selenium-with-fingerprints
This is the repo for selenium-with-fingerprints
, a plugin for the selenium framework that allows you to change a browser fingerprint, generate a virtual identity and improve your browser's stealth.
In order to achieve this, the FingerprintSwitcher service is used, which allows you to replace a list of important browser properties, and thus you will act like a completely new user.
Warning: plugin is still in beta stage, it means that bugs may happen, including critical.
Adding a plugin to your project is very easy - it only takes a few lines of code.
You just need to change the browser startup code a bit and add method calls to get and apply fingerprints.
The rest of the code can remain unchanged.
In general, only four basic steps are required, see the example below (code from the example may differ slightly from the real one):
https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/30115373/198843827-f20b628f-49f2-4d13-8ee4-1c72ae490f2e.mp4
Current supported engine version - 131.0.6778.70.
About
This library allows you to change browser fingerprint and use selenium automation framework with enhanced anonymity.
In order to migrate and use it, a minimum of modifications and code changes is required.
Browser fingerprinting - is a technique that allows to identify the user by a combination of browser properties, such as - fonts, resolution, list of plugins, navigator properties, etc.
By adding new factors and using browser API in a special way, a site can determine exactly which user is visiting it, even if the user is using a proxy.
When using this package and replacing fingerprints, websites will not be able to identify you from other users, as all these properties and results of API calls will be replaced with values from real devices.
Let's look at a small example of WebGL property substitution.
In the screenshot below, the left column shows the values from the regular browser, and the right column shows the values substituted using ready-made fingerprints.
This result cannot be achieved using only the replacement of various browser properties via JavaScript, that's what this plugin and service is for:
You can learn more by following this link.
Installation
To use this plugin in your project, install it with your favorite package manager:
npm i selenium-with-fingerprints
pnpm i selenium-with-fingerprints
yarn add selenium-with-fingerprints
The selenium-webdriver
package must also be installed. If this package is already installed, you can skip this step:
npm i selenium-webdriver
But keep in mind that some versions may not be supported. In this case, you will get an error when importing the plugin.
You can always find supported version numbers here.
Please note that this plugin only supports the default selenium
library, wrappers have not been tested and may cause errors.
Also, according to the architecture section, this plugin can only be installed and used on Windows operating system.
Dependencies
In order for the plugin to work correctly, just like in the standard framework, a certain version of chromedriver
must be installed.
You can manually install the desired version of the driver, add the path to it in the PATH environment variable, and so on.
But it's best and safer to use a ready-made npm package:
npm i chromedriver@127.0.2
If you're not sure which version to install, use the value you can get here.
After the previous step, just add the package import at the very beginning of your code:
require('chromedriver');
You can look at the examples in the corresponding folder - each uses a similar approach.
For more information, also refer to the documentation for the original framework.
Creating new project
Here's how to start working on a project from scratch.
First you need to import the selenium-with-fingerprints
library:
const { plugin } = require('selenium-with-fingerprints');
No need to require the selenium-webdriver
.
After that, you need to obtain the fingerprint from the server and apply it:
plugin.setServiceKey('');
const fingerprint = await plugin.fetch({
tags: ['Microsoft Windows', 'Chrome'],
});
plugin.useFingerprint(fingerprint);
When this code is executed, the fingerprint
variable will contain the data required to apply the fingerprint.
It's a string, you can save it to a file and use it later.
Running this code for the first time can be very slow. Additional time is needed to download the browser.
Finally, you need to create the browser instance:
const driver = await plugin.launch();
The parameters of the launch method are the same as the corresponding method in the selenium library, link.
The driver
variable will contain an instance of the WebDriver class defined in the selenium library.
It means that it can be used to write a new or use an existing selenium script without any changes.
You need to rely on the documentation of the original framework on how to use control browser - link.
