puppeteer-core

What is puppeteer-core?

The puppeteer-core package is a version of Puppeteer, a Node library which provides a high-level API to control headless Chrome or Chromium over the DevTools Protocol. It is intended to be a lightweight version that can be used when you want to bring your own browser. It does not download any browsers by default, unlike the full puppeteer package.

What are puppeteer-core's main functionalities?

Page Automation

Automate and control a web page, including navigation, screenshot taking, and DOM manipulation.

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

(async () => {
  const browser = await puppeteer.launch({executablePath: '/path/to/your/Chrome'});
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  await page.goto('https://example.com');
  await page.screenshot({path: 'example.png'});
  await browser.close();
})();

Form Submission

Automate form submissions by typing into fields and clicking buttons.

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

(async () => {
  const browser = await puppeteer.launch({executablePath: '/path/to/your/Chrome'});
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  await page.goto('https://example.com/login');
  await page.type('#username', 'myUsername');
  await page.type('#password', 'myPassword');
  await page.click('#submit');
  await page.waitForNavigation();
  await browser.close();
})();

Web Scraping

Extract data from web pages by running JavaScript in the context of the page.

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

(async () => {
  const browser = await puppeteer.launch({executablePath: '/path/to/your/Chrome'});
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  await page.goto('https://example.com');
  const data = await page.evaluate(() => {
    return document.querySelector('h1').textContent;
  });
  console.log(data);
  await browser.close();
})();

PDF Generation

Generate PDFs of web pages for offline viewing or archiving.

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

(async () => {
  const browser = await puppeteer.launch({executablePath: '/path/to/your/Chrome'});
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  await page.goto('https://example.com', {waitUntil: 'networkidle0'});
  await page.pdf({path: 'example.pdf', format: 'A4'});
  await browser.close();
})();

Automated Testing

Perform automated testing on web applications, including end-to-end tests, performance testing, and more.

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

(async () => {
  const browser = await puppeteer.launch({executablePath: '/path/to/your/Chrome', headless: false});
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  await page.goto('https://example.com');
  // Perform various tests, like checking if a button exists
  const buttonExists = await page.$('button') !== null;
  console.assert(buttonExists, 'Button should exist on the page');
  await browser.close();
})();

Other packages similar to puppeteer-core

playwright

Playwright is a Node library to automate the Chromium, WebKit, and Firefox browsers with a single API. It is similar to puppeteer-core but provides support for multiple browsers out of the box. It also offers additional features like network interception and emulation capabilities.

selenium-webdriver

Selenium WebDriver is one of the most well-known tools for automated web testing. It supports multiple browsers and languages, making it a versatile choice for web automation. Compared to puppeteer-core, Selenium is more mature and has a larger community but can be slower and more complex to set up.

nightmare

Nightmare is a high-level browser automation library. It is built on top of Electron, which is a framework for creating native applications with web technologies. Nightmare is designed to be simpler and more approachable than Puppeteer, but it is less powerful and only works with Electron's version of Chromium.

cypress

Cypress is a front-end testing tool built for the modern web. It is both a library for writing automated tests and a test runner that can execute them. Cypress is more focused on testing than general browser automation and provides a rich interactive interface for developing tests.

README

Puppeteer

Puppeteer is a Node.js library which provides a high-level API to control Chrome or Firefox over the DevTools Protocol or WebDriver BiDi. Puppeteer runs in the headless (no visible UI) by default but can be configured to run in a visible ("headful") browser.

Get started | API | FAQ | Contributing | Troubleshooting

Installation

npm i puppeteer # Downloads compatible Chrome during installation.
npm i puppeteer-core # Alternatively, install as a library, without downloading Chrome.

Example

import puppeteer from 'puppeteer'; // or import puppeteer from 'puppeteer-core';

// Launch the browser and open a new blank page
const browser = await puppeteer.launch();
const page = await browser.newPage();

// Navigate the page to a URL.
await page.goto('https://developer.chrome.com/');

// Set screen size.
await page.setViewport({width: 1080, height: 1024});

// Type into search box.
await page.type('.devsite-search-field', 'automate beyond recorder');

// Wait and click on first result.
const searchResultSelector = '.devsite-result-item-link';
await page.waitForSelector(searchResultSelector);
await page.click(searchResultSelector);

// Locate the full title with a unique string.
const textSelector = await page.waitForSelector('text/Customize and automate');
const fullTitle = await textSelector?.evaluate(el => el.textContent);

// Print the full title.
console.log('The title of this blog post is "%s".', fullTitle);

await browser.close();