Cloudflare Browser Rendering

Cloudflare Browser Rendering - Complete Reference

Production-ready knowledge domain for building browser automation workflows with Cloudflare Browser Rendering.

Status: Production Ready ✅ Last Updated: 2025-10-22 Dependencies: cloudflare-worker-base (for Worker setup) Latest Versions: @cloudflare/puppeteer@1.0.4, @cloudflare/playwright@1.0.0, wrangler@4.43.0

Table of Contents

1. Quick Start (5 minutes)
2. Browser Rendering Overview
3. Puppeteer API Reference
4. Playwright API Reference
5. Session Management
6. Common Patterns
7. Pricing & Limits
8. Known Issues Prevention
9. Production Checklist

Quick Start (5 minutes)

1. Add Browser Binding

wrangler.jsonc:

{
  "name": "browser-worker",
  "main": "src/index.ts",
  "compatibility_date": "2023-03-14",
  "compatibility_flags": ["nodejs_compat"],
  "browser": {
    "binding": "MYBROWSER"
  }
}

Why nodejs_compat? Browser Rendering requires Node.js APIs and polyfills.

2. Install Puppeteer

npm install @cloudflare/puppeteer

3. Take Your First Screenshot

import puppeteer from "@cloudflare/puppeteer";

interface Env {
  MYBROWSER: Fetcher;
}

export default {
  async fetch(request: Request, env: Env): Promise<Response> {
    const { searchParams } = new URL(request.url);
    const url = searchParams.get("url") || "https://example.com";

    // Launch browser
    const browser = await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER);
    const page = await browser.newPage();

    // Navigate and capture
    await page.goto(url);
    const screenshot = await page.screenshot();

    // Clean up
    await browser.close();

    return new Response(screenshot, {
      headers: { "content-type": "image/png" }
    });
  }
};

4. Deploy

npx wrangler deploy

Test at: https://your-worker.workers.dev/?url=https://example.com

CRITICAL:

• Always pass env.MYBROWSER to puppeteer.launch() (not undefined)
• Always call browser.close() when done (or use browser.disconnect() for session reuse)
• Use nodejs_compat compatibility flag

Browser Rendering Overview

What is Browser Rendering?

Cloudflare Browser Rendering provides headless Chromium browsers running on Cloudflare's global network. Use familiar tools like Puppeteer and Playwright to automate browser tasks:

• Screenshots - Capture visual snapshots of web pages
• PDF Generation - Convert HTML/URLs to PDFs
• Web Scraping - Extract content from dynamic websites
• Testing - Automate frontend tests
• Crawling - Navigate multi-page workflows

Two Integration Methods

This skill covers Workers Bindings (the advanced method with full Puppeteer/Playwright APIs).

Puppeteer vs Playwright

Recommendation: Use Puppeteer for most use cases. Playwright is ideal if you're already using it for testing.

Puppeteer API Reference

puppeteer.launch()

Launch a new browser instance.

Signature:

await puppeteer.launch(binding: Fetcher, options?: LaunchOptions): Promise<Browser>

Parameters:

• binding (required) - Browser binding from env.MYBROWSER
• options (optional):
  • keep_alive (number) - Keep browser alive for N milliseconds (max: 600000 = 10 minutes)

Returns: Promise<Browser> - Browser instance

Example:

const browser = await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER, {
  keep_alive: 60000 // Keep alive for 60 seconds
});

CRITICAL: Must pass env.MYBROWSER binding. Error "Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'fetch')" means the binding wasn't passed.

puppeteer.connect()

Connect to an existing browser session.

Signature:

await puppeteer.connect(binding: Fetcher, sessionId: string): Promise<Browser>

Use Cases:

• Reuse existing browser sessions for performance
• Share browser instance across multiple Workers
• Reduce startup time

Example:

const sessionId = "478f4d7d-e943-40f6-a414-837d3736a1dc";
const browser = await puppeteer.connect(env.MYBROWSER, sessionId);

puppeteer.sessions()

List currently running browser sessions.

