Documentation

Web Scraping Test Patterns

Comprehensive testing patterns for building robust web scrapers. Learn to handle common anti-bot patterns with interactive examples and detailed documentation.

Quick Start

Choose a pattern to test your scraping implementation

AvailableEasy
Age Gate
Age verification gates with checkbox and date-of-birth variants

Key Challenges

  • Detecting gate presence
  • Submitting verification
  • Cookie persistence
/patterns/age-gate
AvailableEasy
Cookie Consent
GDPR-style cookie consent banners and walls

Key Challenges

  • Banner detection
  • Accept/reject interaction
  • Cookie persistence
/patterns/cookie-consent
AvailableMedium
Rate Limiting
Request throttling and rate limit handling

Key Challenges

  • Detecting rate limits
  • Parsing retry-after headers
  • Backoff strategies
/patterns/rate-limit
AvailableExpert
CAPTCHA Challenges
Various CAPTCHA types including reCAPTCHA and hCaptcha

Key Challenges

  • CAPTCHA detection
  • Widget identification
  • Challenge solving
/patterns/captcha
AvailableMedium
Video Embeds
YouTube, HTML5, and custom video players with source extraction

Key Challenges

  • Player type detection
  • Video URL extraction
  • Quality options
/patterns/video-embed
AvailableMedium
Lazy Load & Infinite Scroll
Lazy-loaded images with infinite scroll pagination

Key Challenges

  • Lazy image detection
  • Scroll-triggered loading
  • Content extraction
/patterns/lazy-infinite

Implementation Guide

Learn how to integrate these patterns into your scraping workflow

For Automated Testing

Integrate patterns with your preferred scraping tools and frameworks.

Headless Browsers

  • Puppeteer
  • Playwright
  • Selenium

HTTP Clients

  • Python requests / httpx
  • Node.js axios / got
  • Scrapy framework
For Manual Testing

Explore patterns interactively in your browser to understand their behavior.

Interactive Features

  • Live pattern demonstrations
  • Configurable settings
  • Real-time feedback

Documentation

  • Detailed implementation notes
  • Code examples
  • Testing strategies

Best Practices

Follow these guidelines for responsible web scraping

Educational Purpose

These patterns are designed for testing and educational purposes. Always respect robots.txt, terms of service, and applicable laws when scraping production websites.

  • Respect rate limits: Implement proper delays and backoff strategies
  • Check robots.txt: Honor website directives for automated access
  • Identify your bot: Use appropriate User-Agent headers
  • Handle errors gracefully: Implement proper error handling and logging