browser-use/browser-use · error · RuntimeError

Failed to read skill from `{exe} skill`: {error}

Error message

Failed to read skill from `{exe} skill`: {error}

What it means

Error "Failed to read skill from `{exe} skill`: {error}" thrown in browser-use/browser-use.

Source

Thrown at browser_use/skills/install.py:83

def _install_browser_use_tool() -> None:
	uv = shutil.which('uv')
	if not uv:
		raise RuntimeError('Installing the Browser Use skill requires `uv`. Install uv, then rerun `browser-use skill install`.')

	result = subprocess.run([uv, 'tool', 'install', '--python', '3.12', '--upgrade', '--force', 'browser-use'])
	if result.returncode != 0:
		raise RuntimeError('Failed to install browser-use with `uv tool install --python 3.12 --upgrade --force browser-use`.')


def _load_skill_text_from_browser_harness_cli() -> str:
	exe = _browser_harness_executable()
	if exe is None:
		return _load_skill_text_from_package()

	result = subprocess.run([exe, 'skill'], capture_output=True, text=True)
	if result.returncode != 0:
		error = result.stderr.strip() or result.stdout.strip() or 'unknown error'
		raise RuntimeError(f'Failed to read skill from `{exe} skill`: {error}')

	from browser_use.skills.browser_use import as_browser_use_skill

	return as_browser_use_skill(result.stdout)


def _build_parser() -> argparse.ArgumentParser:
	parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
		prog='browser-use skill',
		description='Print or install the Browser Use skill.',
	)
	subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(dest='command')

	subparsers.add_parser('show', help='Print the skill text to stdout')

	install = subparsers.add_parser('install', help='Install the skill')
	install.add_argument(
		'--target',

View on GitHub (pinned to 6c73fced2f)

Solutions

  1. Verify the executable path `{exe}` exists and supports the `skill` subcommand.
  2. Check the reported error for details (permissions, corrupted install).

When it happens

Trigger: Reading the installed skill via `{exe} skill` fails or returns unexpected output.

Common situations: The installed browser-use CLI is broken, wrong version, or not on PATH.


AI-assisted analysis of browser-use/browser-use@6c73fced2f (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3ededbae49cd9999. Report an issue: GitHub.