API

Trio CDP replicates the entire API of PyCDP. For example, PyCDP has a cdp.dom module, while in Trio CDP, we have trio_cdp.dom. The Trio CDP version has all of the same data types, commands, and events as the PyCDP version.

The only difference between the two libraries is that the Trio CDP commands are async def functions that can be called from Trio, whereas the PyCDP commands are generators that must be executed in a special way. This document explains both flavors and how to use them.

You should consult the PyCDP documentation for a complete reference of the data types, commands, and events that are available.

Simplified API

The simplified API allows you to await CDP commands directly. For example, to run a CSS query to get a blockquote element, the code is:

from trio_cdp import dom

...other code...

node_id = await dom.query(root, 'blockquote')

As you can see in the PyCDP documentation, the command takes a NodeId as its first argument and a string as its second argument. The arguments in Trio CDP are always the same as in PyCDP.

The return types in Trio CDP are different from PyCDP, however. The PyCDP command is a generator, where as the Trio CDP command is an async def. The PyCDP command signature shows Generator[Dict[str, Any], Dict[str, Any], NodeId]]. The generator contains 3 parts. The first two parts are always the same: Dict[str, Any]. The third part indicates the real return type, and that is the type that the Trio CDP command will return. In this case, it returns a NodeId.

If you have code completion in your Python IDE, it will help you see what the return type is for each Trio CDP command.

Note

In order for this calling style to work, you must be inside a “session context”, i.e. your code must be nested in (or called from inside of) an async with conn.open_session() block. If you try calling this from outside of a session context, you will get an exception.

Low-level API

The low-level API is a bit more verbose, but you may find it necessary or preferable in some situations. With this API, you import commands from PyCDP and pass them into the session execute() method. Taking the same example as the previous section, here is how you would execute a CSS query:

from cdp import dom

...other code...

node_id = await session.execute(dom.query(root, 'blockquote'))

If you compare this example to the example in the previous section, there are two big changes. First, dom is imported from PyCDP instead of Trio CDP. This means that is a generator, not an async def.

Second, in order to run the command on a given session, we have to call that session’s execute() method and pass in the PyCDP generator.

Other than being a little more verbose (calling session.execute(...) for every CDP command), the low-level API is otherwise very similar to the simplified API described in the previous section. It still takes the same arguments and returns the same type (here a NodeId).