feat: add isAutomatedBrowser helper to detect automated browsers

[aidenybai]

Summary

Adds an isAutomatedBrowser() utility to react-grab that detects whether the library is running inside an automated/headless browser (Playwright, Puppeteer, Selenium/WebDriver), and uses it to label the version-check telemetry source.

Changes

1. New util is-automated-browser.ts — detects automated browsers.
2. log-intro.ts — when fetching the latest version, the request's source query param is now automated-browser instead of browser when an automated browser is detected:

const source = isAutomatedBrowser() ? "automated-browser" : "browser";
fetch(`https://www.react-grab.com/api/version?source=${source}&v=${version}&t=${Date.now()}`, ...)

What it detects

• Navigator signal — navigator.webdriver === true (W3C-standard flag set by all WebDriver-based tools) and HeadlessChrome in the user agent.
• Automation globals — Playwright (__playwright__, __pwInitScripts), Puppeteer (__puppeteer__), generic CDP (domAutomation, domAutomationController), and Selenium IDE (_Selenium_IDE_Recorder, _selenium, callSelenium).
• WebDriver document markers — __selenium_unwrapped, __webdriver_evaluate, $cdc_*, etc.

Notes

• Follows existing util conventions (one util per file, arrow function, memoized result, matching is-mac.ts / is-next-project-runtime.ts).
• SSR-safe: guards against missing navigator / document.

  

---

Summary by cubic

Adds isAutomatedBrowser() to react-grab to detect automated/headless browsers and label version-check telemetry. Detection now covers navigator signals, common automation globals, and WebDriver document markers; it’s SSR-safe and memoized.

• New Features

  • Detects navigator.webdriver, HeadlessChrome UA, automation globals (Playwright/Puppeteer/Selenium), and WebDriver document markers.
  • Sets telemetry source to automated-browser when automation is detected.

• Refactors

  • Dropped the revalidate option; kept SSR guards and memoization.

^{Written for commit adf9ec1. Summary will update on new commits.}

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Project	Deployment	Actions	Updated (UTC)
react-grab-storybook	Ready	Preview, Comment	Jun 27, 2026 9:01am
react-grab-website	Ready	Preview, Comment	Jun 27, 2026 9:01am

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npm i https://pkg.pr.new/react-grab@497

commit: adf9ec1

[cubic-dev-ai]

2 issues found across 2 files

Prompt for AI agents (unresolved issues)

Check if these issues are valid — if so, understand the root cause of each and fix them. If appropriate, use sub-agents to investigate and fix each issue separately.


<file name="packages/react-grab/src/utils/is-automated-browser.ts">

<violation number="1" location="packages/react-grab/src/utils/is-automated-browser.ts:27">
P2: Hard-coding a single `$cdc_` key misses other ChromeDriver-injected `$cdc_*` markers. Use a prefix scan on document keys to preserve detection coverage.</violation>

<violation number="2" location="packages/react-grab/src/utils/is-automated-browser.ts:36">
P2: Cached detection cannot be revalidated, so `isAutomatedBrowser()` can return a stale false/true for the rest of the session. Match other cached utils by adding an optional `shouldRevalidate` reset path.</violation>
</file>

<sub>Reply with feedback, questions, or to request a fix.

Re-trigger cubic</sub>

[cubic-dev-ai]

P2: Hard-coding a single $cdc_ key misses other ChromeDriver-injected $cdc_* markers. Use a prefix scan on document keys to preserve detection coverage.

Prompt for AI agents

Check if this issue is valid — if so, understand the root cause and fix it. At packages/react-grab/src/utils/is-automated-browser.ts, line 27:

<comment>Hard-coding a single `$cdc_` key misses other ChromeDriver-injected `$cdc_*` markers. Use a prefix scan on document keys to preserve detection coverage.</comment>

<file context>
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+      markers.__fxdriver_evaluate ||
+      markers.__webdriver_script_function ||
+      // ChromeDriver injects this oddly-named helper array on document.
+      markers.$cdc_asdjflasutopfhvcZLmcfl_ ||
+      markers.$chrome_asyncScriptInfo,
+  );
</file context>

[cubic-dev-ai]

P2: Cached detection cannot be revalidated, so isAutomatedBrowser() can return a stale false/true for the rest of the session. Match other cached utils by adding an optional shouldRevalidate reset path.

Prompt for AI agents

Check if this issue is valid — if so, understand the root cause and fix it. At packages/react-grab/src/utils/is-automated-browser.ts, line 36:

<comment>Cached detection cannot be revalidated, so `isAutomatedBrowser()` can return a stale false/true for the rest of the session. Match other cached utils by adding an optional `shouldRevalidate` reset path.</comment>

<file context>
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+  typeof navigator !== "undefined" &&
+  (navigator.webdriver === true || /HeadlessChrome/i.test(navigator.userAgent));
+
+export const isAutomatedBrowser = (): boolean => {
+  cachedIsAutomatedBrowser ??=
+    hasAutomationNavigatorSignal() || hasAutomationGlobal() || hasWebdriverDocumentMarker();
</file context>

Suggested change

	export const isAutomatedBrowser = (): boolean => {
	cachedIsAutomatedBrowser ??=
	hasAutomationNavigatorSignal() || hasAutomationGlobal() || hasWebdriverDocumentMarker();
	return cachedIsAutomatedBrowser;
	};
	export const isAutomatedBrowser = (shouldRevalidate?: boolean): boolean => {
	if (shouldRevalidate) {
	cachedIsAutomatedBrowser = undefined;
	}
	cachedIsAutomatedBrowser ??=
	hasAutomationNavigatorSignal() || hasAutomationGlobal() || hasWebdriverDocumentMarker();
	return cachedIsAutomatedBrowser;
	};

[cubic-dev-ai]

1 issue found across 1 file (changes from recent commits).

Prompt for AI agents (unresolved issues)

Check if these issues are valid — if so, understand the root cause of each and fix them. If appropriate, use sub-agents to investigate and fix each issue separately.


<file name="packages/react-grab/src/utils/is-automated-browser.ts">

<violation number="1" location="packages/react-grab/src/utils/is-automated-browser.ts:27">
P2: Hard-coding a single `$cdc_` key misses other ChromeDriver-injected `$cdc_*` markers. Use a prefix scan on document keys to preserve detection coverage.</violation>

<violation number="2" location="packages/react-grab/src/utils/is-automated-browser.ts:36">
P2: Cached detection cannot be revalidated, so `isAutomatedBrowser()` can return a stale false/true for the rest of the session. Match other cached utils by adding an optional `shouldRevalidate` reset path.</violation>
</file>

<sub>Reply with feedback, questions, or to request a fix.

Re-trigger cubic</sub>