WWW::Me...shooting(3)

📦
version 0.78 · 3 versions
, in fedora 43, fedora 44

💖 WWW::Mechanize::Chrome::Troubleshooting 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the WWW::Mechanize::Chrome::Troubleshooting page — this is the "User Contributed Perl Documentation" corner of the group chat, and it's literally just a big list of things to watch out for when you're driving Chrome with Perl. no cap, this page has saved lives. let's get into it 🫶

✨ INSTALLATION ✨

🎀 Chrome is installed but Perl does not connect to it

so you noticed your tests get skipped and/or the module installs but like… "does not seem to work"? most likely you need to close ALL your Chrome windows. every single one. bestie I mean it.

but wait — if you want Perl to share your browser (iconic, collaborative, main character energy), you'll need to start Chrome yourself with the <--remote-debugging-port=9222"> command line switch. yep, that's the exact spelling. don't come for me, I didn't write it 💅

🦋 Tests fail with URLs that do not appear in the distribution files

okay so if you notice that tests (most likely t/51-mech-links.t) fail with URLs that are not on localhost or 127.0.0.1… 🚨 another not entirely unlikely explanation is that your machine or your browser has been infected by some "Search Plugin" redirector which exfiltrates your browsing history or redirects your search engine or banking websites to other websites.

that's not a vibe check failing, that's a literal malware situation. 💀

for confirmation and/or finding out how to remove the offender, maybe a search from a different machine for the URLs injected additionally into the test pages helps you identify the offender. detective mode: activated 🔍

🌈 OPERATION 🌈

💜 Chrome / Chromium best practices

install your own version of Chrome/Chromium locally and disable automatic updates. this prevents the API from changing under your scripts. protecting your peace, but for software ✨

🍓 File downloads don't work

Chrome / Chromium doesn't have an API for determining whether a download completed or not. that's just… the situation. 😭

and the tea: Chrome versions v62 and v63 do have working downloads, but Chrome v64 does not send the appropriate API messages. so close, yet so far.

🧚 Timeout when launching script while Chrome is running

you get the error message:

Timeout while connecting to localhost:9222. Do you maybe have a non-debug
instance of Chrome already running?

most likely you already launched the Chrome binary without supplying the --remote-debugging-port option. (rude of you, honestly.) so either:

  • stop all Chrome instances and (re)launch them using the --remote-debugging-port on the command line, or
  • launch a separate Chrome session using a separate data directory using the data_directory option.

pick your fighter 🥊

🌸 Lost UI shared context

when Chrome is run in headless mode, Chrome throws a "Lost UI shared context" error. and bestie, this error can be ignored and does not affect the operation of this module. it's giving dramatic for no reason. let it talk, it's not about you 🙈

📣 REPORTING AN ISSUE 📣

ideally you ask your question on the public support forum, as then other people can also provide you with good answers. community >>> everything, periodt 👑

your question should include a short script of about 20 lines that reproduces the problem. short king behavior. and remember to remove all passwords from the script — no leaking credentials in the group chat, ever 🚫🔐

🏠 REPOSITORY 🏠

the public repository of this module is <https://github.com/Corion/www-mechanize-chrome>.

go look, go star, go be nosy 💖

🫶 SUPPORT 🫶

the public support forum of this module is <https://perlmonks.org/>.

the monks are lovely. ask them things.

🐛 BUG TRACKER 🐛

please report bugs in this module via the Github bug queue at <https://github.com/Corion/WWW-Mechanize-Chrome/issues>

we love a documented bug. it's giving growth mindset 🌱

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Max Maischein corion@cpan.org

Copyright 2010-2026 by Max Maischein corion@cpan.org.

📜 LICENSE 📜

this module is released under the same terms as Perl itself.

and that's the whole page, bestie!! ✨ you read the whole thing, I'm so proud, that's literally academic weapon energy 🎓

this was perl v5.42.2, dated 2026-06-07 — from your fave troubleshooting manual, WWW::Me...shooting(3) 💖 bye pookie, go close those Chrome windows 🦋

📦 where this page comes from