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Identity & SessionBrowser Brand Alignment

Browser Brand Alignment

Switch browser brand identity (Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera, Chromium, WebView) with consistent fingerprint protection across all identity surfaces.

Prerequisites

  • BotBrowser binary installed. See INSTALLATION.md.
  • A profile file (.enc or .json).
  • ENT Tier2 license for brand switching. WebView brand requires ENT Tier3.

Overview

Different Chromium-based browsers report different brand identities through their Client Hints values, HTTP headers, and User-Agent string. Each brand also follows its own version cadence. For example, Microsoft Edge releases on a different schedule than Google Chrome, so their full version numbers diverge even when they share the same Chromium major version.

BotBrowser lets you switch between brand identities at launch time using the --bot-config-browser-brand flag. When you set a brand, BotBrowser automatically adjusts the User-Agent string, navigator.userAgentData brands list, Client Hints headers, and all related API surfaces to match that brand’s identity consistently.

Quick Start

# Launch as Microsoft Edge
chromium-browser \
  --bot-profile="/path/to/profile.enc" \
  --bot-config-browser-brand=edge \
  --bot-config-brand-full-version=142.0.3595.65
import { chromium } from "playwright-core";
 
const browser = await chromium.launch({
  executablePath: process.env.BOTBROWSER_EXEC_PATH,
  headless: true,
  args: [
    "--bot-profile=/path/to/profile.enc",
    "--bot-config-browser-brand=edge",
    "--bot-config-brand-full-version=142.0.3595.65",
  ],
});
 
const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto("https://example.com");
 
// Verify brand identity
const brands = await page.evaluate(() =>
  navigator.userAgentData.brands.map((b) => `${b.brand} ${b.version}`)
);
console.log("Brands:", brands);
 
await browser.close();

How It Works

When you set --bot-config-browser-brand, BotBrowser modifies the following surfaces:

  1. User-Agent string. The browser name and version in the UA string change to match the selected brand.

  2. navigator.userAgentData.brands. The brands array includes the correct brand entry with proper GREASE tokens. For example, Edge reports "Microsoft Edge" alongside "Chromium" and "Not A(Brand".

  3. Client Hints headers. All Client Hints headers reflect the selected brand and its version.

  4. Full version list. When --bot-config-brand-full-version is provided, the brand-specific version appears in high-entropy Client Hints results, separate from the base Chromium version.

These changes apply consistently across the main thread, Workers, and HTTP request headers.

Supported Brands

BrandFlag ValueDescription
Google ChromechromeDefault. Standard Chrome identity.
Microsoft EdgeedgeEdge identity with Edge-specific version cadence.
BravebraveBrave browser identity.
OperaoperaOpera identity with Opera-specific version cadence.
ChromiumchromiumPlain Chromium identity without vendor branding.
Android WebViewwebviewWebView identity for in-app browser emulation. Requires ENT Tier3.

Brand Version Cadence

Each brand follows its own release schedule. While they all share the same Chromium major version, their full version numbers differ.

For example, when Chromium is at version 142:

  • Chrome might be 142.0.7444.60
  • Edge might be 142.0.3595.65
  • Opera might be 142.0.5481.40

Use --bot-config-brand-full-version to set the brand-specific version, and --bot-config-ua-full-version to set the Chromium version. Both should share the same major version number.

# Edge with correct version cadence
chromium-browser \
  --bot-profile="/path/to/profile.enc" \
  --bot-config-browser-brand=edge \
  --bot-config-ua-full-version=142.0.7444.60 \
  --bot-config-brand-full-version=142.0.3595.65

Common Scenarios

Running as Edge for enterprise site testing

const browser = await chromium.launch({
  executablePath: process.env.BOTBROWSER_EXEC_PATH,
  headless: true,
  args: [
    "--bot-profile=/path/to/profile.enc",
    "--bot-config-browser-brand=edge",
    "--bot-config-brand-full-version=142.0.3595.65",
    "--proxy-server=socks5://user:pass@proxy.example.com:1080",
  ],
});

Running as Brave

const browser = await chromium.launch({
  executablePath: process.env.BOTBROWSER_EXEC_PATH,
  headless: true,
  args: [
    "--bot-profile=/path/to/profile.enc",
    "--bot-config-browser-brand=brave",
  ],
});

Different brands per context (ENT Tier3)

const browser = await chromium.launch({
  executablePath: process.env.BOTBROWSER_EXEC_PATH,
  headless: true,
  args: ["--bot-profile=/path/to/base-profile.enc"],
});
 
// Browser-level CDP session (required for BotBrowser.* commands)
const client = await browser.newBrowserCDPSession();
 
// Context 1: Chrome
const { browserContextIds: before1 } = await client.send("Target.getBrowserContexts");
const ctx1 = await browser.newContext();
const { browserContextIds: after1 } = await client.send("Target.getBrowserContexts");
const ctxId1 = after1.filter((id) => !before1.includes(id))[0];
await client.send("BotBrowser.setBrowserContextFlags", {
  browserContextId: ctxId1,
  botbrowserFlags: ["--bot-config-browser-brand=chrome"],
});
const page1 = await ctx1.newPage();
 
// Context 2: Edge
const { browserContextIds: before2 } = await client.send("Target.getBrowserContexts");
const ctx2 = await browser.newContext();
const { browserContextIds: after2 } = await client.send("Target.getBrowserContexts");
const ctxId2 = after2.filter((id) => !before2.includes(id))[0];
await client.send("BotBrowser.setBrowserContextFlags", {
  browserContextId: ctxId2,
  botbrowserFlags: [
    "--bot-config-browser-brand=edge",
    "--bot-config-brand-full-version=142.0.3595.65",
  ],
});
const page2 = await ctx2.newPage();

Troubleshooting / FAQ

ProblemSolution
Brand not reflected in UA stringEnsure --bot-config-browser-brand is passed in args, not as a Playwright option.
Version mismatch in Client HintsSet --bot-config-brand-full-version to the brand-specific version, not the Chromium version.
WebView brand not workingWebView requires ENT Tier3. See Android WebView.

Next Steps

Related documentation: CLI Flags Reference | Advanced Features | Profile Configuration

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