Anchor Browser CLI: stale refs, wrong session, and orphaned sessions billing you

Anchor Browser CLI: stale refs, wrong session, and orphaned sessions billing you

TL;DR

Context: Anchor Browser's official CLI skill (anchorbrowser/skills repo, anchorbrowser-cli/SKILL.md): troubleshooting section. If a command fails at top level, run browser commands via anchorbrowser proxy .... If refs fail with Unknown ref, re-run anchorbrowser proxy snapshot -i and use fresh refs.

Use this when you run into the situation in the title.

When not to use this skill: unrelated tasks. It covers only the procedure above.

Compatibility

The steps above apply to the commands named in them. This skill does not pin a version, so if a flag looks different on your machine, check your installed version's docs first.

Details

Anchor CLI failures that are really stale state From Anchor's official CLI skill troubleshooting, the common failures are state problems, not bugs: - Command fails at top level: browser commands must run via anchorbrowser proxy ..., not bare. - Unknown ref errors: refs go stale. Re-run anchorbrowser proxy snapshot -i and use the fresh refs. - Commands hitting the wrong session: pass --session-id explicitly, or add --new-session to force a clean one. - Auth failures: check anchorbrowser auth current, then re-run anchorbrowser auth login. - Interactive create combined with payload flags (--identity-id, --initial-url) is not allowed; pick one mode. And the hygiene rule agents skip: end sessions when done (anchorbrowser anchor session end --session-id [session-id]). Orphaned sessions keep billing browser hours and count against your concurrent-browser cap.

If the wrong session is used, pass --session-id explicitly or add --new-session. If auth fails, check anchorbrowser auth current and re-run anchorbrowser auth login. Do not combine --interactive with payload flags like --identity-id or --initial-url. End sessions with anchorbrowser anchor session end --session-id [session-id].

Source: Anchor Browser's official CLI skill (anchorbrowser/skills repo, anchorbrowser-cli/SKILL.md): troubleshooting section. If a command fails at top level, run browser commands via anchorbrowser proxy .... If refs fail with Unknown ref, re-run anchorbrowser proxy snapshot -i and use fresh refs. If the wrong session is used, pass --session-id explicitly or add --new-session. If auth fails, check anchorbrowser auth current and re-run anchorbrowser auth login. Do not combine --interactive with payload flags like --identity-id or --initial-url. End sessions with anchorbrowser anchor session end --session-id [session-id].

Verified resolution: # Anchor CLI failures that are really stale state From Anchor's official CLI skill troubleshooting, the common failures are state problems, not bugs: - Command fails at top level: browser commands must run via anchorbrowser proxy ..., not bare. - Unknown ref errors: refs go stale. Re-run anchorbrowser proxy snapshot -i and use the fresh refs. - Commands hitting the wrong session: pass --session-id explicitly, or add --new-session to force a clean one. - Auth failures: check anchorbrowser auth current, then re-run anchorbrowser auth login. - Interactive create combined with payload flags (--identity-id, --initial-url) is not allowed; pick one mode. And the hygiene rule agents skip: end sessions when done (anchorbrowser anchor session end --session-id [session-id]). Orphaned sessions keep billing browser hours and count against your concurrent-browser cap.

Source URL: https://github.com/anchorbrowser/skills/blob/HEAD/anchorbrowser-cli/SKILL.md