Meow-velous New Browser Automation Features

Since BrowserCat launched, we’ve received clear, consistent feedback on the features devs want most. Today, we’re excited to announce that we’ve delivered on a huge swath of those requests, and set ourselves up to rapidly deliver on the next wave of functionality you all so rightly deserve.

So without further ado, here’s all our new features:

• Connect using Puppeteer or any other CDP client.
• Support for Playwright’s latest 10 versions.
• Automate Chrome (in addition to Chromium, Firefox, and Webkit).
• Launch browsers in headless, headed, or “new” headless mode.
• Set custom CLI launch args and user preferences.
• Connect to more regions, on every continent.
• Route traffic through third-party proxies.
• Better documentation, finally!

Read on for more details…

Puppeteer & CDP clients

A good automation client is critical for effective automation projects. Until now, BrowserCat only supported Playwright, as we believe it’s the best choice for new development.

But not every project is new, and not everyone uses the programming languages supported by Playwright. That’s why we’re excited to announce support for Puppeteer and all other CDP clients.

Connect using your favorite language and your favorite client. See our new docs to quick start your next project using:

• Playwright (JavaScript, Python, Java, .NET)
• Playwright Test (JavaScript, Python, Java, .NET)
• Puppeteer (JavaScript)
• Pyppeteer (Python)
• ChromeDP (Go)
• Headless Chrome (Rust)
• And other CDP clients (Ruby, PHP, etc.)

More Playwright versions

In the beforetimes, we only supported the three most-recent versions of Playwright. But since Playwright releases a new version every few months, it meant users had to update their scripts every six months or risk a breaking change.

As of today, we now support the latest 10 versions of Playwright. This means scripts will remain stable for much longer.

We’ll continue to monitor usage and expand the number of supported versions as needed. Nevertheless, we strongly recommend you keep your Playwright version up-to-date to benefit from the latest features and bug fixes. You’ll also receive better performance, as our infrastructure remains optimized around the latest versions.

Chrome browsers

In addition to Chromium, Firefox, and Webkit, you can now connect to userland Chrome using any of the client libraries we support.

Use Chrome when you need to beat anti-bot detection or when certain media elements are not loading as expected in Chromium. Otherwise, it’s better to use Chromium, as Chrome is heavier and shares your activity with Google.

Read the docs for picking your browser type.

Headed and “new” headless modes

BrowserCat previously only supported “old” headless mode. This mode remains extremely fast and useful, but it’s easily detected by anti-bot measures. So we’re pleased to announce both “headed” and “new” headless modes.

What are they? How do you choose?

• Prefer “old” headless mode. It’s the fastest, and it functions well across all browsers.
• If you’re having trouble with bot detection, try “new” headless mode. While it’s only available in Chromium-based browsers, it’s nearly identical to a headed browser. However, it’s about 40% slower.
• Treat “headed” mode as a last resort. This mode launches a stock browser instance with a GUI, making it very hard to detect. However, it’s a resource hog. Requests take longer and you won’t be able to open as many pages within a single connection.

Read the docs for choosing headless modes.

CLI launch args & user preferences

BrowserCat now launches new browser instances upon request. This means you can pass custom CLI launch args to the browser process and configure custom user preferences (e.g. “about://flags” or “about:config”).

Most users won’t need to mess with these controls, but they serve as a powerful tool for avoiding bot detection as well as for e2e testing tough-to-crack edge-cases.

Read the docs on CLI launch args and user preferences.

More regions, more continents

We’ve expanded our infrastructure to cover every continent (with one chilling exception). And we’ve added more regions on each continent. We now offer lower latency no matter where you are or where you want your browser to be.

Not only that, we’ve also doubled our deployments to account for increased demand. We’ll continue to monitor usage for scaling opportunities. But please, if you’re experiencing slow connections in your region, let us know!

Here’s a list of our current regions:

Read the docs for targeting a specific region.

Third-party proxies

While launching browsers across regions is easier than ever, it will often still not be enough to bypass region-based restrictions or anti-bot detection.

For these cases, we recommend using a third-party proxy. These proxies offer residential IP addresses, fine-grained location control, and many other features that may be useful for your use case.

With this release, it’s easier than ever to route your entire browser instance through a proxy of your choice.

Read the docs for configuring a third-party proxy.

Better docs, same great support!

As you might have noticed, our documentation’s surface area has increased considerably.

If you’d been intimidated by BrowserCat or browser automation before, it’s time to give us a try. Check out our new quick start guide and transform the web into your own personal API.

All that said, awesome docs are a journey—not a destination. If you can’t find what you need, contact us. We’re happy to help!

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That’s all for today, but keep your eyes peeled for more exciting updates. This launch has unlocked a wide range of new functionality, and we’re paw-sitively excited for what comes next.