# Introduction

Obscura is an open-source headless browser engine written in Rust. It runs JavaScript via V8, speaks the Chrome DevTools Protocol, and works as a drop-in replacement for headless Chrome with Puppeteer and Playwright.

### Versus headless Chrome

| Metric      | Obscura  | Headless Chrome |
| ----------- | -------- | --------------- |
| Memory      | 30 MB    | 200+ MB         |
| Binary size | 70 MB    | 300+ MB         |
| Startup     | Instant  | \~2s            |
| Page load   | 85 ms    | \~500 ms        |
| Anti-detect | Built-in | None            |
| Puppeteer   | Yes      | Yes             |
| Playwright  | Yes      | Yes             |

### Quickstart

* [Installation](/quickstart/installation.md)
* [Your first fetch](/quickstart/your-first-fetch.md)
* [Extract data](/quickstart/extract-data.md)
* [Connect Puppeteer or Playwright](/quickstart/connect-puppeteer-or-playwright.md)

### Guides

* [Build from source](/guides/build-from-source.md)
* [Configure stealth and proxies](/guides/configure-stealth-and-proxies.md)
* [Markdown extraction](/guides/markdown-extraction.md)
* [Use with Puppeteer](/guides/use-with-puppeteer.md)
* [Use with Playwright](/guides/use-with-playwright.md)
* [Use the MCP server](/guides/use-the-mcp-server.md)
* [Use as a Rust library](/guides/use-as-a-rust-library.md)
* [Persist cookies and storage](/guides/persist-cookies-and-storage.md)
* [Intercept and modify requests](/guides/intercept-and-modify-requests.md)
* [Run in production at scale](/guides/run-in-production-at-scale.md)

### Reference

* [CLI reference](/reference/cli-reference.md)
* [Environment variables](/reference/environment-variables.md)

### Contributing

* [Architecture overview](/contributing/architecture-overview.md)
* [Adding a CDP method or Web API](/contributing/adding-a-cdp-method-or-web-api.md)
* [Testing and debugging](/contributing/testing-and-debugging.md)

### Links

* Source: <https://github.com/h4ckf0r0day/obscura>
* Releases: <https://github.com/h4ckf0r0day/obscura/releases>
* Issues: <https://github.com/h4ckf0r0day/obscura/issues>

License: Apache-2.0.


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.obscura.sh/readme.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.