Save Logins to Authenticated Profiles

Capture a logged-in browser state once — cookies, localStorage, session tokens — and reuse it across parallel sessions without re-entering credentials.

Prerequisites

• A Browserless API token from your account dashboard

Steps

Saving an authenticated profile works in two phases: first you create and save the profile with a live login session, then you reuse that profile in any future request.

REST API

Use the REST API to save and reuse authenticated browser profiles.

cURL

View Full Code on GitHub

1. Start a profile session

Create a named profile session. The response includes a WebSocket URL to connect a CDP client for the login flow:

curl -X POST \
  "https://production-sfo.browserless.io/profile?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "name": "my-profile" }'

The response:

{
  "id": "<session-id>",
  "name": "my-profile",
  "connect": "wss://production-sfo.browserless.io/session/connect/<id>?token=...",
  "stop": "https://production-sfo.browserless.io/session/<id>?token=..."
}

2. Log in and save

Connect a CDP client (see the Puppeteer tab), complete the login, and call Browserless.saveProfile to persist the session.

3. Reuse the profile

Append ?profile=my-profile to any Browserless endpoint to start pre-authenticated:

curl -X POST \
  "https://production-sfo.browserless.io/screenshot?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE&profile=my-profile" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "url": "https://app.example.com/dashboard" }' \
  --output dashboard.png

JavaScript

View Full Code on GitHub

1. Create a profile session

const TOKEN = 'YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE';
const ORIGIN = 'https://production-sfo.browserless.io';

const session = await fetch(`${ORIGIN}/profile?token=${TOKEN}`, {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({ name: 'my-profile' }),
}).then((r) => r.json());

console.log(session.connect);
// Use session.connect with the Frameworks tab to log in and save.

2. Reuse the saved profile

import fs from 'fs';

const response = await fetch(
  `${ORIGIN}/screenshot?token=${TOKEN}&profile=my-profile`,
  {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    body: JSON.stringify({ url: 'https://app.example.com/dashboard' }),
  }
);

const buffer = await response.arrayBuffer();
await fs.promises.writeFile('dashboard.png', Buffer.from(buffer));
console.log('Screenshot saved.');

Python

View Full Code on GitHub

1. Install dependencies

pip install requests playwright

2. Create a profile session

import requests

TOKEN = 'YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE'
ORIGIN = 'https://production-sfo.browserless.io'

session = requests.post(
    f'{ORIGIN}/profile?token={TOKEN}',
    json={'name': 'my-profile'},
).json()

print(session['connect'])
# Use session['connect'] with the Frameworks → Playwright → Python tab to log in and save.

Profile creation requires a live browser session — this tab covers only the HTTP steps. To complete the login and persist the session, switch to the Frameworks → Playwright → Python tab. That example connects to session['connect'] with playwright.chromium.connect_over_cdp, logs in, then calls page.context.new_cdp_session(page) to open a CDP channel and cdp.send('Browserless.saveProfile', {'name': 'my-profile'}) to save it.

3. Reuse the saved profile

import requests

TOKEN = 'YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE'
ORIGIN = 'https://production-sfo.browserless.io'

response = requests.post(
    f'{ORIGIN}/screenshot?token={TOKEN}&profile=my-profile',
    json={'url': 'https://app.example.com/dashboard'},
)
with open('dashboard.png', 'wb') as f:
    f.write(response.content)
print('Screenshot saved.')

Java

View Full Code on GitHub

1. Add dependencies

<dependency>
  <groupId>com.microsoft.playwright</groupId>
  <artifactId>playwright</artifactId>
  <version>1.60.0</version>
</dependency>

2. Create a profile session

import java.net.http.*;
import java.net.URI;
import java.nio.file.*;

HttpClient client = HttpClient.newHttpClient();

HttpRequest sessionRequest = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
    .uri(URI.create("https://production-sfo.browserless.io/profile?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE"))
    .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
    .POST(HttpRequest.BodyPublishers.ofString("{\"name\": \"my-profile\"}"))
    .build();
HttpResponse<String> sessionResponse = client.send(sessionRequest, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());
System.out.println(sessionResponse.body());
// Parse session.connect and use the Playwright Java tab to log in and save.

3. Reuse the saved profile

HttpRequest screenshotRequest = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
    .uri(URI.create("https://production-sfo.browserless.io/screenshot?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE&profile=my-profile"))
    .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
    .POST(HttpRequest.BodyPublishers.ofString("{\"url\": \"https://app.example.com/dashboard\"}"))
    .build();
HttpResponse<byte[]> screenshotResponse = client.send(screenshotRequest, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofByteArray());
Files.write(Path.of("dashboard.png"), screenshotResponse.body());
System.out.println("Screenshot saved.");

C#

View Full Code on GitHub

1. Create a profile session

using System.Net.Http;
using System.Text;

using var client = new HttpClient();

var sessionBody = new StringContent("{\"name\": \"my-profile\"}", Encoding.UTF8, "application/json");
var sessionResponse = await client.PostAsync(
    "https://production-sfo.browserless.io/profile?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE",
    sessionBody
);
Console.WriteLine(await sessionResponse.Content.ReadAsStringAsync());
// Parse session.connect and use the Playwright C# tab to log in and save.

