bright-data-best-practices

CLI Setup Reference

Install, authentication, and troubleshooting for the Bright Data CLI (bdata) are documented in a single canonical place:

→ references/cli-setup.md

Consult it before any task that shells out to bdata.

Bright Data APIs

Bright Data provides infrastructure for web data extraction at scale. Four primary APIs cover different use cases — always pick the most specific tool for the job.

Choosing the Right API

Use Case	API	Why
Scrape any webpage by URL (no interaction)	Web Unlocker	HTTP-based, auto-bypasses bot detection, cheapest
Google / Bing / Yandex search results	SERP API	Specialized for SERP extraction, returns structured data
Structured data from Amazon, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, etc.	Web Scraper API	Pre-built scrapers, no parsing needed
Click, scroll, fill forms, run JS, intercept XHR	Browser API	Full browser automation
Puppeteer / Playwright / Selenium automation	Browser API	Connects via CDP/WebDriver
Route your own HTTP client through a raw proxy (DC/ISP/Residential/Mobile)	Proxy networks	When you need direct proxy access with your own request logic instead of a managed API — see the proxy.md skill

Authentication Pattern (All APIs)

All APIs share the same authentication model. The env vars below apply to direct REST API integrations — if you are using the bdata CLI, bdata login handles all of these automatically (see references/cli-setup.md).

export BRIGHTDATA_API_KEY="your-api-key"         # From Control Panel > Account Settings
export BRIGHTDATA_UNLOCKER_ZONE="zone-name"       # Web Unlocker zone name
export BRIGHTDATA_SERP_ZONE="serp-zone-name"      # SERP API zone name
export BROWSER_AUTH="brd-customer-ID-zone-NAME:PASSWORD"  # Browser API credentials

REST API authentication header for Web Unlocker and SERP API:

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

---

Web Unlocker API

HTTP-based scraping proxy. Best for simple page fetches without browser interaction.

Endpoint: POST https://api.brightdata.com/request

import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.brightdata.com/request",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"},
    json={
        "zone": "YOUR_ZONE_NAME",
        "url": "https://example.com/product/123",
        "format": "raw"
    }
)
html = response.text

Key Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
zone	string	Zone name (required)
url	string	Target URL with http:// or https:// (required)
format	string	"raw" (HTML) or "json" (structured wrapper) (required)
method	string	HTTP verb, default "GET"
country	string	2-letter ISO for geo-targeting (e.g., "us", "de")
data_format	string	Transform: "markdown" or "screenshot"
async	boolean	true for async mode

Quick Patterns

# Get markdown (best for LLM input)
response = requests.post(
    "https://api.brightdata.com/request",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"},
    json={"zone": ZONE, "url": url, "format": "raw", "data_format": "markdown"}
)

# Geo-targeted request
json={"zone": ZONE, "url": url, "format": "raw", "country": "de"}

# Screenshot for debugging
json={"zone": ZONE, "url": url, "format": "raw", "data_format": "screenshot"}

# Async for bulk processing
json={"zone": ZONE, "url": url, "format": "raw", "async": True}

Critical rule: Never use Web Unlocker with Puppeteer, Playwright, Selenium, or anti-detect browsers. Use Browser API instead.

See references/web-unlocker.md for complete reference including proxy interface, special headers, async flow, features, and billing.

---

SERP API

Structured search engine result extraction for Google, Bing, Yandex, DuckDuckGo.

Endpoint: POST https://api.brightdata.com/request (same as Web Unlocker)

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.brightdata.com/request",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"},
    json={
        "zone": "YOUR_SERP_ZONE",
        "url": "https://www.google.com/search?q=python+web+scraping&brd_json=1&gl=us&hl=en",
        "format": "raw"
    }
)
data = response.json()
for result in data.get("organic", []):
    print(result["rank"], result["title"], result["link"])

Essential Google URL Parameters

Parameter	Description	Example
q	Search query	q=python+web+scraping
brd_json	Parsed JSON output	brd_json=1 (always use for data pipelines)
gl	Country for search	gl=us
hl	Language	hl=en
start	Pagination offset	start=10 (page 2), start=20 (page 3)
tbm	Search type	tbm=nws (news), tbm=isch (images), tbm=vid (videos)
brd_mobile	Device	brd_mobile=1 (mobile), brd_mobile=ios
brd_browser	Browser	brd_browser=chrome
brd_ai_overview	Trigger AI Overview	brd_ai_overview=2
uule	Encoded geo location	for precise location targeting

Note: num parameter is deprecated as of September 2025. Use start for pagination.

