| name | crawler |
| description | [Hyper] Investigate websites with Playwriter plus CDP to choose a crawl strategy, capture API/auth evidence, document findings under `.hypercore/crawler/[site]/`, and generate crawler code only after discovery is grounded. |
Crawler Skill
Playwriter exploration -> CDP evidence capture -> Documentation -> Code generation
<output_language>
Default all user-facing deliverables, saved artifacts, reports, plans, generated docs, summaries, handoff notes, commit/message drafts, and validation notes to Korean, even when this canonical skill file is written in English.
Preserve source code identifiers, CLI commands, file paths, schema keys, JSON/YAML field names, API names, package names, proper nouns, and quoted source excerpts in their required or original language.
Use a different language only when the user explicitly requests it, an existing target artifact must stay in another language for consistency, or a machine-readable contract requires exact English tokens. If a localized template or reference exists (for example *.ko.md or *.ko.json), prefer it for user-facing artifacts.
</output_language>
- Investigate websites before generating crawler code.
- Capture API, auth, selector, network, anti-bot, and method-selection evidence.
- Leave resumable crawl state under
.hypercore/crawler/<ACTION>.json and site artifacts under .hypercore/crawler/[site]/.
- Generate crawler code only after discovery evidence justifies the method.
<routing_rule>
Use crawler for reusable crawling flows, site extraction plans, API reverse engineering for crawling, or analysis-backed crawler code.
Do not use it for generic browser automation, one-off page clicking, or document rewriting with no crawl deliverable. For quick one-off extraction, stay lightweight unless the request expands into reusable crawl design.
</routing_rule>
<instruction_contract>
| Field | Contract |
|---|
| Intent | Build evidence-backed crawler plans and code after website/API discovery. |
| Trigger | Reusable crawling, scraping, site-wide extraction, crawl strategy, API reverse engineering, auth/network evidence, or crawler code generation. |
| Scope | Own discovery, method selection, evidence artifacts, durable action state, and generated crawler code when justified. |
| Authority | User/project instructions outrank this skill; observed browser/network/CDP evidence and local artifacts are evidence. |
| Evidence | Use Playwriter, Chrome DevTools/CDP, network summaries, selector checks, anti-bot findings, and artifact files. |
| Tools | Use browser/CDP tools and local file writes only as needed; gate credentials, anti-bot bypass, production, and unsafe scraping. |
| Output | Korean findings plus .hypercore/crawler/ artifacts and crawler code only after evidence supports it. |
| Verification | Validate method choice, artifacts, selectors/API calls, and generated code against captured evidence. |
| Stop condition | Stop when the crawl method is justified, artifacts are written, code is generated only if safe, or blockers are documented. |
</instruction_contract>
<activation_examples>
Positive examples:
- "Scrape product cards from this shop, inspect the API first, then generate a crawler."
- "Figure out how this logged-in dashboard loads data and document the cookies and headers."
- "Analyze this Cloudflare-protected site and recommend the safest crawl approach."
Negative examples:
- "Open this site and click through the signup flow."
- "Rewrite this crawl runbook for readability."
Boundary example:
- "Grab three prices from this public page right now." Prefer lightweight extraction unless the user asks for a reusable crawler or site-wide strategy.
</activation_examples>
<trigger_conditions>
| Trigger | Action |
|---|
| Reusable crawling, scraping, or site-wide extraction | Run immediately |
| Site investigation or API reverse engineering for crawling | Start discovery and API interception |
| One-off extraction from a single page | Treat as a boundary case and keep the workflow lightweight unless reusable crawl work is requested |
| Anti-bot bypass or Cloudflare-heavy target | Start with risk checks and Anti-Detect guidance |
</trigger_conditions>
<support_file_read_order>
Read support files in this order:
- Start with pre-crawl-checklist.md before making crawl or code decisions.
- Use playwriter-commands.md when you need session control, page interaction, visual inspection, or selector validation (Playwright MCP = driving).
- Use chrome-devtools-mcp.md when you need first-party Chrome DevTools fidelity for live network requests, console errors, performance traces, Lighthouse audits, or memory snapshots (Chrome DevTools MCP = debugging).
- Use cdp-capture.md when you need structured network, cookie, token, storage, or rate-limit evidence with lower token cost than full Playwriter snapshots.
- Use network-crawling.md when turning Playwriter / chrome-devtools-mcp / CDP evidence into
API.md, NETWORK.md, and raw evidence files.
- Use selector-strategies.md when DOM extraction is still on the table.
- Use crawling-patterns.md when pagination, authentication, lazy loading, or retries shape the approach.
- Use anti-bot-checklist.md when the target shows blocks, CAPTCHA, Cloudflare, or explicit anti-detect requirements.
- Use action-manifest.md when the run needs a durable state file under
.hypercore/crawler/<ACTION>.json.
- Use document-templates.md when writing
.hypercore/crawler/[site]/ artifacts.
- Use code-templates.md only after the method is chosen and the discovery evidence is documented.
</support_file_read_order>
<mandatory_reasoning>
Mandatory Structured Reasoning
- Always perform an internal structured reasoning pass before crawl design, extraction strategy, or code generation decisions.
- Run a structured reasoning pass for each major phase: discovery, method selection, and implementation planning.
- Do not require an external reasoning MCP. If the task is too unclear to reason through locally, stop and report the blocker instead of continuing without a structure plan.
</mandatory_reasoning>
<execution_defaults>
- Do discovery before code generation, selector lock-in, or auth assumptions.
- Use Playwriter to reproduce the user-visible flow, then prefer CDP for structured network/auth evidence capture.
