I’m working on a web scraping project using Puppeteer and keep encountering permission dialogs that block my automation. Chrome shows these popup windows asking for user approval when my script attempts certain actions.
The main issue is with automatic file downloads. When my bot tries to download several files at once, Chrome displays a request dialog asking if I want to allow multiple downloads, which halts my automation workflow.
I need a way to automatically grant these permissions or adjust the browser settings to prevent these dialogs. Is there a method to set up the page or browser instance to manage these permission requests programmatically?
Has anyone tackled similar permission popups in their Puppeteer scripts? What’s the best way to handle browser permission dialogs during automated testing?
You need to set Chrome launch arguments before creating your browser instance. Add --allow-running-insecure-content, --disable-features=VizDisplayCompositor, and --no-first-run to your args array when launching Puppeteer. For downloads, use await page.evaluateOnNewDocument() to override the browser’s permission queries. I’ve had good luck setting up a custom user data directory with --user-data-dir and pre-configuring the preferences file. The browser remembers your permission choices that way. Also handle the CDP session properly - sometimes you need to enable the Page domain before sending download behavior commands. This works way better than trying to catch permission dialogs after they pop up.
Had this same issue scraping financial reports with bulk downloads. Here’s what actually worked for me: use Chrome DevTools Protocol to handle permissions before the dialogs even show up. After creating your page, call await page._client.send('Browser.grantPermissions', {permissions: ['automaticDownloads']}). Also launch your browser with --disable-infobars and --disable-default-apps flags. For downloads, set the path explicitly through CDP - kills most permission popups right away. Don’t try dismissing dialogs after they appear. Instead, intercept the requests at protocol level. This method’s been rock solid across different Chrome versions for me.
had this same issue recently! just set page.setDefaultNavigationTimeout(0) and add --disable-web-security --disable-permissions-api to your launch options. Also, don’t forget to try await page._client.send('Page.setDownloadBehavior', {behavior: 'allow'}) before you navigate. it worked for my downloads!
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