automatically
    • Appointment booking flows
    • Chrome extension

Try it

GitHub: https://github.com/dimitrisdimitrov5-blip/Phantomix

Would love feedback from the community — especially on the
architecture and what features matter most to you. 🚀
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Top comments (1)

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double_chen_70da460344c73 profile image
Double CHEN •

Nice build. I went the other direction — focused on the browser infra layer instead of building the agent. Switched from Playwright to browser-act CLI after hitting fingerprinting issues on LinkedIn and Reddit. It gives Claude Code three modes: stealth Chromium (anti-bot), chrome (reuses existing sessions), chrome-direct (controls running Chrome). One command install: npx skills add browser-act/skills --skill browser-act. The infra approach means no Docker, no FastAPI, just the CLI.