diff --git a/src/capabilityRouting.test.ts b/src/capabilityRouting.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3bbb01b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/capabilityRouting.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { Strategy, type CliCommand } from './registry.js';
+import { shouldUseBrowserSession } from './capabilityRouting.js';
+
+function makeCmd(partial: Partial<CliCommand>): CliCommand {
+  return {
+    site: 'test',
+    name: 'command',
+    description: '',
+    args: [],
+    ...partial,
+  };
+}
+
+describe('shouldUseBrowserSession', () => {
+  it('skips browser session for public fetch-only pipelines', () => {
+    expect(shouldUseBrowserSession(makeCmd({
+      browser: true,
+      strategy: Strategy.PUBLIC,
+      pipeline: [{ fetch: 'https://example.com/api' }, { select: 'items' }],
+    }))).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('keeps browser session for public pipelines with browser-only steps', () => {
+    expect(shouldUseBrowserSession(makeCmd({
+      browser: true,
+      strategy: Strategy.PUBLIC,
+      pipeline: [{ navigate: 'https://example.com' }, { evaluate: '() => []' }],
+    }))).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('keeps browser session for non-public strategies', () => {
+    expect(shouldUseBrowserSession(makeCmd({
+      browser: true,
+      strategy: Strategy.COOKIE,
+      pipeline: [{ fetch: 'https://example.com/api' }],
+    }))).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('keeps browser session for function adapters', () => {
+    expect(shouldUseBrowserSession(makeCmd({
+      browser: true,
+      strategy: Strategy.PUBLIC,
+      func: async () => [],
+    }))).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/capabilityRouting.ts b/src/capabilityRouting.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c954045
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/capabilityRouting.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import { Strategy, type CliCommand } from './registry.js';
+
+const BROWSER_ONLY_STEPS = new Set([
+  'navigate',
+  'click',
+  'type',
+  'wait',
+  'press',
+  'snapshot',
+  'evaluate',
+  'intercept',
+  'tap',
+]);
+
+function pipelineNeedsBrowserSession(pipeline: Record<string, unknown>[]): boolean {
+  return pipeline.some((step) => {
+    if (!step || typeof step !== 'object') return false;
+    return Object.keys(step).some((op) => BROWSER_ONLY_STEPS.has(op));
+  });
+}
+
+export function shouldUseBrowserSession(cmd: CliCommand): boolean {
+  if (!cmd.browser) return false;
+  if (cmd.func) return true;
+  if (!cmd.pipeline || cmd.pipeline.length === 0) return true;
+  if (cmd.strategy !== Strategy.PUBLIC) return true;
+  return pipelineNeedsBrowserSession(cmd.pipeline as Record<string, unknown>[]);
+}
diff --git a/src/cli.ts b/src/cli.ts
index f2b8758..2f9467b 100644
--- a/src/cli.ts
+++ b/src/cli.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import { browserSession, DEFAULT_BROWSER_COMMAND_TIMEOUT, runWithTimeout } from
 import { PKG_VERSION } from './version.js';
 import { printCompletionScript } from './completion.js';
 import { CliError } from './errors.js';
+import { shouldUseBrowserSession } from './capabilityRouting.js';
 
 export function runCli(BUILTIN_CLIS: string, USER_CLIS: string): void {
   const program = new Command();
@@ -158,7 +159,7 @@ export function runCli(BUILTIN_CLIS: string, USER_CLIS: string): void {
       try {
         if (actionOpts.verbose) process.env.OPENCLI_VERBOSE = '1';
         let result: any;
-        if (cmd.browser) {
+        if (shouldUseBrowserSession(cmd)) {
           const BrowserFactory = process.env.OPENCLI_CDP_ENDPOINT ? CDPBridge : BrowserBridge;
           result = await browserSession(BrowserFactory as any, async (page) => {
             return runWithTimeout(executeCommand(cmd, page, kwargs, actionOpts.verbose), { timeout: cmd.timeoutSeconds ?? DEFAULT_BROWSER_COMMAND_TIMEOUT, label: fullName(cmd) });