> Puppeteer is a Node library which provides a high-level API to control Chrome or Chromium over the [DevTools Protocol](https://chromedevtools.github.io/devtools-protocol/). Puppeteer runs [headless](https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2017/04/headless-chrome) by default, but can be configured to run full (non-headless) Chrome or Chromium.
<!-- [START usecases] -->
##### What can I do?
Most things that you can do manually in the browser can be done using Puppeteer! Here are a few examples to get you started:
- Generate screenshots and PDFs of pages.
- Crawl a SPA (Single-Page Application) and generate pre-rendered content (i.e. "SSR" (Server-Side Rendering)).
- Automate form submission, UI testing, keyboard input, etc.
- Create an up-to-date, automated testing environment. Run your tests directly in the latest version of Chrome using the latest JavaScript and browser features.
- Capture a [timeline trace](https://developers.google.com/web/tools/chrome-devtools/evaluate-performance/reference) of your site to help diagnose performance issues.
- Test Chrome Extensions.
<!-- [END usecases] -->
<!-- [START getstarted] -->
## Getting Started
### Installation
To use Puppeteer in your project, run:
```bash
npm i puppeteer
# or "yarn add puppeteer"
```
When you install Puppeteer, it downloads a recent version of Chromium (~170MB Mac, ~282MB Linux, ~280MB Win) that is guaranteed to work with the API (customizable through [Environment Variables](#environment-variables)). For a version of Puppeteer purely for connection, see [`puppeteer-core`](#puppeteer-core).
#### Environment Variables
Puppeteer looks for certain [environment variables](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_variable) to aid its operations.
If Puppeteer doesn't find them in the environment during the installation step, a lowercased variant of these variables will be used from the [npm config](https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/config).
-`HTTP_PROXY`, `HTTPS_PROXY`, `NO_PROXY` - defines HTTP proxy settings that are used to download and run the browser.
-`PUPPETEER_SKIP_CHROMIUM_DOWNLOAD` - do not download bundled Chromium during installation step.
-`PUPPETEER_TMP_DIR` - defines the directory to be used by Puppeteer for creating temporary files. Defaults to [`os.tmpdir()`](https://nodejs.org/api/os.html#os_os_tmpdir).
-`PUPPETEER_DOWNLOAD_HOST` - overwrite URL prefix that is used to download Chromium. Note: this includes protocol and might even include path prefix. Defaults to `https://storage.googleapis.com`.
-`PUPPETEER_DOWNLOAD_PATH` - overwrite the path for the downloads folder. Defaults to `<root>/.local-chromium`, where `<root>` is Puppeteer's package root.
-`PUPPETEER_CHROMIUM_REVISION` - specify a certain version of Chromium you'd like Puppeteer to use. See [`puppeteer.launch`](https://pptr.dev/api/puppeteer.puppeteernode.launch) on how executable path is inferred.
-`PUPPETEER_EXECUTABLE_PATH` - specify an executable path to be used in [`puppeteer.launch`](https://pptr.dev/api/puppeteer.puppeteernode.launch).
-`PUPPETEER_PRODUCT` - specify which browser you'd like Puppeteer to use. Must be one of `chrome` or `firefox`. This can also be used during installation to fetch the recommended browser binary. Setting `product` programmatically in [`puppeteer.launch`](https://pptr.dev/api/puppeteer.puppeteernode.launch) supersedes this environment variable. The product is exposed in [`puppeteer.product`](https://pptr.dev/api/puppeteer.product)
-`PUPPETEER_EXPERIMENTAL_CHROMIUM_MAC_ARM` — specify Puppeteer download Chromium for Apple M1. On Apple M1 devices Puppeteer by default downloads the version for Intel's processor which runs via Rosetta. It works without any problems, however, with this option, you should get more efficient resource usage (CPU and RAM) that could lead to a faster execution time.
:::danger
Puppeteer is only [guaranteed to work](https://pptr.dev/faq#q-why-doesnt-puppeteer-vxxx-work-with-chromium-vyyy) with the bundled Chromium, use at your own risk.
