Overview
The node automates browser actions by interacting with a remote browser automation service via HTTP requests. It supports operations such as navigating to URLs, clicking elements, typing text into elements, waiting for elements to appear, pressing keys, executing custom scripts, and closing browser tabs. This node is useful for automating web workflows like form filling, UI testing, data scraping, or any scenario requiring programmatic control of a browser.
For example, you can use it to:
- Navigate to a login page and type credentials into input fields.
- Click buttons to submit forms or navigate through pages.
- Wait for dynamic content to load before proceeding.
- Execute custom JavaScript on the page to extract data or manipulate the DOM.
- Close tabs when done to clean up resources.
Properties
| Name | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Profile | The browser profile to use. This identifies the browser context/session for the action. |
| Tab ID | Optional tab identifier to specify which browser tab to target for the operation. |
| Selector | CSS selector of the element to interact with (required for click, type, waitForSelector). |
| Text | Text to type into the selected element (required for the "Type Text" operation). |
Output
The node outputs JSON objects containing details about the performed operation:
profileId: The browser profile used.tabId: The tab identifier where the action was executed.operation: The name of the operation performed (e.g., "type").status: Operation status, typically"success"or"error".- For the "executeScript" operation, an additional field
datacontains the result returned by the executed script.
No binary data output is produced by this node.
Dependencies
- Requires connection to an external browser automation server specified by a server URL in the node's API key credential.
- The node sends HTTP POST or DELETE requests to this server to perform browser actions.
- Proper configuration of the API key credential with the server URL is mandatory.
Troubleshooting
- Missing Server URL: If the server URL is not set in the credentials, the node will throw an error. Ensure the API key credential includes a valid server URL.
- Invalid Selector: Using an incorrect or non-existent CSS selector may cause the operation to fail or timeout.
- Tab ID Issues: Specifying an invalid or closed tab ID may lead to errors; verify that the tab exists.
- Timeouts: Waiting for selectors might time out if the element does not appear within the specified duration.
- Script Execution Errors: Custom scripts must be valid JavaScript; syntax errors or runtime exceptions will cause failures.
- To handle errors gracefully, enable "Continue On Fail" in the node settings to process subsequent items even if one fails.
Links and References
- CSS Selectors Reference
- JavaScript eval() Function (for understanding script execution)
- General browser automation concepts (e.g., Puppeteer or Playwright documentation) may help understand underlying actions.