How to build a browserless application with Functions

Learn how to implement a browserless application using Azion Functions to create efficient, secure, and scalable web solutions at the edge.

View as Markdown

This guide demonstrates how to create a browserless application using Azion Functions. Browserless applications allow you to perform web automation tasks, scraping, and browser-based operations without the overhead of running a full browser instance, making them ideal for edge computing environments.

This demonstration shows how to leverage Functions for browser automation tasks while maintaining high performance and security standards at the edge.

Requirements

Before you begin, ensure you have:

Code

This is a code example of how to use browserless with Azion Functions to take a screenshot. The complete code example you can find in this GitHub repository.

import { Hono } from "hono";
import { fire } from "hono/service-worker";
const app = new Hono();
const TOKEN = process.env.PUPPETEER_BROWSERLESS_IO_KEY!;
app.get("/screenshot", async (c) => {
const url = c.req.query("url");
const headers = {
"Cache-Control": "no-cache",
"Content-Type": "application/json",
};
const response = await fetch(
`https://production-sfo.browserless.io/screenshot?token=${TOKEN}`,
{
method: "POST",
headers: headers,
body: JSON.stringify({
url: url || "https://www.example.com",
options: {
type: "png",
},
}),
}
);
if (!response.ok) {
const status = response.status;
return c.html(await response.text(), status as any);
}
const arrayBuffer = await response.arrayBuffer();
const imageBuffer = new Uint8Array(arrayBuffer);
return c.body(imageBuffer, {
status: 200,
headers: {
"Content-Type": "image/png",
},
});
});
fire(app);

Deploying to Azion

Step 1: Authenticate with Azion

  1. Log in to your Azion account via CLI:
azion login
  1. Follow the authentication prompts to connect your CLI with your Azion account.

Step 2: Create a new Application from a template

  1. Initialize a new Application:
azion init

  1. Select the template Hono Boilerplate to use for your browserless application.

  2. Follow the prompts to configure your new Application.

Step 3: Deploy the Function

Deploy your browserless application to Azion’s edge network:

azion deploy

The deployment process will:

  • Upload your Function code
  • Configure the application
  • Set up the necessary routing rules
  • Provide you with a unique domain

Step 4: Access your application

After deployment, you’ll receive a domain like https://xxxxxxx.map.azionedge.net. Your browserless application will be available at this URL within a few minutes after DNS propagation.

Understanding the implementation

Function structure

The browserless Function typically includes:

  • Request handling: Processing incoming HTTP requests
  • Browser automation logic: Implementing browserless operations
  • Response formatting: Returning results in the appropriate format
  • Error handling: Managing failures and edge cases

Key benefits

  • Performance: Runs at the edge, reducing latency
  • Scalability: Automatically scales with demand
  • Cost-effective: No need to maintain browser instances
  • Security: Isolated execution environment

Common use cases

  • Web scraping and data extraction
  • PDF generation from HTML
  • Screenshot capture
  • Form automation
  • API testing and monitoring

Testing your browserless application

  1. Functionality testing: Verify all automation features work correctly
  2. Performance testing: Ensure response times meet your requirements
  3. Error handling: Test edge cases and error scenarios
  4. Security testing: Validate input sanitization and output security

Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions

  • Deployment failures: Check your environment variables and build process
  • Runtime errors: Review Function logs in Azion Console
  • Performance issues: Optimize your browserless operations for edge execution
  • Memory limitations: Ensure your operations stay within Function memory limits

Next steps

  • Explore advanced browserless automation techniques
  • Implement monitoring and logging for your application
  • Consider integrating with other Azion products like Object Storag
  • Scale your application based on usage patterns
Learn more about Functions Build an application