{"id":28230,"date":"2022-04-11T21:01:23","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T13:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/?p=28230"},"modified":"2023-04-06T19:19:43","modified_gmt":"2023-04-06T11:19:43","slug":"automate-create-login-bot-python-selenium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/automate-create-login-bot-python-selenium\/","title":{"rendered":"Create an Auto-Login Bot with Python and Selenium"},"content":{"rendered":"

Automation<\/strong> is undoubtedly one of the most coveted skills a programmer can possess. Automation is typically used for tasks that are repetitive, boring, time-consuming<\/strong>, or otherwise inefficient<\/strong> without the use of a script.<\/p>\n

With web automation<\/strong>, you can easily create a bot to perform different tasks<\/strong> on the web, for instance to monitor competing hotel rates across the Internet and determine the best price.<\/p>\n

Personally, I have always found logging into my email<\/strong> fairly repetitive and boring, so for the sake of a simple example to get you guys started with web automation<\/strong>, let\u2019s implement an automated Python script<\/strong> to log in with a single click<\/strong> to a Gmail account<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Gmail<\/figure>\n

Installation and Setup<\/h3>\n

In this tutorial we are going to use the following tools<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Python<\/a> programming language<\/li>\n
  2. Google Chrome<\/a> browser<\/li>\n
  3. Selenium<\/a> browser automation toolkit<\/li>\n
  4. Chrome Driver<\/a> web driver for Chrome<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    For our program, we will be using the Python<\/a> programming language, specifically version 2.7.11<\/strong>. It is critical that we install a fairly new version of Python 2<\/strong> because it comes with PIP<\/strong><\/abbr>, which will allow us to install third-party packages and frameworks that we will need to automate our scripts.<\/p>\n

    Once installed, restart your computer<\/strong> for the changes to take effect. Use the command pip install selenium<\/code> to add the Selenium<\/a> web automation toolkit<\/strong> to Python. Selenium will allow us to programmatically scroll, copy text, fill forms and click buttons.<\/p>\n

    \"Install<\/figure>\n

    Finally download the Selenium Chrome Driver<\/a> executable<\/strong>, which will open Google Chrome<\/strong> as needed to perform our automated tasks. The Chrome Driver is simply a way to open Google Chrome (which should already be installed) to access standard browser operations programmatically<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    Simply download the most recent ZIP file from here<\/a>, extract the chromedriver.exe<\/code> executable, and place the executable in any directory. Be sure to make note of where your executable is, because we will need it once we get started<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    Starting the Program<\/h3>\n

    As aforementioned, we\u2019ll be using the Selenium<\/a> web automation framework<\/strong> in order to log in programmatically<\/strong>. The first order of business is to import every module<\/strong> we\u2019ll be needing from the Selenium Python library which we installed ealier with PIP.<\/p>\n

    Let\u2019s open IDLE<\/a> or another code editor, create a new Python file<\/strong> with .py<\/code> extension, and import the following modules<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

    \r\n from selenium import webdriver\r\n from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By\r\n from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait\r\n from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC\r\n<\/pre>\n
    Next, we\u2019ll create two strings<\/strong> that represent our username and password<\/strong> for the email account. Pay attention to capitalization, especially in your password string.<\/p>\n
    \r\n usernameStr = 'putYourUsernameHere'\r\n passwordStr = 'putYourPasswordHere'\r\n<\/pre>\n
    Now that we have everything set up in order to start the login process, we need to actually instruct a browser window to open Google Chrome<\/strong>, and navigate to Gmail\u2019s login page<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
    If you haven\u2019t done so already, make sure your Python script is saved in the same location as the chromedriver.exe<\/code> executable<\/strong> we extracted earlier.<\/p>\n
    \r\n browser = webdriver.Chrome()\r\n browser.get(('https:\/\/accounts.google.com\/ServiceLogin?'\r\n 'service=mail&continue=https:\/\/mail.google'\r\n '.com\/mail\/#identifier'))\r\n<\/pre>\n
    Finding Our Element<\/h3>\n
    We\u2019ve successfully gotten the browser to open Gmail, but now we need to find the input fields<\/strong> on the web page, into which we can enter our username and password<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
    We can do this easily using the built-in Chrome Developer Tools. We only need to right-click on the input fields, and select the \u201cInspect\u201d menu.<\/p>\n
    \"Find<\/figure>\n
    Now it\u2019s just a matter of using HTML id<\/code> attributes<\/strong> to find the elements programmatically.<\/p>\n
    In the code below, we\u2019re simply searching for the username input field by id<\/code><\/strong>, and filling it<\/strong> with the desired text. Then we\u2019re searching for the Next<\/span> button<\/strong> which transitions with a quick animation before prompting us for the password.<\/p>\n
    The send_keys()<\/code> and click()<\/code> commands do exactly as their names suggest \u2014 send_keys()<\/code> simulates keypresses<\/strong> in the desired element, and click()<\/code> simulates a mouse click<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
    \r\n # fill in username and hit the next button\r\n username = browser.find_element_by_id('Email')\r\n username.send_keys(usernameStr)\r\n nextButton = browser.find_element_by_id('next')\r\n nextButton.click()\r\n<\/pre>\n
    We can do the same thing<\/strong> for the password input field, as well as for the Sign\u00a0in<\/span> button. However, these two items appear on the page only after<\/em> an animated transition<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
    That said, we need the program to wait a few seconds<\/strong> before resuming its search for elements. For the most part, this stage of code is no different from the previous one. We simply have to instruct the browser to wait a maximum of 10 seconds<\/strong> before locating the password entry.<\/p>\n
    \r\n # wait for transition then continue to fill items\r\n password = WebDriverWait(browser, 10).until(\r\n EC.presence_of_element_located((By.ID, 'Passwd')))\r\n password.send_keys(passwordStr)\r\n \r\n signInButton = browser.find_element_by_id('signIn')\r\n signInButton.click()\r\n<\/pre>\n
    Final Words<\/h3>\n
    You\u2019ve just finished creating a bot<\/strong> that visits a web page, enters your username and password, and successfully sign you in, automating the whole process<\/strong> to a single click. I know this was a simple demonstration, but the possibilities are endless.<\/p>\n
    On that same note, be careful<\/strong> of how you use this skill. Some people use bots and automated scripts to enter sweepstakes thousands of times, completely disregarding terms and conditions. Others use them for more malicious intentions.<\/p>\n
    Just be sure to use automation purposefully and carefully, because it really is a much needed skill<\/strong> in the programming community!<\/p>\n