> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.octoparse.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Anti-blocking overview

> Diagnose website-access failures and choose the smallest Octoparse configuration change that can improve a task's reliability.

Anti-blocking in Octoparse is a set of settings and testing practices for diagnosing why a page or result fails, then testing the smallest necessary change to the network, browser identity, session, verification handling, or task pacing. Together, these capabilities support an access-reliability workflow; they can improve a task's chance of loading and extracting the expected data, but do not guarantee access to every website.

## Start with the symptom

| What you see | Check first | Relevant capability |
| - | - | - |
| A page is unavailable or shows 403/429 | Run environment, location, and IP path | [Proxies and IP rotation](/docs/en/platform/proxy) |
| A page is blank, incomplete, or slow | Loading conditions, waits, and action recovery | [Waits, timeouts, and retries](/docs/en/platform/waits-timeouts-retries) |
| A login page reappears | Cookie and session state | [Auto-login, cookies, and sessions](/docs/en/platform/auto-login-cookies) |
| A verification page appears | Challenge type and available manual or automatic path | [CAPTCHA handling](/docs/en/platform/captcha-handling) and [Cloudflare verification](/docs/en/platform/cloudflare-verification) |
| Local and Cloud results differ | Location, browser mode, session, and screenshot evidence | [Troubleshoot access and blocking](/docs/en/platform/troubleshoot-access-and-blocking) |

## The six parts of access reliability

1. **Network and location.** Cloud IP pools, Octoparse built-in proxies, and supported custom proxies determine the network path available to a task.
2. **Browser identity.** User-Agent and browser-mode choices affect how a page is requested and rendered.
3. **Session.** Login state and cookies must remain usable for pages that require authentication.
4. **Verification.** Some supported CAPTCHA and Cloudflare flows have automatic paths; Browse Mode and Local runs also provide manual control in the applicable workflow.
5. **Pacing and recovery.** Waits, timeouts, and action retries help a task handle slow or asynchronous pages.
6. **Evidence.** Screenshots, run events, the final page, and a small output sample show whether a change actually helped.

## Test, validate, and monitor

<Steps>
  <Step title="Reproduce the issue with a small test">Record the final page, time, environment, error message, screenshot, and a sample of the returned fields.</Step>
  <Step title="Identify the likely cause">Distinguish access errors from a changed selector, expired login, incomplete loading, or a regional difference.</Step>
  <Step title="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.</Step>
  <Step title="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.</Step>
  <Step title="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.</Step>
</Steps>

## Check availability by environment

Task editing, Local runs, and Cloud runs do not always expose the same controls. For example, Public IP Pool is a Cloud-run setting, while custom proxy is currently available for Local runs only. Before applying a configuration in another environment, check the relevant page.

<Warning>
  Do not use access-reliability settings to evade a site's rules or collect data you are not permitted to access. Challenge support, billing, regions, browser modes, and version availability can change; confirm the current product setting before a production run.
</Warning>


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