---
title: Quickstart
description: Install the cdp tools and confirm they can drive a browser, in about five minutes.
icon: rocket
---
# Quickstart
## Install
The tools need Go 1.26 or later and a Chromium-based browser — Chrome,
Chromium, Brave, Edge, Opera, or Vivaldi. They launch a browser you already
have rather than downloading one.
```bash
go install github.com/tmc/cdp/cmd/cdp@latest
go install github.com/tmc/cdp/cmd/churl@latest
go install github.com/tmc/cdp/cmd/cdpscript@latest
```
These land in `$(go env GOPATH)/bin`, usually `~/go/bin`. Make sure that is on
your `PATH`.
## Confirm a browser is found
```bash
cdp -list-browsers
```
```
Brave /Applications/Brave Browser.app/Contents/MacOS/Brave Browser Running
Brave /Applications/Brave Browser.app/Contents/MacOS/Brave Browser 151.1.93.129 Installed
Chrome Canary /Applications/Google Chrome Canary.app/…/Google Chrome Canary canary Installed
```
The columns are name, path, version, and whether that browser is running now.
Your list will differ. If nothing is found, or you want a specific browser,
pass `-chrome-path` to any command or set `CHROME_PATH` in the environment.
## Extract something from a page
This runs headless, so no window appears:
```bash
cdp -headless -url 'data:text/html,Hi
' -extract h1
```
```
"{\"text\":\"Hi\"}"
```
The result is a JSON string. `-extract-mode` selects what you get back —
`text`, `html`, `attr:name`, or `count`.
## Render a page as Markdown
```bash
cdp -headless -url 'data:text/html,Title
Body text.
' -render body
```
```
# Title
Body **text**.
```
## Confirm JavaScript actually runs
This is what separates these tools from `curl`. Serve a page whose content is
built by JavaScript after load:
```bash
mkdir -p /tmp/cdp-demo/api && cd /tmp/cdp-demo
echo '{"count":3}' > api/items
cat > index.html <<'HTML'
DemoDemo site
HTML
python3 -m http.server 8099 &
```
Now fetch it:
```bash
churl http://localhost:8099/
```
```
DemoDemo site
3
```
The `3
` does not exist in the served HTML — the page's own
JavaScript fetched it and inserted it. `curl http://localhost:8099/` does not
show it. Keep this server running if you want to follow the
[capture guide](/docs/capturing-traffic); otherwise stop it with
`pkill -f 'http.server 8099'`.
You are now in `/tmp/cdp-demo`, so anything you capture or screenshot next
lands there. `cd -` to go back.
## Take a screenshot
```bash
cdp -headless -url 'data:text/html,Hi
' -screenshot 'full shot.png'
```
```
Screenshot saved to: shot.png (3119 bytes)
```
The byte count will differ on your machine; fonts and device pixel ratio change
the rendering.
## Next steps
- [Tutorial: your first script](/docs/tutorial-first-script) — turn these one-off
commands into something repeatable that runs as a test.
- [How cdp works](/docs/how-cdp-works) — why there are several commands and when to
reach for each.
- [Troubleshooting](/docs/troubleshooting) — if any command above did not behave as
shown.