Signature:

await puppeteer.sessions(binding: Fetcher): Promise<SessionInfo[]>

Returns:

interface SessionInfo {
  sessionId: string;
  startTime: number;
  connectionId?: string;  // Present if worker is connected
  connectionStartTime?: number;
}

Example:

const sessions = await puppeteer.sessions(env.MYBROWSER);
// Find sessions without active connections
const freeSessions = sessions.filter(s => !s.connectionId);

puppeteer.history()

List recent sessions (both open and closed).

Signature:

await puppeteer.history(binding: Fetcher): Promise<HistoryEntry[]>

Returns:

interface HistoryEntry {
  sessionId: string;
  startTime: number;
  endTime?: number;
  closeReason?: number;
  closeReasonText?: string; // "NormalClosure", "BrowserIdle", etc.
}

Use Case: Monitor usage patterns and debug session issues.

puppeteer.limits()

Check current account limits and available sessions.

Signature:

await puppeteer.limits(binding: Fetcher): Promise<LimitsInfo>

Returns:

interface LimitsInfo {
  activeSessions: Array<{ id: string }>;
  maxConcurrentSessions: number;
  allowedBrowserAcquisitions: number;
  timeUntilNextAllowedBrowserAcquisition: number; // milliseconds
}

Example:

const limits = await puppeteer.limits(env.MYBROWSER);
if (limits.allowedBrowserAcquisitions === 0) {
  return new Response("Rate limit reached", { status: 429 });
}

Browser API

Methods available on the Browser object returned by launch() or connect().

browser.newPage()

Create a new page (tab) in the browser.

Signature:

await browser.newPage(): Promise<Page>

Example:

const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto("https://example.com");

Performance Tip: Reuse browser instances and open multiple tabs instead of launching new browsers.

browser.sessionId()

Get the current browser session ID.

Returns: string - Session ID

Example:

const sessionId = browser.sessionId();
console.log("Current session:", sessionId);

browser.close()

Close the browser and terminate the session.

Signature:

await browser.close(): Promise<void>

When to use: When you're completely done with the browser and want to free resources.

browser.disconnect()

Disconnect from the browser WITHOUT closing it.

Signature:

await browser.disconnect(): Promise<void>

When to use: Session reuse - allows another Worker to connect to the same session later.

Example:

// Keep session alive for reuse
const sessionId = browser.sessionId();
await browser.disconnect(); // Don't close, just disconnect
// Later: puppeteer.connect(env.MYBROWSER, sessionId)

browser.createBrowserContext()

Create an isolated incognito browser context.

Signature:

await browser.createBrowserContext(): Promise<BrowserContext>

Use Cases:

• Isolate cookies and cache between operations
• Test multi-user scenarios
• Maintain session isolation while reusing browser

Example:

const context1 = await browser.createBrowserContext();
const context2 = await browser.createBrowserContext();

const page1 = await context1.newPage();
const page2 = await context2.newPage();

// page1 and page2 have separate cookies/cache

Page API

Methods available on the Page object returned by browser.newPage().

page.goto()

Navigate to a URL.

Signature:

await page.goto(url: string, options?: NavigationOptions): Promise<Response>

Options:

• waitUntil - When to consider navigation complete:
  • "load" - Wait for load event (default)
  • "domcontentloaded" - Wait for DOMContentLoaded
  • "networkidle0" - Wait until no network connections for 500ms
  • "networkidle2" - Wait until ≤2 network connections for 500ms
• timeout - Maximum navigation time in milliseconds (default: 30000)

Example:

await page.goto("https://example.com", {
  waitUntil: "networkidle0",
  timeout: 60000
});

Best Practice: Use "networkidle0" for dynamic content, "load" for static pages.

page.screenshot()

Capture a screenshot of the page.

Signature:

await page.screenshot(options?: ScreenshotOptions): Promise<Buffer>

Options:

• fullPage (boolean) - Capture full scrollable page (default: false)
• type (string) - "png" or "jpeg" (default: "png")
• quality (number) - JPEG quality 0-100 (only for jpeg)
• clip (object) - Capture specific region: { x, y, width, height }

Examples:

// Full page screenshot
const screenshot = await page.screenshot({ fullPage: true });

// JPEG with compression
const screenshot = await page.screenshot({
  type: "jpeg",
  quality: 80
});

// Specific region
const screenshot = await page.screenshot({
  clip: { x: 0, y: 0, width: 800, height: 600 }
});

page.pdf()

Generate a PDF of the page.

