sf-scraper

name

sf-scraper

description

Scrape employee data from a logged-in SAP SuccessFactors browser session using browser automation. Use when: user provides an employee ID and wants employee details (name, email, department, manager, etc.) scraped directly from the SuccessFactors UI — NOT via OData/API. Requires the user to have SuccessFactors open and logged in via Chrome with the OpenClaw Browser Relay extension attached. Triggers on: "get employee name", "look up employee", "scrape SF", "find employee in SuccessFactors", or any request combining an employee ID with SuccessFactors data lookup.

SF Scraper — SuccessFactors Browser Scraping Skill

Scrape employee data from a live, logged-in SAP SuccessFactors session via browser automation. This skill uses ONLY browser snapshots and actions — zero API calls.

Prerequisites

• User must have SAP SuccessFactors open and logged in on a Chrome tab.
• OpenClaw Browser Relay Chrome extension must be active (badge ON) on that tab.
• Always use profile="chrome" for all browser calls (we need the authenticated session).

Step-by-Step Workflow

Step 1: Verify Session & Get Base URL

browser(action="snapshot", profile="chrome", compact=true)

Check for these states:

• Login page detected (look for: "Log in", "Username", "Password", "Company ID" fields) → Tell user to log in first and re-attach the relay.
• Session expired ("Session Timeout", "session has expired") → Same, ask user to re-login.
• SF Home/Dashboard → Good. Extract the base URL from the page URL in the snapshot. It will be one of:
  • https://<company>.successfactors.com
  • https://<company>.successfactors.eu
  • https://<company>.sapsf.com
  • https://pmsalesdemo<N>.successfactors.com (demo instances)
  • https://hcm<N>preview.sapsf.com (preview instances)

Store the base URL — all subsequent navigation uses it.

Step 2: Navigate to Employee Profile

Try these navigation strategies in order. Move to the next only if the current one fails.

Strategy A: People Profile Deep Link (preferred)

browser(action="navigate", profile="chrome", targetUrl="{base_url}/sf/liveprofile?selected_user={employee_id}")

Wait 2-3 seconds for load, then snapshot. This is the most reliable deep link in modern SF instances.

Success indicators:

• Page contains a heading with a person's name
• You see sections like "Personal Information", "Job Information", "About Me"
• URL contains liveprofile and the employee ID

Failure indicators:

• Blank page, spinner that never resolves
• "Page not found", "Error", or redirect to home
• Generic dashboard with no employee context

Strategy B: Alternative Deep Links

If Strategy A fails, try these one at a time:

{base_url}/xi/ui/peopleprofile/pages/index.xhtml?selected_user={employee_id}
{base_url}/sf/peopleprofile?selected_user={employee_id}
{base_url}/#/userprofile/{employee_id}
{base_url}/sf/admin/employeefiles?selected_user={employee_id}

Same validation — snapshot after each and check for profile content.

Strategy C: Global Search Bar

If all deep links fail, use the search:

1. Snapshot the current page.
2. Find the search element. Look for:
   • A searchbox role element (most common)
   • A textbox with placeholder containing "Search", "Search People", "Find Someone"
   • An element with aria-label containing "search"
   • The magnifying glass icon / search icon button (click it first to expand the search bar)
3. Click the search box to focus it.
4. Type the employee ID:

   browser(action="act", profile="chrome", request={kind: "type", ref: "<search_ref>", text: "{employee_id}"})
   

5. Press Enter or click the search button:

   browser(action="act", profile="chrome", request={kind: "press", ref: "<search_ref>", key: "Enter"})
   

6. Wait 2-3 seconds, then snapshot the results.
7. Parse the results:
   • If one result → click it to open the profile.
   • If multiple results → look for the one matching the employee ID. Results typically show as a list with name, ID, and photo. Click the correct one.
   • If no results → report to user that employee ID was not found.

Strategy D: Admin Center / Employee Files

Last resort — navigate through menus:

1. Navigate to {base_url}/sf/admin
2. Snapshot, look for "Employee Files" or "Manage Employees" link
3. Click it, then use the search/filter within that view
4. Find and click the employee

Step 3: Handle Page Loading & Iframes

SuccessFactors heavily uses iframes and lazy loading. Critical handling:

Iframe detection:

• After navigating, if the snapshot shows minimal content or an iframe structure, try:

  browser(action="snapshot", profile="chrome", compact=true, frame="main")
  

• Common iframe names/ids in SF: "main", "contentFrame", "bizmuleApp", "xCalApp"
• If frame doesn't work, take a full (non-compact) snapshot to see the full DOM tree

Lazy loading / SPA transitions:

• SuccessFactors is a Single Page Application. After navigation, content may take 3-5 seconds to render.
• Always snapshot twice if the first snapshot shows loading indicators:
  • Loading spinners: look for "Loading", "Please wait", spinner icons, progress bars
  • Wait 3 seconds between snapshots
  • If still loading after 2 retries (total ~9 seconds), inform user of slow load

Popup/Modal handling:

• SF sometimes shows popups ("What's New", cookie consent, tour prompts)
• If a modal/dialog appears, look for "Close", "X", "Dismiss", "Got it", "Skip" buttons
• Click to dismiss, then re-snapshot

Step 4: Scrape the Profile Page

Once on the employee profile, take a detailed snapshot:

browser(action="snapshot", profile="chrome")

SuccessFactors People Profile has these typical sections/cards:

Header / Banner Area

Contains the most important info, always visible at top:

• Full Name — Large heading text, usually heading level 1 or 2
• Job Title — Text directly below the name
• Photo — Avatar image (not scrapable as data, but confirms you're on the right profile)
• Employee ID — Sometimes shown near name, sometimes in a subtitle like "ID: 12345"
• Quick action buttons — Email, phone icons (these contain contact data)

Info Cards / Sections (varies by company config)

Each card has a header and key-value pairs. Common patterns:

"Personal Information" / "About" card:

• First Name, Last Name, Middle Name
• Preferred Name / Display Name
• Date of Birth (may be restricted)
• Gender
• Nationality
• Marital Status

"Job Information" card:

• Job Title / Position Title
• Job Code
• Department / Division / Business Unit
• Cost Center
• Employment Type (Full-time, Part-time, etc.)
• Employee Class / Employee Type
• Regular/Temporary
• Standard Hours
• FTE (Full-Time Equivalent)
• Pay Grade
• Worker's Compensation Code

"Employment Details" / "Employment Information" card:

• Hire Date / Original Start Date
• Seniority Date
• Service Date
• Last Date Worked
• Termination Date (if applicable)
• Employment Status (Active, Terminated, Leave, etc.)

