Build AI Browser Automation Agents Faster in Your IDE with Nova Act

Accelerate AI agent development with the Nova Act IDE extension

The Nova Act extension streamlines how you build browser automation agents directly inside your IDE. It integrates with Visual Studio Code, Cursor, and Kiro, and is built on the Amazon Nova Act SDK (preview).

The result: fewer context switches, faster iteration, and production-grade scripts without leaving your editor. Use it for form filling, QA automation, search flows, and complex multi-step workflows.

Key capabilities

• Natural language to working scripts: Describe a workflow, get a Python agent script you can run and edit.
• Notebook-style Builder Mode: Atomic, cell-based editing so you can test each step before moving on.
• Integrated browser testing: Launch a live view to see actions play out, with execution logs and action traces.
• Chat + Builder handoff: Generate in chat, then convert to a Python file in Builder Mode with one click.
• Templates for common tasks: Use quick-start prompts for shopping, search, extraction, QA, and form filling.
• Three workflow modes: Ask (generate), Edit (refine), Agent (run and monitor).
• Context injection: Provide active docs, instructions, Model Context Protocol (MCP) resources, and a window screenshot to guide the agent. Learn more about MCP on GitHub.

Get started in minutes

• Install the Nova Act extension from your IDE's marketplace. In VS Code, open Extensions, search for "Nova Act," and install.
• Get your API key from the Nova Act page. Open the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P), select "Set API Key," and paste it.
• Open Builder Mode to start with a notebook-style file that breaks your automation into cells.

Build and test in Builder Mode

• Use the right-side Live view to preview browser actions and the Output panel to track execution logs.
• Select Run all cells to spin up a browser instance and execute your prompt end to end. Use Fullscreen to observe the flow clearly.
• Click any cell's log in the Output panel to debug that step without disturbing the rest of the workflow.

Generate via chat or templates

You can create a script directly from chat: select the extension and choose Generate Nova Act Script. Once you're satisfied, choose Start Builder Mode to materialize a Python file and continue iterating cell by cell.

• Ask: Describe tasks in natural language to generate automation scripts.
• Edit: Refine or customize generated scripts before execution.
• Agent: Run, monitor, and interact with the agent during execution.

Add Context to pass relevant files, instructions, MCP resources, or a screenshot of your current window. The agent uses this to align with your exact requirements.

Type "/" in chat to access predefined templates for common workflows. Examples include:

• /shopping: Search, compare, and purchase.
• /extract: Data extraction.
• /search: Search and information gathering.
• /qa: QA and testing automation.
• /formfilling: Forms and data entry.

Where this fits in your stack

Prototype with natural language, customize via modular scripting, and validate locally with integrated testing. Pull in APIs, data sources, and auth to ship agents that mirror real user behavior across long, multi-step flows.

Things to know

• Supported IDEs: Visual Studio Code, Cursor, and Kiro at launch, with more planned.
• Open source: Available under the Apache 2.0 license for contributions and customization.
• Pricing: No charge for the extension. Install from your IDE marketplace or visit the GitHub repository for docs and examples.

Next steps

Install the extension, set your API key, and generate your first agent with Ask mode. Move to Builder Mode for precise, stepwise control and integrated testing.

Want structured learning on automation and agent workflows? Explore practical resources on automation from Complete AI Training.