Expert guidance for browser automation using Puppeteer with best practices for web scraping, testing, screenshot capture, and JavaScript execution in headless Chrome.

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 Basic Structure Browser Launch Options Page Navigation Element Selection Query Selectors Evaluation in Page Context Page Interactions Clicking Typing Form Handling Waiting Strategies Screenshots and PDFs Screenshots PDF Generation Network Interception Authentication and Cookies Browser Context and Multiple Pages Error Handling Performance Optimization 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 1. Always close browser instances in finally blocks 2. Use waitForSelector before interacting with elements 3. Prefer networkidle2 over networkidle0 for faster loads 4. Use stealth plugin for anti bot bypass 5. Implement proper error handling and retries 6. Monitor memory usage in long running scripts 7. Use browser context for isolated sessions 8. Set reasonable timeouts for all operations

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