"Compensation Information" card (may be restricted):

• Annual Salary / Base Pay
• Pay Component
• Currency
• Compa-Ratio
• Range Penetration

"Contact Information" card:

• Business Email
• Personal Email
• Business Phone
• Mobile Phone
• Home Phone
• Business Address (Street, City, State, Zip, Country)
• Home Address

"Organizational" / "Position" card:

• Manager Name (usually a clickable link)
• Manager ID
• Position
• Direct Reports count
• Legal Entity
• Company Code

"Spot Profile" / "About Me" card:

• Bio / About Me text
• Skills
• Interests
• Social accounts

How to Extract Key-Value Pairs

In the accessibility tree snapshot, profile data appears as:

• Labels — text or label nodes with the field name (e.g., "Department")
• Values — Adjacent text, link, or statictext nodes with the value (e.g., "Engineering")
• Pattern: label followed by its value, often in a grid/table or definition list structure

Example snapshot patterns:

text "Department"
text "Engineering"
text "Manager"
link "Jane Smith"
text "Location"
text "Bangalore, India"
text "Email"
link "[e-mail]"

Scan sequentially and pair each label with its following value.

Step 5: Navigate Tabs for More Data

SuccessFactors profiles often organize data into tabs or collapsible sections.

Common tab names:

• "Personal Information" / "Personal Info"
• "Job Information" / "Job Info"
• "Employment Information" / "Employment Details"
• "Compensation Information" / "Compensation"
• "Pay Components" / "Pay Details"
• "Organizational Information" / "Organization"
• "Contact Information"
• "Documents"
• "Performance History"
• "Goal Plan"
• "Time Off" / "Leave"

To navigate tabs:

1. Snapshot and identify tab elements (role: tab, tablist, or clickable links with these names)
2. Click the tab you need:

   browser(action="act", profile="chrome", request={kind: "click", ref: "<tab_ref>"})
   

3. Wait 1-2 seconds for content to load
4. Snapshot again and extract the new section's data

Collapsible sections:

• Some profiles use expandable/collapsible sections instead of tabs
• Look for button elements with section names and expand/collapse indicators
• Click to expand if collapsed, then snapshot

Step 6: Handle "Show More" / Pagination

• Some sections show limited data with a "Show More", "View All", or "See More" link
• Click it if present to reveal full data, then re-snapshot
• Employment history or compensation history may have multiple records — scrape all visible

Step 7: Return Results

Format results clearly, grouped by section:

═══ Employee Profile ═══

👤 Basic Info
   Name: John Doe
   Employee ID: 12345
   Job Title: Senior Developer
   Department: Engineering
   
📧 Contact
   Email: [e-mail]
   Phone: [phone]
   Location: Bangalore, India
   
🏢 Organization
   Manager: Jane Smith
   Division: Technology
   Business Unit: Product Development
   Legal Entity: Company India Pvt Ltd
   
📋 Employment
   Hire Date: 2020-03-15
   Status: Active
   Type: Full-Time Regular

Rules:

• Only include fields actually found on the page — NEVER fabricate data
• If a field's value is empty or hidden ("*****", "Restricted"), report it as restricted
• If the user only asked for a name, don't scrape every tab — just return what's visible in the header

Batch Mode

For multiple employee IDs:

1. Process one at a time sequentially
2. After each profile, navigate to the next using Strategy A
3. Collect all results
4. Present as a formatted table at the end
5. Note any IDs that failed

Configuration (Optional)

User can add to TOOLS.md:

### SuccessFactors
- Base URL: https://yourcompany.successfactors.com
- Default fields: name, email, department, manager

If configured, use the base URL directly (skip discovery). If default fields are specified, only scrape those.

Error Handling

Scenario	Detection	Action
Not logged in	Login form visible	Tell user to log in and re-attach relay
Session expired	"Session Timeout" text	Same as above
Employee not found	Search returns 0 results	Report clearly, suggest checking ID
Access denied	"Unauthorized", "No access", "Insufficient privileges"	Report — user may lack permissions
Profile restricted	Fields show "*****" or "Restricted"	Report which fields are restricted
Page won't load	Loading spinner after 3 retries	Report timeout, suggest refreshing SF
Multiple matches	Search returns >1 result	List matches with names/IDs, ask user to pick
Wrong instance	URL doesn't match expected SF domain	Warn user, ask to confirm

Important Notes

• NEVER use OData, REST API, or any programmatic endpoint. Pure browser scraping only.
• Always use profile="chrome" — never profile="openclaw" (need the user's auth session).
• Be patient — SF can be slow. Always verify page state with snapshots before extracting.
• Don't navigate away from SF without warning the user.
• Respect permissions — if data is restricted/hidden in the UI, it's restricted for a reason. Don't try to circumvent.
• Screenshot fallback — if snapshot (accessibility tree) doesn't capture visible text, use browser(action="screenshot", profile="chrome") to see the rendered page visually and extract from the image.