Cache management¶

browserget stores all downloaded browser and driver binaries in a cache directory. This page explains where the cache lives, how to configure it, and how to clean it up.

Cache location¶

The default cache directory depends on your operating system:

OS	Default path
Windows	`%LOCALAPPDATA%\browserget`
macOS	`~/.browserget`
Linux	`~/.browserget`

Custom cache directory¶

Set the BROWSERGET_CACHE_DIR environment variable to override the default:

export BROWSERGET_CACHE_DIR=/opt/browserget-cache
browserget install chrome

This is useful for CI systems where you want to cache the directory between runs:

# GitHub Actions example
- name: Cache browsers
  uses: actions/cache@v4
  with:
    path: ~/.browserget
    key: browserget-${{ runner.os }}

- name: Install browsers
  run: |
    pip install browserget
    browserget ensure chrome chromedriver

Directory structure¶

~/.browserget/
├── registry.json              # JSON registry of all installed artifacts
├── chrome/
│   └── 131.0.6778.87/         # Extracted Chrome binary
│       ├── chrome             # (or chrome.exe on Windows)
│       └── ...
├── chromedriver/
│   └── 131.0.6778.87/         # Extracted ChromeDriver binary
│       ├── chromedriver
│       └── ...
├── firefox/
│   └── 131.0/                 # Extracted Firefox
│       └── ...
└── downloads/                 # Temporary download directory (cleaned up)

Registry format¶

The registry.json file tracks every installed artifact. It is a JSON object mapping artifact names to lists of installed versions:

{
  "chrome": [
    {
      "name": "chrome",
      "version": "131.0.6778.87",
      "path": "/home/user/.browserget/chrome/131.0.6778.87",
      "installed_at": "2026-08-15T07:43:00+00:00",
      "checksum": "abc123..."
    }
  ],
  "chromedriver": [
    {
      "name": "chromedriver",
      "version": "131.0.6778.87",
      "path": "/home/user/.browserget/chromedriver/131.0.6778.87",
      "installed_at": "2026-08-15T07:43:30+00:00",
      "checksum": "def456..."
    }
  ]
}

Registry writes are atomic — browserget writes to a temporary file first, then uses os.replace to swap it into place.

Removing artifacts¶

Remove a single target¶

browserget remove chrome

This deletes the artifact directory and removes the entry from the registry.

Remove a specific version¶

browserget remove chrome --version 130.0.6723.69

Remove all versions¶

browserget remove chrome --all

Health checks¶

Run doctor to verify the cache is healthy:

browserget doctor

Output:

  ✓ Cache directory: /home/user/.browserget
  ✓ Registry: 2 artifacts
  ✓ Disk space: 45213MB free, 187MB cache
  ✓ System browsers: chrome 131.0.6778.87
  ✓ CfT API: reachable
  ✓ Firefox FTP: reachable
  ✓ Edge API: reachable
  ✓ GitHub API: reachable

Disk space

Browser binaries are large (150-200 MB each). If you install multiple browsers and drivers, the cache can grow quickly. Use browserget remove to clean up unused artifacts, or simply delete the cache directory and reinstall what you need.

Environment variables¶

Variable	Default	Description
`BROWSERGET_CACHE_DIR`	OS-specific	Cache directory path
`BROWSERGET_TIMEOUT`	`30`	HTTP request timeout in seconds
`BROWSERGET_MAX_RETRIES`	`3`	Maximum HTTP retry attempts
`BROWSERGET_VERBOSE`	`false`	Enable verbose logging