Parsed JSON Response Structure

{
  "organic": [{"rank": 1, "global_rank": 1, "title": "...", "link": "...", "description": "..."}],
  "paid": [],
  "people_also_ask": [],
  "knowledge_graph": {},
  "related_searches": [],
  "general": {"results_cnt": 1240000000, "query": "..."}
}

Bing Key Parameters

Parameter	Description
q	Search query
setLang	Language (prefer 4-letter: en-US)
cc	Country code
first	Pagination (increment by 10: 1, 11, 21...)
safesearch	off, moderate, strict
brd_mobile	Device type

Async for Bulk SERP

# Submit
response = requests.post(
    "https://api.brightdata.com/request",
    params={"async": "1"},
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"},
    json={"zone": SERP_ZONE, "url": "https://www.google.com/search?q=test&brd_json=1", "format": "raw"}
)
response_id = response.headers.get("x-response-id")

# Retrieve (retrieve calls are NOT billed)
result = requests.get(
    "https://api.brightdata.com/serp/get_result",
    params={"response_id": response_id},
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"}
)

Billing: Pay per 1,000 successful requests only. Async retrieve calls are not billed.

See references/serp-api.md for complete reference including Maps, Trends, Reviews, Lens, Hotels, Flights parameters.

---

Web Scraper API

Pre-built scrapers for structured data extraction from 100+ platforms. No parsing logic needed.

Sync Endpoint: POST https://api.brightdata.com/datasets/v3/scrape Async Endpoint: POST https://api.brightdata.com/datasets/v3/trigger

# Sync (up to 20 URLs, returns immediately)
response = requests.post(
    "https://api.brightdata.com/datasets/v3/scrape",
    params={"dataset_id": "YOUR_DATASET_ID", "format": "json"},
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"},
    json={"input": [{"url": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09X7M8TBQ"}]}
)

if response.status_code == 200:
    data = response.json()  # Results ready
elif response.status_code == 202:
    snapshot_id = response.json()["snapshot_id"]  # Poll for completion

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
dataset_id	string	Scraper identifier from the Scraper Library (required)
format	string	json (default), ndjson, jsonl, csv
custom_output_fields	string	Pipe-separated fields: url|title|price
include_errors	boolean	Include error info in results

Request Body

{
  "input": [
    { "url": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09X7M8TBQ" },
    { "url": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B7CTCPKN" }
  ]
}

Poll for Async Results

import time

# Trigger
snapshot_id = requests.post(
    "https://api.brightdata.com/datasets/v3/trigger",
    params={"dataset_id": DATASET_ID, "format": "json"},
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"},
    json={"input": [{"url": u} for u in urls]}
).json()["snapshot_id"]

# Poll
while True:
    status = requests.get(
        f"https://api.brightdata.com/datasets/v3/progress/{snapshot_id}",
        headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"}
    ).json()["status"]

    if status == "ready": break
    if status == "failed": raise Exception("Job failed")
    time.sleep(10)

# Download
data = requests.get(
    f"https://api.brightdata.com/datasets/v3/snapshot/{snapshot_id}",
    params={"format": "json"},
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"}
).json()

Progress status values: starting → running → ready | failed Data retention: 30 days. Billing: Per delivered record. Invalid input URLs that fail are still billable.

See references/web-scraper-api.md for complete reference including scraper types, output formats, delivery options, and billing details.

---

Browser API (Scraping Browser)

Full browser automation via CDP/WebDriver. Handles CAPTCHA, fingerprinting, and anti-bot detection automatically.

