scrapy-impersonate is a custom download handler for the Scrapy framework that uses curl_cffi under the hood to send HTTP requests whose TLS signatures and JA3 fingerprints mimic those of real web browsers.

By replacing Scrapy’s default HTTP/HTTPS handlers, it makes your scraping traffic look more legitimate and browser-like, helping evade detection by anti-bot systems.

Limitations

• It does not provide a full browser environment: no JavaScript execution, DOM manipulation, or rendering — it only affects transport-level behavior (TLS, fingerprints, headers).
• The set of supported browser versions and profiles is limited; newer or less common versions might not have built-in impersonation.
• Using it may conflict with components that intercept or rewrite HTTP requests (e.g. proxy MITM middlewares), since overriding TLS fingerprints can break interception logic.

Relevance to Kameleo

When combining Kameleo’s browser automation with backend HTTP scraping, using scrapy-impersonate helps ensure that the non-browser parts of your pipeline (the HTTP requests) and the browser sessions present consistent TLS/fingerprint traits. This reduces detection risk due to mismatch.