Webframe evaluated as a scraper and a sandbox
Current overview (not historical)
Simon Willison evaluates webframe, a Go-based browser-JavaScript runtime built on glaze and system browsers (WKWebView, WebKitGTK, WebView2), finding it performs comparably to shot-scraper for web scraping but suffers from CSP failures, zero-width viewport issues, hanging loads, and missing HTTP metadata. While praised for efficiency, the review notes it remains unsuitable for production use due to stability and functionality limitations.
Written with AI from the reporting · updated 10/27/2026
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- 1Unclassified fact stationOct 26, 00:00recorded Oct 27, 08:28single sourcerevised
webframe: evaluated as a scraper and a sandbox
Read original source ↗ Simon WillisonReplay this moment in the explorerEvidence & revisions · 1 source records
- Subject：
- webframe
- Action：
- evaluated as a scraper and a sandbox
- Object：
- browser-JavaScript runner
- Occurred (fact side)：
- Oct 26, 00:00
- Published (valid side)：
- Oct 27, 00:15
- First seen (known side)：
- Oct 27, 08:28
Fact stationSingle source · one-sided claimRevisedCopy may have been revised later; time replay is bounded. Layer labels group reading only, not causation between layers.
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- Simon WillisonRelated fact: single sourceSource report revisedwebframe evaluated as a fast scraper and sandbox tool
Report first recorded Oct 27, 08:28
webframe is a lightweight browser-JavaScript runner written in Go that executes web pages in a headless environment and outputs console.log to standard output. It was evaluated as a scraper with performance comparable to shot-scraper, but the evaluation identified significant rough edges including CSP failures, a 0×0 viewport, hanging loads, missing HTTP metadata, and limited browser controls.
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