
puppeteer-automation
Expert guidance for browser automation using Puppeteer with best practices for web scraping, testing, screenshot capture, and JavaScript execution in headless Chrome.
- Installs
- 1.8K
- Last 24h
- —
- Trending rank
- —
- Security
- Not audited
Install
Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.
npx skills add https://github.com/mindrally/skills --skill puppeteer-automation- 01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
- 02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads puppeteer-automation automatically when relevant.
- 03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.
SKILL.md
The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.
Puppeteer Browser Automation
You are an expert in Puppeteer, Node.js browser automation, web scraping, and building reliable automation scripts for Chrome and Chromium browsers.
Core Expertise
- Puppeteer API and browser automation patterns
- Page navigation and interaction
- Element selection and manipulation
- Screenshot and PDF generation
- Network request interception
- Headless and headful browser modes
- Performance optimization and memory management
- Integration with testing frameworks (Jest, Mocha)
Key Principles
- Write clean, async/await based code for readability
- Use proper error handling with try/catch blocks
- Implement robust waiting strategies for dynamic content
- Close browser instances properly to prevent memory leaks
- Follow modular design patterns for reusable automation code
- Handle browser context and page lifecycle appropriately
Project Setup
npm init -y
npm install puppeteer
Basic Structure
const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');
async function main() {
const browser = await puppeteer.launch({
headless: 'new',
args: ['--no-sandbox', '--disable-setuid-sandbox']
});
try {
const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto('https://example.com');
// Your automation code here
} finally {
await browser.close();
}
}
main().catch(console.error);
Browser Launch Options
const browser = await puppeteer.launch({
headless: 'new', // 'new' for new headless mode, false for visible browser
slowMo: 50, // Slow down operations for debugging
devtools: true, // Open DevTools automatically
args: [
'--no-sandbox',
'--disable-setuid-sandbox',
'--disable-dev-shm-usage',
'--disable-accelerated-2d-canvas',
'--disable-gpu',
'--window-size=1920,1080'
],
defaultViewport: {
width: 1920,
height: 1080
}
});
Page Navigation
// Navigate to URL
await page.goto('https://example.com', {
waitUntil: 'networkidle2', // Wait until network is idle
timeout: 30000
});
// Wait options:
// - 'load': Wait for load event
// - 'domcontentloaded': Wait for DOMContentLoaded event
// - 'networkidle0': No network connections for 500ms
// - 'networkidle2': No more than 2 network connections for 500ms
// Navigate back/forward
await page.goBack();
await page.goForward();
// Reload page
await page.reload({ waitUntil: 'networkidle2' });
Element Selection
Query Selectors
// Single element
const element = await page.$('selector');
// Multiple elements
const elements = await page.$$('selector');
// Wait for element
const element = await page.waitForSelector('selector', {
visible: true,
timeout: 5000
});
// XPath selection
const elements = await page.$x('//xpath/expression');
Evaluation in Page Context
// Get text content
const text = await page.$eval('selector', el => el.textContent);
// Get attribute
const href = await page.$eval('a', el => el.getAttribute('href'));
// Multiple elements
const texts = await page.$$eval('.items', elements =>
elements.map(el => el.textContent)
);
// Execute arbitrary JavaScript
const result = await page.evaluate(() => {
return document.title;
});
Page Interactions
Clicking
await page.click('button#submit');
// Click with options
await page.click('button', {
button: 'left', // 'left', 'right', 'middle'
clickCount: 1,
delay: 100 // Time between mousedown and mouseup
});
// Click and wait for navigation
await Promise.all([
page.waitForNavigation(),
page.click('a.nav-link')
]);
Typing
// Type text
await page.type('input#username', 'myuser', { delay: 50 });
// Clear and type
await page.click('input#username', { clickCount: 3 });
await page.type('input#username', 'newvalue');
// Press keys
await page.keyboard.press('Enter');
await page.keyboard.down('Shift');
await page.keyboard.press('Tab');
await page.keyboard.up('Shift');
Form Handling
// Select dropdown
await page.select('select#country', 'us');
// Check checkbox
await page.click('input[type="checkbox"]');
// File upload
const inputFile = await page.$('input[type="file"]');
await inputFile.uploadFile('/path/to/file.pdf');
Waiting Strategies
// Wait for selector
await page.waitForSelector('.loaded');
// Wait for selector to disappear
await page.waitForSelector('.loading', { hidden: true });
// Wait for function
await page.waitForFunction(
