profiles.mdx

title	Profiles
description	Persist and reuse browser session state (cookies, local storage) across sessions

Kernel Profiles let you capture browser state created during a session — cookies and local storage — and reuse it in later sessions. This is useful for persisting login state or other site preferences across runs.

1. Create a profile

The first step in using profiles is to create one, optionally giving it a meaningful name that is unique within your organization.

import { ConflictError, Kernel } from "@onkernel/sdk";

const kernel = new Kernel();

try {
  await kernel.profiles.create({ name: "profiles-demo" });
} catch (err) {
  if (err instanceof ConflictError) {
    // Profile already exists; continue
  } else {
    throw err;
  }
}

from kernel import AsyncKernel, ConflictError

kernel = AsyncKernel()

try:
    await kernel.profiles.create(name="profiles-demo")
except ConflictError:
    pass

2. Start a browser session using the profile and save changes

After creating the profile, you can reference it by it's name or id when creating a browser. Set save_changes to true to persist any state created during this session back into the profile when the browser is closed.

const kernelBrowser = await kernel.browsers.create({
  profile: {
    name: "profiles-demo",
    // or
    // id: profile.id,
    save_changes: true,
  },
});

kernel_browser = await kernel.browsers.create(
    profile={
        "name": "profiles-demo",
        // or
        // "id": profile.id,
        "save_changes": True,
    }
)

3. Use the browser, then close it to persist the state

After using a browser with save_changes: true, closing the browser will save cookies and local storage into the profile.

console.log("Live view:", kernelBrowser.browser_live_view_url);
// Navigate and create login state ...
await kernel.browsers.deleteByID(kernelBrowser.session_id);

print("Live view:", kernel_browser.browser_live_view_url)
# Navigate and create login state ...
await kernel.browsers.delete_by_id(kernel_browser.session_id)

4. Start a new session with the saved profile (read-only)

Create another browser using the same profile name. Omitting save_changes leaves the stored profile untouched.

const kernelBrowser2 = await kernel.browsers.create({
  profile: { name: "profiles-demo" },
});
console.log("Live view:", kernelBrowser2.browser_live_view_url);

kernel_browser2 = await kernel.browsers.create(
    profile={"name": "profiles-demo"}
)
print("Live view:", kernel_browser2.browser_live_view_url)

Notes

• A profile's name must be unique within your organization.
• Profiles store cookies and local storage. Start the session with save_changes: true to write changes back when the browser is closed.
• To keep a profile immutable for a run, omit save_changes (default) when creating the browser.
• You can spin up multiple browsers in parallel using the same profile.