Stealth mode, CAPTCHA solving, and proxies

Overview

Websites block automated traffic by examining browser fingerprints, detecting automation frameworks, and checking IP reputation. Intuned provides four features to help your automations avoid detection: proxies, headful mode, stealth mode, and CAPTCHA solving.

Before you start:

Stealth mode and CAPTCHA solving are experimental—let us know if you encounter issues
Check the site’s terms of service and robots.txt to ensure responsible automation
Stealth mode and CAPTCHA solving only work on the Intuned platform, not with local intuned run commands

Want to understand how bot detection systems work under the hood? Check out our blog post on bot detection.

Which features do you need?

Start simple and add features as needed. Each addresses a different blocking mechanism:

If you’re seeing…	Enable…
IP-based blocking, rate limiting	Proxies
Headless browser detection	Headful mode
Fingerprint/automation detection	Stealth mode + Headful mode
CAPTCHAs blocking your flow	CAPTCHA solving (requires Headful)

For heavily protected sites, combine all four. For lighter protection, start with proxies or headful mode alone.

Proxies

Proxies route traffic through different IP addresses, making your requests appear to come from different locations. Use them to bypass IP-based blocking and rate limiting.

Proxy types

Type	Description	Cost	Best for
Residential	IPs from real ISP users	Per GB (expensive)	Heavily protected sites that block datacenter IPs
Datacenter	IPs from cloud data centers	Per IP/month	General scraping where IP rotation is sufficient
ISP	Datacenter-hosted but ISP-registered	Per IP/month	Balance of reliability and cost

Residential proxies bill per GB of traffic. Monitor usage carefully to avoid unexpected charges.

Configure proxies

Configure proxies at three levels: Run level—Use the proxy parameter when creating a Run:

const run = await intuned.runs.create({
  projectId: "project-id",
  api: "scrape-data",
  proxy: {
    host: "proxy.example.com",
    port: 8080,
    username: "user",     // Optional
    password: "pass",     // Optional
  },
});

AuthSession level—Use for authenticated sessions that need consistent IPs:

const authSession = await intuned.authSessions.create({
  projectId: "project-id",
  credentials: { username: "user", password: "pass" },
  proxy: {
    host: "proxy.example.com",
    port: 8080,
  },
});

Job level—Use the proxy field in job settings. See Job Settings.

Configure proxies at the AuthSession level when you need consistent IP addresses to maintain login state.

Best practices

Test without proxies first—Use datacenter proxies or your own IP before purchasing residential proxies
Use residential selectively—Only for sites that actively block datacenter IPs. Monitor traffic usage due to per-GB billing
Rotate proxies—Distribute requests across multiple proxies to avoid rate limiting
Test before committing—Some proxies are slow or unreliable. Verify performance with your target sites before production use
Combine with other features—Proxies work best alongside stealth mode and headful mode

Headful mode

Headful mode runs the browser with a visible GUI instead of headless. This produces a more realistic browser fingerprint and avoids headless-specific detection.

Enable headful mode

{
  "headful": true
}

Headful mode is required for CAPTCHA solving and recommended with stealth mode.

Stealth mode

Stealth mode patches automation framework leaks and improves browser fingerprint spoofing, making your browser less likely to be flagged as a bot.

Requirements

Playwright v1.55+—Check Playwright browsers support for supported versions
Platform only—Doesn’t work with local CLI execution

Enable stealth mode

{
  "stealthMode": {
    "enabled": true
  }
}

For best results, combine with headful mode:

{
  "headful": true,
  "stealthMode": {
    "enabled": true
  }
}

CAPTCHA solving

When you enable CAPTCHA solving, Intuned automatically detects and solves CAPTCHAs during your automation.

CAPTCHA solving can take time. The duration depends on the CAPTCHA type and the difficulty settings configured on the target website. Simple checkbox challenges may resolve in seconds, while more complex challenges can take longer.

