I’m working on a C# web scraper that needs to handle JavaScript-generated cookies. Here’s my current workflow:
- Navigate to the homepage (Home.aspx)
- Access a form page (FormPage.aspx) using HttpWebRequest
- Submit form data and retrieve results (Output.aspx)
The issue is that FormPage.aspx requires specific cookies that are created by JavaScript on the homepage. When I try to access FormPage.aspx directly, it redirects me back to the homepage.
The JavaScript code that generates these cookies is over 20KB, very messy, and contains many document object references. This makes it impossible to execute with libraries like JINT or Javascript.NET.
I’ve researched headless browsers as a solution but they seem overly complex for my needs. I have an existing class library with my web scrapers and just want to add a simple DLL to handle this JavaScript execution.
What would be the best lightweight headless browser option for .NET that can handle JavaScript cookie generation without adding too much complexity to my existing project?
I encountered a similar challenge while scraping a JavaScript-heavy site. After testing several tools, I found PuppeteerSharp to be an effective solution. It simplifies the process significantly. By using it solely for the initial homepage visit, I was able to let the JavaScript run and retrieve the necessary cookies without complicating my existing workflow. I then used those cookies with my standard HttpWebRequest for subsequent requests. This method kept my codebase intact and required minimal additional lines, making it a practical choice for handling JavaScript execution.
Try Selenium WebDriver with ChromeDriver in headless mode. I’ve used this when dealing with complex JavaScript cookie mechanisms that regular JS engines can’t handle. Configure it for minimal overhead - initialize the driver once, navigate to the homepage, wait for JavaScript execution, grab the cookies, then dispose of it. You keep full control over the browser session and can plug it right into your existing HttpWebRequest workflow. Sure, it adds some dependency weight, but the reliability is worth it when you’re dealing with heavily obfuscated JavaScript.
honestly, i’d go with playwright for .net - way cleaner api than selenium and handles js cookies really well. just spin up a browser instance, navigate to the home page, let javascript do its thing, extract cookies and pass them to your existing httprequest code. super lightweight compared to other options and doesn’t mess with your current architecture much.