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Choose between an HTTP client and Headless Chrome
Use curl when you only need to send a method, headers, and body to an endpoint. Use Chrome when the request depends on browser behavior, such as page state, browser-managed cookies, or other network activity within a browser session. Chrome’s Headless CLI options capture or inspect page output; they are not a generic POST interface. The Headless command-line reference documents options including --dump-dom, --screenshot, and --print-to-pdf. --dump-dom returns a DOM after parsing and script execution, not a way to submit an arbitrary POST body.
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For a direct POST, use curl
This example sends JSON without starting Chrome:
curl -X POST https://api.example.com/items -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{"name":"sample"}'
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Use CDP when the request needs a browser context
Remote debugging exposes a Chrome target that a separate CDP client can control. Starting Chrome with --headless alone does not send a POST body. Chromium’s Headless README describes remote debugging and browser automation as the control path.
1. Start Chrome with remote debugging enabled
For example, on a system where the Chrome executable is available as google-chrome:
google-chrome --headless --remote-debugging-port=9222 https://example.com/
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The URL opens a browser page; it does not turn that navigation into a POST. The debugging port lets a separate client attach to the browser. Use the executable name and launch options appropriate to your operating system and Chrome installation.
2. Connect a CDP client and intercept a request
CDP’s Fetch domain can pause matching requests so a client can continue one with an overridden method, POST data, and headers. The protocol defines these overrides in Fetch; request metadata, including method and POST data, is described in the Network domain.
There is no standalone Chrome shell command in the documented Headless interface that performs this protocol sequence by itself. Your CDP client must connect to the relevant page target, enable Fetch interception for a matching request, and answer each pause with a command such as Fetch.continueRequest, Fetch.failRequest, or Fetch.fulfillRequest. With continueRequest, supply the intended method, POST data, and headers as needed. Make sure the request pattern matches the request you mean to alter; a page may generate other requests as it loads.
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3. Account for interception and redirects
- Request-stage interception pauses a request before it is sent. The client must resume, fail, or fulfill the paused request or it remains paused.
- Response-stage interception occurs after a response arrives and before its body is received; it is not the stage for changing a request before it is sent.
- Redirects can produce new requests. Header overrides do not automatically carry over to later redirect hops, so handle those requests if they also need custom headers or other changes.
Check Chrome’s protocol version before relying on CDP details
The available protocol schema can change. When compatibility matters, inspect the protocol exposed by the Chrome instance you launched at http://localhost:9222/json/protocol and use that installed version’s definitions. The Fetch and Network links above describe the protocol domains, but the Chrome instance’s own schema is the relevant compatibility reference.
Headless mode is unified with regular Chrome. Chrome for Developers says the former separate Headless implementation is available only as chrome-headless-shell beginning with Chrome 132.0.6793.0; see the Headless overview. The same overview’s startup example illustrates that --headless selects Headless operation, not a request method. Version-sensitive behavior should be checked against the Chrome binary and protocol schema in use.
Troubleshooting
- The endpoint receives a GET instead of a POST: passing a URL to Chrome opens a page; it does not set an arbitrary method or body. Use a direct HTTP client or a CDP client that explicitly overrides method and POST data.
- The request never completes: check that the client handles every paused Fetch event with a continuation, failure, or fulfillment command, and that the interception pattern is not pausing unrelated requests indefinitely.
- Custom headers disappear after a redirect: later redirect hops are separate requests. Intercept and apply the required overrides to those hops too.
- The CDP client rejects a command or parameter: compare the command with the schema exposed by the running Chrome at
/json/protocol; protocol support can differ by Chrome version. - The direct POST works in curl but not in the browser flow: verify that the CDP client is attached to the intended page target and that its Fetch pattern matches the request. A page navigation and an intercepted API request are distinct browser actions.
Or skip the browser setup
If your goal is a website screenshot rather than submitting a POST to an API, ScreenshotNeo provides a one-request screenshot API. This is not a substitute for a POST endpoint: it captures a URL as an image or PDF.
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See the ScreenshotNeo API documentation. cURL example:
curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webp
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use Chrome’s --dump-dom flag to send a POST?
No. It serializes the page DOM after parsing and script execution; it does not provide a general method-and-body request interface.
Does --headless by itself send a POST request?
No. It launches Chrome in Headless mode. A separate HTTP client or CDP client is needed to make the POST.
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