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Set Puppeteer’s browser profile directory with the userDataDir option in the object passed to puppeteer.launch(). The path must be writable by the operating-system user that starts Chrome.
Set userDataDir when launching Puppeteer
Pass a string path as userDataDir in the launch options. This example uses an explicit profile directory and closes the browser even if navigation fails:
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import puppeteer from 'puppeteer';
const browser = await puppeteer.launch({
userDataDir: '/path/to/profile',
});
try {
const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto('https://example.com');
} finally {
await browser.close();
}Replace /path/to/profile with a directory appropriate for the machine or container running Chrome. In the current Puppeteer LaunchOptions reference (version 25.12.0 shown there), userDataDir is an optional string path: Puppeteer LaunchOptions.
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Chrome must be able to write to the profile directory. Puppeteer’s troubleshooting guide explicitly notes that it needs a writable user data directory and gives /tmp/.puppeteer-profile as an example: Puppeteer troubleshooting.
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Puppeteer creates a temporary profile under the operating system’s temporary directory by default. Setting an explicit path is useful when your deployment requires a known location. Whether that profile’s data remains available after the browser closes or an environment resets depends on the selected path and the deployment’s cleanup and volume lifecycle; an explicit path alone does not guarantee persistence.
In containers and read-only environments
Chrome writes profile, configuration, and cache files during startup. In a read-only container, point these locations to writable paths or mount writable volumes, and ensure the Chrome process owns or can write to them. Otherwise, Chrome may fail before Puppeteer connects. Check the profile path as well as other startup locations used by the browser.
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Know when to use a browser context instead
userDataDir selects the user data directory for the launched browser. A BrowserContext instead provides storage isolation within a running browser: Puppeteer documents that cookies and local storage are not shared between contexts, and that each non-default Chrome context is incognito. Use a context when tasks need separate cookies or local storage during one browser run; use userDataDir when you need to choose the launched browser’s profile directory.
See Puppeteer’s BrowserContext API for the context behavior.
Make sure Puppeteer has a browser to launch
The puppeteer package downloads a compatible Chrome for Testing browser. puppeteer-core does not download Chrome. If you use puppeteer-core or a manually managed browser, configure an explicit executablePath or a channel for an installation in a standard location as appropriate; userDataDir still sets the profile path. Refer to the Puppeteer installation guide.
Troubleshoot launch and profile errors
- The profile option seems ignored: Confirm that
userDataDiris inside the options object passed topuppeteer.launch(), not an option fornewPage(). - Chrome fails to start or connect: Check that the launching operating-system user can write to the profile directory. In containers, also verify write access to configuration and cache locations and mount writable volumes where needed.
- No compatible browser is found: If you use
puppeteer-coreor a browser installed separately, supply the correctexecutablePathorchannel. - You need separate task storage, not a chosen launch profile: Use browser contexts to isolate cookies and local storage within the running browser.
- The process is left running after automation: Close it with
await browser.close()when finished.
Or skip the browser setup
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cURL:
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