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Hello, Itās Daniel from Latenode š
Today, weāre going to discuss an automation tool thatās not widely used among no-code experts. Moreover, this feature, native to Latenode, isnāt available on platforms like Zapier, Make, and others, but it has strong potential for enhancing your workflows.
By the way, each time you browse the web via ChatGPT, you're using it! It's a Headless Browser.
Letās step back and look at the world of business process automation. In most cases, businesses use only two automation approaches that fully satisfy their needs:
This is a solid approach for building data flows between different applications that have a public API. You either go to the developer hub yourself and figure out how to make a correct API call to do precisely what you need, or ask the JavaScript AI Assistant on Latenode to build integration with any app you need in seconds by simply describing your request.
Unfortunately, not all actions on the web have underlying API infrastructure to do the same things automatically. Thatās where businesses rely on the second method that doesnāt require any API endpoints.
This article is all about it, so take your seat, relax, and letās dive into a new automation field that will later cover your back.
Imagine a regular internet browser like Chrome or Firefox. Now, remove all the visible interface parts - buttons, address bar, bookmarks. What's left? The "brains" that can navigate the internet, open websites, and interact with them. This is what we call a "headless" browser. It can automate various tasks on websites without displaying visual content and can do this at breakneck speed. A script, not a human, controls the process.
A crucial part of the Headless Browser is its ability to run JavaScript custom scripts. It allows you to simulate user actions like clicking buttons, filling out forms, and navigating through a siteās menu. This is crucial for tasks like automated testing, web scraping, and automating repetitive tasks on web portals.
Operating a headless browser involves a few key steps, and it's essential to understand these to start using its potential:
Basically, you should tell the Headless Browser where to go, what to find, where to click, which text to type or copy, and so on.
There are some basic actions a Headless Browser supports under your control:
Considering the basic actions, Headless Browsers offer a range of advanced actions that can be incredibly useful. To make it real, you need to integrate the Headless browser into low-code scenarios on Latenode. That allows you to implement headless browser into the following use-cases:
Now letās jump to particular use-cases that you can simply copy-paste and hotwire the ignition of Headless Browser by yourself, even without prior experience.
Fun fact: when you use ChatGPT and ask it to browse the web, a Headless Browser comes into play! Letās build an MVP of something similar and ask the Headless Browser to make a search query for us.
Here is a brief overview of the following scenario:
Letās dive a bit deeper into the headless browser code, where we map data from the webhook, so our Headless Browser node knows what exactly it should search for in Google.
After that, letās make a POST request and send our search query as a āSearchā Key in the Body. Just in a few seconds, weāre able to see the result of scenario execution.
šWant to test it by yourself? Copy the ready-to-use template and browse the web with Headless Browser!
Now straight to parsing data from websites! It can be used so widely: from real-time sync of prices from marketplaces to bulk scraping SEO elements for further analysis.
First example: what about scraping all titles (H1, H2, H3) from Latenodeās landing page? Letās do it!
Then we make a POST request again to our scenario and send the website to parse in the body section as shown below:
As a result, we get the list of H1, H2, and H3 titles from the webpage we sent to the headless browser.
Note: Whatās important, you can operate with that info inside the Latenode scenario for any further data transformation or sending info wherever you need.
Second example: if you donāt have an API for the website from which you need to retrieve some crucial info, such as an exchange rate from US Dollar and Euro to England Pound ā use a headless browser to get direct access to it.
By making one more POST request with two currencies, you inevitably get two exchange rates as a response from the Latenode scenario.
Now we switch our focus from searching and retrieving to filling. What about filling out a web form automatically and without an API?
The code for filling out such a simple HTML code looks like this:
Last but not least, making screenshots of whatever you may find on the web.
To make a showcase, we build a dynamic chart on the Latenode platform that updates itself each week with new info. All done with the help of a JavaScript node and Global Variables.
It looks like this. But what if we want to share this chart with someone else each week when it's updated? To make it real, we can ask Headless Browsers for help to make a screenshot and send the file where it needs to go.
The Headless Browser node returns you a screenshot in base64 format. After that, the JavaScript node allows you to transform it as your further system needs to get this file.
šTo customize this ready-to-use template and start making screenshots with further sending to your Telegram chat, follow these steps:
In this article, we've uncovered the power of Headless Browsers on Latenode, a powerful tool for low-code automations. These browsers, without the usual interface of Chrome or Firefox, offer a fast, script-driven way to use the web. They're perfect for tasks like filling out forms, grabbing data from websites, and automated testing, especially on complex, dynamic sites.
What makes our Headless Browser node stand out is its ease of use in a low-code environment. This means even those without deep coding knowledge can still use its capabilities. From automating simple tasks to handling complex web interactions, Headless Browser is a robust tool for various needs.
Enjoy using Latenode, and for any questions about the platform, join our Discord community of low-code experts.
For a visual representation of Headless Browser Automation, watch the Latenode tutorial on low-code automation with the help of our ready-to-use Headless Browser node on our platform.
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