Here is the complete code, you can copy/paste it and try:
const { plugin } = require('selenium-with-fingerprints');
plugin.setServiceKey('');
(async () => {
const fingerprint = await plugin.fetch({
tags: ['Microsoft Windows', 'Chrome'],
});
plugin.useFingerprint(fingerprint);
const driver = await plugin.launch();
await driver.get('https://example.com');
console.log(
'Viewport:',
await driver.executeScript(() => ({
deviceScaleFactor: window.devicePixelRatio,
width: document.documentElement.clientWidth,
height: document.documentElement.clientHeight,
}))
);
await driver.quit();
})();
Also take a look at the TypeScript declarations here for more details about the exported classes, methods, and properties.
Thanks to them, when using the library, auto-completion with detailed descriptions will work.
Migration
There are a few steps required to start using fingerprints for your existing project:
- Import
selenium-with-fingerprints
instead of selenium-webdriver
. - Call the
useFingerprint
and/or useProxy
methods to apply the fingerprint and proxy before starting the browser. - Launch the browser using the
plugin.launch
method (the plugin
variable was imported in the first step). - The rest of the code can be left unchanged.
Consider you have the following project using the selenium:
const { until, Builder, By } = require('selenium-webdriver');
(async () => {
const driver = await new Builder().forBrowser('chrome').build();
await driver.get('https://browserleaks.com/canvas');
const el = await driver.wait(until.elementLocated(By.id('crc')));
await driver.wait(until.elementTextContains(el, '✔'));
console.log('Canvas signature:', await el.getText());
await driver.quit();
})();
It verifies the canvas signature by visiting this URL and parsing the corresponding value.
No matter how many times you run this test on the same machine, the results will be the same.
This is because this test depends on the hardware you are using - if the hardware stays the same, the results will also be the same.
But if we change the fingerprint, the results will be different.
Let's modify this project to add fingerprint support. The updated code will look like this:
const { plugin } = require('selenium-with-fingerprints');
plugin.setServiceKey('');
(async () => {
const fingerprint = await plugin.fetch({
tags: ['Microsoft Windows', 'Chrome'],
});
plugin.useFingerprint(fingerprint);
const driver = await plugin.launch({ builder: new Builder().forBrowser('chrome') });
await driver.get('https://browserleaks.com/canvas');
const el = await driver.wait(until.elementLocated(By.id('crc')));
await driver.wait(until.elementTextContains(el, '✔'));
console.log('Canvas signature:', await el.getText());
await driver.quit();
})();
After running the updated code, a new fingerprint will be applied each time, so the scores will be different for each run.
Common problems
You can find information about known issues related to updates, as well as ways to solve them in this guide.
Launching the browser
You can launch the browser in two different ways. There are two methods for this - launch and spawn.
The parameters and return type of the launch method are exactly the same as for Builder.build
method.
You can use the official API documentation to learn more about them.
The launch method also has the same purpose - to start a new browser instance with the given parameters and connect to it.
In addition to the standard functionality, it allows you to change the fingerprint and proxy using the useFingerprint
and useProxy
methods.
A detailed description and annotations can also be found here.
const { plugin } = require('selenium-with-fingerprints');
const browser = await plugin.launch({ builder: new Builder() });
The spawn method works in a similar way, but uses a separate mechanism to launch the browser.
The main difference is that this method just starts the process, but doesn't connect to it for automation - you can do it yourself later.
This method returns a running browser instance that can be used to connect to an existing session using selenium
:
const { Builder } = require('selenium-webdriver');
const { Options } = require('selenium-webdriver/chrome');
const { plugin } = require('selenium-with-fingerprints');
const chrome = await plugin.spawn({ headless: true });
const driver = await new Builder()
.forBrowser('chrome')
.setChromeOptions(new Options().debuggerAddress(`localhost:${chrome.port}`))
.build();
await driver.quit();
await chrome.close();
At this link you can find a detailed description of all the options allowed for spawn method.
The same goes for the return type declaration, details of which can be found here.
If possible, use it only in extreme cases. It is much more convenient to use the launch method to launch the browser, which minimizes the number of steps for proper initialization and configuration.
