Reuse sessions using cookies in python selenium
Tags: selenium, python, webdriver
Published: 2020-07-28 12:59:22

---
title: Reuse sessions using cookies in python selenium
published: true
description: Reuse sessions using cookies in python selenium
tags: selenium, python, webdriver
cover_image: https://d33wubrfki0l68.cloudfront.net/c8827c80d7162a7eeb8a071d9a0c884e3a105a36/a2b46/blog/selenium-python/header_selenium_python.png
---


I have a scenario where I would like to reuse once authenticated/logged-in sessions. I'm using multiple browser simultaneously.

I've tried plenty of solutions from blogs and StackOverflow answers. 

##### 1. Using user-data-dir and profile-directory
These chrome options which solves purpose if you opening one browser at a time, but if you open multiple windows it'll throw an error saying `user data directory is already in use`.

##### 2. Using cookies
Cookies can be shared across multiple browsers. Code available in SO answers are have most of the important blocks on how to use cookies in selenium. Here I'm extending those solutions to complete the flow.

## Code

```
# selenium-driver.py
import pickle
from selenium import webdriver


class SeleniumDriver(object):
    def __init__(
        self,
        # chromedriver path
        driver_path='/Users/hardiksondagar/work/chrome/chromedriver',
        # pickle file path to store cookies
        cookies_file_path='/Users/hardiksondagar/work/chrome/cookies.pkl',
        # list of websites to reuse cookies with
        cookies_websites=["https://facebook.com"]

    ):
        self.driver_path = driver_path
        self.cookies_file_path = cookies_file_path
        self.cookies_websites = cookies_websites
        chrome_options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
        self.driver = webdriver.Chrome(
            executable_path=self.driver_path,
            options=chrome_options
        )
        try:
            # load cookies for given websites
            cookies = pickle.load(open(self.cookies_file_path, "rb"))
            for website in self.cookies_websites:
                self.driver.get(website)
                for cookie in cookies:
                    self.driver.add_cookie(cookie)
                self.driver.refresh()
        except Exception as e:
            # it'll fail for the first time, when cookie file is not present
            print(str(e))
            print("Error loading cookies")

    def save_cookies(self):
        # save cookies
        cookies = self.driver.get_cookies()
        pickle.dump(cookies, open(self.cookies_file_path, "wb"))

    def close_all(self):
        # close all open tabs
        if len(self.driver.window_handles) < 1:
            return
        for window_handle in self.driver.window_handles[:]:
            self.driver.switch_to.window(window_handle)
            self.driver.close()

    def quit(self):
        self.save_cookies()
        self.close_all()
        self.driver.quit()



def is_fb_logged_in():
    driver.get("https://facebook.com")
    if 'Facebook – log in or sign up' in driver.title:
        return False
    else:
        return True


def fb_login(username, password):
    username_box = driver.find_element_by_id('email')
    username_box.send_keys(username)

    password_box = driver.find_element_by_id('pass')
    password_box.send_keys(password)

    login_box = driver.find_element_by_id('loginbutton')
    login_box.click()


if __name__ == '__main__':
    """
    Run  - 1
    First time authentication and save cookies

    Run  - 2
    Reuse cookies and use logged-in session
    """
    selenium_object = SeleniumDriver()
    driver = selenium_object.driver
    username = "fb-username"
    password = "fb-password"

    if is_fb_logged_in(driver):
        print("Already logged in")
    else:
        print("Not logged in. Login")
        fb_login(username, password)

    selenium_object.quit()
```


### Run 1: Login & Save Cookies
```
$ python selenium-driver.py
[Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/Users/hardiksondagar/work/chrome/cookies.pkl'
Error loading cookies
Not logged in. Login
```
This will open facebook login window and enter username-password to login. Once logged-in it'll close the browser and save cookies.


### Run 2: Reuse cookies to continue loggedin session
```
$ python selenium-driver.py
Already logged in
```
This will open logged in session of facebook using stored cookies.

**Requirements**
- Python 3.7
- Selenium Webdriver
- Pickle