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title FAQ
description Frequently asked questions about Kernel browsers

Browser spin-up time

Non-standard configuration can affect browser spin-up time. Settings like non-default viewport sizing, extensions, or Profiles may increase the time it takes for a browser to become ready.

Standard configuration includes:

  • Headful and headless browsers
  • Stealth mode both enabled and disabled

If you're experiencing slower-than-expected browser creation times, review your configuration to identify any non-standard settings that may be contributing to the delay.

Connection notes

  • CDP connections are meant to be long-lived but may eventually close. Websocket connections typically can remain active for up to 1 hour, after which they may close automatically. Browser sessions themselves are unaffected—reconnect to the same cdp_ws_url to continue using the browser.
  • Browsers persist independently of CDP. Depending on your timeout configuration, it will continue running even if the CDP connection closes. You can reconnect to the same cdp_ws_url if you're unexpectedly disconnected.
  • We recommend implementing reconnect logic, as network interruptions or lifecycle events can cause CDP sessions to close. Detect disconnects and automatically re-establish a CDP connection when this occurs.

Site difficulty index

A rough grouping of sites by how much friction we see when running stealth Kernel browsers against the public landing page. This list is incomplete and will grow over time.

Hard — significant friction observed

Most or all sessions were blocked or challenged.

  • Yelp
  • Glassdoor
  • Indeed
  • TripAdvisor

Light — partial friction observed

Some sessions were blocked or challenged.

  • Yellow Pages
  • Zillow

Clear — no blocks observed at this layer

All sessions returned a usable page. These sites still deploy bot detection — login flows, deep navigation, and high-volume scraping behave very differently — but the public landing page renders cleanly.

  • Airbnb
  • Amazon
  • Booking.com
  • Cars.com
  • Crunchbase
  • eBay
  • Etsy
  • Facebook
  • Facebook Marketplace
  • GitHub
  • Google Maps
  • Google Search
  • IMDb
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Shopify storefronts (Gymshark)
  • Target
  • TikTok
  • Walmart
  • Wikipedia
  • X (Twitter)
  • Yahoo Finance
  • YouTube
Hitting friction on a site that's listed under Clear? Check your [proxy type](/browsers/bot-detection/overview#choosing-a-proxy-type) and confirm you're not running headless — those are the two most common causes of unexpected detection.