Starting Chromium from node_modules without using Puppeteer's features

Other Questions Puppeteer
1

Hey everyone! I’m trying to figure out how to start the Chromium browser that’s installed in my node_modules folder, but without using any of Puppeteer’s special features. I just want to launch the browser on its own.

I’ve been digging through the docs, thinking there might be some kind of option when calling the launch function, but I’m coming up empty-handed. Does anyone know if this is possible?

It would be super helpful if someone could point me in the right direction for finding the browser path and maybe share some basic code to get it running. I’m kind of stuck and can’t even get started with this.

Basically, I’m wondering if there’s a way to fire up the Puppeteer browser directly, without going through all the Puppeteer stuff. Any ideas? Thanks in advance for your help!

2

I’ve encountered a similar situation in my work. While Noah_Fire’s solution is solid, there’s another approach you might consider. You can use the puppeteer.executablePath() function to get the Chromium path dynamically, eliminating the need to hardcode it. Here’s how:

const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');
const { exec } = require('child_process');

const chromiumPath = puppeteer.executablePath();
exec(`"${chromiumPath}"`, (error, stdout, stderr) => {
  if (error) {
    console.error(`Error: ${error}`);
    return;
  }
  console.log('Chromium launched successfully');
});

This method ensures you’re always using the correct Chromium version associated with your Puppeteer installation. It’s particularly useful if you’re working on different machines or if your project gets updated frequently. Just make sure you have the necessary permissions to execute the browser directly.

3

I’ve actually tackled this issue before in one of my projects. While Puppeteer is great for automation, sometimes you just need the browser itself. Here’s what worked for me:

First, you’ll need to find the Chromium executable. It’s usually located in the .local-chromium folder inside your node_modules/puppeteer directory. The exact path might vary depending on your OS and Puppeteer version.

Once you’ve got the path, you can use Node’s child_process module to launch Chromium directly. Something like this:

const { execFile } = require(‘child_process’);
const chromiumPath = ‘/path/to/chromium’;
execFile(chromiumPath);

This bypasses Puppeteer entirely and just fires up the browser. You might need to add some command-line flags to customize the launch, but this should get you started.

Just remember, you won’t have access to Puppeteer’s API this way, so you’ll need to handle any automation or interaction differently if that’s part of your end goal.

4

hey dave, i’ve got another idea for ya. you could try using the ‘chromium-browser’ package. it’s pretty straightforward:

npm install chromium-browser
const chromium = require(‘chromium-browser’);
chromium.path // gives you the exe path

then just use child_process to launch it. no puppeteer needed at all!