Requirements

Headful mode required—Set headful to true
Stealth mode recommended—Set stealthMode.enabled to true
Intuned IDE or deployed project—Doesn’t work with local CLI execution

Supported CAPTCHA types

Google reCAPTCHA v2 (checkbox and invisible)
hCaptcha
AWS CAPTCHA
Cloudflare managed challenge
GeeTest
Lemin
Custom image CAPTCHAs (with selectors)
Text CAPTCHAs (with selectors)

Configure CAPTCHA solving

Enable Cloudflare
Specific providers
Custom image CAPTCHAs
Text CAPTCHAs

{
  "headful": true,
  "stealthMode": {
    "enabled": true
  },
  "captchaSolving": {
    "cloudflare": {
      "enabled": true
    },
    "settings": {
      "autoSolve": true,
      "solveDelay": 2000,
      "maxRetries": 6,
      "timeout": 30000
    }
  }
}

{
  "headful": true,
  "stealthMode": {
    "enabled": true
  },
  "captchaSolving": {
    "googleRecaptchaV2": {
      "enabled": true
    },
    "settings": {
      "autoSolve": true,
      "solveDelay": 2000,
      "maxRetries": 3,
      "timeout": 30000
    }
  }
}

For custom image-based CAPTCHAs, you must provide CSS selectors to identify the CAPTCHA elements:

{
  "headful": true,
  "stealthMode": {
    "enabled": true
  },
  "captchaSolving": {
    "customCaptcha": {
      "enabled": true,
      "imageLocators": [
        "#captcha-image",
        ".custom-captcha img"
      ],
      "inputLocators": [
        "#captcha-input",
        ".captcha-field input"
      ],
      "submitLocators": [
        "#submit-button",
        "button[type='submit']"
      ]
    },
    "settings": {
      "autoSolve": true,
      "solveDelay": 2000,
      "maxRetries": 3,
      "timeout": 30000
    }
  }
}

Option	Description
`imageLocators`	CSS selectors for the CAPTCHA image
`inputLocators`	CSS selectors for the answer input field
`submitLocators`	CSS selectors for the submit button

For text-based challenges (questions or puzzles):

{
  "headful": true,
  "stealthMode": {
    "enabled": true
  },
  "captchaSolving": {
    "text": {
      "enabled": true,
      "labelLocators": [
        "#captcha-question",
        ".challenge-text"
      ],
      "inputLocators": [
        "#answer-input",
        ".captcha-answer"
      ],
      "submitLocators": [
        "#verify-button",
        "button.submit"
      ]
    },
    "settings": {
      "autoSolve": true,
      "solveDelay": 2000,
      "maxRetries": 3,
      "timeout": 30000
    }
  }
}

Option	Description
`labelLocators`	CSS selectors for the challenge text
`inputLocators`	CSS selectors for the answer input field
`submitLocators`	CSS selectors for the submit button

Settings reference

Setting	Default	Description
`autoSolve`	`true`	Automatically solve detected CAPTCHAs
`solveDelay`	`2000`	Milliseconds to wait before solving (more human-like)
`maxRetries`	`3`	Number of solve attempts before failing
`timeout`	`30000`	Maximum time (ms) to wait for solve

Increase solveDelay if websites detect bot-like behavior. A small delay makes automation appear more human.

Helper methods

Use helper methods to wait for CAPTCHA resolution before proceeding:

from intuned_runtime.captcha import wait_for_captcha_solve

# As decorator
@wait_for_captcha_solve(timeout=120000, wait_for_network_settled=False)
async def go_to(page: Page, url: str):
    await page.goto(url=url)

# As function
async def main(page: Page):
    await page.goto(url="https://example.com")
    await wait_for_captcha_solve(page, timeout=120000, wait_for_network_settled=False)

Important considerations

Selector accuracy—For custom and text CAPTCHAs, test selectors in browser console before deploying
Timeout settings—Complex CAPTCHAs need higher timeouts
Service limits—Some sites limit CAPTCHA attempts. Monitor solve rates to avoid additional blocks

Best practices

Start simple: Enable features incrementally. First test your automation without protection, then add features as needed.
Monitor effectiveness: Track success rates with different feature combinations to determine which features your use case requires.
Keep dependencies updated: Keep Playwright updated. Stealth mode works better with newer versions.
Use residential proxies sparingly: Due to traffic-based billing, reserve residential proxies for websites that definitely block datacenter proxies.
Test in production-like conditions: Enable all protection features during testing to catch issues before they reach production.
Combine with other strategies: These features work best alongside other automation best practices like rate limiting and respectful request patterns.

