[cdpfleet](https://cdpfleet.com/) / Launch interactive Try it live # Try it live, *then automate it*. In the dashboard's code generator, pick a browser, proxy and options, enter a start page and click **Launch interactive**: the browser opens in your dashboard with full mouse and keyboard control. The code next to it launches exactly the same browser. [Open the code generator](https://cdpfleet.com/app#code-generator)[Docs](https://cdpfleet.com/docs/live-view#launch-interactive) - **0**lines of code to start - **start\_url**over the API - **10 min**longest idle on shared plans ## From the dashboard 1. Open the **code generator** on the dashboard overview and choose the browser, version, proxy and options. 2. Under **Try it live**, enter a start page and press **Launch interactive**. 3. The browser opens on that page in a live view in **control** mode — your mouse and keyboard reach it. Headless sessions get an address bar with back, forward and reload. 4. When it behaves the way you want, copy the code next to it: same browser, same options. ## Over the API: start\_url Add `start_url` to a launch and the server opens the page itself — no client has to connect. Ask the session's router for a `control` live link and drive it from any page with noVNC or the screencast protocol. ```http POST https://starter.cdpfleet.com/chrome/session { "proxy": "…", "headless": "new", "live_view": true, "start_url": "https://example.com" } POST https://router01.cdpfleet.com/admin/session/live // the host of wsUrl { "session_id": "…", "mode": "control" } ``` In control mode the screencast socket also takes `navigate`, `back`, `forward` and `reload` messages. Your code can still connect later: `browser.contexts()[0].pages()` holds the start page. ## How long it stays open - Mouse and keyboard input count as activity, and so does an open viewer: a session stays up while someone watches. - With no input and no one watching, the session ends after `inactivity_timeout` — 120 s by default, at most 10 minutes on shared plans and 5 on Community; [dedicated threads](https://cdpfleet.com/dedicated-threads) can set up to 24 hours. - The dashboard ends the session when you close the viewer, unless you launched with `keep_alive`. - It is a normal session for billing: [threads](https://cdpfleet.com/threads) and minutes while it runs, on every plan. ## Which browsers Any browser headful, or headless Chromium-based browsers with `"live_view": true` (otherwise `400 start_url_not_viewable`). Not on Rebrowser. `start_url` must be http or https, at most 2,048 characters. ## Related Cases, recipes, posts and comparisons about this — updated as new ones are published. ### Reference docs The details, options and errors. - [Live view → Launch interactive](https://cdpfleet.com/docs/live-view#launch-interactive)The dashboard flow and the API. - [start\_url](https://cdpfleet.com/docs/browsers/chrome#opt-start_url)The launch option. - [Errors & limits](https://cdpfleet.com/docs/errors)`invalid_start_url`, `start_url_not_viewable`. ### Cases 3 Real problems solved end to end, run on production in five languages. - [Case 82: Kept downloads in practice: a person in Launch interactive and an AI agent over MCP](https://cdpfleet.com/docs/cases/downloads-in-practice)Files nobody's code was waiting for: a person pastes file links into a Launch interactive session, an AI agent clicks a download and opens a file link through the…[Code on GitHub](https://github.com/cdpfleet/cdpfleet/tree/main/cases/82-downloads-in-practice) - [Case 58: Do it by hand in live view, then let your code finish in the same browser](https://cdpfleet.com/docs/cases/launch-interactive-to-code)Launch a browser with `start_url` and no client, drive it through a control-mode live link — address bar, Tab, typing — then connect your code: it finds the person's…[Code on GitHub](https://github.com/cdpfleet/cdpfleet/tree/main/cases/58-launch-interactive-to-code) - [Case 27: Watch it live: streaming a remote browser to your code, frame by frame](https://cdpfleet.com/docs/cases/live-view)Playwright 1.60's page.screencast on Chromium and Firefox: how many frames arrive while a page loads, scrolls and sits still — and why the two engines behave nothing…[Code on GitHub](https://github.com/cdpfleet/cdpfleet/tree/main/cases/27-live-view) ### Recipes 4 Complete programs for one setup each. - [Live view: stream the page to your code](https://cdpfleet.com/docs/examples#live-view)Watch the remote browser while your code drives it: `page.screencast` sends a JPEG frame whenever the page changes (Playwright 1.60+). See [Live view](https://cdpfleet.com/docs/live-view).[Code on GitHub](https://github.com/cdpfleet/cdpfleet/tree/main/examples/recipes/live-view) - [Headless Chrome a person can watch and take over](https://cdpfleet.com/docs/examples#chrome-headless-live-view)Headful sessions are always watchable; a headless one needs `live_view: true` at launch. Then `POST /admin/session/live` on the session's router returns a screencast…[Code on GitHub](https://github.com/cdpfleet/cdpfleet/tree/main/examples/recipes/chrome-headless-live-view) - [Open a page on the server, take over in live view, then join from code](https://cdpfleet.com/docs/examples#start-url-live)`start_url` makes the server open the page itself, so no client has to connect. To click and type in it, get a `control` live link (\`POST https://