Managing Multiple Tabs in Puppeteer

Other Questions Puppeteer
1

Using Puppeteer, how to handle a tab opened by clicking a button? I need to capture an identifier, close that tab, and resume work on the main page.

const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');

(async function execute() {
  const browserInstance = await puppeteer.launch({ headless: false });
  const primaryPage = await browserInstance.newPage();
  await primaryPage.goto('https://example.com/form', { waitUntil: 'networkidle2' });
  
  await primaryPage.type('#appNameField', 'My Application');
  await primaryPage.click('#generateIdButton');
  
  const allPages = await browserInstance.pages();
  const secondaryPage = allPages.find(p => p.url().includes('identifier'));
  const appId = await secondaryPage.$eval('#identifierDisplay', el => el.textContent.trim());
  
  await secondaryPage.close();
  await primaryPage.type('#appIdInput', appId);
  await primaryPage.click('#submitButton');

  await browserInstance.close();
})();
2

I had a similar issue where pop-ups opened unexpectedly and managing their sequence was crucial. In my case, waiting for the new target with browser.on(‘targetcreated’) made a significant difference in reliability. The event-based approach ensured that I only worked with the exact new tab I needed without scanning through all open pages frequently. This made the automation process smoother and even more predictable when scraping data from dynamically loaded pop-ups. I eventually integrated error handling to manage cases where the pop-up might be delayed or altered in structure.

3

hey, try using page.waitForEvent(‘popup’) instead. it directly returns the new tab on click without scanning all pages. sometimes i had timeouts so proper error handling is a must. works well with pupptier in my tests

4

In my experience, a more robust approach has been to combine the clicking action with waiting for the new tab using Promise.all. This pattern minimizes race conditions by synchronizing the button click with the event that signals a new page is available. Instead of scanning through all pages after a click, the new tab is captured directly as it opens, which not only simplifies the codebase but also increases reliability under various network conditions by reducing unnecessary delays.

5

I have dealt with similar issues in my projects and found that incorporating a dedicated function to handle new tabs can really streamline the process. Instead of scanning through all open pages, I set up a dedicated handler for the browser’s target creation event, which allowed me to quickly identify when the desired tab opened. This method also helped in reducing race conditions, especially under slow network conditions. In one instance, I implemented an additional check on a unique element in the new tab to confirm its relevance before proceeding. This approach significantly increased the reliability of my scripts in production environments.

6

hey, i solved it with promise.all using page.waitForEvent(‘popup’) and the click, which stopped me from scanning every page. wrapping the identifier capture in try/catch helped with network delays. hope this helps!