Signature:

await page.pdf(options?: PDFOptions): Promise<Buffer>

Options:

• format (string) - Page format: "Letter", "A4", etc.
• printBackground (boolean) - Include background graphics (default: false)
• margin (object) - { top, right, bottom, left } (e.g., "1cm")
• landscape (boolean) - Landscape orientation (default: false)
• scale (number) - Scale factor 0.1-2 (default: 1)

Example:

const pdf = await page.pdf({
  format: "A4",
  printBackground: true,
  margin: { top: "1cm", right: "1cm", bottom: "1cm", left: "1cm" }
});

return new Response(pdf, {
  headers: { "content-type": "application/pdf" }
});

page.content()

Get the full HTML content of the page.

Signature:

await page.content(): Promise<string>

Example:

const html = await page.content();
console.log(html); // Full HTML source

page.setContent()

Set custom HTML content.

Signature:

await page.setContent(html: string, options?: NavigationOptions): Promise<void>

Use Case: Generate PDFs from custom HTML.

Example:

await page.setContent(`
  <!DOCTYPE html>
  <html>
    <head><style>body { font-family: Arial; }</style></head>
    <body><h1>Hello World</h1></body>
  </html>
`);

const pdf = await page.pdf({ format: "A4" });

page.evaluate()

Execute JavaScript in the browser context.

Signature:

await page.evaluate<T>(fn: () => T): Promise<T>

Use Cases:

• Extract data from the DOM
• Manipulate page content
• Workaround for XPath (not directly supported)

Examples:

// Extract text content
const title = await page.evaluate(() => document.title);

// Extract structured data
const data = await page.evaluate(() => ({
  title: document.title,
  url: window.location.href,
  headings: Array.from(document.querySelectorAll("h1, h2")).map(el => el.textContent),
  links: Array.from(document.querySelectorAll("a")).map(el => el.href)
}));

// XPath workaround (XPath selectors not directly supported)
const innerHtml = await page.evaluate(() => {
  return new XPathEvaluator()
    .createExpression("/html/body/div/h1")
    .evaluate(document, XPathResult.FIRST_ORDERED_NODE_TYPE)
    .singleNodeValue.innerHTML;
});

page.waitForSelector()

Wait for an element to appear in the DOM.

Signature:

await page.waitForSelector(selector: string, options?: WaitForOptions): Promise<ElementHandle>

Options:

• timeout (number) - Maximum wait time in milliseconds
• visible (boolean) - Wait for element to be visible

Example:

await page.goto("https://example.com");
await page.waitForSelector("#content", { visible: true });
const screenshot = await page.screenshot();

page.type()

Type text into an input field.

Signature:

await page.type(selector: string, text: string): Promise<void>

Example:

await page.type('input[name="email"]', 'user@example.com');

page.click()

Click an element.

Signature:

await page.click(selector: string): Promise<void>

Example:

await page.click('button[type="submit"]');
await page.waitForNavigation();

Playwright API Reference

Playwright provides a similar API to Puppeteer with slight differences.

Installation

npm install @cloudflare/playwright

Basic Example

import { env } from "cloudflare:test";
import { chromium } from "@cloudflare/playwright";

interface Env {
  BROWSER: Fetcher;
}

export default {
  async fetch(request: Request, env: Env): Promise<Response> {
    const browser = await chromium.launch(env.BROWSER);
    const page = await browser.newPage();

    await page.goto("https://example.com");
    const screenshot = await page.screenshot();

    await browser.close();

    return new Response(screenshot, {
      headers: { "content-type": "image/png" }
    });
  }
};

Key Differences from Puppeteer

Recommendation: Stick with Puppeteer unless you have existing Playwright tests to migrate.

Session Management

Why Session Management Matters

Problem: Launching new browsers is slow and consumes concurrency limits.

Solution: Reuse browser sessions across requests.

