Scrapling Skill
Overview
Use Scrapling through its CLI as the default path. Start with the smallest working command, validate the saved output, and only escalate to browser-backed fetching when the static fetch does not contain the real page content.
Do not assume the user's Scrapling install is healthy. Verify it first.
Default Workflow
Copy this checklist and keep it updated while working:
text
Scrapling Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Diagnose the local Scrapling install
- [ ] Step 2: Fix CLI extras or browser runtime if needed
- [ ] Step 3: Choose static or dynamic fetch
- [ ] Step 4: Save output to a file
- [ ] Step 5: Validate file size and extracted content
- [ ] Step 6: Escalate only if the previous path failed
Step 1: Diagnose the Install
Run the bundled diagnostic script first:
bash
python3 scripts/diagnose_scrapling.py
Use the result as the source of truth for the next step.
Step 2: Fix the Install
If the CLI was installed without extras
If
fails with missing
or a message about installing Scrapling with extras, reinstall it with the CLI extra:
bash
uv tool uninstall scrapling
uv tool install 'scrapling[shell]'
Do not default to
unless the user explicitly needs the broader feature set.
If browser-backed fetchers are needed
Install the Playwright runtime:
If the install looks slow or opaque, read
references/troubleshooting.md
before guessing. Do not claim success until either:
- reports that dependencies are already installed, or
- the diagnostic script confirms both Chromium and Chrome Headless Shell are present.
Step 3: Choose the Fetcher
Use this decision rule:
- Start with for normal pages, article pages, and most WeChat public articles.
- Use when the static HTML does not contain the real content or the page depends on JavaScript rendering.
- Use only after still fails because of anti-bot or challenge behavior. Do not make it the default.
Step 4: Run the Smallest Useful Command
Always quote URLs in shell commands. This is mandatory in
when the URL contains
,
, or other special characters.
Full page to HTML
bash
scrapling extract get 'https://example.com' page.html
Main content to Markdown
bash
scrapling extract get 'https://example.com' article.md -s 'main'
JS-rendered page with browser automation
bash
scrapling extract fetch 'https://example.com' page.html --timeout 20000
WeChat public article body
Use
first. This is the default selector for article body extraction on
pages.
bash
scrapling extract get 'https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ARTICLE_ID?scene=1' article.md -s '#js_content'
Step 5: Validate the Output
After every extraction, verify the file instead of assuming success:
bash
wc -c article.md
sed -n '1,40p' article.md
For HTML output, check that the expected title, container, or selector target is actually present:
bash
rg -n '<title>|js_content|rich_media_title|main' page.html
If the file is tiny, empty, or missing the expected container, the extraction did not succeed. Go back to Step 3 and switch fetchers or selectors.
Step 6: Handle Known Failure Modes
Local TLS trust store problem
If
fails with
curl: (60) SSL certificate problem
, treat it as a local trust-store problem first, not a Scrapling content failure.
Retry the same command with:
Only do this after confirming the failure matches the local certificate verification error pattern. Do not silently disable verification by default.
WeChat article pages
- Try before
- Use for the article body
- Validate the saved Markdown or HTML immediately
Browser-backed fetch failures
- Re-check the install with
python3 scripts/diagnose_scrapling.py
- Confirm Chromium and Chrome Headless Shell are present
- Retry with a slightly longer timeout
- Escalate to only if the site behavior justifies it
Command Patterns
Diagnose and smoke test a URL
bash
python3 scripts/diagnose_scrapling.py --url 'https://example.com'
Diagnose and smoke test a WeChat article body
bash
python3 scripts/diagnose_scrapling.py \
--url 'https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ARTICLE_ID?scene=1' \
--selector '#js_content' \
--no-verify
Diagnose and smoke test a browser-backed fetch
bash
python3 scripts/diagnose_scrapling.py \
--url 'https://example.com' \
--dynamic
Guardrails
- Do not tell the user to reinstall blindly. Verify first.
- Do not default to the Python library API when the user is clearly asking about the CLI.
- Do not jump to browser-backed fetching unless the static result is missing the real content.
- Do not claim success from exit code alone. Inspect the saved file.
- Do not hardcode user-specific absolute paths into outputs or docs.
Resources
- Installation and smoke test helper:
scripts/diagnose_scrapling.py
- Verified failure modes and recovery paths:
references/troubleshooting.md