puppeteer-extra
Puppeteer-extra is a modular plugin framework that wraps Puppeteer (and Playwright) to add extra functionality through a plugin system. It acts as a drop-in replacement for Puppeteer while enabling powerful extensions for stealth, captcha solving, ad blocking, and more.
The most popular plugins include:
- puppeteer-extra-plugin-stealth Applies various evasion techniques to make the automated browser harder to detect. Patches common detection vectors like navigator.webdriver, Chrome.runtime, WebGL renderer strings, and more. This is the most widely used Puppeteer stealth solution.
- puppeteer-extra-plugin-recaptcha Automatically detects and solves reCAPTCHA and hCaptcha challenges using third-party solving services (2captcha, anti-captcha).
- puppeteer-extra-plugin-adblocker Blocks ads and trackers to speed up page loading and reduce bandwidth usage during scraping.
- puppeteer-extra-plugin-anonymize-ua Randomizes the User-Agent string to avoid fingerprinting.
Key features of the framework:
- Drop-in replacement
Use
puppeteer-extrainstead ofpuppeteerin your imports - existing code works without changes. - Plugin composition Multiple plugins can be stacked and they work together without conflicts.
- Playwright support
The same plugin system works with Playwright via
playwright-extra. - Community plugins Active community creating and maintaining plugins for various use cases.
Puppeteer-extra is the go-to solution for adding stealth capabilities to Puppeteer-based scrapers without rewriting existing code.
Highlights
Example Use
```javascript const puppeteer = require('puppeteer-extra');
// Add stealth plugin to avoid bot detection const StealthPlugin = require('puppeteer-extra-plugin-stealth'); puppeteer.use(StealthPlugin());
// Add recaptcha solving plugin const RecaptchaPlugin = require('puppeteer-extra-plugin-recaptcha'); puppeteer.use(RecaptchaPlugin({ provider: { id: '2captcha', token: 'YOUR_API_KEY' }, }));
(async () => { // Launch browser - stealth is applied automatically const browser = await puppeteer.launch({ headless: true }); const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto('https://example.com/login');
// If there's a captcha, it will be solved automatically
const { solved } = await page.solveRecaptchas();
console.log(`Solved ${solved.length} captchas`);
// Regular Puppeteer API works as normal
await page.type('#username', 'user@example.com');
await page.type('#password', 'password');
await page.click('#login-button');
await page.waitForNavigation();
console.log('Logged in:', page.url());
await browser.close();
})(); ```