Log in once and reuse the session

Log in to a site once in Zenrows Browser, the browser for agents, save the session state to a file, and load it into every new browser session. Your scripts and agents skip the login form on later runs, which makes them faster and keeps the number of logins low. Uses: Browser with Playwright’s storage_state, and the MCP tools browser_get_cookies / browser_set_cookies

Ask your AI agent

With the Zenrows MCP server connected, paste this prompt. Your agent picks the right Zenrows tools and settings on its own.

Use the Zenrows browser to log in at https://www.scrapingcourse.com/login with
email admin@example.com and password password. Confirm the dashboard shows the
product grid, list the first product name, and show me the session cookie names.
Then close the browser session.

To reuse the login later, ask the agent to “open a new Zenrows browser session with the same cookies” before it visits the protected page.

Log in and save the session state

Automate logins only for accounts you own or are authorized to use, and follow the site’s terms.

The demo login at scrapingcourse.com/login accepts admin@example.com / password. After you submit the form, wait for an element that appears after the login (here, the “Welcome” banner), then save the state with storage_state. The file holds cookies and local storage.

import asyncio
from playwright.async_api import async_playwright

CONNECTION_URL = "wss://browser.zenrows.com?apikey=YOUR_ZENROWS_API_KEY"

async def main():
    async with async_playwright() as p:
        browser = await p.chromium.connect_over_cdp(CONNECTION_URL)
        try:
            context = browser.contexts[0]
            page = await context.new_page()
            await page.goto("https://www.scrapingcourse.com/login")
            await page.fill("#email", "admin@example.com")
            await page.fill("#password", "password")
            await page.click("#submit-button", no_wait_after=True)
            # Wait for proof of login rather than for the navigation
            await page.get_by_text("Welcome, Scraper!").wait_for()
            print("Logged in:", await page.get_by_text("Welcome, Scraper!").inner_text())
            await context.storage_state(path="auth.json")
        finally:
            await browser.close()

asyncio.run(main())

import { chromium } from "playwright-core";

const connectionURL = "wss://browser.zenrows.com?apikey=YOUR_ZENROWS_API_KEY";

const browser = await chromium.connectOverCDP(connectionURL);
try {
  const context = browser.contexts()[0];
  const page = await context.newPage();
  await page.goto("https://www.scrapingcourse.com/login");
  await page.fill("#email", "admin@example.com");
  await page.fill("#password", "password");
  await page.click("#submit-button", { noWaitAfter: true });
  // Wait for proof of login rather than for the navigation
  await page.getByText("Welcome, Scraper!").waitFor();
  console.log("Logged in:", await page.getByText("Welcome, Scraper!").innerText());
  await context.storageState({ path: "auth.json" });
} finally {
  await browser.close();
}

Waiting for a post-login element is the reliable signal for any login form: it confirms the credentials worked, whatever redirects the site runs in between.

Reuse the session in a new browser

Open a new browser session, create a context from auth.json, and go straight to the protected page.

import asyncio
from playwright.async_api import async_playwright

CONNECTION_URL = "wss://browser.zenrows.com?apikey=YOUR_ZENROWS_API_KEY"

async def main():
    async with async_playwright() as p:
        browser = await p.chromium.connect_over_cdp(CONNECTION_URL)
        try:
            context = await browser.new_context(storage_state="auth.json")
            page = await context.new_page()
            await page.goto("https://www.scrapingcourse.com/dashboard")
            await page.get_by_text("Welcome, Scraper!").wait_for()
            names = await page.locator(".product-name").all_inner_texts()
            print("Second session, still logged in. Products:", names[:3])
        finally:
            await browser.close()

asyncio.run(main())

import { chromium } from "playwright-core";

const connectionURL = "wss://browser.zenrows.com?apikey=YOUR_ZENROWS_API_KEY";

const browser = await chromium.connectOverCDP(connectionURL);
try {
  const context = await browser.newContext({ storageState: "auth.json" });
  const page = await context.newPage();
  await page.goto("https://www.scrapingcourse.com/dashboard");
  await page.getByText("Welcome, Scraper!").waitFor();
  const names = await page.locator(".product-name").allInnerTexts();
  console.log("Second session, still logged in. Products:", names.slice(0, 3));
} finally {
  await browser.close();
}

Example output

Logged in: Welcome, Scraper!
Second session, still logged in. Products: ['Chaz Kangeroo Hoodie', 'Teton Pullover Hoodie', 'Bruno Compete Hoodie']

The saved auth.json holds the site’s cookies, including the login session:

_ga, AWSALB, AWSALBCORS, XSRF-TOKEN, scrapingcoursecom_session, _ga_NZGD14H87G

Customize it

Change	How
Keep the same IP country across runs	Add `&proxy_country=us` to the URL of both sessions, see Country targeting
Stay logged in longer in one run	Add `&session_ttl=10m`, see Session TTL
Cookies without local storage	`await context.cookies()` to save, `await context.add_cookies(cookies)` to restore
Log in from an AI assistant	`browser_get_cookies` and `browser_set_cookies`, see the MCP tool reference
Log in from the terminal	`zenrows browser cookies --session <id>` and `zenrows browser set-cookies --session <id> --cookies '[...]'`, see Let your AI assistant browse

Troubleshooting

page.click waits until it times out after submitting the form: Playwright is waiting for the navigation to settle. Click with no_wait_after=True (noWaitAfter: true in Node.js) and wait for an element of the logged-in page instead.
The second session lands on the login page: the saved session expired or the site ties it to an IP. Log in again to refresh auth.json, and use the same proxy_country on both sessions.
auth.json has no session cookie: the state was saved before the login finished. Save it after the post-login element appears.

auth.json grants access to the account. Store it like a password: keep it out of version control and share it with the processes that need it.

Fill and submit multi-step forms

Type, select and submit, then verify the result on the page.

Connect Playwright or Puppeteer to Zenrows Browser

The connection URL and its country, region and lifetime options.

Let your AI assistant browse with Browser tools

Keep the same IP and submit forms

Reuse an IP and submit forms with Fetch, no browser needed.

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Log in once and reuse the session

Ask your AI agent

Log in and save the session state

Reuse the session in a new browser

Example output

Customize it

Troubleshooting

Fill and submit multi-step forms

Connect Playwright or Puppeteer to Zenrows Browser

Let your AI assistant browse with Browser tools

Keep the same IP and submit forms

​Ask your AI agent

​Log in and save the session state

​Reuse the session in a new browser

​Example output

​Customize it

​Troubleshooting

​Related recipes

Fill and submit multi-step forms

Connect Playwright or Puppeteer to Zenrows Browser

Let your AI assistant browse with Browser tools

Keep the same IP and submit forms

Ask your AI agent

Log in and save the session state

Reuse the session in a new browser

Example output

Customize it

Troubleshooting

Related recipes