Connection:

• Playwright/Puppeteer: wss://${AUTH}@brd.superproxy.io:9222
• Selenium: https://${AUTH}@brd.superproxy.io:9515

const { chromium } = require("playwright-core");

const AUTH = process.env.BROWSER_AUTH;
const browser = await chromium.connectOverCDP(`wss://${AUTH}@brd.superproxy.io:9222`);
const page = await browser.newPage();
page.setDefaultNavigationTimeout(120000); // Always set to 2 minutes

await page.goto("https://example.com", { waitUntil: "domcontentloaded" });
const html = await page.content();
await browser.close();

from playwright.async_api import async_playwright

async with async_playwright() as p:
    browser = await p.chromium.connect_over_cdp(f"wss://{AUTH}@brd.superproxy.io:9222")
    page = await browser.new_page()
    page.set_default_navigation_timeout(120000)
    await page.goto("https://example.com", wait_until="domcontentloaded")
    html = await page.content()
    await browser.close()

Custom CDP Functions

Function	Purpose
Captcha.solve	Manually trigger CAPTCHA solving
Captcha.setAutoSolve	Enable/disable auto CAPTCHA solving
Proxy.setLocation	Set precise geo location (call BEFORE goto)
Proxy.useSession	Maintain same IP across sessions
Emulation.setDevice	Apply device profile (iPhone 14, etc.)
Emulation.getSupportedDevices	List available device profiles
Unblocker.enableAdBlock	Block ads to save bandwidth
Unblocker.disableAdBlock	Re-enable ads
Input.type	Fast text input for bulk form filling
Browser.addCertificate	Install client SSL cert for session
Page.inspect	Get DevTools debug URL for live session

// CDP session pattern for custom functions
const client = await page.target().createCDPSession();

// CAPTCHA solve with timeout
const result = await client.send("Captcha.solve", { timeout: 30000 });

// Precise geo location (must be before goto)
await client.send("Proxy.setLocation", {
  latitude: 37.7749,
  longitude: -122.4194,
  distance: 10,
  strict: true
});

// Block unnecessary resources
await client.send("Network.setBlockedURLs", { urls: ["*google-analytics*", "*.ads.*"] });

// Device emulation
await client.send("Emulation.setDevice", { deviceName: "iPhone 14" });

Session Rules

• One initial navigation per session — new URL = new session
• Idle timeout: 5 minutes
• Max duration: 30 minutes

Geolocation

• Country-level: append -country-us to credentials username
• EU-wide: append -country-eu (routes through 29+ European countries)
• Precise: use Proxy.setLocation CDP command (before navigation)

Error Codes

Code	Issue	Fix
407	Wrong port	Playwright/Puppeteer → 9222, Selenium → 9515
403	Bad auth	Check credentials format and zone type
503	Service scaling	Wait 1 minute, reconnect

Billing: Traffic-based only. Block images/CSS/fonts to reduce costs.

See references/browser-api.md for complete reference including all CDP functions, bandwidth optimization, CAPTCHA patterns, and debugging.

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Detailed References

• references/web-unlocker.md — Web Unlocker: full parameter list, proxy interface, special headers, async flow, features, billing, anti-patterns
• references/serp-api.md — SERP API: all Google params (Maps, Trends, Reviews, Lens, Hotels, Flights), Bing params, parsed JSON structure, async, billing
• references/web-scraper-api.md — Web Scraper API: sync vs async, all parameters, polling, scraper types, output formats, billing
• references/browser-api.md — Browser API: connection strings, session rules, all CDP functions, geo-targeting, bandwidth optimization, CAPTCHA, debugging, error codes

Related Skills

• brightdata-proxy — For routing requests through Bright Data's raw proxy networks (Datacenter, ISP, Residential, Mobile) with your own HTTP client instead of a managed API. Covers network/IP-pool selection, the brd-customer-... username format, targeting & sticky-session params, SSL CA setup for Residential/Mobile, and integrations for cURL, Python (requests/httpx/aiohttp/Scrapy), Node (fetch/axios), Playwright, Puppeteer, and Selenium. Hand off to it whenever the task is raw proxy access rather than Web Unlocker / SERP / Web Scraper / Browser API. Escalation order when proxies hit consistent blocks: raw proxy → Web Unlocker → Browser API → Web Scraper API.