I’m trying to set up a script that can do specific tasks on a website automatically. I want it to run from the command line on a schedule. I’ve looked into browser add-ons like Greasemonkey and Selenium, but they don’t quite fit what I need.
I’m most comfortable with PowerShell, NodeJS, or any .NET option. One thing I’ve been wondering about is whether it’s possible to record web actions in a HAR file and then play them back later. Or is HAR just for keeping track of network stuff and can’t be used to run actions again?
Does anyone have experience with this kind of automation? What tools or methods would you suggest for my situation? I’m open to learning new things if there’s a better way to do this. Thanks for any help or ideas!
I’ve been down this road before, and I can tell you from experience that Python with Selenium is a solid choice for web automation. It’s versatile, well-documented, and has a large community for support.
One thing I learned the hard way: always build in proper waits and checks. Websites can be unpredictable, and timing issues can wreak havoc on your scripts. Selenium’s explicit waits are a lifesaver here.
Also, consider using a tool like Beautiful Soup alongside Selenium. It’s great for parsing HTML and can make your scripts more robust when dealing with dynamic content.
Lastly, if you’re dealing with sites that have anti-bot measures, you might need to look into more advanced techniques like using undetected-chromedriver. It’s saved my bacon more than once when dealing with tricky sites.
Remember, web automation is often a cat-and-mouse game. What works today might not work tomorrow, so be prepared to adapt your approach as needed.
For your needs, I’d highly recommend Puppeteer. It’s a Node.js library that provides a high-level API to control Chrome or Chromium over the DevTools Protocol. I’ve used it extensively for web scraping and automation tasks.
Puppeteer allows you to run Chrome headlessly, which is perfect for server environments. You can script complex interactions, fill forms, click buttons, and even take screenshots or generate PDFs. It’s more powerful than HAR playback, which is mainly for network analysis.
Since you’re comfortable with Node.js, the learning curve shouldn’t be too steep. You can easily schedule your scripts using cron jobs or a task scheduler like node-schedule.
One tip: always implement proper error handling and retry mechanisms. Websites can be unpredictable, and robust error handling will save you a lot of headaches in the long run.
hey, have u tried playwright? it’s like puppeteer but works with multiple browsers. i use it for my automation and it’s pretty sweet. you can write scripts in js or ts and it auto-handles waiting. plus, it comes with a built-in test runner. give it a shot!