User Agent

What is a user agent and why is it important?

A user agent in the context of browser automation and web scraping is like a digital ID card for the software (i.e. TaskBot) that visits websites. It tells the website what kind of tool or browser is requesting to see the page, much like how a person might introduce themselves by name and occupation when meeting someone new. This helps the website understand how to best display its content for that visitor.

To avoid anti-bot detection, the user agent must be plausible. For example, if you are using Windows device but your user agent contains information about a Mac system, this might be identified as suspicious and trigger anti-bot detection.

When do I need to edit the user agent?

Convenient default: Normally, you don't need to worry about this setting because ZeroWork will detect your current user agent and add it to settings on every new TaskBot creation per default.

You can double check this by clicking on the settings gear on the top right of your TaskBot page and then review this section:

Cases when you might need to update user agent

• New computer or updated browser: When you change your computer or update your browser, the user agent might get out of sync. Normally, this is not a problem unless, as explained above, you change your operating system - say, from Windows to Mac or vice versa. If your current user agent is out of sync, this will be shown to you, and you can click on Sync to Your User Agent button to get the user agent back in sync, as shown below:

• Using multiple profiles and proxies (advanced): If you automate the same website using multiple website accounts, you are probably using Proxies. In this case, adding a different user agent for every account can make your anti-detection measures even more bullet-proof.