Connect Playwright to a profile that already remembers login.

Before you start

• AliasMode installed on Windows with the Local API on 127.0.0.1:50400
• A Node.js project with playwright installed
• An AliasMode profile with the target site's login seeded manually
• The profile ID from GET /api/v1/user/list

Step-by-step

1. 1

   Seed the login once, by hand

   Open the profile in AliasMode, log into the site, and close the profile. The session now lives in the profile's user-data directory — the durable copy.

2. 2

   Get the profile ID

   List profiles and record the ID of the profile you just seeded.

   Step 2

   curl 'http://127.0.0.1:50400/api/v1/user/list'

3. 3

   Start the profile from the script

   Start the browser and capture the CDP websocket endpoint AliasMode returns.

   Step 3

   const origin = 'http://127.0.0.1:50400';
   const res = await fetch(`${origin}/api/v1/browser/start?user_id=${profileId}`);
   const payload = await res.json();
   if (payload.code !== 0) throw new Error(payload.msg);
   const cdp = payload.data.ws.puppeteer;

4. 4

   Connect over CDP — do not launch

   Connect to the running browser instead of launching your own. The profile's cookies, storage, and fingerprint are already live.

   Step 4

   import { chromium } from 'playwright';
   const browser = await chromium.connectOverCDP(cdp);
   const context = browser.contexts()[0];
   const page = context.pages()[0] ?? await context.newPage();
   await page.goto('https://example.com/dashboard'); // already logged in

5. 5

   Assert the session, not the login

   Treat the logged-in state as an assertion, not a setup step. If the session died, fail loudly and let a human re-seed it.

   Step 5

   const loggedIn = await page.locator('[data-testid="account-menu"]').isVisible();
   if (!loggedIn) throw new Error('Session expired — re-seed the AliasMode profile');

6. 6

   Stop the profile in finally

   Always release the session so the profile stays consistent for the next run.

   Step 6

   try {
     // ... test or scrape work ...
   } finally {
     await browser.close();
     await fetch(`${origin}/api/v1/browser/stop?user_id=${profileId}`);
   }

7. 7

   Compare with storageState honestly

   storageState is fine for short-lived fixtures. When a site rotates sessions weekly, the profile wins: the cookie jar stays warm without a refresh pipeline.

8. 8

   CI caveat

   In CI, keep AliasMode and the profiles on a long-lived Windows runner or self-hosted agent; ephemeral containers cannot hold persistent sessions.

The AliasMode workflow

1. 1

   Profiles replace storageState

   The profile's user-data directory is the durable session store; your repo holds no credentials and no cookie files.

2. 2

   Local API as the lifecycle hook

   start and stop bracket every run; the API contract is AdsPower-shaped, so existing tooling maps over.

3. 3

   Fingerprint stability

   The deterministic seed means the session always presents the same device, week after week.

4. 4

   Group by project

   Keep test identities in their own group so CI and local runs share one source of truth.

Verify it worked

• The first page.goto lands on the logged-in dashboard with zero login code in the script.
• Killing the script mid-run still stops the profile via the finally block.
• Consecutive runs reuse the same session without new cookies warnings.
• GET /api/v1/browser/stop returns success and no chromium process lingers.

Cautions

• Only automate sites in ways their terms allow; a logged-in scripted session is still automation.
• Never print cookies or tokens from the CDP connection into logs.
• Two runs connecting to one profile at once will interleave state — serialize per profile.