How can I utilize Selenium Python with a headless browser?

Other Questions Headless Browser
1

I am currently working on automated tests using Selenium with Python, but I would like to execute these tests without launching a visible browser window. Could anyone provide guidance on how to implement a headless browser setup? I would appreciate any assistance! Here’s a modified example of my existing code:

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options

options = Options()
options.add_argument('--headless')

browser = webdriver.Chrome(executable_path='/path/to/chromedriver', options=options)

url = 'https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox'
browser.get(url)

browser.implicitly_wait(15)

browser.find_element('id', 'identifierId').send_keys(email)
browser.find_element('id', 'identifierNext').click()

browser.find_element('name', 'password').send_keys(passwd)
browser.find_element('id', 'passwordNext').click()
2

It’s great that you’ve already set up your Chrome options for headless execution. Something to keep in mind when using headless mode is that some websites may behave differently compared to a standard browser window. For instance, certain elements might not render the same way. I recommend using user-agent strings to mimic a real user, ensuring elements load correctly. Additionally, for troubleshooting, you can take screenshots with browser.save_screenshot('screenshot.png') to verify what’s being rendered during testing. Ensure your ChromeDriver and browser version are compatible as this might affect headless execution.

3

If you intend to use Firefox instead of Chrome, the process is quite similar but with a few differences. You would use Options from selenium.webdriver.firefox.options. Create an options object and use options.headless = True to set headless mode. When initializing the browser, pass these options like this: webdriver.Firefox(executable_path='/path/to/geckodriver', options=options). This setup should also work seamlessly for headless testing. Remember to watch for any elements not rendering correctly, as headless sometimes behaves differently compared to a traditional UI format.