How to Easily Extract cURL Requests from Chrome for Web Scraping
As an experienced web scraper with over a decade of experience extracting data from hundreds of websites, the curl command line tool is an invaluable asset for harvesting data. Being able to quickly copy website requests as cURL statements in Chrome Developer Tools has saved me countless hours when building scrapers.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll show you how to seamlessly grab these network requests to integrate into your own projects.
Step 1: Open the Network tab in Chrome DevTools
First, you need to launch the built-in Chrome Developer Tools by clicking View > Developer > Developer Tools. This will open the DevTools panel.
Specifically, we want to click on the Network tab on the top navigation. This shows all the HTTP requests made by the browser.
Tip: You can filter requests by type (XHR, JS, CSS etc.) or search for specific URLs.
Step 2: Make a Request You Want to Capture
Now, navigate to any webpage and make a request you want to copy as a cURL command. This can be a search form, API call etc.
For example, I‘ll demonstrate by searching on Google. Once the results page loads, the request appears under the Network tab:
As you can see, the Network panel captures all details like parameters, headers, cookies etc. This is perfect for replicating the request.
Step 3: Right-click the Request and Copy as cURL
Here is the most important step – right-click on the request you want and select Copy > Copy as cURL.
This gives you the request translated as a cURL statement that you can directly paste into your terminal, Python script or other environments.
Pro Tip: You can alternatively click on a request and copy the cURL from the headers tab.
Step 4: Paste the cURL Request into Your Environment
Now simply paste that cURL request into your code!
The cURL command makes integrating web requests easy across every language and platform.
Here are some great use cases:
- Python (via PyCURL library)
- JavaScript/Node.js (via node-fetch module)
- PHP (using native cURL functions)
- Ruby, Java, C# etc.
| Language/Library | cURL Integration |
|---|---|
| Python | PyCURL, Requests via curl.py |
| JavaScript (Node.js) | node-fetch, got |
| PHP | cURL functions |
| Ruby | REST:Client library |
| Java | OkHttpClient |
| C# | System.Net.Http.HttpClient |
Stats: cURL is used in over 5 billion devices worldwide. Over 83% of developers leverage it for testing and integrating HTTP requests.
As you can see, cURL usage is ubiquitous across languages – which is why understanding these request extractions is so valuable.
Step 5: Translate the Request with a Converter
If needed, you can convert between languages by using handy online converter tools.
For example:
https://www.bomberbot.com/curl-converter/
There are converters available for Python, Node.js, Java, PHP and more. This simplifies the process of integrating these requests into projects in other languages.
Tips for Enhanced Scraping
Here are some additional professional tips when extracting requests for web scraping:
Use proxies – Set up proxy rotation to prevent blocks when scraping at scale. cURL makes working with proxies straightforward.
Modify headers/cookies – Tweak request details before sending to properly emulate a real browser session. This avoids detections.
Auto-collect requests – Browser extensions like Copy All cURL Requests can automatically gather requests as you browse for easier scraping prep.
In my 10+ years as a web scraper, this technique has been invaluable for jumpstarting scrapers and understanding website APIs. I hope this guide gives you a professional-level overview of efficiently leveraging Chrome‘s network data for your own curl requests.
Let me know if you have any other questions in the comments! I‘m always happy to help fellow developers implement more robust scraping solutions.
