Browser API FAQs

Can I choose the country that the Browser API will scrape from?

Which programming languages and tools are fully supported by Browser API?

How can I use Browser API with other languages and tools?

How do I see the status of the captcha?

You can use the CDP functionality to wait for a captcha to be solved and check its status. For detailed instructions and sample code, see this guideFor example, you can add this code snippet at the point in your script where you expect a captcha to appear:

const client = await page.target().createCDPSession();  
const {status} = await client.send('Captcha.solve', {detectTimeout: 30*1000});   
console.log(`Captcha solve status: ${status}`)

How can I debug what's happening behind the scenes during my Browser API session?

How to automatically launch devtools locally to view your live browser session?

If you would like to automatically launch devtools on every session to view your live browser session, you can integrate the following code snippet:

NodeJS - Puppeteer

// Node.js Puppeteer - launch devtools locally  

// Add these requirements in addition to the other required imports
const { exec } = require('child_process');  
const chromeExecutable = 'google-chrome';  

// Add these functions to the top of the script  
const delay = ms => new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, ms));  
const openDevtools = async (page, client) => {  
    // get current frameId  
    const frameId = page.mainFrame()._id;  
    // get URL for devtools from Browser API  
    const { url: inspectUrl } = await client.send('Page.inspect', { frameId });  
    // open devtools URL in local chrome  
    exec(`"${chromeExecutable}" "${inspectUrl}"`, error => {  
        if (error)  
            throw new Error('Unable to open devtools: ' + error);  
    });  
    // wait for devtools ui to load  
    await delay(5000);  
};  

// Add these lines before navigating to the target URL  
const page = await browser.newPage();  
const client = await page.target().createCDPSession();  
await openDevtools(page, client);  
await page.goto('http://example.com');

How can I get a screenshot of what's happening in the browser?

You can easily trigger a screenshot of the browser at any time by adding the following to your code:

NodeJS

// node.js puppeteer - Taking screenshot to file screenshot.png 
await page.screenshot({ path: 'screenshot.png', fullPage: true });

To take screenshots on Python and C# see here.

Why does the initial navigation for certain pages take longer than others?

There is a lot of “behind the scenes” work that goes into unlocking your targeted site.Some sites will take just a few seconds for navigation, while others might take even up to a minute or two as they require more complex unlocking procedures. As such, we recommend setting your navigation timeout to “2 minutes” to give the navigation enough time to succeed if needed.You can set your navigation timeout to 2 minutes by adding the following line in your script before your “page.goto” call.

// node.js puppeteer - Navigate to site with 2 min timeout  
page.goto('<https://example.com>', { timeout: 2*60*1000 });

What are the most Common Error codes?


Error Code	Meaning	What can you do about it?
Unexpected server response: 407	An issue with the remote browser’s port	Please check your remote browser’s port. The correct port for Browser API is port:9222
Unexpected server response: 403	Authentication Error	Check authentication credentials (username, password) and check that you are using the correct “Browser API” zone from Bright Data control panel
Unexpected server response: 503	Service Unavailable	We are likely scaling browsers right now to meet demand. Try to reconnect in 1 minute.

I can't seem to establish a connection with Browser API, do I have a connection issue?

If you’re experiencing connection issues, you can test your local Browser API connection with a simple curl to the following endpoint:

Shell

curl -v -u SBR_ZONE_FULL_USERNAME:SBR_ZONE_PASSWORD https://brd.superproxy.io:9222/json/protocol

If a JSON is returned within the response:

Your authentication and connection to Browser API are successful. Confirm you are using these exact configurations in your script.
If you are still facing issues connecting to Browser API, contact support for further assistance.

If a JSON is not returned within the response:

Check your authentication details from your Browser API zone, and ensure the USER and PASS values are correct.
Verify network Configuration: Confirm your network and/or firewall is not blocking outbound connections to https://brd.superproxy.io:9222.
If the issue persists, please contact support for further assistance.

