Automate a site in a browser

Some things have no API: a supplier portal, an internal tool, a site whose data isn't published anywhere else. For those, General Input gives your agents a real browser that is already signed in as you.

You sign in once, by hand, in a live browser window. The login is saved to a browser profile, and from then on any agent or workflow can open that profile and arrive already authenticated.

When to reach for it

The browser is the last resort, not the first. An integration or a plain HTTP call beats it on speed, cost, and reliability every time, and browser time is billed by the second.

• Use an integration when the service is in our catalog. Check Connect an integration first.
• Use the browser when there is no API, the API doesn't expose what you need, or the data only exists behind a login.

Create a browser

1. 1
   Open Browsers from the sidebar and click New browser.
2. 2

   Give it a name you'll recognize later, like LinkedIn or Supplier portals, and click Create.

A profile is a whole browser, not a single site. You can sign into as many sites as you like inside one profile, and agents reuse every login saved in it.

Sign into LinkedIn

1. 1

   Click Connect on the profile. A live browser opens in the page, streamed to you.

2. 2

   Navigate to LinkedIn and sign in exactly as you normally would, including any two-factor prompt. You are typing into a real browser; nobody else sees it.

3. 3

   Once you're through to the logged-in view, close the session. The cookies stay with the profile.

Automate something on LinkedIn

With the login saved, describe the automation the same way you would any other. See Build your first workflow for the full walkthrough.

1. 1

   Start a new workflow and describe the job, naming the site and the browser profile, for example: "Every weekday at 8am, open LinkedIn with my LinkedIn browser, collect the new posts from my feed that mention hiring, and send me a Slack summary."

2. 2

   The author builds it, opening the profile so the run starts signed in. Run it once by hand and check the output.

3. 3
   Add the schedule or trigger you want and enable it.

Things worth knowing

• One session at a time. A profile is a single identity, so only one run can hold it at once. A second run waits or carries on without it.
• Logins expire. Sites sign you out eventually. When that happens the run stops and tells you to reconnect the profile — reconnect it the same way you set it up.
• Billed by the second. Browser runs cost more than API calls. Prefer a schedule that runs a few times a day over one that polls constantly.

What's next

If the site you want does have an API but isn't in our catalog yet, Connect a custom OAuth integration is usually the better path.