Web and Data Operations

Web and Data Operations

This skill covers four data-oriented tools: Scrape (web content extraction), Clipboard (read/write clipboard), MultiSelect (batch item selection), and MultiEdit (bulk form input).

Scrape

Extract information from web pages by URL.

Key parameter: url (required — the page to scrape)

Returns: Extracted page content as text.

When to Use Scrape vs. Snapshot DOM

Scenario	Use Scrape	Use Snapshot (DOM)
Page is already open in browser	No	Yes
Need data from a URL not yet visited	Yes	No
Need to interact with page elements	No	Yes
Just need the text content	Yes	Either
Need to fill forms or click links	No	Yes

Scrape Patterns

Basic content extraction:

Scrape(url="https://example.com/data-page")
-> process extracted text

Sequential multi-page extraction:

Scrape(url="https://example.com/page/1") -> extract data
Scrape(url="https://example.com/page/2") -> extract data
-> combine results

Best practices:

• Use for publicly accessible pages
• Combine with Clipboard(write) to store extracted data
• For authenticated pages, use browser GUI automation instead (navigate, log in, then use Snapshot with use_dom=True)

Clipboard

Read from or write to the Windows system clipboard.

Read Clipboard

Clipboard(action="read")

Returns the current clipboard text content.

Write Clipboard

Clipboard(action="write", text="Data to paste")

Writes text to the clipboard for pasting.

Clipboard Workflows

Extract selected text from any app:

Shortcut("ctrl+a") -> select all
Shortcut("ctrl+c") -> copy to clipboard
Clipboard(read) -> retrieve the text

Paste specific content into any app:

Clipboard(write, text="Prepared content")
Click(target_field_x, target_field_y)
Shortcut("ctrl+v") -> paste

Transfer data between applications:

App(switch to source) -> Wait(0.5)
Shortcut("ctrl+a") -> Shortcut("ctrl+c")
text = Clipboard(read)
-> process or transform the text
Clipboard(write, text=processed_text)
App(switch to destination) -> Wait(0.5)
Click(target_field) -> Shortcut("ctrl+v")

Best practices:

• Read clipboard immediately after ctrl+c — other actions may overwrite it
• Write to clipboard before switching to the target app
• Clipboard only supports text — for images or files, use GUI automation

MultiSelect

Select multiple items simultaneously (files, folders, checkboxes, list items).

Key parameter: items (array — list of items to select, by coordinates or identifiers)

MultiSelect Patterns

Select multiple files in File Explorer:

Snapshot -> identify file positions
MultiSelect(items=[file1_coords, file2_coords, file3_coords])

Select checkboxes in a form:

Snapshot -> identify checkbox positions
MultiSelect(items=[checkbox1, checkbox2, checkbox3])

Advantages over individual clicks:

• Faster than sequential Click operations
• Atomically selects all items (no risk of losing selection)
• Handles the Ctrl+Click pattern automatically

Best practices:

• Always Snapshot first to identify item positions
• Verify selection with Screenshot after MultiSelect
• For file operations, follow MultiSelect with the desired action (copy, delete, move)

MultiEdit

Input text into multiple form fields simultaneously.

Key parameter: fields (array — field identifiers with their values)

MultiEdit Patterns

Fill a complete form:

Snapshot -> identify all form fields
MultiEdit(fields=[
  {field: field1_id, value: "First Name"},
  {field: field2_id, value: "Last Name"},
  {field: field3_id, value: "email@example.com"}
])

Advantages over sequential Type:

• Significantly faster than Click + Type for each field
• Reduces errors from misclicked fields
• Handles focus management automatically

Best practices:

• Always Snapshot first to identify field IDs
• Verify filled values with Screenshot after MultiEdit
• For dropdowns or non-text fields, use Click and GUI interaction instead

Combined Data Workflows

Web Data to Spreadsheet

Scrape(url) -> extract data
-> format as tab-separated values
Clipboard(write, text=formatted_data)
App(switch to Excel) -> Wait(0.5)
Click(target_cell) -> Shortcut("ctrl+v")

Batch File Operations

App(launch "File Explorer") -> Wait(2)
Navigate to folder via address bar
Snapshot -> identify files
MultiSelect(items=[target_files])
Shortcut("ctrl+c") -> copy files
Navigate to destination folder
Shortcut("ctrl+v") -> paste files

Form Automation

App(switch to browser) -> Wait(0.5)
Snapshot -> identify all form fields
MultiEdit(fields=[all_field_values])
Snapshot -> identify submit button
Click(submit_x, submit_y)
Wait(1) -> Screenshot -> verify submission

Error Handling

• Scrape returns empty: The page may require authentication or JavaScript rendering. Use browser GUI + Snapshot(use_dom=True) instead
• Clipboard read returns old data: Ensure ctrl+c completed before reading. Add Wait(0.3) between copy and read
• MultiSelect misses items: Re-Snapshot to get updated positions (window may have scrolled or resized)
• MultiEdit skips fields: Some fields may be disabled or read-only. Use Snapshot to verify field types

Additional Resources

Reference Files

For advanced data extraction and manipulation patterns:

• references/data-patterns.md — Advanced scraping strategies, clipboard automation chains, and bulk operation patterns