2. Reuse the saved profile

var screenshotBody = new StringContent("{\"url\": \"https://app.example.com/dashboard\"}", Encoding.UTF8, "application/json");
var screenshotResponse = await client.PostAsync(
    "https://production-sfo.browserless.io/screenshot?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE&profile=my-profile",
    screenshotBody
);
var bytes = await screenshotResponse.Content.ReadAsByteArrayAsync();
await File.WriteAllBytesAsync("dashboard.png", bytes);
Console.WriteLine("Screenshot saved.");

Go

View Full Code on GitHub

1. Create a profile session

package main

import (
    "bytes"
    "encoding/json"
    "fmt"
    "io"
    "net/http"
    "os"
)

func main() {
    client := &http.Client{}

    // Create profile session.
    sessionBody := bytes.NewBufferString(`{"name": "my-profile"}`)
    sessionReq, _ := http.NewRequest("POST",
        "https://production-sfo.browserless.io/profile?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE",
        sessionBody,
    )
    sessionReq.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
    sessionResp, _ := client.Do(sessionReq)
    defer sessionResp.Body.Close()

    var session map[string]string
    json.NewDecoder(sessionResp.Body).Decode(&session)
    fmt.Println(session["connect"])
    // Use session["connect"] with the Frameworks tab to log in and save.

2. Reuse the saved profile

    // Reuse the saved profile.
    screenshotBody := bytes.NewBufferString(`{"url": "https://app.example.com/dashboard"}`)
    screenshotReq, _ := http.NewRequest("POST",
        "https://production-sfo.browserless.io/screenshot?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE&profile=my-profile",
        screenshotBody,
    )
    screenshotReq.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
    screenshotResp, _ := client.Do(screenshotReq)
    defer screenshotResp.Body.Close()
    data, _ := io.ReadAll(screenshotResp.Body)
    os.WriteFile("dashboard.png", data, 0644)
    fmt.Println("Screenshot saved.")
}

PHP

View Full Code on GitHub

1. Create a profile session

<?php
$ch = curl_init('https://production-sfo.browserless.io/profile?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE');
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
    CURLOPT_POST => true,
    CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => '{"name": "my-profile"}',
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => ['Content-Type: application/json'],
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
]);
$session = json_decode(curl_exec($ch), true);
curl_close($ch);
// Use $session['connect'] with the Frameworks tab to log in and save.

2. Reuse the saved profile

$ch2 = curl_init('https://production-sfo.browserless.io/screenshot?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE&profile=my-profile');
curl_setopt_array($ch2, [
    CURLOPT_POST => true,
    CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => '{"url": "https://app.example.com/dashboard"}',
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => ['Content-Type: application/json'],
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
]);
file_put_contents('dashboard.png', curl_exec($ch2));
curl_close($ch2);
echo "Screenshot saved.\n";

Ruby

View Full Code on GitHub

1. Create a profile session

require 'net/http'
require 'json'
require 'uri'

# Create profile session.
uri = URI('https://production-sfo.browserless.io/profile?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE')
response = Net::HTTP.post(uri, '{"name": "my-profile"}', 'Content-Type' => 'application/json')
session = JSON.parse(response.body)
puts session['connect']
# Use session['connect'] with the Frameworks tab to log in and save.

2. Reuse the saved profile

# Reuse the saved profile.
uri2 = URI('https://production-sfo.browserless.io/screenshot?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE&profile=my-profile')
response2 = Net::HTTP.post(uri2, '{"url": "https://app.example.com/dashboard"}', 'Content-Type' => 'application/json')
File.binwrite('dashboard.png', response2.body)
puts 'Screenshot saved.'

Frameworks

Use a browser connection to log in, save a profile via CDP, and reconnect with the saved profile.

