Specialized Browsers

Standard Chromium-based browsers are the most compatible but resource-intensive. A single Chrome instance can consume hundreds of megabytes of RAM, and its profile directory often balloons to 150MB+ immediately.

For a lighter approach, consider these specialized alternatives designed for scraping and automation.

Lightpanda

A high-performance, lightweight browser written in Zig, designed for speed and low resource usage.

Note

Lightpanda runs as a persistent server, so use cdp.connect() not cdp.launch().

Terminal

lightpanda serve --port 9222

hooks.lua

local browser = cdp.connect("ws://127.0.0.1:9222")

Obscura

A headless browser specifically built for AI agents and advanced anti-detection.

Terminal

obscura serve --port 9222 --stealth

hooks.lua

local browser = cdp.connect("ws://127.0.0.1:9222/devtools/browser")

Compatibility

These browsers implement CDP but may not support every method:

Method	Lightpanda	Obscura
page:screenshot()	Returns placeholder image	Not supported
page:block_resources()	Not supported	Not supported
page:cookies() (no args)	Works	Use page:cookies({url}) instead
page:type(text, {real=true})	Works	Not supported

Test your hooks thoroughly and fall back to a standard browser if something doesn’t work.