Writing Objectives

The objective string is the most important input to Kane CLI. How you phrase it determines what the agent does and whether it succeeds. Objectives follow three patterns that you can combine freely.

Three Patterns

Pattern	Keywords	Purpose
🎯 Action	go to, click, type, fill, search, scroll, hover, select, submit	Performs browser actions
✅ Assertion	assert, verify, confirm, check that, ensure	Validates a condition: produces pass/fail
📦 Extraction	store X as 'name'	Reads a value from the page, persists in output

Actions

Use imperative verbs to describe what the agent should do:

"go to https://example.com"
"click the 'Add to Cart' button"
"fill the email field with [email protected]"
"scroll down to the pricing section"
"select 'Premium' from the plan dropdown"

Assertions

Assertions validate page state. The test fails if the condition is not met.

"assert the page contains 'Order Confirmed'"
"verify the cart total shows '$29.99'"
"confirm no error message is visible"
"check that the Submit button is disabled"

Extractions: The "store as" Pattern

Extractions read a value from the page and store it in the run output's final_state field.

Always use the explicit store X as 'name' syntax. Vague phrasing like "tell me" or "read" does not reliably capture data.

❌ Bad: agent may see it but won't persist it:

"go to example.com and tell me the price"
"read the page title"

✅ Good: value is captured in final_state:

"go to example.com, store the price of the first item as 'price'"
"store the page title as 'page_title'"

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Combining Patterns

Chain all three patterns in one objective:

"go to {{app_url}}/dashboard,
 store the welcome message as 'welcome_text',
 store the user role in the sidebar as 'role',
 assert the role is 'Admin',
 click the Settings button,
 assert the page contains 'Account Settings'"

This objective: navigates → extracts two values → validates a condition → performs an action → validates the result.

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Real Examples

Login flow

kane-cli run \
  --url https://app.example.com \
  --variables-file ./creds.json \
  "fill the email field with '{{email}}',
   fill the password field with '{{password}}',
   click the Login button,
   assert the page contains 'Dashboard',
   store the logged-in username as 'username'"

Search with filters

kane-cli run \
  --url https://shop.example.com/products \
  "click the Category filter,
   select 'Electronics',
   click the Sort dropdown,
   select 'Price: Low to High',
   store the count of products as 'result_count',
   assert the result_count is greater than 0"

Settings change

kane-cli run \
  --url https://app.example.com/account \
  "click the Settings tab,
   scroll down to the Notification section,
   check the 'Email Notifications' checkbox,
   click Save,
   assert the page shows 'Settings saved successfully'"

Checkout

kane-cli run \
  --url https://shop.example.com/cart \
  --variables-file ./payment.json \
  "store the cart total as 'total',
   assert the total is greater than 0,
   click Checkout,
   fill the card number field with '{{card_number}}',
   fill the expiry field with '{{card_expiry}}',
   fill the CVC field with '{{card_cvc}}',
   click Place Order,
   assert the page contains 'Order Confirmed',
   store the order number as 'order_id'"

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Assertion Types

Type	Example
Exact match	assert the total shows '$29.99'
Contains	assert the page contains 'Welcome'
State	assert the Submit button is disabled
Conditional	if a cookie banner appears, dismiss it, then assert the homepage loads
Negative	assert no error message is visible
Positional	assert 'Settings' appears in the left sidebar

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Dos and Don'ts

✅ Do	❌ Don't
Use imperative verbs: "go to", "click", "store as"	Use vague verbs: "check out", "look at", "explore"
Be specific: "click the blue 'Submit' in the checkout form"	Be ambiguous: "click the button"
Name extractions: "store X as 'name'"	Expect implicit capture: "tell me the price"
Use {{variables}} for credentials and URLs	Hardcode secrets in the objective
Always provide --url	Assume the agent knows where to start
Split objectives with >15 steps	Cram 30 steps into one objective

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Splitting Long Objectives

Objectives with more than 15 steps drift and become unreliable. Split them into multiple runs.

In Interactive TUI, the browser stays open between runs: state carries over automatically:

> go to https://myapp.com and log in as admin
  ✓ PASSED

> navigate to User Management and create a new user "[email protected]"
  ✓ PASSED

> verify the new user appears in the users table
  ✓ PASSED

In Headless CLI, use --max-steps to cap each run:

kane-cli run "login flow" --url https://myapp.com --max-steps 10
kane-cli run "dashboard check" --url https://myapp.com --max-steps 10

tip

A good rule: if your objective has more than three assert statements or more than five distinct actions, consider splitting it.