Puppeteer

View Full Code on GitHub

1. Install dependencies

npm install puppeteer-core

2. Log in and save the profile

import puppeteer from 'puppeteer-core';

const TOKEN = 'YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE';
const ORIGIN = 'https://production-sfo.browserless.io';

const session = await fetch(`${ORIGIN}/profile?token=${TOKEN}`, {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({ name: 'my-profile' }),
}).then((r) => r.json());

const browser = await puppeteer.connect({ browserWSEndpoint: session.connect });

try {
  const page = await browser.newPage();

  await page.goto('https://app.example.com/login');
  await page.type('#email', 'user@example.com');
  await page.type('#password', process.env.PASSWORD);
  await page.click("button[type='submit']");
  await page.waitForNavigation();

  const cdp = await page.createCDPSession();
  const result = await cdp.send('Browserless.saveProfile', { name: 'my-profile' });
  console.log(result);
  // { ok: true, profileId: '<id>', name: 'my-profile', cookieCount: 12, originCount: 1 }.
} finally {
  // Always close to release the session even on error.
  await browser.close();
}

3. Reuse the saved profile in parallel sessions

import puppeteer from 'puppeteer-core';

const WS = 'wss://production-sfo.browserless.io?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE&profile=my-profile';

// Each connect() call is a separate browser process — profiles let them all start authenticated.
const results = await Promise.all(
  Array.from({ length: 5 }, async (_, i) => {
    const browser = await puppeteer.connect({ browserWSEndpoint: WS });
    try {
      const page = await browser.newPage();
      await page.goto(`https://app.example.com/item/${i}`);
      return await page.title();
    } finally {
      // Always close to release the session even on error.
      await browser.close();
    }
  })
);

console.log(results);

Playwright

JavaScript

View Full Code on GitHub

1. Install dependencies

npm install playwright-core

2. Log in and save the profile

import { chromium } from 'playwright-core';

const TOKEN = 'YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE';
const ORIGIN = 'https://production-sfo.browserless.io';

const session = await fetch(`${ORIGIN}/profile?token=${TOKEN}`, {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({ name: 'my-profile' }),
}).then((r) => r.json());

const browser = await chromium.connectOverCDP(session.connect);

try {
  const context = browser.contexts()[0];
  const page = await context.newPage();

  await page.goto('https://app.example.com/login');
  await page.fill('#email', 'user@example.com');
  await page.fill('#password', process.env.PASSWORD);
  await page.click("button[type='submit']");
  await page.waitForURL('**/dashboard');

  const cdpSession = await context.newCDPSession(page);
  const result = await cdpSession.send('Browserless.saveProfile', { name: 'my-profile' });
  console.log(result);
  // { ok: true, profileId: '<id>', name: 'my-profile', cookieCount: 12, originCount: 1 }.
} finally {
  // Always close to release the session even on error.
  await browser.close();
}

3. Reuse the saved profile

import { chromium } from 'playwright-core';

const browser = await chromium.connect(
  `wss://production-sfo.browserless.io/chromium/playwright?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE&profile=my-profile`
);

try {
  const context = browser.contexts()[0];
  const page = await context.newPage();
  await page.goto('https://app.example.com/dashboard'); // already logged in.
  console.log('Title:', await page.title());
} finally {
  // Always close to release the session even on error.
  await browser.close();
}

Python

View Full Code on GitHub

1. Install dependencies

pip install requests playwright

2. Log in and save the profile

import requests
from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright

TOKEN = 'YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE'
ORIGIN = 'https://production-sfo.browserless.io'

session = requests.post(
    f'{ORIGIN}/profile?token={TOKEN}',
    json={'name': 'my-profile'},
).json()

with sync_playwright() as playwright:
    # connect_over_cdp gives access to CDP sessions needed for Browserless.saveProfile.
    browser = playwright.chromium.connect_over_cdp(session['connect'])
    try:
        context = browser.contexts[0]
        page = context.new_page()

        page.goto('https://app.example.com/login')
        page.fill('#email', 'user@example.com')
        page.fill('#password', 'YOUR_PASSWORD')
        page.click("button[type='submit']")
        page.wait_for_url('**/dashboard')

        cdp = page.context.new_cdp_session(page)
        result = cdp.send('Browserless.saveProfile', {'name': 'my-profile'})
        print(result)
        # {'ok': True, 'profileId': '<id>', 'name': 'my-profile', 'cookieCount': 12, 'originCount': 1}
    finally:
        # Always close to release the session even on error.
        browser.close()

3. Reuse the saved profile

WS_REUSE = (
    'wss://production-sfo.browserless.io/chromium/playwright'
    '?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE&profile=my-profile'
)

with sync_playwright() as playwright:
    browser = playwright.chromium.connect_over_cdp(WS_REUSE)
    try:
        context = browser.contexts[0]
        page = context.pages[0]
        page.goto('https://app.example.com/dashboard')  # already logged in.
        print('Title:', page.title())
    finally:
        # Always close to release the session even on error.
        browser.close()

Java

View Full Code on GitHub

1. Add dependencies

<dependency>
  <groupId>com.microsoft.playwright</groupId>
  <artifactId>playwright</artifactId>
  <version>1.60.0</version>
</dependency>
<!-- Add Gson or Jackson for JSON parsing -->
<dependency>
  <groupId>com.google.code.gson</groupId>
  <artifactId>gson</artifactId>
  <version>2.10.1</version>
</dependency>

