reuse_auth_context_example

Steel Authentication Context Example

This example demonstrates how to maintain authenticated sessions across different Steel browser instances by capturing and reusing session context (cookies and local storage).

For detailed information about context reuse, see the Steel Documentation.

Installation

Clone this repository, navigate to the example directory, and install dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/steel-dev/steel-cookbook
cd steel-cookbook/examples/reuse_auth_context_example
npm install

Quick Start

1. Set up your environment:

# Create .env file with your Steel API key
echo "STEEL_API_KEY=your_api_key_here" > .env

Replace your_api_key_here with your Steel API key. Don't have one? Get a free key at app.steel.dev/settings/api-keys

2. Run the example:

npm start

What This Example Does

The script in index.ts demonstrates:

1. Creating an initial Steel session and authenticating with a website
2. Capturing the authenticated session context
3. Creating a new session with the captured context
4. Verifying the authentication transfer worked

Key Concepts

• Session Context: Browser state data (cookies, local storage) that can be transferred between sessions
• Context Reuse: Allows new sessions to inherit authentication without re-login
• Security: Treat captured contexts as sensitive data and refresh regularly
• Limitations: Works only with cookie-based authentication

Code Structure

// Create and authenticate initial session
session = await client.sessions.create();
// ... perform login ...

// Capture context
const sessionContext = await client.sessions.context(session.id);

// Create new authenticated session
session = await client.sessions.create({ sessionContext });

For more examples and recipes, check out the Steel Cookbook.