295 lines
13 KiB
Markdown
295 lines
13 KiB
Markdown
# Facebook Pages — mining a public Page's feed for posts + external URLs
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Companion to `groups.md`. Most of the DOM surface is shared because FB renders
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post articles from the same React component in both contexts — the differences
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are the **URL shapes**, the **sort options**, and the **rate-limit ceiling**
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(Pages are public, so FB is a little more forgiving than in member-gated Groups).
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**Requires:** a real Chrome driven by Browser Harness. Logged-in is recommended
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but not strictly required — FB Pages are public. Logged-out sessions get more
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aggressive "see more" gating and an interstitial login prompt that breaks the
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scroll loop after ~5 posts. Stay signed in.
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## What this skill is for
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1. Pull the N most recent posts from a named FB Page (brand, publisher, local business)
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2. Harvest every external URL the Page has linked out to
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3. Grab Page metadata — follower count, category, website, verified status
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4. Hand the outbound URL list to `http_get` or another downstream extractor
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It is NOT for: leaving comments, reacting, messaging the Page, or any write action.
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## URL patterns
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Pages can be addressed by either a vanity slug (`/BoatingOntario.ca`) or a
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numeric Page ID (`/100064...`). Vanity is more legible; numeric is more stable
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(vanities can be changed by the page owner).
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| What | URL |
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|------|-----|
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| Page main feed (default tab) | `https://www.facebook.com/{vanity_or_id}` |
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| Page Posts tab (canonical post feed) | `https://www.facebook.com/{vanity_or_id}/posts` |
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| Page About | `https://www.facebook.com/{vanity_or_id}/about` |
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| Page Reviews | `https://www.facebook.com/{vanity_or_id}/reviews` |
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| Page Videos | `https://www.facebook.com/{vanity_or_id}/videos` |
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| Page Events | `https://www.facebook.com/{vanity_or_id}/events` |
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| Single post (vanity permalink) | `https://www.facebook.com/{vanity_or_id}/posts/pfbid{...}` |
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| Single post (legacy permalink) | `https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid={story_id}&id={page_id}` |
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| Single post (story permalink) | `https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid={story_id}&id={page_id}` |
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| Page-search (find a Page by name) | `https://www.facebook.com/search/pages/?q={query}` |
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Unlike Groups, Pages do **not** support `?sorting_setting=CHRONOLOGICAL` — the
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Posts tab is the closest thing to a chronological view, and it's reverse-chrono
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by default. Don't rely on perfect ordering: pinned posts always appear first,
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and FB occasionally reorders the top few based on engagement.
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## DOM anchors
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Post-article anchors are **the same as groups.md** because the feed component
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is shared. Page-chrome anchors (header, about-rail, tabs) are specific to Pages.
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| Anchor | Selector | Notes |
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|--------|----------|-------|
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| Page display name | `h1` (first on page) | Stable — FB has rendered Page name as the top-level `h1` for years |
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| Verified badge | `h1 svg[aria-label*="Verified"]` | Present on verified Pages only |
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| Follower/like count | `a[href$="/followers/"], a[href$="/friends_likes/"]` | Text node contains the count — parse with a regex |
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| Category line | `div[role="main"] span:has(a[href*="/pages/category/"])` | Sits under the name in the header |
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| Website link in header | `a[href^="https://l.facebook.com/l.php"][href*="u="]` inside the About rail | Same redirector wrapper as post links — decode before using |
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| Each post container | `div[role="article"]` | Same as groups |
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| Post permalink | `a[href*="/posts/"][href*="pfbid"], a[href*="/permalink.php"], a[href*="/story.php"]` | Page posts use `pfbid...` style or the legacy `permalink.php`/`story.php` shapes |
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| Post body text | `div[data-ad-preview="message"], div[data-ad-comet-preview="message"]` | Same as groups |
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| Post author | `h3 a, h4 a, strong a` | On a Page, this is always the Page itself — useful only for sanity checking you're still on the right Page |
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| Post timestamp | `a[href*="/posts/"] abbr, a[role="link"] > span > span` | Hover returns absolute time; relative string is fine for sorting |
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| External link (FB redirector) | `a[href^="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u="]` | Decode the `u=` param |
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| "See more" on long posts | `div[role="button"]:has(span:contains("See more"))` | Click before reading body or posts get truncated |
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If a selector stops returning results, run the self-inspection block at the
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bottom and update this table — that's the workflow, not a fallback.
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## Extracting Page metadata (header block)
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Unlike a Group, a Page's header carries useful signal on its own — category,
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verified, follower count, website. Pull it in one JS call before you start
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scrolling the feed.
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```python
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meta = js("""
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({
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name: document.querySelector('h1')?.innerText || null,
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verified: !!document.querySelector('h1 svg[aria-label*="Verified"]'),
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followers: (Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('a'))
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.find(a => /followers$/.test(a.getAttribute('href')||''))?.innerText) || null,
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likes: (Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('a'))
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.find(a => /friends_likes$/.test(a.getAttribute('href')||''))?.innerText) || null,
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category: (Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/pages/category/"]'))[0]?.innerText) || null,
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website_redirector: (Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('a[href^="https://l.facebook.com/l.php"]'))
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.find(a => !a.closest('div[role="article"]'))?.href) || null,
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})
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""")
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```
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Decode `website_redirector` with the same helper as post links (see below).