Limitations

Stealth mode

Platform only—doesn’t work with local CLI
Requires Playwright v1.55+
New detection methods may emerge that stealth mode doesn’t handle yet
In rare cases, JavaScript execution changes may cause compatibility issues

CAPTCHA solving

Platform only—doesn’t work with local CLI
Must complete within configured timeout
Some CAPTCHA types aren’t supported—contact us if you encounter one

Proxies

Residential proxies have traffic-based billing
Some sites block known proxy IP ranges
Proxy speed varies by provider

FAQs

Do I need all features together?

No. Each addresses different blocking mechanisms. Start with the simplest configuration and add features as needed. For most protected sites, headful + stealth mode is a good starting point.

Why don't stealth mode and CAPTCHA solving work locally (Intuned CLI)?

These features require the full Intuned platform environment to properly modify browser behavior. Use Intuned IDE to develop and test stealth-related features.

How much does stealth mode cost?

Stealth mode is included in Intuned platform plans at no additional cost. See Plans and billing for details.

Why is my automation still getting blocked even with stealth mode enabled?

Websites vary widely in what they check. Some:

Use novel CAPTCHA types not yet supported
Check for multiple factors beyond fingerprint and IP
Have aggressive rate limiting
Require additional headers or request patterns

Try combining stealth mode with proxies and headful mode. If you’re still blocked, you might need to adjust your request patterns, add delays, or use a different proxy provider. We’re continuously improving stealth mode to address new detection methods. Let us know if you encounter issues.

Does stealth mode slow down automation?

No significant impact. Startup time may increase slightly, but runtime performance is comparable to standard Playwright.

Can I use stealth mode with headless browsers?

Yes, but it’s less effective. Many detection methods specifically target headless browsers. Headful + stealth mode together provide the best results.

Should I use residential or datacenter proxies?

Start with datacenter proxies—they’re cheaper. Only upgrade to residential if your target site actively blocks datacenter IPs. Monitor residential usage carefully due to per-GB billing.

Intuned.json reference

Full configuration options for headful, stealthMode, and captchaSolving

CLI reference

CLI documentation including the —proxy flag

Playwright browsers support

Playwright version requirements

Plans and billing

Feature availability by plan

Getting started

Learn

Features

How-To

Integrations

References

Resources

Stealth mode, CAPTCHA solving, and proxies

Overview

Which features do you need?

Proxies

Proxy types

Configure proxies

Best practices

Headful mode

Enable headful mode

Stealth mode

Requirements

Enable stealth mode

CAPTCHA solving

Requirements

Supported CAPTCHA types

Configure CAPTCHA solving

Settings reference

Helper methods

Important considerations

Best practices

Limitations

Stealth mode

CAPTCHA solving

Proxies

FAQs

Intuned.json reference

CLI reference

Playwright browsers support

Plans and billing

Getting started

Learn

Features

How-To

Integrations

References

Resources

​Overview

​Which features do you need?

​Proxies

​Proxy types

​Configure proxies

​Best practices

​Headful mode

​Enable headful mode

​Stealth mode

​Requirements

​Enable stealth mode

​CAPTCHA solving

​Requirements

​Supported CAPTCHA types

​Configure CAPTCHA solving

​Settings reference

​Helper methods

​Important considerations

​Best practices

​Limitations

​Stealth mode

​CAPTCHA solving

​Proxies

​FAQs

​Related resources

Intuned.json reference

CLI reference

Playwright browsers support

Plans and billing

Overview

Which features do you need?

Proxies

Proxy types

Configure proxies

Best practices

Headful mode

Enable headful mode

Stealth mode

Requirements

Enable stealth mode

CAPTCHA solving

Requirements

Supported CAPTCHA types

Configure CAPTCHA solving

Settings reference

Helper methods

Important considerations

Best practices

Limitations

Stealth mode

CAPTCHA solving

Proxies

FAQs

Related resources