Benefits:

• ⚡ Faster (no cold start)
• 💰 Lower concurrency usage
• 📊 Better resource utilization

Session Reuse Pattern

import puppeteer from "@cloudflare/puppeteer";

async function getBrowser(env: Env): Promise<{ browser: Browser; launched: boolean }> {
  // Check for available sessions
  const sessions = await puppeteer.sessions(env.MYBROWSER);
  const freeSessions = sessions.filter(s => !s.connectionId);

  if (freeSessions.length > 0) {
    // Reuse existing session
    try {
      const browser = await puppeteer.connect(env.MYBROWSER, freeSessions[0].sessionId);
      return { browser, launched: false };
    } catch (e) {
      console.log("Failed to connect, launching new browser");
    }
  }

  // Launch new session
  const browser = await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER);
  return { browser, launched: true };
}

export default {
  async fetch(request: Request, env: Env): Promise<Response> {
    const { browser, launched } = await getBrowser(env);

    try {
      const page = await browser.newPage();
      await page.goto("https://example.com");
      const screenshot = await page.screenshot();

      // Disconnect (don't close) to allow reuse
      await browser.disconnect();

      return new Response(screenshot, {
        headers: { "content-type": "image/png" }
      });
    } catch (error) {
      await browser.close(); // Close on error
      throw error;
    }
  }
};

CRITICAL:

• Use browser.disconnect() to keep session alive
• Use browser.close() on errors
• Always handle connection failures

Incognito Browser Contexts

Use browser contexts to isolate cookies and cache while sharing a browser instance.

Benefits:

• Share browser (reduce concurrency)
• Isolate sessions (separate cookies/cache)
• Test multi-user scenarios

Example:

const browser = await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER);

// Create isolated contexts
const context1 = await browser.createBrowserContext();
const context2 = await browser.createBrowserContext();

// Each context has its own cookies/cache
const page1 = await context1.newPage();
const page2 = await context2.newPage();

await page1.goto("https://app.example.com"); // User 1
await page2.goto("https://app.example.com"); // User 2

await context1.close();
await context2.close();
await browser.close();

Multiple Tabs vs Multiple Browsers

Scenario: Scrape 10 URLs

❌ Bad (10 browsers):

for (const url of urls) {
  const browser = await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER); // 10 launches!
  // ... scrape ...
  await browser.close();
}

✅ Good (1 browser, 10 tabs):

const browser = await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER);

const results = await Promise.all(
  urls.map(async (url) => {
    const page = await browser.newPage();
    await page.goto(url);
    const data = await page.evaluate(() => ({
      title: document.title,
      text: document.body.innerText
    }));
    await page.close();
    return { url, data };
  })
);

await browser.close();

Benefit: Uses 1 concurrent browser instead of 10.

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: Screenshot with KV Caching

Cache screenshots to reduce browser usage and improve performance.

import puppeteer from "@cloudflare/puppeteer";

interface Env {
  MYBROWSER: Fetcher;
  CACHE: KVNamespace;
}

export default {
  async fetch(request: Request, env: Env): Promise<Response> {
    const { searchParams } = new URL(request.url);
    const url = searchParams.get("url");

    if (!url) {
      return new Response("Missing ?url parameter", { status: 400 });
    }

    const normalizedUrl = new URL(url).toString();

    // Check cache
    let screenshot = await env.CACHE.get(normalizedUrl, { type: "arrayBuffer" });

    if (!screenshot) {
      // Generate screenshot
      const browser = await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER);
      const page = await browser.newPage();
      await page.goto(normalizedUrl);
      screenshot = await page.screenshot();
      await browser.close();

      // Cache for 24 hours
      await env.CACHE.put(normalizedUrl, screenshot, {
        expirationTtl: 60 * 60 * 24
      });
    }

    return new Response(screenshot, {
      headers: { "content-type": "image/png" }
    });
  }
};

Pattern 2: PDF Generation from HTML

Convert custom HTML to PDF.

import puppeteer from "@cloudflare/puppeteer";

interface Env {
  MYBROWSER: Fetcher;
}

export default {
  async fetch(request: Request, env: Env): Promise<Response> {
    if (request.method !== "POST") {
      return new Response("Method not allowed", { status: 405 });
    }

    const { html } = await request.json<{ html: string }>();

    const browser = await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER);
    const page = await browser.newPage();

    // Set custom HTML
    await page.setContent(html, { waitUntil: "networkidle0" });

