This guide will help you understand what session cookies are, how they work, and how to retrieve them using PhantomBuster’s browser extension or manually in Chrome.
What is a session cookie and how does it work?
💡 A session cookie is a small piece of data stored on your browser by a website, say LinkedIn, when you log in. Session cookies maintain your login session data for the websites you automate with PhantomBuster.
When you log into a website, say LinkedIn, the browser you use generates and stores a session cookie. This cookie contains a unique identifier for your session, which the website uses to recognize you while navigating through different pages.
When you run automations on LinkedIn using PhantomBuster, having an active session cookie allows PhantomBuster to perform actions on your behalf.
Once you log out from the website, the session cookie expires, ending your session.
⚠️There are several reasons sessions cookies expire, logging out being the most common. You will have to update active Phantoms and Flows every time this happens.
How to retrieve session cookie using PhantomBuster's browser extension
💡 This is a straightforward way to manage session cookie retrieval and update for Chrome and Firefox.
1. Install the browser extension for cookie retrieval for Chrome or Firefox.
2. Open your browser and log into the website where you need the session cookie, say LinkedIn.
3. Go to your Dashboard, select the Phantom that needs the new session cookie.
4. Click on the 3 dots in Phantom card, then click on Setup.
5. On the left side of the Settings menu, click on Connect to..., then click on Connect to… again in the card. This will retrieve your cookie and populate the setup field.
6. Click Save to save the cookie and apply it to the settings for this automation.
How to manually retrieve session cookies in Chrome
⚠️ This tutorial is tailored for Chrome users. Here's how to access your cookies with Firefox or Safari.
1. Open a new tab in your Chrome browser.
2. Go to the website for which you want to retrieve your cookie. Right-click anywhere on the page and select Inspect.
3. Locate the Application tab.
4. Select Cookies and look for li_at value under the Name column in the tabel. Copy the character string in the corresponding Value column.
5. Go back to your Dashboard and select the Phantom that needs the session cookie.
6. Click on the 3 dots on the Phantom card, then click Setup.
7. On the left side of the Settings menu, click 'Connect to...'. Paste the manually retrieved cookie into the Your session cookie input field.
8. Click Save. This will save the cookie and apply it to the settings of this Phantom automation.
💡The table below contains the cookie names for each social network, should you need to find them.
Related guides
How to Solve Cookie Expiration Errors
You can contact Support at any time for additional details on your PhantomBuster workspace.