Puppeteer Bot Functions Locally but Fails to Click Button in Kubernetes Deployments

My Puppeteer meeting bot clicks elements locally but fails on Kubernetes, possibly due to configuration or network differences. See an alternate code sample:

class SessionManager {
  async startSession() {
    const { url, name } = this.sessionData;
    await this.browser.goto(url, { waitUntil: 'domcontentloaded', timeout: 0 });
    await this.proceedToJoin(name);
  }

  async refreshDisplay() {
    await Promise.all([
      this.browser.reload(),
      waitForCalmRequests(this.browser, 800, 1)
    ]);
  }

  async proceedToJoin(user) {
    const inputField = '.name-input';
    await this.browser.waitForSelector(inputField, { visible: true, timeout: 10000 });
    await inputText(this.browser, inputField, `${user}'s Helper`);
    await this.browser.waitForTimeout(800);
    await pressEnter(this.browser, { label: 'Join Session' });
  }
}

const waitForCalmRequests = (page, delay, maxReq = 0) => {
  let active = 0;
  return new Promise(resolve => {
    const checkIdle = () => {
      if (active <= maxReq) { cleanup(); resolve(); }
    };
    const onRequest = () => { active++; };
    const onComplete = () => { active--; checkIdle(); };
    const cleanup = () => {
      page.off('request', onRequest);
      page.off('requestfinished', onComplete);
      page.off('requestfailed', onComplete);
    };
    page.on('request', onRequest);
    page.on('requestfinished', onComplete);
    page.on('requestfailed', onComplete);
    setTimeout(checkIdle, delay);
  });
};

In my experience deploying Puppeteer in a Kubernetes setup, issues like these often come down to differences in the environment configuration between your local setup and the pods. I encountered similar problems that were eventually resolved by ensuring that the browser was running in non-sandbox mode and by extending timeout parameters. The node environment in Kubernetes sometimes processes events slower, which means explicit waits might need reevaluation based on network latency or resource constraints. Fine-tuning the headless configurations helped me achieve the desired interactivity on production.

My investigation into a similar issue led me to check container resource limits more rigorously. It turned out that the Puppeteer processes in Kubernetes were sometimes starved of CPU and memory, which delayed element rendering. Adjusting the container’s resource allocation and enforcing headless configuration with additional flags such as --no-sandbox improved performance. I also found that increasing logging verbosity in the Puppeteer script helped pinpoint delays in element availability. These adjustments provided insight into timing issues that do not occur in a more stable local environment.