Annotations are described for all plugins methods directly in the library code via the TypeScript declarations, so when using it you will be able to see hints for all options and types.
You can also find out about it directly here and here.
Configuring plugin
At the moment, it is possible to change the service key, working folder and timeout for requests to the engine, which is used when fetching, applying fingerprints, and so on:
plugin.setServiceKey('SERVICE_KEY');
plugin.setWorkingFolder('./engine');
plugin.setRequestTimeout(5 * 60000);
The methods from the example above change the settings globally, that is, for all instances of the plugin.
The default values are the ./data
directory for the working folder and 300000
milliseconds for the request timeout.
An empty string is used for the fingerprint service key by default, which means that the free version of the service will be used.
Configuring browser
In order to change the fingerprint and proxy for your browser, you should use special separate methods:
- useProxy - to change the proxy configuration.
- useProfile - to change the profile configuration.
- useFingerprint - to change the fingerprint configuration.
These methods directly affect only the next launch of the browser. So you should always use them before using the launch
plugin method.
You cannot change the settings once the browser is launched - more specifically, an already launched instance will not be affected by the new configuration.
But you can safely change the options for the next run, or for a separate browser instance with a different unique configuration.
You can also chain calls, since all these methods return the current plugin instance. It does not matter in which order the settings will be applied. It might look like this:
const { plugin } = require('selenium-with-fingerprints');
plugin.setServiceKey('');
const fingerprint = await plugin.fetch({
tags: ['Microsoft Windows', 'Chrome'],
});
plugin.useProxy('127.0.0.1:8080').useFingerprint(fingerprint);
Use these links to see a detailed description of the methods:
- This one for the useFingerprint method
(also see additional options here).
- This one for the useProfile method
(also see additional options here).
- This one for the useProxy method
(also see additional options here).
The usage of these methods is very similar - each takes two parameters, the first of which is the configuration data itself, and the second is additional options.
The fingerprint and proxy will not be changed unless the appropriate method is used. In this case, all settings related to browser fingerprinting will remain at their original values.
Fingerprint and proxy aren't applied instantly when calling methods. Instead, the configuration is saved and used directly when the browser is launched using the launch or spawn methods.
Thus, you can pre-configure the plugin in a certain way, or change something immediately before launching the browser.
Configuring browser version
You can change the browser version right while using the plugin - the engine may come with several different builds of the browser.
In order to do this, use the useBrowserVersion method.
The default
value means that the latest available version will be used:
const { plugin } = require('selenium-with-fingerprints');
plugin.useBrowserVersion('128.0.6613.85');
plugin.useBrowserVersion('default');
If you specify an unavailable or invalid version, an appropriate error will be thrown when the browser starts.
Also keep in mind that this property only affects a specific instance of the plugin, not the entire library.
In order to get a list of available versions shipped with the engine, use the versions method.
It returns a list of browser versions as strings or objects with additional information, depending on the format passed:
const { plugin } = require('selenium-with-fingerprints');
await plugin.versions('extended').then((versions) => {
plugin.useBrowserVersion(versions[0]['browser_version']);
});
Thanks to this, you can, for example, use the version that corresponds to a certain fingerprint, and vice versa.
Fingerprint usage
In order to change the fingerprint, you need to run the useFingerprint
method before starting the browser, i.e. before using the plugin's launch
method.
The useFingerprint
method takes two parameters.
The first is a string with fingerprint data that you can request from the service.
The second is additional options for applying a fingerprint, most of which are applied automatically - for example, the safe replacement of the BatteryAPI and AudioAPI properties:
const { plugin } = require('selenium-with-fingerprints');
plugin.setServiceKey('');
const fingerprint = await plugin.fetch({
tags: ['Microsoft Windows', 'Chrome'],
});
plugin.useFingerprint(fingerprint, {
safeElementSize: true,
safeBattery: false,
});
In order to obtain fingerprints you should use the fetch plugin method.
