devtools-protocol

What is devtools-protocol?

The devtools-protocol npm package provides a set of TypeScript definitions for the Chrome DevTools Protocol, which allows you to interact with the Chrome browser for tasks such as debugging, profiling, and inspecting web pages programmatically.

What are devtools-protocol's main functionalities?

Page Navigation

This feature allows you to navigate to a specific URL and wait for the page to load. The code sample demonstrates how to use the Page domain to navigate to 'https://example.com' and wait for the load event.

const CDP = require('chrome-remote-interface');

(async function() {
  const client = await CDP();
  const { Page } = client;
  await Page.enable();
  await Page.navigate({ url: 'https://example.com' });
  await Page.loadEventFired();
  console.log('Page loaded');
  await client.close();
})();

JavaScript Execution

This feature allows you to execute JavaScript code within the context of the web page. The code sample demonstrates how to evaluate a JavaScript expression to get the page title.

const CDP = require('chrome-remote-interface');

(async function() {
  const client = await CDP();
  const { Runtime } = client;
  await Runtime.enable();
  const result = await Runtime.evaluate({ expression: 'document.title' });
  console.log('Page title:', result.result.value);
  await client.close();
})();

Network Monitoring

This feature allows you to monitor network requests made by the web page. The code sample demonstrates how to listen for network requests and log the URLs of the requests.

const CDP = require('chrome-remote-interface');

(async function() {
  const client = await CDP();
  const { Network } = client;
  await Network.enable();
  Network.requestWillBeSent((params) => {
    console.log('Request:', params.request.url);
  });
  await client.Page.navigate({ url: 'https://example.com' });
  await client.Page.loadEventFired();
  await client.close();
})();

Other packages similar to devtools-protocol

puppeteer

Puppeteer is a Node library that provides a high-level API to control Chrome or Chromium over the DevTools Protocol. It is more user-friendly and provides additional features like taking screenshots, generating PDFs, and more. Puppeteer abstracts away many of the lower-level details of the DevTools Protocol, making it easier to use for common tasks.

selenium-webdriver

Selenium WebDriver is a popular tool for automating web applications for testing purposes. It supports multiple browsers and provides a high-level API for interacting with web pages. While it does not use the DevTools Protocol directly, it offers similar functionalities for browser automation and testing.

playwright

Playwright is a Node library for browser automation that supports multiple browsers (Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit). It provides a high-level API similar to Puppeteer but with additional features like cross-browser testing. Playwright also uses the DevTools Protocol under the hood for Chromium-based browsers.

README

devtools-protocol

Please file issues at this repo if you have concerns or problems with the DevTools Protocol (aka Chrome Remote Debugging Protocol).

Use the protocol viewer for navigating the protocol. File issues at its repo if you have a bug with the documentation webapp.

Also, this repo is published as the devtools-protocol NPM module.