    // Generate PDF
    const pdf = await page.pdf({
      format: "A4",
      printBackground: true,
      margin: {
        top: "1cm",
        right: "1cm",
        bottom: "1cm",
        left: "1cm"
      }
    });

    await browser.close();

    return new Response(pdf, {
      headers: {
        "content-type": "application/pdf",
        "content-disposition": "attachment; filename=document.pdf"
      }
    });
  }
};

Pattern 3: Web Scraping with Structured Data

Extract structured data from web pages.

import puppeteer from "@cloudflare/puppeteer";

interface Env {
  MYBROWSER: Fetcher;
}

interface ProductData {
  title: string;
  price: string;
  description: string;
  image: string;
}

export default {
  async fetch(request: Request, env: Env): Promise<Response> {
    const { searchParams } = new URL(request.url);
    const url = searchParams.get("url");

    const browser = await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER);
    const page = await browser.newPage();

    await page.goto(url!, { waitUntil: "networkidle0" });

    // Extract structured data
    const data = await page.evaluate<ProductData>(() => {
      return {
        title: document.querySelector("h1")?.textContent || "",
        price: document.querySelector(".price")?.textContent || "",
        description: document.querySelector(".description")?.textContent || "",
        image: document.querySelector("img")?.src || ""
      };
    });

    await browser.close();

    return Response.json({ url, data });
  }
};

Pattern 4: Batch Scraping Multiple URLs

Efficiently scrape multiple URLs using tabs.

import puppeteer from "@cloudflare/puppeteer";

interface Env {
  MYBROWSER: Fetcher;
}

async function scrapeUrl(browser: Browser, url: string): Promise<any> {
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  try {
    await page.goto(url, { waitUntil: "networkidle0", timeout: 30000 });

    const data = await page.evaluate(() => ({
      title: document.title,
      url: window.location.href,
      text: document.body.innerText.slice(0, 500) // First 500 chars
    }));

    await page.close();
    return { success: true, url, data };
  } catch (error) {
    await page.close();
    return {
      success: false,
      url,
      error: error instanceof Error ? error.message : "Unknown error"
    };
  }
}

export default {
  async fetch(request: Request, env: Env): Promise<Response> {
    const { urls } = await request.json<{ urls: string[] }>();

    if (!urls || urls.length === 0) {
      return new Response("Missing urls array", { status: 400 });
    }

    const browser = await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER);

    // Scrape all URLs in parallel (each in its own tab)
    const results = await Promise.all(
      urls.map(url => scrapeUrl(browser, url))
    );

    await browser.close();

    return Response.json({ results });
  }
};

Pattern 5: AI-Enhanced Scraping

Combine Browser Rendering with Workers AI to extract structured data.

import puppeteer from "@cloudflare/puppeteer";

interface Env {
  MYBROWSER: Fetcher;
  AI: Ai;
}

export default {
  async fetch(request: Request, env: Env): Promise<Response> {
    const { searchParams } = new URL(request.url);
    const url = searchParams.get("url");

    // Scrape page content
    const browser = await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER);
    const page = await browser.newPage();
    await page.goto(url!, { waitUntil: "networkidle0" });

    const bodyContent = await page.$eval("body", el => el.innerHTML);
    await browser.close();

    // Extract structured data with AI
    const response = await env.AI.run("@cf/meta/llama-3.1-8b-instruct", {
      messages: [
        {
          role: "user",
          content: `Extract product information as JSON from this HTML. Include: name, price, description, availability.\n\nHTML:\n${bodyContent.slice(0, 4000)}`
        }
      ]
    });

    // Parse AI response
    let productData;
    try {
      productData = JSON.parse(response.response);
    } catch {
      productData = { raw: response.response };
    }

    return Response.json({ url, product: productData });
  }
};

Pattern 6: Form Filling and Automation

Automate form submissions and multi-step workflows.

import puppeteer from "@cloudflare/puppeteer";

interface Env {
  MYBROWSER: Fetcher;
}

export default {
  async fetch(request: Request, env: Env): Promise<Response> {
    const { email, password } = await request.json<{
      email: string;
      password: string;
    }>();

    const browser = await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER);
    const page = await browser.newPage();

    // Navigate to login page
    await page.goto("https://example.com/login");

    // Fill form
    await page.type('input[name="email"]', email);
    await page.type('input[name="password"]', password);

    // Submit and wait for navigation
    await page.click('button[type="submit"]');
    await page.waitForNavigation();

