Advanced

Custom headers

Pass headers as a URL-encoded JSON object via custom_headers:

curl "https://scrape.shifter.io/v1?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY&url=https://api.example.com&custom_headers=%7B%22Authorization%22%3A%22Bearer%20abc123%22%7D"

Useful when the target expects bearer tokens, X-Requested-With: XMLHttpRequest, or locale preferences.

Custom cookies

Set cookies inline via custom_cookies:

cookie_name=value; other_name=value2

URL-encoded:

curl "https://scrape.shifter.io/v1?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY&url=https://example.com&custom_cookies=session_id%3Dabc%3B%20locale%3Den-US"

For cookies across multiple requests, prefer session_id, cookies set by the server will persist automatically.

POST and PUT

Switch method with method. Pass the body as the request body.

curl -X POST \
  "https://scrape.shifter.io/v1?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY&url=https://api.example.com/users&method=POST" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email":"user@example.com","plan":"pro"}'

PUT is identical with method=PUT.

Screenshots

Return a full-page PNG instead of HTML:

curl "https://scrape.shifter.io/v1?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY&url=https://example.com&render_js=1&screenshot=1" \
  -o screenshot.png

Options:

• screenshot_full_page=1, capture beyond the viewport.
• screenshot_selector=<css>, capture just one element.

Binary files

For PDFs, images, or any non-text response, add binary_response=1. The scraper streams the binary payload through:

curl "https://scrape.shifter.io/v1?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY&url=https://example.com/file.pdf&binary_response=1" \
  -o file.pdf

Stealth controls

Some targets flag the default browser fingerprint. You can disable stealth mode for debugging (not recommended in production):

curl "https://scrape.shifter.io/v1?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY&url=https://example.com&disable_stealth=1&render_js=1"

Combining flags

All flags compose. A real-world request looks like:

curl "https://scrape.shifter.io/v1?\
api_key=YOUR_API_KEY&\
url=https://shop.example.com/products/42&\
render_js=1&\
wait_for_css=.price&\
session_id=cart-001&\
premium_proxy=1&\
country=us&\
extract_rules=%7B%22price%22%3A%7B%22selector%22%3A%22.price%22%2C%22output%22%3A%22text%22%7D%7D"

One successful request, one credit.

Next

• Errors & limits, what codes mean and how retries interact with credits.
• FAQ, credits, failures, custom scripts.