Pass the service key as the first argument for the serviceKey and additional parameters for the fetch, if necessary:
const { plugin } = require('selenium-with-fingerprints');
plugin.setServiceKey('');
const fingerprint = await plugin.fetch({
tags: ['Microsoft Windows', 'Chrome'],
minBrowserVersion: 125,
maxBrowserVersion: 127,
timeLimit: '15 days',
});
In order to use filters and many other settings from the example above, you will need a premium key, the same applies to tags that differ from the default ones:
const { plugin } = require('selenium-with-fingerprints');
plugin.setServiceKey('SERVICE_KEY');
const fingerprint = await plugin.fetch({
tags: ['Android', 'Chrome'],
});
plugin.useFingerprint(fingerprint);
await plugin.launch();
All possible settings for fetch method, as well as their descriptions, you can find here.
The special current
value can be used to filter fingerprints by browser version - in this case, the version installed for the plugin will be used.
It can be very convenient as the browser and fingerprint versions will be exactly the same and you don't have to enter the exact values in multiple places.
You can reuse fingerprints instead of requesting new ones each time.
To do this, you can save them to a file or to a database - use any option convenient for you.
In this way, you can speed up the process of launching the browser with the parameters you need, organize your storage, filter and sort fingerprints locally, and much more:
const { readFile, writeFile } = require('fs/promises');
const { plugin } = require('selenium-with-fingerprints');
plugin.setServiceKey('');
const fingerprint = await plugin.fetch({
tags: ['Microsoft Windows', 'Chrome'],
});
await writeFile('fingerprint.json', fingerprint);
plugin.useFingerprint(await readFile('fingerprint.json', 'utf8'));
You can learn more about the options directly when adding these methods - just use the built-in annotations.
You can use any tags, filters
(e.g. time limit) and settings if you have a service key.
If you specify an empty string as the first argument for the fetch
or the setServiceKey
method, the free version will be used.
For a free version you won't be able to use other tags than the default ones, as well as some other filters:
plugin.setServiceKey('');
const fingerprint = await plugin.fetch({
tags: ['Microsoft Windows', 'Chrome'],
});
In the free version, the PerfectCanvas technology is also not available.
There are other limitations when using the free version - for example, limiting the number of requests in a certain period of time.
To see the differences and limits of different versions, visit this website.
You can buy a key here to avoid limitations.
Profile usage
In order to use a specific browser profile, you can, among other options, use the useProfile
method.
As the first parameter, it takes the path to the profile folder - the same value that you specify, for example, for the user-data-dir
argument.
The second parameter is additional options that are primarily responsible for loading fingerprint and proxy data from the profile folder:
const path = require('path');
const { plugin } = require('selenium-with-fingerprints');
plugin.setServiceKey('');
plugin.useProfile(path.resolve('./profile'), {
loadFingerprint: false,
loadProxy: false,
});
By default, the plugin will load proxy and fingerprint data from the profile folder, if they are written there.
You can change this behavior by setting the options to false
- for example, if you are not sure that the stored proxy is working.
Please note that if you add your fingerprint or proxy through the appropriate methods, then the data you specified will be used regardless of the options.
You can also use other options to set the path to the profile folder, such as the userDataDir
option, if you don't need additional settings:
const path = require('path');
const { Builder } = require('selenium-webdriver');
const { Options } = require('selenium-webdriver/chrome');
const { plugin } = require('selenium-with-fingerprints');
const options = new Options().addArguments(
`--user-data-dir=${path.resolve('./profile')}`
);
const browser = await plugin.launch({ builder: new Builder().setChromeOptions(options) });
After launching a browser with your profile, the fingerprint and proxy data you specified will always be stored in the profile folder.
This setting itself is saved between browser launches, that is, it behaves in the same way as other similar methods.
To run different profiles, you need to call this method again with different values for the profile directory.
You can learn more about the parameters and additional options for this method here
and here.
Temporary profiles
Since version 1.3.0
the plugin uses its own logic to configure browser profiles.
This primarily applies to situations where you don't specify options like user-data-dir
yourself.