    // Extract result
    const result = await page.evaluate(() => ({
      url: window.location.href,
      title: document.title,
      loggedIn: document.querySelector(".user-profile") !== null
    }));

    await browser.close();

    return Response.json(result);
  }
};

Pricing & Limits

Free Tier (Workers Free)

Paid Tier (Workers Paid)

Pricing Calculation

Duration Charges:

• Charged per browser hour
• Rounded to nearest hour at end of billing cycle
• Failed requests (timeouts) are NOT charged

Concurrency Charges:

• Monthly average of daily peak usage
• Example: 10 browsers for 15 days, 20 browsers for 15 days = (10×15 + 20×15) / 30 = 15 average
• 15 average - 10 included = 5 × $2.00 = $10.00

Example Monthly Bill:

• 50 browser hours used: (50 - 10) × $0.09 = $3.60
• 15 concurrent browsers average: (15 - 10) × $2.00 = $10.00
• Total: $13.60

Rate Limiting

Per-Second Rate: Rate limits are enforced per-second. Example:

• 180 requests per minute = 3 requests per second
• You cannot send all 180 at once; they must be spread evenly

Handling Rate Limits:

async function launchWithRetry(env: Env, maxRetries = 3): Promise<Browser> {
  for (let i = 0; i < maxRetries; i++) {
    try {
      return await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER);
    } catch (error) {
      if (i === maxRetries - 1) throw error;

      // Check if rate limited
      const limits = await puppeteer.limits(env.MYBROWSER);
      if (limits.allowedBrowserAcquisitions === 0) {
        // Wait before retry
        const delay = limits.timeUntilNextAllowedBrowserAcquisition || 1000;
        await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, delay));
      }
    }
  }
  throw new Error("Failed to launch browser");
}

Known Issues Prevention

This skill prevents 6 documented issues:

Issue #1: XPath Selectors Not Supported

Error: "XPath selector not supported" or selector failures Source: https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/faq/#why-cant-i-use-an-xpath-selector-when-using-browser-rendering-with-puppeteer Why It Happens: XPath poses a security risk to Workers Prevention: Use CSS selectors or page.evaluate() with XPathEvaluator

Solution:

// ❌ Don't use XPath directly (not supported)
// await page.$x('/html/body/div/h1')

// ✅ Use CSS selector
const heading = await page.$("div > h1");

// ✅ Or use XPath in page.evaluate()
const innerHtml = await page.evaluate(() => {
  return new XPathEvaluator()
    .createExpression("/html/body/div/h1")
    .evaluate(document, XPathResult.FIRST_ORDERED_NODE_TYPE)
    .singleNodeValue.innerHTML;
});

Issue #2: Browser Binding Not Passed

Error: "Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'fetch')" Source: https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/faq/#cannot-read-properties-of-undefined-reading-fetch Why It Happens: puppeteer.launch() called without browser binding Prevention: Always pass env.MYBROWSER to launch

Solution:

// ❌ Missing browser binding
const browser = await puppeteer.launch(); // Error!

// ✅ Pass binding
const browser = await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER);

Issue #3: Browser Timeout (60 seconds)

Error: Browser closes unexpectedly after 60 seconds Source: https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/platform/limits/#note-on-browser-timeout Why It Happens: Default timeout is 60 seconds of inactivity Prevention: Use keep_alive option to extend up to 10 minutes

Solution:

// Extend timeout to 5 minutes for long-running tasks
const browser = await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER, {
  keep_alive: 300000 // 5 minutes = 300,000 ms
});

Note: Browser closes if no devtools commands for the specified duration.

