How to start a new browser session with ChromeDriver WebDriver server?

You can start a new browser session with ChromeDriver WebDriver server using the "POST /session" service as shown in this tutorial.

1. Make sure Python is installed:

C:\fyicenter> python --version
Python 3.7.4

2. Make sure Python "requests" module is installed:

C:\fyicenter> pip install requests
Collecting requests
Collecting idna<2.9,>=2.5 (from requests)
Collecting chardet<3.1.0,>=3.0.2 (from requests)
Collecting certifi>=2017.4.17 (from requests)
Installing collected packages: idna, chardet, certifi, requests
Successfully installed certifi-2019.6.16 chardet-3.0.4 idna-2.8 requests-2.22.0

3. Start ChromeDriver WebDriver server with logging turned on listening on port 9515.

C:\fyicenter> \fyicenter\selenium\chromedriver\chromedriver.exe --verbose

Starting ChromeDriver 75.0.3770.90 (...-refs/branch-heads/3770@{#1003}) 
on port 9515

4. Enter the following Python script in a separate window to start a new browser session by sending a "POST /session" request:

C:\fyicenter> type PostSessionChrome.py

# PostSessionChrome.py
# Copyright (c) FYIcenter.com 
import requests

data = """
{
   "capabilities": {
      "alwaysMatch": {
         "browserName": "chrome",
         "goog:chromeOptions": {
            "args": [  ],
            "extensions": [  ]
         },
         "platformName": "any"
      },
      "firstMatch": [ { } ]
   },
   "desiredCapabilities": {
      "browserName": "chrome",
      "goog:chromeOptions": {
         "args": [  ],
         "extensions": [  ]
      },
      "platform": "ANY",
      "version": ""
   }
}
    """

res = requests.post("http://localhost:9515/session", data)
print("Status: " + str(res.status_code))
print("Body: " + str(res.content))

5. Run the Python script:

C:\fyicenter> python PostSessionChrome.py

Status: 200
Body: b'{
  "value": {
    "capabilities": {
      "acceptInsecureCerts": false,
      "browserName": "chrome",
      "browserVersion": "75.0.3770.142",
      "chrome": {
        "chromedriverVersion": "75.0.3770.90 (...-refs\/branch-heads\/3770@{#1003})",
        "userDataDir": "C:\\Users\\fyicenter\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\scoped_dir70244_21653"
      },
      "goog:chromeOptions": {
        "debuggerAddress": "localhost:63448"
      },
      "networkConnectionEnabled": false,
      "pageLoadStrategy": "normal",
      "platformName": "windows nt",
      "proxy": {},
      "setWindowRect": true,
      "strictFileInteractability": false,
      "timeouts": {
        "implicit": 0,
        "pageLoad": 300000,
        "script": 30000
      },
      "unhandledPromptBehavior": "dismiss and notify"
    },
    "sessionId": "d1e9fd4561397db9b4deb2cb5bbd0dbf"
  }
}'

You should see that WebDriver server starts a new session with a new Chrome window started.

See the next tutorial on how load a Web page in a new session.

⇒ Load Web Page in ChromeDriver WebDriver Session

⇐ Start ChromeDriver WebDriver Server

⇑ WebDriver and WebDriver Servers

⇑⇑ Selenium Tutorials