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Why Piggy Exists ​

A message from the developer.

The Problem ​

I was tired of writing the same 47 lines of setup code every time I wanted to scrape something.

ts
// Puppeteer setup
import puppeteer from 'puppeteer';
import stealth from 'puppeteer-extra-plugin-stealth';
import puppeteerExtra from 'puppeteer-extra';
// ... 5 more imports
// ... 20 lines of stealth setup
// ... 15 lines of fingerprint spoofing
// ... and you're STILL getting blocked  like who has time for that 
// ... and worse the install took 5 mins and script crashed with errors that dont concern me like why should i be affected when chrome dev tool added a full stop function and i want to just click a button

Every project needed:

  • Stealth plugins that break every 3 months
  • Custom fingerprint spoofing that you copy from Stack Overflow
  • Manual network capture that misses half the requests
  • Session persistence that you write yourself
  • And after all that... Cloudflare still blocks you.

There had to be a better way.

The Realization ​

Most scraping tools are built on top of Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP). CDP was designed for debugging, not for scraping. It's slow, leaky, and leaves detectable traces everywhere.

Puppeteer and Playwright are amazing for testing. But they leak automation signals like a sieve leaks water.

navigator.webdriver = true is set at the engine level. You cannot remove it from JavaScript. It's there. Always.

I realized: what if the browser was built for scraping from the ground up?

The Solution ​

Nothing Browser Piggy is that solution.

Instead of hacking CDP, we built a custom socket protocol directly into the browser. Instead of patching Chrome, we use Qt WebEngine with real BoringSSL TLS. Instead of plugins, everything is built in.

ts
// Piggy - one import, 20 lines, done
import piggy from "nothing-browser";

await piggy.launch();
await piggy.register("site", "https://example.com");
await piggy.site.navigate();
const data = await piggy.site.evaluate(() => ({ ... }));

No stealth plugins. No fingerprint hacks. No 47-line setup.

The Philosophy ​

1. Scraping-first, not testing-first ​

Most tools were built for testing. Scraping is an afterthought. Piggy was built for scraping. Network capture, session persistence, human mode — these aren't add-ons, they're core features.

2. One import, zero configuration ​

You shouldn't need to read a 200-page manual to scrape a website. One import. One launch. One register. Go.

3. Anti-detection by default ​

Fingerprint spoofing isn't a plugin. It's built in. TLS fingerprint isn't patched. It's real Chrome. Human mode isn't a separate library. It's one line: piggy.actHuman(true).

4. Version simplicity ​

Library and binary versions are independent. Update one without the other. Old code works with new binaries. New features don't break old code.

The Technology ​

Real BoringSSL, not patched ​

curl_cffi patches BoringSSL with 9,700 lines of diff. Piggy uses real BoringSSL because Qt WebEngine ships the actual Chromium networking stack.

Socket communication, not CDP ​

CDP was designed for debugging. Sockets were designed for speed. Piggy uses Unix domain sockets (Linux/macOS) and Windows named pipes.

DocumentCreation injection, not runtime ​

Puppeteer injects scripts after page load. Piggy injects at DocumentCreation — before any page JavaScript runs. You can't detect what was always there.

The Trade-offs ​

Nothing is perfect. Here's what Piggy doesn't do:

LimitationWhy
No Chrome extensionsQt WebEngine limitation
Google/Facebook may block youThey block everything non-Chrome
Windows support is comingNative Windows build in progress
No mobile emulationDesktop-only for now

But for 95% of scraping tasks? Piggy just works.

The Future ​

Multi-language support ​

The socket protocol means any language can talk to Piggy:

  • Python (coming soon)
  • Go (coming soon)
  • Java (coming soon)
  • Rust (planned)
  • C# (planned)

Feature roadmap ​

FeatureStatus
exposeFunction (RPC)✅ Done
Request interception✅ Done
Built-in API server✅ Done
Windows native🔨 In progress
Captcha solver📋 Planned
Headless mode improvements📋 Planned

A Personal Note ​

I built Piggy because I was frustrated.

Frustrated with getting blocked. Frustrated with broken plugins. Frustrated with 47-line setup files that I copy-pasted from project to project.

I wanted something that just works. Something where anti-detection isn't an afterthought. Something where I don't need to explain to my team why we need 5 different npm packages just to scrape a website.

Piggy is that something.

It's not perfect. It's not for every use case. But for web scraping and API reverse engineering? It's the tool I wish I had 5 years ago.

— Pease Ernest

Ernest Tech House · Kenya · 2026

What Others Are Saying ​

"I replaced 200 lines of Puppeteer + stealth plugin with 20 lines of Piggy. It just works."

"The exposeFunction feature changed how I think about browser automation. RPC from browser to Node.js is a game changer."

"Finally, a scraper that passes Cloudflare without 17 different plugins."

Should You Use Piggy? ​

Yes, if:

  • You're scraping websites with anti-bot protection
  • You're reverse engineering APIs
  • You want built-in network capture and session persistence
  • You're tired of Puppeteer/Playwright getting blocked

Maybe not, if:

  • You need cross-browser testing (Chrome, Firefox, Safari)
  • You need Chrome extensions
  • You're testing internal web apps (Puppeteer is fine for this)

Getting Started ​

Ready to try Piggy?

Nothing Ecosystem · Ernest Tech House · Kenya · 2026

MIT Licensed | Built by Ernest Tech House · Kenya · 2026

Copyright © 2026 Ernest Tech House