Issue #4: Concurrency Limits Reached

Error: "Rate limit exceeded" or new browser launch fails Source: https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/platform/limits/ Why It Happens: Exceeded concurrent browser limit (3 free, 10-30 paid) Prevention: Reuse sessions, use tabs instead of multiple browsers, check limits before launching

Solutions:

// 1. Check limits before launching
const limits = await puppeteer.limits(env.MYBROWSER);
if (limits.allowedBrowserAcquisitions === 0) {
  return new Response("Concurrency limit reached", { status: 429 });
}

// 2. Reuse sessions
const sessions = await puppeteer.sessions(env.MYBROWSER);
const freeSessions = sessions.filter(s => !s.connectionId);
if (freeSessions.length > 0) {
  const browser = await puppeteer.connect(env.MYBROWSER, freeSessions[0].sessionId);
}

// 3. Use tabs instead of multiple browsers
const browser = await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER);
const page1 = await browser.newPage();
const page2 = await browser.newPage(); // Same browser, different tabs

Issue #5: Local Development Request Size Limit

Error: Request larger than 1MB fails in wrangler dev Source: https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/faq/#does-local-development-support-all-browser-rendering-features Why It Happens: Local development limitation Prevention: Use remote: true in browser binding for local dev

Solution:

// wrangler.jsonc for local development
{
  "browser": {
    "binding": "MYBROWSER",
    "remote": true  // Use real headless browser during dev
  }
}

Issue #6: Bot Protection Always Triggered

Error: Website blocks requests as bot traffic Source: https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/faq/#will-browser-rendering-bypass-cloudflares-bot-protection Why It Happens: Browser Rendering requests always identified as bots Prevention: Cannot bypass; if scraping your own zone, create WAF skip rule

Solution:

// ❌ Cannot bypass bot protection
// Requests will always be identified as bots

// ✅ If scraping your own Cloudflare zone:
// 1. Go to Security > WAF > Custom rules
// 2. Create skip rule with custom header:
//    Header: X-Custom-Auth
//    Value: your-secret-token
// 3. Pass header in your scraping requests

// Note: Automatic headers are included:
// - cf-biso-request-id
// - cf-biso-devtools

Production Checklist

Before deploying Browser Rendering Workers to production:

Configuration

• Browser binding configured in wrangler.jsonc
• nodejs_compat flag enabled (required for Browser Rendering)
• Keep-alive timeout set if tasks take > 60 seconds
• Remote binding enabled for local development if needed

Error Handling

• Retry logic implemented for rate limits
• Timeout handling for page.goto()
• Browser cleanup in try-finally blocks
• Concurrency limit checks before launching browsers
• Graceful degradation when browser unavailable

Performance

• Session reuse implemented for high-traffic routes
• Multiple tabs used instead of multiple browsers
• Incognito contexts for session isolation
• KV caching for repeated screenshots/PDFs
• Batch operations to maximize browser utilization

Monitoring

• Log browser session IDs for debugging
• Track browser duration for billing estimates
• Monitor concurrency usage with puppeteer.limits()
• Alert on rate limit errors
• Dashboard monitoring at https://dash.cloudflare.com/?to=/:account/workers/browser-rendering

Security

• Input validation for URLs (prevent SSRF)
• Timeout limits to prevent abuse
• Rate limiting on public endpoints
• Authentication for sensitive scraping endpoints
• WAF rules if scraping your own zone

Testing

• Test screenshot capture with various page sizes
• Test PDF generation with custom HTML
• Test scraping with dynamic content (networkidle0)
• Test error scenarios (invalid URLs, timeouts)
• Load test concurrency limits

Error Handling Template

Complete error handling for production use:

import puppeteer from "@cloudflare/puppeteer";

interface Env {
  MYBROWSER: Fetcher;
}

async function withBrowser<T>(
  env: Env,
  fn: (browser: Browser) => Promise<T>
): Promise<T> {
  let browser: Browser | null = null;

  try {
    // Check limits
    const limits = await puppeteer.limits(env.MYBROWSER);
    if (limits.allowedBrowserAcquisitions === 0) {
      throw new Error("Rate limit reached. Retry after: " + limits.timeUntilNextAllowedBrowserAcquisition + "ms");
    }

    // Launch or connect
    const sessions = await puppeteer.sessions(env.MYBROWSER);
    const freeSessions = sessions.filter(s => !s.connectionId);

    if (freeSessions.length > 0) {
      try {
        browser = await puppeteer.connect(env.MYBROWSER, freeSessions[0].sessionId);
      } catch {
        browser = await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER);
      }
    } else {
      browser = await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER);
    }

    // Execute user function
    const result = await fn(browser);

