Troubleshooting Puppeteer NPM Download Issues with Chrome Installation

As developers, we often encounter issues when trying to download and install Chromium using Puppeteer. One such issue is the error message 'Could not find expected browser (chrome) locally.' This problem arises when Puppeteer fails to locate the installed Chrome browser on your system.

In recent versions of Puppeteer, a new caching feature was introduced in version 19.0.0. While this feature aims to improve performance and reliability, it can sometimes cause issues when working with environments where we don't have control over the build or file system. For instance, in Cloud Functions, the caching feature can lead to Chromium not being available at runtime, even if the build succeeds.

The problem becomes more challenging when we're dealing with environments that have limited guarantees over the build flow and potential changes to the underlying infrastructure. In such scenarios, it's essential to find a way to enable the old behavior of Puppeteer, which would allow it to automatically locate Chrome installations without requiring manual configuration.

One possible solution is to set the PUPPETEER_CACHE_DIR environment variable. However, as mentioned earlier, this approach may not provide the desired results in environments where we have limited control over the build or file system.

Fortunately, there's an alternative solution that can help resolve this issue. Instead of relying on the caching feature, you can opt to let Puppeteer figure out the location of Chrome installations automatically. This approach eliminates the need to manually specify a download location and ensures that Chromium is installed correctly.

To achieve this, you'll need to configure your environment to allow Puppeteer to locate Chrome installations without specifying a custom cache directory. This can be done by setting the PUPPETEER_EXECUTABLE_PATH environment variable to the path of the Chrome executable on your system.

By taking advantage of this feature, you can avoid having to deal with the subtleties of the underlying build or file system, making it easier to work with Puppeteer in environments where control over the build flow is limited.

In conclusion, while the caching feature introduced in Puppeteer 19.0.0 aims to improve performance and reliability, it can sometimes cause issues when working with environments that have limited guarantees over the build flow or file system. By understanding the alternatives available, such as enabling automatic Chrome installation detection, you can ensure smoother integration of Puppeteer in your projects.

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