Login Scraping Basics

Some data is behind login:

• dashboards
• profiles
• private listings

To scrape it, you must:

1. send login request
2. keep session
3. access protected pages

Important note

Only scrape accounts and data you own or have permission for.

---

Step 1: Inspect login form

In browser DevTools:

• find form action URL
• input names (username, password)

Example:
action: /login
fields: email, password

---

Step 2: Send POST with session

import requests

session = requests.Session()

login_url = "https://example.com/login"
payload = {
    "email": "my@email.com",
    "password": "mypassword"
}

res = session.post(login_url, data=payload)

print(res.status_code)

---

Step 3: Access protected page

dashboard = session.get("https://example.com/dashboard")
print(dashboard.text[:200])

If you see dashboard HTML, login worked.

---

Graph: login flow

flowchart TD
  A[GET Login Page] --> B[Find form fields]
  B --> C[POST credentials]
  C --> D[Receive session cookie]
  D --> E[Access protected page]

Remember

• Use POST for login
• Always use Session
• Check response to confirm login