Simon Willison Evaluates webframe as a Scraper and Sandbox
webframe: evaluated as a scraper and a sandbox
- Who
- Simon Willison
- What
- evaluated webframe as a web scraping and sandboxing tool
- Quote
I had Claude Opus 5.5 put it through its paces and prepare a research report for me.
What happened
Simon Willison reports that webframe, a project by Jeff Lindsay, is a fast, lightweight browser JavaScript runner for scraping, with performance comparable to shot-scraper. His evaluation, prepared with Claude Opus 5.5, found rough edges including CSP failures, a 0×0 viewport, hanging loads, missing HTTP metadata, and limited browser controls.
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See the full storySimon Willison Tests webframe for Scraping and Sandboxing, Finds Browser LimitationsThe story so far
Simon Willison evaluated Jeff Lindsay’s webframe as a scraping and sandboxing tool and reported scraping performance comparable to shot-scraper, alongside several browser limitations. His evaluation, prepared with Claude Opus 5.5, found Content Security Policy failures, a 0×0 viewport, page loads that hung, missing HTTP metadata, and limited browser controls. Willison described webframe as a fast, lightweight browser JavaScript runner for scraping. The findings identify practical rough edges in that use; the reported speed comparison does not establish its effectiveness as a sandbox.
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