2. Log in and save the profile

import com.microsoft.playwright.*;
import com.google.gson.*;
import java.net.http.*;
import java.net.URI;

public class SaveProfile {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        String token = "YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE";
        String origin = "https://production-sfo.browserless.io";

        HttpClient http = HttpClient.newHttpClient();
        HttpRequest req = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
            .uri(URI.create(origin + "/profile?token=" + token))
            .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
            .POST(HttpRequest.BodyPublishers.ofString("{\"name\": \"my-profile\"}"))
            .build();
        String body = http.send(req, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString()).body();
        String wsEndpoint = JsonParser.parseString(body)
            .getAsJsonObject().get("connect").getAsString();

        try (Playwright playwright = Playwright.create()) {
            Browser browser = playwright.chromium().connectOverCDP(wsEndpoint);
            try {
                BrowserContext context = browser.contexts().get(0);
                Page page = context.newPage();

                page.navigate("https://app.example.com/login");
                page.fill("#email", "user@example.com");
                page.fill("#password", System.getenv("PASSWORD"));
                page.click("button[type='submit']");
                page.waitForURL("**/dashboard");

                // connectOverCDP gives access to CDP sessions needed for Browserless.saveProfile.
                CDPSession cdp = page.context().newCDPSession(page);
                JsonElement result = cdp.send("Browserless.saveProfile", Map.of("name", "my-profile"));
                System.out.println(result);
                // {"ok":true,"profileId":"<id>","name":"my-profile","cookieCount":12,"originCount":1}
            } finally {
                // Always close to release the session even on error.
                browser.close();
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Reuse the saved profile

String wsReuse = "wss://production-sfo.browserless.io?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE&profile=my-profile";

try (Playwright playwright = Playwright.create()) {
    Browser browser = playwright.chromium().connectOverCDP(wsReuse);
    try {
        BrowserContext context = browser.contexts().get(0);
        Page page = context.pages().get(0);
        page.navigate("https://app.example.com/dashboard"); // already logged in.
        System.out.println("Title: " + page.title());
    } finally {
        // Always close to release the session even on error.
        browser.close();
    }
}

C#

View Full Code on GitHub

1. Add dependencies

dotnet add package Microsoft.Playwright

2. Log in and save the profile

using Microsoft.Playwright;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Text;
using System.Text.Json;

const string Token = "YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE";
const string Origin = "https://production-sfo.browserless.io";

using var http = new HttpClient();
var sessionBody = new StringContent("{\"name\": \"my-profile\"}", Encoding.UTF8, "application/json");
var sessionResp = await http.PostAsync($"{Origin}/profile?token={Token}", sessionBody);
var sessionJson = JsonDocument.Parse(await sessionResp.Content.ReadAsStringAsync());
var wsEndpoint = sessionJson.RootElement.GetProperty("connect").GetString();

using var playwright = await Playwright.CreateAsync();
var browser = await playwright.Chromium.ConnectOverCDPAsync(wsEndpoint);

try
{
    var context = browser.Contexts[0];
    var page = await context.NewPageAsync();

    await page.GotoAsync("https://app.example.com/login");
    await page.FillAsync("#email", "user@example.com");
    await page.FillAsync("#password", Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PASSWORD"));
    await page.ClickAsync("button[type='submit']");
    await page.WaitForURLAsync("**/dashboard");

    // ConnectOverCDP gives access to CDP sessions needed for Browserless.saveProfile.
    var cdp = await page.Context.NewCDPSessionAsync(page);
    var result = await cdp.SendAsync(
        "Browserless.saveProfile",
        new Dictionary<string, object> { ["name"] = "my-profile" }
    );
    Console.WriteLine(result);
    // { ok: true, profileId: '<id>', name: 'my-profile', cookieCount: 12, originCount: 1 }
}
finally
{
    // Always close to release the session even on error.
    await browser.CloseAsync();
}

3. Reuse the saved profile

using var playwright = await Playwright.CreateAsync();
var browser = await playwright.Chromium.ConnectOverCDPAsync(
    "wss://production-sfo.browserless.io?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE&profile=my-profile"
);

try
{
    var context = browser.Contexts[0];
    var page = context.Pages[0];
    await page.GotoAsync("https://app.example.com/dashboard"); // already logged in.
    Console.WriteLine($"Title: {await page.TitleAsync()}");
}
finally
{
    // Always close to release the session even on error.
    await browser.CloseAsync();
}

Next steps

• Log In and Reuse Sessions — full walkthrough of the session reuse pattern
• Run Concurrent Browser Sessions — launch many sessions in parallel using the saved profile
• Scrape Structured Data — extract data from authenticated pages