Browser Automation That Survives UI Updates

#showdev #webdev #ai #automation

The biggest lie in browser automation is that you can write a script once and forget about it. Anyone who's built automation knows the truth: websites change, selectors break, and maintenance never ends.

But what if your automation could adapt? What if it understood what you wanted to do, not just where to click?

The Fragility Problem

Traditional automation relies on specific identifiers:

CSS selectors like .submit-button
XPath expressions like //div[@id='form']/button
Element IDs that change without warning

When a designer updates the UI, your automation breaks. When a developer refactors the code, your scripts fail. You're not describing intent—you're hardcoding implementation.

Intent-Based Automation

What if instead of telling the computer "click the button with ID submit-btn", you said "submit the form"?

The computer would figure out:

Where the form is
What the submit button looks like
How to trigger the submission
How to verify it worked

This is intent-based automation. And it's the future.

How SkillForge Makes This Real

SkillForge uses AI to extract intent from screen recordings:

Record yourself performing a task
AI analyzes the recording to understand goals and workflows
Generate SKILL.md files that describe intent, not implementation
Deploy to any compatible agent framework

The SKILL.md format looks like this:

# Submit Contact Form

## Goal
Send a message through the contact form

## Workflow
1. Locate the contact form
2. Fill in name, email, and message fields
3. Click the submit button
4. Verify success message appears

## Context
- Form is typically in the main content area
- Submit button is the primary CTA
- Success message confirms "Thank you" or similar

Notice: No selectors. No IDs. Just semantic descriptions.

Why This Survives Updates

When the website updates:

Traditional automation: 💥 Broken
Intent-based automation: ✅ Adapts

The AI uses visual understanding and semantic reasoning to locate elements. It knows what a "submit button" looks like, regardless of its CSS class or ID.