Different types of file downloads require different code strategies. This page outlines various strategies you may take.

Regular downloads occur when the file link is directly available within the HTML (typically in the href of an <a> tag). Clicking these links directly initiates a file download.

To handle these downloads:

  1. Save the URL directly from the page.
  2. Reworkd will then asynchronously visit and download the file. We use curl-cffi mimicking browser behavior when downloading the file.
# Select the link element
link = await sdk.page.query_selector('a.download')

# Get the URL directly
href = await link.get_attribute("href")

# Save the URL, Lambda will handle the download
await sdk.save_data({"download_url": href })

Indirect downloads happen when the direct link isn’t immediately visible but becomes available after clicking a button or link.

To handle indirect downloads:

  1. Click the button/link to open the URL.
  2. Capture and save the newly loaded URL.
  3. Automatically navigate back.
# Select element to open page
element = await sdk.page.query_selector('button.download')

# Capture the URL after clicking
download_url = await sdk.capture_url(element)

# Save URL for download via Lambda
await sdk.save_data({"download_url": download_url })

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JavaScript/Dynamic Downloads

Dynamic downloads occur when a file download is triggered by JavaScript events directly in the browser, without a direct URL.

To handle dynamic downloads:

  1. Use capture_download method to trigger and capture the download directly in the browser.
  2. Retrieve the file metadata (URL and title).
# Select element triggering download
element = await sdk.page.query_selector('button.download')

# Capture download event directly
download_metadata = await sdk.capture_download(element)

# Save file metadata directly
await sdk.save_data({
    "attachment": {
        "download_url": download_metadata["url"],
        "title": download_metadata["title"],
    },
})

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Downloads Requiring Cookies/Session

Some sites require the download to occur within the same browser session that accessed the page, making AWS Lambda unsuitable.

In these cases:

  • Follow the same approach as dynamic downloads, handling the download directly in the browser context using capture_download.