Hugging Face Spaces are incredibly convenient for hosting demos, tools, and lightweight apps.

https://huggingface.co/

However, there is one limitation:

If a Space is not accessed for 48 hours, it goes to sleep.

This can be problematic when: • You share a demo URL and it’s slow on first access (cold start) • You host automation tools like n8n • You want your app to always feel “ready” • You want simple uptime monitoring

To solve this, I built a small automation:

GitHub Actions accesses my Space daily agent-browser opens the page and takes a screenshot The screenshot is posted to Discord

This achieves both: • ✅ Preventing sleep • ✅ Visual uptime monitoring

In this article, I’ll show you exactly how to set it up.

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Why use agent-browser?

You could simply curl the Space URL.

But I wanted: • A real browser access (not just HTTP ping) • To confirm the page fully renders • To capture a screenshot as proof • To visually verify that nothing is broken

For that, I used agent-browser, a CLI browser automation tool built on Playwright.

It works perfectly inside GitHub Actions.

agent-browser https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-browser

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The GitHub Actions Workflow

Here is the exact YAML file I use:

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 0 * * *"

jobs:
  access-hugging-face-n8n:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6

      - name: Install agent-browser
        run: npm install -g agent-browser

      - name: Install Playwright browsers
        run: agent-browser install --with-deps

      - name: Go to the hugging face space
        run: |
          agent-browser open ${{ secrets.HUGGING_FACE_SPACE_URL }}
          agent-browser wait --text "Sign in"
          agent-browser screenshot page.png
          agent-browser close

      - name: Notify Discord on done access
        if: success()
        run: |
          curl --fail-with-body -sS -X POST \
            -F 'payload_json={"content":"Hugging Face access job done."}' \
            -F "file1=@page.png;type=image/png" \
            "${{ secrets.DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL }}"

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How It Works

1. Scheduled Daily Run

cron: “0 0 * * *”

This runs once per day at 00:00 UTC.

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2. Install agent-browser

npm install -g agent-browser agent-browser install —with-deps

This installs Playwright and required browser dependencies inside the GitHub Actions runner.

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3. Open the Hugging Face Space

agent-browser open ${{ secrets.HUGGING_FACE_SPACE_URL }} agent-browser wait —text “Sign in” agent-browser screenshot page.png agent-browser close

What this does: 1. Opens the Space in a real browser 2. Waits until “Sign in” text appears (ensures full render) 3. Takes a screenshot 4. Closes the browser

The wait —text step prevents taking screenshots before the page is fully loaded.

You can change the text to something more specific to your app.

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4. Post Screenshot to Discord

curl -X POST
-F ‘payload_json={“content”:“Hugging Face access job done.”}’
-F “file1=@page.png;type=image/png”
”${{ secrets.DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL }}”

This sends: • A success message • The screenshot image

to your Discord channel via webhook.

Now you have both: • Sleep prevention • Daily visual health check

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Setting Up Secrets

In your GitHub repository:

Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions

Add: • HUGGING_FACE_SPACE_URL • DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL

These are securely injected into the workflow using:

${{ secrets.SECRET_NAME }}

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Why This Approach Is Nice

✅ Free to run

GitHub Actions free tier is sufficient.

✅ No server required

No EC2, no cron server, no maintenance.

✅ Real browser check

Not just ping — full rendering validation.

✅ Visual confirmation

You instantly see if something broke.

✅ Easy to extend

Add monitoring, metrics, multi-Space support.

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Optional Improvements

You could extend this further: • Fail the job if specific text is missing • Measure page load time • Upload screenshots to S3 / R2 • Monitor multiple Spaces in parallel • Add Slack notifications • Store screenshots as GitHub Action artifacts

You can even turn this into a lightweight uptime monitoring system.

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Conclusion

Hugging Face Spaces going to sleep can be inconvenient.

But with:

GitHub Actions + agent-browser

you can: • Automatically keep your Space awake • Capture daily screenshots • Get notified via Discord • Monitor visual health

All without running your own server.

Simple, effective, and fully automated.