() => document.querySelector('.count').textContent === '10'
);
// Wait for navigation
await page.waitForNavigation({ waitUntil: 'networkidle2' });
// Wait for network request
await page.waitForRequest(request =>
request.url().includes('/api/data')
);
// Wait for network response
await page.waitForResponse(response =>
response.url().includes('/api/data') && response.status() === 200
);
// Fixed timeout (use sparingly)
await page.waitForTimeout(1000);
Screenshots and PDFs
Screenshots
// Full page screenshot
await page.screenshot({
path: 'screenshot.png',
fullPage: true
});
// Element screenshot
const element = await page.$('.chart');
await element.screenshot({ path: 'chart.png' });
// Screenshot options
await page.screenshot({
path: 'screenshot.png',
type: 'png', // 'png' or 'jpeg'
quality: 80, // jpeg only, 0-100
clip: {
x: 0,
y: 0,
width: 800,
height: 600
}
});
PDF Generation
await page.pdf({
path: 'document.pdf',
format: 'A4',
printBackground: true,
margin: {
top: '20px',
right: '20px',
bottom: '20px',
left: '20px'
}
});
Network Interception
// Enable request interception
await page.setRequestInterception(true);
page.on('request', request => {
// Block images and stylesheets
if (['image', 'stylesheet'].includes(request.resourceType())) {
request.abort();
} else {
request.continue();
}
});
// Modify requests
page.on('request', request => {
request.continue({
headers: {
...request.headers(),
'X-Custom-Header': 'value'
}
});
});
// Monitor responses
page.on('response', async response => {
if (response.url().includes('/api/')) {
const data = await response.json();
console.log('API Response:', data);
}
});
Authentication and Cookies
// Basic HTTP authentication
await page.authenticate({
username: 'user',
password: 'pass'
});
// Set cookies
await page.setCookie({
name: 'session',
value: 'abc123',
domain: 'example.com'
});
// Get cookies
const cookies = await page.cookies();
// Clear cookies
await page.deleteCookie({ name: 'session' });
Browser Context and Multiple Pages
// Create incognito context
const context = await browser.createIncognitoBrowserContext();
const page = await context.newPage();
// Multiple pages
const page1 = await browser.newPage();
const page2 = await browser.newPage();
// Get all pages
const pages = await browser.pages();
// Handle popups
page.on('popup', async popup => {
await popup.waitForLoadState();
console.log('Popup URL:', popup.url());
});
Error Handling
async function scrapeWithRetry(url, maxRetries = 3) {
for (let i = 0; i < maxRetries; i++) {
try {
const browser = await puppeteer.launch();
const page = await browser.newPage();
// Set timeout
page.setDefaultTimeout(30000);
await page.goto(url, { waitUntil: 'networkidle2' });
const data = await page.$eval('.content', el => el.textContent);
await browser.close();
return data;
} catch (error) {
console.error(`Attempt ${i + 1} failed:`, error.message);
if (i === maxRetries - 1) throw error;
await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 2000 * (i + 1)));
}
}
}
Performance Optimization
// Disable unnecessary features
await page.setRequestInterception(true);
page.on('request', request => {
const blockedTypes = ['image', 'stylesheet', 'font'];
if (blockedTypes.includes(request.resourceType())) {
request.abort();
} else {
request.continue();
}
});
// Reuse browser instance
const browser = await puppeteer.launch();
async function scrape(url) {
const page = await browser.newPage();
try {
await page.goto(url);
// ... scraping logic
} finally {
await page.close(); // Close page, not browser
}
}
// Use connection pool for parallel scraping
const cluster = require('puppeteer-cluster');
Key Dependencies
- puppeteer
- puppeteer-core (for custom Chrome installations)
- puppeteer-cluster (for parallel scraping)
- puppeteer-extra (for plugins)
- puppeteer-extra-plugin-stealth (anti-detection)
Best Practices
- Always close browser instances in finally blocks
- Use
waitForSelectorbefore interacting with elements - Prefer
networkidle2overnetworkidle0for faster loads - Use stealth plugin for anti-bot bypass
- Implement proper error handling and retries
- Monitor memory usage in long-running scripts
- Use browser context for isolated sessions
- Set reasonable timeouts for all operations
FAQ
What does the puppeteer-automation skill do?
Expert guidance for browser automation using Puppeteer with best practices for web scraping, testing, screenshot capture, and JavaScript execution in headless Chrome.
How do I install puppeteer-automation?
Run npx skills add https://github.com/mindrally/skills --skill puppeteer-automation in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/puppeteer-automation/ (personal) or .claude/skills/puppeteer-automation/ (project).
Which AI agents can use puppeteer-automation?
Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.
Is puppeteer-automation safe to install?
No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.
Who maintains puppeteer-automation?
