Has anyone used a headless browser for sites with MFA, timeouts and authentication? I need minimal UI interactions to download files and fill forms.
In my experience, headless browsers work fairly well even on sites with MFA, timeouts, and various authentication mechanisms, although it can require a few tweaks to efficiently manage the dynamic behavior of these pages. I’ve worked with headless Chrome and Puppeteer in some projects to automate file downloads and form submissions, and I found that managing cookies and session times are crucial components to ensuring a smooth flow. You may occasionally need to introduce minimal UI interactions to handle unexpected prompts, but overall it has been a reliable solution.
Based on my own experimentation with headless browsers, I believe they can be effective even with challenging authentication protocols such as MFA and session timeouts. My approach using Selenium revealed that while the headless configuration simplifies the background automation, adjustments are required to mimic genuine user interactions, especially when navigating MFA prompts. Managing cookies and session states has been critical. Although it requires a careful balance between minimal UI actions and full automation, the benefits of reduced overhead and controlled testing have outweighed the complications.
i’ve used headless firefox for similar tasks. tuning js triggers for mfa was tricky and session timeouts still baffle me sometimes. minor glitches appear but overall it autmatises file downloads and form filling fairly decently. not perfect, but works in a pinch.