- Prefer an API-backed crawler when CDP or fallback browser-network evidence shows a stable endpoint and manageable auth.
- Keep large DOM or accessibility snapshots rare; use them for structure checks and selector validation, not as the default capture surface.
- If CDP attach fails, document the limitation in
ANALYSIS.md and use Playwriter interception only when the fallback evidence is still sufficient.
- Stop and report blockers when legal constraints, repeated
403/429/503, CAPTCHA, or strong anti-bot signals make automation unsafe.
- Do not promise
CRAWLER.ts until the method, auth material, and rate-limit posture are documented.
</execution_defaults>
| Phase | Task | Command/Method |
|---|
| 1. Session | Create session + open page | playwriter session new |
| 2. Explore | Reproduce the page flow with Playwriter | accessibilitySnapshot, screenshotWithAccessibilityLabels |
| 3. Capture | Collect network/auth/perf evidence via chrome-devtools-mcp (preferred) or CDP fallback | list_network_requests, list_console_messages, performance_start_trace; CDP Network.*, Storage.*, Runtime.evaluate — see chrome-devtools-mcp.md and cdp-capture.md |
| 4. Analyze | Decide API-first vs DOM-first | network-crawling.md, selector-strategies.md |
| 5. Document | Save findings under .hypercore/crawler/[site]/ | Write |
| 6. Code | Generate crawler implementation | code-templates.md |
<method_selection>
| Condition | Method | Notes |
|---|
| API found via CDP or fallback browser-network evidence + simple auth | fetch / httpx | Fastest |
| API + cookie/token required | fetch + Cookie | Requires expiry handling |
| API + Cloudflare / DataDome / JA3 fingerprinting | curl_cffi (impersonate Chrome) | Restores TLS/JA3; pair with residential proxy |
| Discovery / live network + perf evidence | chrome-devtools-mcp | First-party CDP fidelity (network, console, perf trace, Lighthouse) — see chrome-devtools-mcp.md |
| Page driving / login / lazy-load triggering | playwriter | "Make the page do the thing" |
| Strong anti-bot (Cloudflare, DataDome) | Patchright or rebrowser-patches | Patches Chromium / patches Runtime.Enable leakage — see anti-bot-checklist.md |
| Chromium-specific fingerprinting | Camoufox | Firefox-based stealth fork |
| No API (SSR) and no anti-bot | Playwright DOM | Parse directly |
</method_selection>
<output_structure>
ACTION.json preserves intent, current status, capture mode, blockers, output pointers, and the next step. .hypercore/crawler/[site-name]/ preserves detailed evidence, analysis, and generated code for that site.
Minimum artifact contract:
.hypercore/crawler/<ACTION>.json is required for reusable, blocked, or resumable crawl work.
ANALYSIS.md is always required for reusable crawl work.
SELECTORS.md is required when DOM extraction is used or kept as a fallback path.
API.md is required when API discovery was attempted; document discovered endpoints or the absence of a usable API.
NETWORK.md is required when cookies, tokens, headers, rate limits, or bot-detection signals affect the method.
raw/network-summary.json, raw/auth-signals.json, and raw/endpoint-candidates.json are recommended when CDP capture is available, and should back the human-readable docs instead of replacing them.
CRAWLER.ts is required only after discovery evidence is written and the chosen method is justified.
Starter interaction commands live in playwriter-commands.md. CDP evidence capture lives in cdp-capture.md. Durable action-state rules live in action-manifest.md. Keep the core focused on method choice, output gates, and stop conditions.
Templates: document-templates.md
</output_structure>
<blocked_outcomes>
For blocked or unsafe runs:
- write
ANALYSIS.md with the blocker, the evidence that triggered the stop, and the safest next step
- write
NETWORK.md when auth signals, block responses, or anti-bot findings affected the decision
- write any available raw evidence files even when the run is blocked, so the stop is auditable
- update
ACTION.json so status, capture_mode, blockers, and output pointers match the blocked state
- omit
CRAWLER.ts until the blocker is resolved or the method becomes safe to automate
</blocked_outcomes>
✅ Playwriter session created
✅ `ACTION.json` created when the run is reusable, blocked, or resumable
✅ Structure analyzed with limited Playwriter snapshots
✅ CDP capture attempted for network/auth evidence
✅ raw evidence files recorded when CDP capture is available, or the fallback limitation documented when it is not
✅ Selector extraction validated
✅ Findings documented under .hypercore/crawler/
✅ Crawler code generated
✅ Structured reasoning notes recorded for major phases
✅ legal, rate-limit, and bot-detection blockers documented before scaling
✅ blocked runs reported explicitly when crawler code is unsafe or premature
✅ `ACTION.json` status and `site_dir` match the actual run outputs
✅ completed runs leave `ACTION.json.next_step` empty or terminal and point outputs at final files
| Category | Forbidden |
|---|
| Analysis | Guess selectors without structure analysis |
| Approach | Use DOM-only flow without checking APIs |
| Documentation | Skip documenting analysis results |
| Network | Ignore rate limiting |
playwriter session new
playwriter -s 1 -e "state.page = await context.newPage(); await state.page.goto('https://shop.example.com/products')"
playwriter -s 1 -e "console.log(await accessibilitySnapshot({ page: state.page }))"
playwriter -s 1 -e $'
const client = await state.page.context().newCDPSession(state.page);
await client.send("Network.enable");
state.cdpHits = [];
client.on("Network.responseReceived", (event) => {
if (event.response.url.includes("/api/")) state.cdpHits.push(event.response.url);
});
'
playwriter -s 1 -e "await state.page.evaluate(() => window.scrollTo(0, 9999))"
playwriter -s 1 -e "console.log(state.cdpHits)"