How to Integrate Browser API with .NET Puppeteer Sharp?

Integration with the Browser API product with C# requires patching the PuppeteerSharp library to add support for websocket authentication. This can be done like the following:

C# PuppeteerSharp

using PuppeteerSharp;  
using System.Net.WebSockets;  
using System.Text;  
  
// Set the authentication credentials  
var auth = "SBR_ZONE_FULL_USERNAME:SBR_ZONE_PASSWORD";  
// Construct the WebSocket URL with authentication  
var ws = $"wss://{auth}@brd.superproxy.io:9222";  
// Custom WebSocket factory function  
async Task<WebSocket> ws_factory(Uri url, IConnectionOptions options, CancellationToken cancellationToken)  
  
{  
    // Create a new ClientWebSocket instance
    var socket = new ClientWebSocket();  
    // Extract the user information (username and password) from the URL  
    var user_info = url.UserInfo;  
    if (user_info != "")  
    {  
        // Encode the user information in Base64 format  
        var auth = Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.Default.GetBytes(user_info));  
        // Set the "Authorization" header of the WebSocket options with the encoded credentials  
        socket.Options.SetRequestHeader("Authorization", $"Basic {auth}");  
    }  
  
    // Disable the WebSocket keep-alive interval  
    socket.Options.KeepAliveInterval = TimeSpan.Zero;  
    // Connect to the WebSocket endpoint  
    await socket.ConnectAsync(url, cancellationToken);  
    return socket;  
}  
  
// Create ConnectOptions and configure the options  
var options = new ConnectOptions()  
  
{  
    // Set the BrowserWSEndpoint to the WebSocket URL  
    BrowserWSEndpoint = ws,  
    // Set the WebSocketFactory to the custom factory function  
    WebSocketFactory = ws_factory,  
};  
  
// Connect to the browser using PuppeteerSharp  
Console.WriteLine("Connecting to browser...");  
  
using (var browser = await Puppeteer.ConnectAsync(options))  
{  
    Console.WriteLine("Connected! Navigating...");  
    // Create a new page instance  
    var page = await browser.NewPageAsync();  
    // Navigate to the specified URL  
    await page.GoToAsync("https://example.com");  
    Console.WriteLine("Navigated! Scraping data...");  
    // Get the content of the page  
    var content = await page.GetContentAsync();  
    Console.WriteLine("Done!");  
    Console.WriteLine(content);  
}

How does the Browser API pricing work?

How do I reduce data and bandwidth consumption with Browser API?

Is password typing allowed with Browser API?

How can I keep the same IP address in Browser API sessions?

What’s the difference between integrating a proxy with automation scripts and using the Browser API?

How to make scraping faster with Browser API?

How do I know what type of proxies the Browser API is using?

How do I connect to Browser API with Playwright, Puppeteer, or Selenium?

Proxy vs. Browser API, what’s the difference and which endpoint do I use?

Regular Proxy Network: you launch your own browser/process and route traffic through brd.superproxy.io:33335, authenticating with brd-customer-<CID>-zone-<ZONE>:<PASSWORD> .
Browser API (formerly Scraping Browser): Bright Data spins up a managed, cloud Chrome for you. You do not start puppeteer.launch(). Instead, you attach to the remote browser:

const puppeteer = require('puppeteer-core');

const AUTH = 'SBR_ZONE_FULL_USERNAME:SBR_ZONE_PASSWORD';      // found in Browser API Zone → Overview
const WS  = `wss://${AUTH}@brd.superproxy.io:9222`; 

(async () => {
  const browser = await puppeteer.connect({browserWSEndpoint: WS});
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  await page.goto('https://example.com', {timeout: 2*60*1000});
  console.log(await page.title());
  await browser.close();
})();

Introduction

Product Guides

Where do I find the Browser API Debugger?

If a JSON is returned within the response:

If a JSON is not returned within the response: