Downloading files with Puppeteer in headless Chrome: What's the best approach?

Other Questions Headless Browser
1

Hey everyone! I’m trying to figure out how to download files using Puppeteer with a headless Chrome browser. I know Puppeteer is great for web scraping, but I’m not sure about handling file downloads. Does anyone have experience with this?

I’ve been playing around with some code, but I’m stuck. Here’s what I’ve tried so far:

const browser = await puppeteer.launch({ headless: true });
const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto('https://example.com/download-page');
// What next? How do I trigger the download?

Is there a way to intercept the download request and save the file directly? Or do I need to make separate HTTP requests to get the file content? Any tips or code examples would be super helpful. Thanks in advance!

2

I’ve found that using the Chrome DevTools Protocol can be quite effective for handling file downloads in headless mode. Here’s an approach that’s worked well for me:

await page.setRequestInterception(true);
page.on('request', request => {
  if (request.resourceType() === 'document') {
    request.continue();
  } else {
    request.abort();
  }
});

const client = await page.target().createCDPSession();
await client.send('Page.setDownloadBehavior', {
  behavior: 'allow',
  downloadPath: '/path/to/download/directory'
});

This method intercepts requests and allows you to control which ones proceed. It’s particularly useful when dealing with complex web applications or sites with multiple resource types. Just ensure you have the necessary permissions to write to the specified download directory.

3

hey jess, i had similar issues. try using the ‘downloadPath’ option when launching the browser:

const browser = await puppeteer.launch({
  headless: true,
  args: ['--no-sandbox'],
  defaultViewport: null,
  downloadsPath: '/your/download/path'
});

the download button should work as if a normal user clicked it!

4

I’ve tackled this issue before, and it can be tricky. One approach that worked well for me was using the ‘page._client.send’ method to intercept the download. Here’s a snippet that might help:

await page._client.send('Page.setDownloadBehavior', {
    behavior: 'allow',
    downloadPath: '/path/to/download/directory'
});

This tells Puppeteer where to save the files. Then, you can trigger the download as you normally would on the page.

Another tip: sometimes you need to wait for the download to complete. I’ve used a custom function that checks the download folder until the file appears or a timeout is reached.

Remember, some sites use anti-bot measures, so you might need to add some human-like behavior or use a non-headless browser for certain downloads. Hope this helps!