Start with the symptom
The six parts of access reliability
- Network and location. Cloud IP pools, Octoparse built-in proxies, and supported custom proxies determine the network path available to a task.
- Browser identity. User-Agent and browser-mode choices affect how a page is requested and rendered.
- Session. Login state and cookies must remain usable for pages that require authentication.
- Verification. Some supported CAPTCHA and Cloudflare flows have automatic paths; Browse Mode and Local runs also provide manual control in the applicable workflow.
- Pacing and recovery. Waits, timeouts, and action retries help a task handle slow or asynchronous pages.
- Evidence. Screenshots, run events, the final page, and a small output sample show whether a change actually helped.
Test, validate, and monitor
1
Reproduce the issue with a small test
Record the final page, time, environment, error message, screenshot, and a sample of the returned fields.
2
Identify the likely cause
Distinguish access errors from a changed selector, expired login, incomplete loading, or a regional difference.
3
Change one setting at a time
Use the least disruptive change first. For example, add a wait before changing the IP path for a page that simply loads slowly.
4
Validate the page and data
A successful page load alone is not enough. Check the expected page state, several output rows, and missing or duplicated values.
5
Monitor or stop
Keep the tested configuration only if the result is stable. Pause or stop when repeated attempts add cost or do not improve access.
When to stop and contact Support
Stop the run when a small, controlled test still returns an access, CAPTCHA, or login page. Also stop when retries add cost but do not return valid data. When you contact Support, include:- Whether the run was Local or Cloud, and when it ran
- The target URL and error message
- A screenshot and the relevant event-log excerpt, with secrets removed
- What you expected to happen and what happened instead