Each framework makes temporary profiles in such cases in completely different places, but for the convenience and correct operation of some fingerprint components, a different solution is used.
If you do not specify the path to the profile yourself, then the engine will create its own temporary one - such a profile will be located directly in the engine folder, for example:
const { plugin } = require('selenium-with-fingerprints');
const browser = await plugin.launch();
If you specify the path yourself, then everything will work as usual - just the plugin will add additional components, like widevine
or default extensions, to the specified profile.
Also keep in mind that if you specify your own folder for the engine using the setWorkingFolder
method, then the profile path will be adjusted.
Proxy usage
In order to set up a proxy, you should use the useProxy
method.
The first parameter of this method is a string with information about the proxy.
The second parameter is additional options that will be applied to the browser, for example, automatic change of language and time zone:
const { plugin } = require('selenium-with-fingerprints');
plugin.useProxy('127.0.0.1:8080', {
changeTimezone: true,
changeGeolocation: true,
});
You can learn more about the parameters and additional options for this method here
and here.
The browser supports two types of proxies - https and socks5.
It is better to always specify the proxy type in the address line - otherwise, https will be used by default.
You can use aliases - http instead of https and socks instead of socks5.
Proxies with authorization (with login and password) are also supported.
In general, when specifying addresses, you can use many different formats, for example:
127.0.0.1:8080
https://127.0.0.1:8080
socks5://127.0.0.1:8181
username:password@127.0.0.1:8080
socks:127.0.0.1:8080:username:password
https://username:password:127.0.0.1:8080
In order to preserve compatibility with the original library syntax, the proxy can be obtained from the arguments you specified.
The proxy-server
option will be used as the value, and all other options will be set to their default values.
But this will be done only if you didn't call the appropriate method for the proxy configuration:
const { Builder } = require('selenium-webdriver');
const { Options } = require('selenium-webdriver/chrome');
const { plugin } = require('selenium-with-fingerprints');
const options = new Options().addArguments(
'--proxy-server=https://127.0.0.1:8080'
);
const browser = await plugin.launch({ builder: new Builder().setChromeOptions(options) });
It's better to replace such code with the useProxy
method. This is much more convenient because you can immediately set the additional options you need.
More info
If you want to learn more about fingerprint substitution technology, explore the list of replaceable properties and various options, such as tags, get or configure your service key, use this link.
There you can also get a test fingerprint and see ready-made values that can be applied to your browser.
More examples
Please take a look at the examples directory with ready-made real code examples.
You can run them yourself by cloning the repository locally and installing the dependencies.
Architecture
This plugin uses the FingerprintSwitcher service to get fingerprints.
The resulting fingerprints are used later directly when working with the browser and are applied in a special way using a custom configuration files.
There are some limitations in using the package, which may be critical or non-critical depending on your task.
For example, for the correct operation of the fingerprint substitution technology, a custom browser with various patches is required.
This browser is downloaded and installed automatically the first time the API methods are called.
It also implies a limitation - it will be impossible to use standard and other various engines.
Fingerprints aren't generated, but downloaded from the service, as they are collected from real devices.
It greatly improves the anonymity and quality of the substitution of various properties.
Also keep in mind that this package only work on the Windows operating system.
If you install or run it on other platforms, you will get the corresponding errors.
This is a forced measure due to the presence of some critical Windows-only dependencies without which this implementation will not work.
The plugin architecture can be summarized as the following diagram:
All packages can only work with the Chrome browser, which comes bundled with the libraries and loads automatically.
The path to the executable file is defined on the plugin side and cannot be changed.
It means that you will not be able to use not only other versions of Chrome or Chromium, but also other browser engines.
The same goes for some framework-specific launch options.
This library tries to replicate the interfaces of the selenium framework as much as possible.
Thus, it's convenient to use it not only for new projects, but also when migrating from the original version to this plugin.
For things not related to launching the browser and the plugin directly, it's better to use the methods and properties of the original library.
