rebrowser-patches

To use rebrowser patches without changing your source code, alias your existing Puppeteer dependencies in package.json. Replace your current Puppeteer entries with the following (ensure you use the version compatible with your current setup, e.g., ^23.3.1):

"puppeteer": "npm:rebrowser-puppeteer@^23.3.1",
"puppeteer-core": "npm:rebrowser-puppeteer-core@^23.3.1"

Then run npm install or yarn install.

To use rebrowser patches without changing your source code for Playwright (Node.js), alias your existing Playwright dependencies in package.json. Replace your current Playwright entries with the following:

"playwright": "npm:rebrowser-playwright@^version",
"playwright-core": "npm:rebrowser-playwright-core@^version"

Then run npm install or yarn install.

Playwright support includes patches for the Runtime.enable leak (supporting addBinding and alwaysIsolated modes) and the ability to change the utility world name.

Note: These patches currently only work for Chrome.

Debugging Tip: The page.pause() method may not work when the Runtime.enable fix is active. To disable the fix entirely for debugging, set the REBROWSER_PATCHES_RUNTIME_FIX_MODE environment variable to 0.

Since Java, Python, and .NET versions of Playwright are wrappers around the Node.js driver, you must patch the driver folder directly.

1. Locate the driver folder inside your Playwright package.
2. Run the patcher using the --packagePath flag pointing to the driver's platform-specific package folder:

npx rebrowser-patches@latest patch --packagePath $yourDriverFolder/$yourPlatform/package

You can customize how scripts and utility worlds appear to the browser to avoid detection patterns.

Change sourceURL

By default, Puppeteer adds //# sourceURL=pptr:.... This patch changes it to a generic name or disables it.

• REBROWSER_PATCHES_SOURCE_URL=<filename>: Set a custom filename (e.g., jquery.min.js).
• REBROWSER_PATCHES_SOURCE_URL=0: Completely disable the patch.

Change Utility World Name

Changes the default utility world name from the standard Puppeteer pattern to a custom string.

• REBROWSER_PATCHES_UTILITY_WORLD_NAME=<name>: Set a custom name (e.g., customUtilityWorld).
• REBROWSER_PATCHES_UTILITY_WORLD_NAME=0: Completely disable the patch.

Note: REBROWSER_PATCHES_UTILITY_WORLD_NAME must be set before the module is imported and cannot be changed on the fly.

The Runtime.Enable patch prevents anti-bot software from detecting automation via CDP commands. You can switch between different mitigation techniques using the REBROWSER_PATCHES_RUNTIME_FIX_MODE environment variable.

Available modes:

• addBinding (Default): Creates a new binding in the main world to save the context ID. Most compatible.
• alwaysIsolated: Runs all scripts in an isolated context via Page.createIsolatedWorld. Prevents detection via MutationObserver but limits access to main context variables.
• enableDisable: Calls Runtime.Enable followed immediately by Runtime.Disable to catch context IDs. Low risk, but a tiny window for detection exists.
• 0: Completely disables the fix.

Debugging:

• Set REBROWSER_PATCHES_DEBUG=1 to enable debugging messages.

To integrate rebrowser-puppeteer-core with the puppeteer-extra framework, use the addExtra method to wrap the rebrowser instance.

// before
import puppeteer from 'puppeteer-extra'

// after
import { addExtra } from 'puppeteer-extra'
import rebrowserPuppeteer from 'rebrowser-puppeteer-core'
const puppeteer = addExtra(rebrowserPuppeteer)

The patch adds a _connection() method to the Browser class, allowing you to access the CDP session at the browser level. This is useful for implementing custom CDP commands and is not detectable by external website scripts.

browser._connection().on('Rebrowser.addRunEvent', (params) => { ... });

When using the patcher CLI, you can control which code directory is targeted for patching using the codeTarget option. This is useful if the package you are patching stores its primary logic in src instead of the default lib.

• codeTarget: src | lib (default: lib)

Instead of manually applying patches, you can use pre-patched versions of Puppeteer and Playwright. These packages are identical to the originals but have rebrowser-patches already applied.

Option 1: Alias existing packages (Recommended)

This method allows you to keep your existing source code unchanged by aliasing the original package names to the rebrowser versions in package.json.

1. Open package.json.
2. Replace `

If you encounter an error stating the patch command is not found on Windows, you must install Git (which includes patch.exe) and add the Git usr/bin directory to your system PATH.

To add it via the command line:

set PATH=%PATH%;C:\\

After installing Git and updating your PATH, verify that patch.exe is accessible by running:

patch -v