Click

Type: click

Request that the browser click a particular element on the page.

Tips for using click action

• Pick selectors that won't break, like id, data-testid or aria-label. Avoid generated class names and nth-child.
• You don't need a wait first. click already waits up to 5 seconds for its element.
• Set continue_on_fail: true when closing cookie banners and pop-ups, since they aren't always there.
• After a click that loads new content, add a wait for something in that new content before you capture.
• If a click isn't working, add a screenshot after it to see what the page did.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
selector	string		The selector that defines the page element that the browser should click on.
timeout	integer		The maximum amount of time the browser should wait for the element defined by the selector to appear. Default: 5000 (5s)

See universal parameters.

Usage

Click an element on the page

The following clicks the page logo.

"actions": [
    {
      "type": "click",
      "selector": "a.header__logo"
    }
]

Click an element when it appears

The following waits up to 5 seconds for the logo to appear, then clicks it. It continues if the click fails.

"actions": [
      {
        "type": "click",
        "selector": "a.header__logo",
        "timeout": 5000,
        "continue_on_fail": true
      }
]

FAQs

When do I use the click action?

Use it whenever you need the browser to interact with something — a button, a link, a tab, a checkbox, or a "load more" control. Anything a user would click.

How do I click a button with Gaffa?

Add a click action with a CSS selector for the button. Gaffa waits up to five seconds for it to appear before clicking. Change that with the timeout parameter.

What selector should I use for a click?

Use something stable like id, data-testid or aria-label. Generated class names and positional selectors like nth-child break as soon as the site changes.

How do I close a cookie banner before scraping a page?

Add a click for the accept button with continue_on_fail: true, before your other actions. That flag stops the request failing on pages where the banner doesn't show.

How do I wait for content to load after a click?

Follow the click with a wait action using a selector that only exists in the new content, plus a timeout. That's more reliable than waiting a fixed number of seconds.

Why did my click fail?

Usually the selector didn't match in time, or the element was there but covered by a pop-up. Capture the DOM to check the selector, and close any overlay first.