Limitations
Please note that there are some restrictions at the moment:
- Only Windows operating system is supported.
- Parallel launch of browsers is synchronized between calls.
- Working with workers is possible only when specifying a separate working folder for each of them.
Also, there is no guarantee that each of these items will be changed in the future.
Alternatives
Check out other ready-made plugins for popular automation frameworks that have a similar API and architecture:
Also check out BAS - a great alternative to automate the Chrome browser without programming skills.
It also supports fingerprint substitution, has simple and powerful multithreading and other advantages.
Documentation
Here you can find a brief description of methods and classes, as well as links to them.
Describes a tag value that can be used to filter fingerprints.
Describes a time limit that can be used to filter fingerprints.
Describes an object that provides complete information about the available browser version.
format
string? The output format of the returned result.
Returns: Promise<Version[]|string[]> The list of objects with detailed version information, or a list of strings.
Get a list of all available browser versions.
options
Options? Launcher options that only apply to the browser when using the spawn
method.
Returns: Promise<Browser> Promise which resolves to a browser instance.
Launches a browser instance with given arguments and options when specified.
options
LaunchOptions? Set of configurable options to set on the browser.
Returns: Promise<Selenium.WebDriver> Promise which resolves to a browser instance.
Launches selenium and launches a browser instance with given arguments and options when specified.
options
FetchOptions? Set of configurable options for getting a browser fingerprint.
Returns: Promise<string> Promise which resolves to a fingerprint string.
Obtain a fingerprint using the specified service key and additional options.
value
string Version value as a string.
Returns: this The same plugin instance with an updated settings (for optional chaining).
Set the current browser version used by the plugin instance.
value
string? Proxy value as a string.options
ProxyOptions? Set of configurable options for applying a proxy.
Set the proxy settings using the specified proxy as a string and additional options when specified.
Returns: this The same plugin instance with an updated settings (for optional chaining).
value
string? Profile value as a string.options
ProfileOptions? Set of configurable options for applying a profile.
Returns: this The same plugin instance with an updated settings (for optional chaining).
Set the profile settings using the specified profile as a string and additional options when specified.
value
string? Fingerprint value as a string.options
FingerprintOptions? Set of configurable options for applying a fingerprint.
Set the fingerprint settings using the specified fingerprint as a string and additional options when specified.
Returns: this The same plugin instance with an updated settings (for optional chaining).
folder
string The working folder that the plugin engine will use.
Set the working folder that the plugin uses to work with the engine.
timeout
number The request timeout that the plugin engine will use.
Set the request timeout that the plugin uses to work with the engine.
key
string The service key for obtaining and applying a fingerprint.
Set the fingerprint service key for all plugin methods that require it.
Troubleshooting
If you encounter any issue or bug, please use the issues section of the repository.
Please describe the problem in as much detail as possible when creating tickets - indicate the sequence of actions (steps) to repeat the problem, error output, and so on.
If the code is large, attach it as files or use sandboxes. At the same time, it's better to remove from it areas that do not relate to the problem - it will be much easier to figure it out.
Format your code and wrap it in special markdown tags if you're adding it to an issue report, for example:
Please be careful not to attach various secrets in your code or screenshots - for example, fingerprint service keys, account passwords, and so on.
In the case of service keys, this can lead to their blocking without a refund.
If the recommendations are not followed, your ticket may be ignored.
Testing
The excellent mocha framework is used for tests in this library.
Use the command line or ready-made scripts if you want to run them yourself.
You can also use the FINGERPRINT_CWD environment variable to specify the directory where the engine will be stored, for example:
FINGERPRINT_CWD="../plugin-engine"
The FINGERPRINT_TIMEOUT variable can be set if it's necessary to change the default timeout for executing engine methods, such as applying or fetching a fingerprint:
FINGERPRINT_TIMEOUT=300000
You can define it in any way convenient for you, but by default variables are read from the env files using the dotenv library.
License
Copyright © 2024, CheshireCaat. Released under the MIT license.