:::
:::caution
`PUPPETEER_*` env variables are not accounted for in [`puppeteer-core`](#puppeteer-core).
:::
#### puppeteer-core
Every release since v1.7.0 we publish two packages:
`puppeteer` is a _product_ for browser automation. When installed, it downloads a version of
Chromium, which it then drives using `puppeteer-core`. Being an end-user product, `puppeteer` supports a bunch of convenient `PUPPETEER_*` env variables to tweak its behavior.
`puppeteer-core` is a _library_ to help drive anything that supports DevTools protocol. `puppeteer-core` doesn't download Chromium when installed. Being a library, `puppeteer-core` is fully driven
through its programmatic interface and disregards all the `PUPPETEER_*` env variables.
To sum up, the only differences between `puppeteer-core` and `puppeteer` are:
-`puppeteer-core` doesn't automatically download Chromium when installed.
-`puppeteer-core` ignores all `PUPPETEER_*` env variables.
In most cases, you'll be fine using the `puppeteer` package.
However, you should use `puppeteer-core` if:
- you're building another end-user product or library atop of DevTools protocol. For example, one might build a PDF generator using `puppeteer-core` and write a custom `install.js` script that downloads [`headless_shell`](https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/lkgr/headless/README.md) instead of Chromium to save disk space.
- you're bundling Puppeteer to use in Chrome Extension / browser with the DevTools protocol where downloading an additional Chromium binary is unnecessary.
- you're building a set of tools where `puppeteer-core` is one of the ingredients and you want to postpone `install.js` script execution until Chromium is about to be used.
When using `puppeteer-core`, remember to change the _include_ line:
```ts
const puppeteer = require('puppeteer-core');
```
You will then need to call [`puppeteer.connect`](https://pptr.dev/api/puppeteer.puppeteer.connect) or [`puppeteer.launch`](https://pptr.dev/api/puppeteer.puppeteernode.launch) with an explicit `executablePath` or `channel` option.
### Usage
Puppeteer follows the latest [maintenance LTS](https://github.com/nodejs/Release#release-schedule) version of Node.
Puppeteer will be familiar to people using other browser testing frameworks. You create an instance
of `Browser`, open pages, and then manipulate them with [Puppeteer's API](https://pptr.dev/api).
**Example** - navigating to https://example.com and saving a screenshot as _example.png_:
Save file as **example.js**
```ts
const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');
(async () => {
const browser = await puppeteer.launch();
const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto('https://example.com');
await page.screenshot({path: 'example.png'});
await browser.close();
})();
```
Execute script on the command line
```bash
node example.js
```
Puppeteer sets an initial page size to 800×600px, which defines the screenshot size. The page size can be customized with [`Page.setViewport()`](https://pptr.dev/api/puppeteer.page.setviewport).
**Example** - create a PDF.
Save file as **hn.js**
```ts
const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');
(async () => {
const browser = await puppeteer.launch();
const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto('https://news.ycombinator.com', {
waitUntil: 'networkidle2',
});
await page.pdf({path: 'hn.pdf', format: 'a4'});
await browser.close();
})();
```
Execute script on the command line
```bash
node hn.js
```
See [`Page.pdf`](https://pptr.dev/api/puppeteer.page.pdf) for more information about creating pdfs.
**Example** - evaluate script in the context of the page
Save file as **get-dimensions.js**
```ts
const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');
(async () => {
const browser = await puppeteer.launch();
const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto('https://example.com');
// Get the "viewport" of the page, as reported by the page.
const dimensions = await page.evaluate(() => {
return {
width: document.documentElement.clientWidth,
height: document.documentElement.clientHeight,
deviceScaleFactor: window.devicePixelRatio,
};
});
console.log('Dimensions:', dimensions);
await browser.close();
})();
```
Execute script on the command line
```bash
node get-dimensions.js
```
See [`Page.evaluate`](https://pptr.dev/api/puppeteer.page.evaluate) and related methods like [`Page.evaluateOnNewDocument`](https://pptr.dev/api/puppeteer.page.evaluateOnNewDocument) and [`Page.exposeFunction`](https://pptr.dev/api/puppeteer.page.exposeFunction).
