Connecting a PHP CDP client to BrowserCat - pass the full wss URL and API key, not host+port

TL;DR

To drive a BrowserCat cloud browser over CDP from PHP, connect to wss://api.browsercat.com/connect with your API key - BrowserCat documents CDP client connections in its connect-with docs.

Fix

1. To drive a BrowserCat cloud browser over CDP from PHP, connect to wss://api.browsercat.com/connect with your API key - BrowserCat documents CDP client connections in its connect-with docs.

Expected: you can confirm this matches your situation.

When to use

• You are dealing with this situation.
• The symptom matches: Connecting a PHP CDP client to BrowserCat - pass the full wss URL and API key, not host+port.

When NOT to use

• Unrelated issues with a different cause.
• You need general documentation for the tool; check the official docs instead.

Compatibility

Reported per the linked source.

Variant phrasings

Connecting a PHP CDP client to BrowserCat - pass the full wss URL and API key, not host+port

Why it happens

GitHub issue jakubkulhan/chrome-devtools-protocol#45 (closed, 4 comments): a BrowserCat engineer asked how to connect a PHP CDP client to a remote BrowserCat browser via the wss://api.browsercat.com/connect endpoint. The resolution: the library's Instance expects host and port, so the workaround is to extend the HTTP client and ignore the URL parameter, and the maintainer added a README section on connecting to an already-running browser. BrowserCat documents this under its connect-with/cdp-clients docs.

Edge cases

• If your error message differs even slightly, this is probably a different issue; search the exact text.
• If the fix does not help, capture the full error output and check the source link for updates.