Debugging

Open DevTools while the failing session is still running. You can inspect its DOM, console, and network requests, and compare what the browser received with what your code expected.

Attach DevTools

The start response includes inspector at the top level. This is an excerpt:

{
  "inspector": {
    "list": "https://YOUR_API_HOST/proxy/INTERNAL_UUID/inspector",
    "pages": [{
      "page_url": "about:blank",
      "devtools_url": "devtools://devtools/bundled/inspector.html?ws=..."
    }]
  }
}

Copy the returned devtools_url into Chrome’s address bar. Use the actual URL from your response; the example above is abbreviated. Open inspector.list to find the current pages, including tabs created after startup. The inspector URLs work only while the session is running. An idle DevTools tab does not count as activity. With the default inactive_kill_timeout of 30 seconds, the browser can stop while you read the page. Start the session with a longer value for manual inspection; see the browser stopped by itself.

A session’s connection and inspector URLs grant access to its live browser. Keep them out of public logs, screenshots, and client-side code served to unrelated users.

The DevTools HTTP endpoints

Surfsky also proxies Chrome’s discovery endpoints:

curl "$SURFSKY_API_BASE_URL/proxy/$INTERNAL_UUID/json/version"
curl "$SURFSKY_API_BASE_URL/proxy/$INTERNAL_UUID/json/list"

Set INTERNAL_UUID to the value from the start response. Use the returned WebSocket address when connecting an automation client.

Inspect a failing job

What you see	What to inspect next
An element is missing	Check the current URL, frames, language, and whether a challenge replaced the page.
The element appears after your code fails	Wait for the relevant selector or response instead of adding a fixed delay.
A blank or incomplete page	Check failed network requests, blocked resources, and console errors.
A login page after restoring a profile	Check storage options and whether the script used the default browser context.
A CAPTCHA that does not progress	Check solver settings, events, and provider balance.
CDP disconnects	Check `/profiles/active`, the idle timeout, and whether another worker stopped the session.

Keep the failure reproducible with one browser before increasing concurrency. DevTools can change timing, so also test the corrected script without it attached.

Reading the page’s requests

The Network panel can show whether the data you need arrived in a response before the page rendered it. If that response contains the required fields, you can capture it instead of extracting each field from the DOM. The SDKs expose capture_responses in Python and captureResponses in TypeScript. Enable capture before triggering the request. Avoid logging response bodies containing credentials or account data.

Watch it run

Use Screencast for a live, view-only image of the page. It is useful for observing layout changes or a challenge flow without opening the full DevTools interface.

Getting help

Send a minimal reproduction, approximate UTC time, HTTP status, and the x-cloud-tracing-uuid response header to support. Include the internal_uuid only in a private support conversation if needed. Remove API tokens, proxy passwords, cookies, personal data, and live browser URLs from the reproduction. See troubleshooting for common causes to check first.

Get started

Connect your tools

Browser sessions

Browser actions

CAPTCHA guides

Performance and limits

About Surfsky

Debugging

Attach DevTools

The DevTools HTTP endpoints

Inspect a failing job

Reading the page’s requests

Watch it run

Getting help

​Attach DevTools

​The DevTools HTTP endpoints

​Inspect a failing job

​Reading the page’s requests

​Watch it run

​Getting help

Attach DevTools

The DevTools HTTP endpoints

Inspect a failing job

Reading the page’s requests

Watch it run

Getting help