Session Inspection

See how to debug automation sessions via a real-time graphical interface.

The Session Inspection tool is a powerful debugging feature of Oxylabs Unblocking Browser that leverages VNC (Virtual Network Computing) technology to provide real-time visual access to your browser automation sessions. This tool creates a secure bridge between your headless browser instance and a graphical interface you can observe and control.

When to use it?

While Oxylabs Unblocking Browser offers built-in stealth capabilities, dynamic CAPTCHA bypassing, and other features, certain scenarios require direct visual observation to:

• Diagnose complex issues that aren't evident from logs or error messages

• Understand page rendering exactly as the browser sees it

• Verify proper execution of your automation workflows

• Troubleshoot unexpected behavior in real-time

Usage example

You can enable the Session Inspection tool by adding the o_vnc=true parameter to the connection endpoint, for example:

• Chrome browser: wss://username:[email protected]?o_vnc=true

• Firefox browser: wss://username:[email protected]?o_vnc=true

This feature works with both Playwright and Puppeteer libraries.

Chrome (UBC)

const {chromium} = require('playwright');

(async () => {
    let page = null;
    let browser = null;

    try {
        // Use o_vnc=true parameter to connect
        browser = await chromium.connectOverCDP('wss://user:[email protected]?o_vnc=true');
        const ctx = browser.contexts()[0];

        // Create a new page
        page = await ctx.newPage();
        page.on('console', async msg => {
            console.log(`BROWSER [${msg.type()}] ${msg.text()}`);
        });

        // Get the session ID using a CDP session
        let sesId = await (await ctx.newCDPSession(page)).send("__session_id");
        // Use UB novnc client or any WebSocket capable client to connect to vnc
        console.log(`Connect to VNC: https://vnc.headlesify.io/novnc/?id=${sesId.value}`);

        // Goto to a page
        await page.goto('https://duckduckgo.com');

        // Sleep for 10 minutes
        await new Promise(resolve => {
            setTimeout(resolve, 6000000);
        });
    }
    catch (e) {
        console.log("Finished with error:", e);
    } finally {
        if (page != null) await page.close();
        if (browser != null) await browser.close();
        process.exit(0);
    }
})();

Firefox (UBS)