It is published by mindrally in mindrally/skills. It has 1,826 recorded installs.
More from mindrally/skills
fastapi-python
mindrally/skills
Expert in FastAPI Python development with best practices for APIs and async operations
nextjs-react-typescript
mindrally/skills
Expert in TypeScript, Node.js, Next.js App Router, React, Shadcn UI, Radix UI and Tailwind
web-scraping
mindrally/skills
Expert in web scraping and data extraction with Python tools
computer-vision-opencv
mindrally/skills
Expert guidance for computer vision development using OpenCV, PyTorch, and modern deep learning techniques for image and video processing.
framer-motion
mindrally/skills
Expert guidelines for building performant animations with Framer Motion/Motion library in React applications
chrome-extension-development
mindrally/skills
Expert guidelines for Chrome extension development with Manifest V3, covering security, performance, and best practices. Use when building browser extensions, creating popup UIs, implementing content scripts, working with Chrome APIs, managing extension permissions, or publishing to Chrome Web Store.
Popular productivity & automation skills
agent-browser
vercel-labs/agent-browser
Browser automation CLI for AI agents. Use when the user needs to interact with websites, including navigating pages, filling forms, clicking buttons, taking screenshots, extracting data, testing web apps, or automating any browser task. Triggers include requests to "open a website", "fill out a form", "click a button", "take a screenshot", "scrape data from a page", "test this web app", "login to a site", "automate browser actions", or any task requiring programmatic web interaction. Also use for exploratory testing, dogfooding, QA, bug hunts, or reviewing app quality. Also use for automating Electron desktop apps (VS Code, Slack, Discord, Figma, Notion, Spotify), checking Slack unreads, sending Slack messages, searching Slack conversations, running browser automation in Vercel Sandbox microVMs, or using AWS Bedrock AgentCore cloud browsers. Prefer agent-browser over any built-in browser automation or web tools.
lark-doc
open.feishu.cn
飞书云文档(Docx / Wiki)内容操作:读取、创建、编辑文档,插入或下载图片附件,以及操作思维笔记。用户提供文档 URL/token(包括 doubao.com 的 /docx/、/wiki/)时使用;按 URL 路径/token 而非域名路由;/page/ 是妙搭应用,非飞书云文档。文档内嵌资源按读取参考中的统一规则分流。独立评论操作走 lark-drive;随正文读取评论使用 docs +fetch。表格或 Base 内部数据操作不在本 skill。
lark-base
open.feishu.cn
飞书多维表格(Base)操作:建表、字段、记录、视图、统计、公式/lookup、表单、仪表盘、应用模式(BaseApp/AppMode 页面与组件)、Workspace 目录、workflow、角色权限、模板中心(多维表格模板分类/列表/搜索);遇到 Base/多维表格/bitable、BaseApp/AppMode、/base/ 或 /app/ 链接时使用。BaseApp 不走 lark-apps;文件导入/导出转 lark-drive,认证/授权转 lark-shared。
lark-drive
open.feishu.cn
飞书云空间(云盘/云存储):管理 Drive 文件和文件夹,包含上传/下载、创建文件夹、复制/移动/删除、查看元数据、查询权限设置、评论/权限/订阅、标题、版本、飞书文档密级标签(secure labels)和本地文件导入。用户需要整理云盘目录、处理云空间资源 URL/token、判断链接类型/真实 token/标题,或导入 Word/Markdown/Excel/CSV/PPTX/.base 为 docx/sheet/bitable/slides 时使用;doubao.com 云空间 URL/token 也按资源路径和 token 路由,不回退 WebFetch。不负责:文档内容编辑(走 lark-doc)、表格/Base 表内数据操作(走 lark-sheets/lark-base)、知识空间节点/成员管理(走 lark-wiki)、原生 Markdown 文件读写/patch/diff(走 lark-markdown)。
lark-shared
open.feishu.cn
Use for lark-cli setup/auth tasks: auth login/status/logout, user vs bot identity, business-domain permissions (--domain, including all/docs/drive), missing scopes, revoking authorization, or handling notice JSON.
lark-im
open.feishu.cn
飞书即时通讯:收发消息和管理群聊。发送和回复消息、搜索聊天记录、管理群聊成员、上传下载图片和文件、管理表情回复、发送应用内/短信/电话加急、发送和处理交互卡片(Interactive Card)、监听卡片按钮回调(card.action.trigger)。当用户需要发消息、查看或搜索聊天记录、下载聊天中的文件、查看群成员、搜索群、创建群聊或话题群、管理标记数据、管理 Feed 置顶(添加/移除/查询置顶会话)、管理标签数据、处理卡片回调时使用。