    // Disconnect (keep session alive)
    await browser.disconnect();

    return result;
  } catch (error) {
    // Close on error
    if (browser) {
      await browser.close();
    }
    throw error;
  }
}

export default {
  async fetch(request: Request, env: Env): Promise<Response> {
    try {
      const screenshot = await withBrowser(env, async (browser) => {
        const page = await browser.newPage();
        await page.goto("https://example.com", {
          waitUntil: "networkidle0",
          timeout: 30000
        });
        return await page.screenshot();
      });

      return new Response(screenshot, {
        headers: { "content-type": "image/png" }
      });
    } catch (error) {
      console.error("Browser error:", error);
      return new Response(
        JSON.stringify({
          error: error instanceof Error ? error.message : "Unknown error"
        }),
        { status: 500, headers: { "content-type": "application/json" } }
      );
    }
  }
};

Using Bundled Resources

Templates (templates/)

Ready-to-use code templates for common patterns:

• basic-screenshot.ts - Minimal screenshot example
• screenshot-with-kv-cache.ts - Screenshot with KV caching
• pdf-generation.ts - Generate PDFs from HTML or URLs
• web-scraper-basic.ts - Basic web scraping pattern
• web-scraper-batch.ts - Batch scrape multiple URLs
• session-reuse.ts - Session reuse for performance
• ai-enhanced-scraper.ts - Scraping with Workers AI
• playwright-example.ts - Playwright alternative example
• wrangler-browser-config.jsonc - Browser binding configuration

Usage:

# Copy template to your project
cp ~/.claude/skills/cloudflare-browser-rendering/templates/basic-screenshot.ts src/index.ts

References (references/)

Deep-dive documentation:

• session-management.md - Complete session reuse guide
• pricing-and-limits.md - Detailed pricing breakdown
• common-errors.md - All known issues and solutions
• puppeteer-vs-playwright.md - Feature comparison and migration

When to load: Reference when implementing advanced patterns or debugging specific issues.

Dependencies

Required:

• @cloudflare/puppeteer@1.0.4 - Puppeteer for Workers
• wrangler@4.43.0+ - Cloudflare CLI

Optional:

• @cloudflare/playwright@1.0.0 - Playwright for Workers (alternative)
• @cloudflare/workers-types@4.20251014.0+ - TypeScript types

Related Skills:

• cloudflare-worker-base - Worker setup with Hono
• cloudflare-kv - KV caching for screenshots
• cloudflare-r2 - R2 storage for generated files
• cloudflare-workers-ai - AI-enhanced scraping

Official Documentation

• Browser Rendering Docs: https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/
• Puppeteer API: https://pptr.dev/api/
• Playwright API: https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-playwright
• Cloudflare Puppeteer Fork: https://github.com/cloudflare/puppeteer
• Cloudflare Playwright Fork: https://github.com/cloudflare/playwright
• Pricing: https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/platform/pricing/
• Limits: https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/platform/limits/

Package Versions (Verified 2025-10-22)

{
  "dependencies": {
    "@cloudflare/puppeteer": "^1.0.4"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@cloudflare/workers-types": "^4.20251014.0",
    "wrangler": "^4.43.0"
  }
}

Alternative (Playwright):

{
  "dependencies": {
    "@cloudflare/playwright": "^1.0.0"
  }
}

Troubleshooting

Problem: "Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'fetch')"

Solution: Pass browser binding to puppeteer.launch():

const browser = await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER); // Not just puppeteer.launch()

Problem: XPath selectors not working

Solution: Use CSS selectors or page.evaluate() with XPathEvaluator (see Issue #1)

Problem: Browser closes after 60 seconds

Solution: Extend timeout with keep_alive:

const browser = await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER, { keep_alive: 300000 });

Problem: Rate limit reached

Solution: Reuse sessions, use tabs, check limits before launching (see Issue #4)

Problem: Local dev request > 1MB fails

Solution: Enable remote binding in wrangler.jsonc:

{ "browser": { "binding": "MYBROWSER", "remote": true } }

Problem: Website blocks as bot

Solution: Cannot bypass. If your own zone, create WAF skip rule (see Issue #6)

Questions? Issues?

1. Check references/common-errors.md for detailed solutions
2. Review references/session-management.md for performance optimization
3. Verify browser binding is configured in wrangler.jsonc
4. Check official docs: https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/
5. Ensure nodejs_compat compatibility flag is enabled