---
title: Rollback Steel to Camoufox
type: decision
status: active
created: 2026-08-02
updated: 2026-08-02
verified_on: 2026-08-02
confidence: high
tags: [decision, browser, steel, camofox, rollback]
sources: [session-history, live-config]
---

# Decision: Rollback Steel Browser → Camoufox

## Date
2026-07-30

## Context
Steel Browser was deployed on CT201 on 2026-07-29 as the primary browser automation backend, replacing Camoufox. It ran for approximately 24 hours before being reverted.

## Options Considered
| Option | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| **Keep Steel** | Full CDP access, session viewer UI, Docker isolation | CDP URL normalization issues, network hop, empty-stream errors |
| **Revert to Camoufox** | Local (no network hop), already authenticated, fewer failure modes | Headed display consumes resources, no built-in session viewer |
| **Both (Steel primary, Camoufox fallback)** | Redundancy | Complexity, two backends to maintain, unclear which one Hermes uses per-request |

## Decision
**Revert to Camoufox as primary.** Steel plugin disabled but left running on CT201.

## Rationale
1. **Reliability:** Camoufox runs on the same host as Hermes (CT450) — no Docker networking, no CDP URL normalization patches, no container-to-host routing issues.
2. **Auth persistence:** Camoufox's persistent profile `anthony` is already authenticated into key services (Uber Eats, LinkedIn). Steel required cookie re-exports.
3. **Failure mode:** The `opencode-go/deepseek-v4-flash` empty-stream errors were hitting all providers, but Steel added an extra failure surface (CDP connection, plugin layer) on top of the same problem.
4. **DeepSeek 0731 compatibility:** The new model's stricter tool name validation (`^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+$`) affected all providers — not a Steel-specific issue, but another reason to minimise the toolchain.

## Consequences
- **Positive:** Browser automation is stable again. Uber Eats report ran successfully via Camofox on 2026-08-01.
- **Negative:** Steel's session viewer UI and full CDP access are no longer available to Hermes.
- **Neutral:** Steel still runs on CT201 — can be re-enabled by uncommenting `.env` lines and enabling the plugin.

## Evidence
- Camoufox verified working Jul 30: `browserConnected: true`, `sessions: 1`, `tabs: 1`, active 200s
- Uber Eats report (Aug 1) successfully scraped via Camofox REST API — 11 orders, $264.51
- Steel plugin `browser-steel` still present at `/home/hermes/.hermes/plugins/browser-steel/` — disabled

## Related
- [[comparisons/steel-vs-camoufox]]
- [[systems/browser-backend]]
- [[concepts/browser-automation]]