CloakHQ/CloakBrowser

CloakBrowser – Stealth Chromium for Automation

What it is – CloakBrowser is a custom‑built Chromium binary whose source code has been patched (≈ 87 C++ changes) to hide the usual “automation” fingerprints that anti‑bot services look for. The project ships thin Python, JavaScript/Node, and .NET wrappers that expose the same API as Playwright (and also Puppeteer), so you can drop it into existing scraping or testing scripts with only a change of import.

Key capabilities

• Source‑level stealth – fingerprints (canvas, WebGL, GPU, screen size, WebRTC, timing, navigator.webdriver, etc.) are altered at compile time, not by injecting JavaScript or setting flags. This makes the browser look like a regular Chrome installation to detection services.
• Playwright/Puppeteer drop‑in – from cloakbrowser import launch (Python) or import {launch} from 'cloakbrowser' (JS) works exactly like the standard Playwright launch call. No code changes beyond the import are required.
• Human‑like interaction – a single humanize=True flag makes mouse movements, typing, and scrolling follow realistic Bézier curves and timing patterns, helping to pass behavioral checks.
• Proxy & geo‑IP support – you can supply HTTP or SOCKS5 proxies, and with geoip=True the browser will automatically match timezone/locale to the proxy’s exit IP and spoof WebRTC ICE candidates.
• Cross‑platform binaries – pre‑compiled stealth Chromium for Linux (x64/ARM64), Windows, and macOS (Intel & Apple Silicon). The binary is auto‑downloaded on first run (≈ 200 MiB) and verified with an Ed25519 signature.
• Pro version – free tier gives one concurrent session with the latest build; paid plans unlock multiple simultaneous sessions, priority updates, and support.
• CloakBrowser Manager – an optional open‑source GUI (separate repo) that lets you create unlimited isolated profiles, each with its own fingerprint, proxy, and persistent state, similar to commercial anti‑detect browsers.

Typical usage

from cloakbrowser import launch

browser = launch(
    proxy="http://user:pass@residential-proxy:8080",
    geoip=True,
    headless=False,
    humanize=True,
)
page = browser.new_page()
page.goto("https://example.com")
print(page.title())
browser.close()

The same code works in Node with import {launch} from 'cloakbrowser'.

Why it matters for AI/automation

• Many LLM‑driven agents (e.g., LangChain, Crawl4AI, autonomous web‑agents) need a browser that won’t be blocked by Cloudflare Turnstile, reCAPTCHA v3, FingerprintJS, etc. CloakBrowser provides a “real” Chrome that passes those checks, letting agents retrieve content reliably.
• Because it uses the native Playwright API, it integrates seamlessly with existing Python/JS automation pipelines, without the maintenance headaches of JS‑only stealth plugins that break on each Chrome update.

Limitations

• CloakBrowser does not solve CAPTCHAs that actually appear; it only reduces the chance they are shown. You still need a separate solving service or manual handling if a challenge slips through.
• The free tier is limited to a single concurrent session; large‑scale scraping requires a Pro license.

Bottom line – CloakBrowser is a genuine, actively maintained tool that delivers a stealth Chromium binary for Playwright/Puppeteer automation, targeting the same audience as anti‑detect browsers but with an open‑source wrapper and a clear focus on source‑level fingerprint removal.