Puppeteer offers a Docker image that includes Chromium along with the required dependencies and a pre-installed Puppeteer version. The image is available via the [GitHub Container Registry](https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/pkgs/container/puppeteer). The latest image is tagged as `latest` and other tags match Puppeteer versions. For example,
```sh
docker pull ghcr.io/puppeteer/puppeteer:latest # pulls the latest
docker pull ghcr.io/puppeteer/puppeteer:16.1.0 # pulls the image that contains Puppeteer v16.1.0
```
The image is meant for running the browser in the sandobx mode and therefore, running the image requires the `SYS_ADMIN` capability. For example,
Replace the path to [`smoke-test.js`](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/main/docker/test/smoke-test.js) with a path to your script.
The script can import or require the `puppeteer` module because it's pre-installed inside the image.
Currently, the image includes the LTS version of Node.js. If you need to built an image based on a different base image, you can use our [`Dockerfile`](https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/blob/main/docker/Dockerfile) as the starting point.
Puppeteer can be used for testing Chrome Extensions.
:::caution
Extensions in Chrome / Chromium currently only work in non-headless mode and experimental Chrome headless mode.
:::
The following is code for getting a handle to the [background page](https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/background_pages) of an extension whose source is located in `./my-extension`:
// Test the background page as you would any other page.
await browser.close();
})();
```
:::note
Chrome Manifest V3 extensions have a background ServiceWorker of type 'service_worker', instead of a page of type 'background_page'.
:::
:::note
It is not yet possible to test extension popups or content scripts.
:::
<!-- [START runtimesettings] -->
## Default runtime settings
**1. Uses Headless mode**
Puppeteer launches Chromium in [headless mode](https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2017/04/headless-chrome). To launch a full version of Chromium, set the [`headless` option](https://pptr.dev/api/puppeteer.browserlaunchargumentoptions.headless) when launching a browser:
```ts
const browser = await puppeteer.launch({headless: false}); // default is true
```
**2. Runs a bundled version of Chromium**
By default, Puppeteer downloads and uses a specific version of Chromium so its API
is guaranteed to work out of the box. To use Puppeteer with a different version of Chrome or Chromium,
pass in the executable's path when creating a `Browser` instance:
You can also use Puppeteer with Firefox Nightly (experimental support). See [`Puppeteer.launch`](https://pptr.dev/api/puppeteer.puppeteernode.launch) for more information.
See [`this article`](https://www.howtogeek.com/202825/what%E2%80%99s-the-difference-between-chromium-and-chrome/) for a description of the differences between Chromium and Chrome. [`This article`](https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/refs/heads/main/docs/chromium_browser_vs_google_chrome.md) describes some differences for Linux users.
**3. Creates a fresh user profile**
Puppeteer creates its own browser user profile which it **cleans up on every run**.
mocha: `this.timeout(100000);` (don't forget to change test to use [function and not '=>'](https://stackoverflow.com/a/23492442))
- Add an evaluate statement with `debugger` inside / add `debugger` to an existing evaluate statement:
```ts
await page.evaluate(() => {
debugger;
});
```
The test will now stop executing in the above evaluate statement, and chromium will stop in debug mode.
5. Use debugger in node.js
This will let you debug test code. For example, you can step over `await page.click()` in the node.js script and see the click happen in the application code browser.
Note that you won't be able to run `await page.click()` in
DevTools console due to this [Chromium bug](https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=833928). So if
you want to try something out, you have to add it to your test file.
- Add `debugger;` to your test, eg:
```ts
debugger;
await page.click('a[target=_blank]');
```
- Set `headless` to `false`
- Run `node --inspect-brk`, eg `node --inspect-brk node_modules/.bin/jest tests`
- In Chrome open `chrome://inspect/#devices` and click `inspect`
- In the newly opened test browser, type `F8` to resume test execution
- Now your `debugger` will be hit and you can debug in the test browser