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## Scrolling the feed (lazy load)
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Same collect-as-you-go pattern as groups. FB virtualizes the Page feed too —
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scrolled-past posts unmount, so scroll-then-collect loses them.
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```python
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seen = {} # permalink -> dict
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TARGET = 50
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MAX_SCROLLS = 30
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for i in range(MAX_SCROLLS):
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batch = js("""
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Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('div[role="article"]')).map(el => {
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const link = el.querySelector('a[href*="/posts/"][href*="pfbid"], a[href*="/permalink.php"], a[href*="/story.php"]');
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const body = el.querySelector('div[data-ad-preview="message"], div[data-ad-comet-preview="message"]');
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const time = el.querySelector('abbr, a[role="link"] > span > span');
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const externals = Array.from(el.querySelectorAll('a[href^="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u="]'))
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.map(a => a.href);
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return {
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url: link?.href || null,
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time: time?.innerText || null,
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body: body?.innerText?.slice(0, 4000) || null,
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externals: externals,
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};
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}).filter(p => p.url)
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""") or []
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for p in batch:
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seen.setdefault(p["url"], p)
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if len(seen) >= TARGET:
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break
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scroll(640, 400, dy=900)
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wait(2.5)
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```
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Notes:
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- Page feeds are usually **less dense** than active Group feeds — a slow Page
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may only render 8–15 posts total before you hit the footer. Use
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`if len(batch) == 0 for two consecutive iterations` as a stop condition.
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- Pinned posts re-appear at the top on every fresh load. The `seen` dict
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dedupes them naturally via permalink.
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## Decoding the external-URL redirector
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Identical to groups.md — every outbound link is wrapped in
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`https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u={URL-encoded real URL}&h=...`. Strip the wrapper.
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```python
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from urllib.parse import urlparse, parse_qs, unquote
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def decode_fb_link(href):
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if not href.startswith("https://l.facebook.com/l.php"):
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return href
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q = parse_qs(urlparse(href).query)
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return unquote(q["u"][0]) if "u" in q else href
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```
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## Handoff for outbound URLs
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Same pattern as groups — Pages are the walled-garden surface that Harness is
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good at; the external URLs the Page has shared are public and better suited to
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ordinary HTTP clients or downstream extractors.
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```python
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external_urls = sorted({decode_fb_link(x) for p in seen.values() for x in p["externals"]})
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print(f"harvested {len(external_urls)} unique external URLs from Page")
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# In the calling conversation:
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# send external_urls to the downstream extractor that matches the task schema
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```
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## Rate-limit discipline
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Pages are public, so the ceiling is higher than Groups — but the account-level
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detection still applies, because you're driving a real logged-in session.
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- **≥2 seconds between scrolls** inside the collect loop
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- **≥2 seconds between Pages** if you're sweeping multiple (down from 3s for Groups)
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- **No more than ~12 Pages per hour** for sustained monitoring (up from 6 Groups/hr)
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- **Don't re-open the same Page within 10 minutes** — repeated hits inside a
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short window is a heuristic that triggers soft-throttling even on public content
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Symptoms of over-pacing: the "See more" links on long posts stop being clickable,
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the login interstitial appears even though you're signed in, or the URL silently
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redirects to `/login/device-based/`. If any of those fire, **stop**, let Jay look
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at the screen, and don't try to auto-resolve.
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## Self-inspection block (run when selectors stop working)
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```python
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print(js("""
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({
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articles: document.querySelectorAll('div[role="article"]').length,
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body_preview_a: document.querySelectorAll('div[data-ad-preview="message"]').length,
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body_preview_b: document.querySelectorAll('div[data-ad-comet-preview="message"]').length,
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external_redirectors: document.querySelectorAll('a[href^="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u="]').length,
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pfbid_posts: document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/posts/"][href*="pfbid"]').length,
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permalink_php: document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/permalink.php"]').length,
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story_php: document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/story.php"]').length,
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h1_present: !!document.querySelector('h1'),
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})
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"""))
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# If any count is 0 on a Page you know has posts, the selector drifted.
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# Open DevTools, inspect a post, find the new stable attribute, update the
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# DOM anchors table above.
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```
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## Full example — mine one Page, emit JSON for downstream tools
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```bash
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cd ~/Developer/browser-harness && uv run browser-harness <<'PY'
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import json, sys
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from urllib.parse import urlparse, parse_qs, unquote
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PAGE = "BoatingOntario.ca" # vanity slug OR numeric Page ID
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TARGET = 30
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MAX_SCROLLS = 25
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goto_url(f"https://www.facebook.com/{PAGE}/posts")
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wait_for_load()
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wait(3)
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info = page_info()
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if "/checkpoint/" in info["url"] or "/login" in info["url"]:
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sys.exit("AUTH_WALL — stop and have the account re-verify.")
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# Header metadata
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meta = js("""
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({
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name: document.querySelector('h1')?.innerText || null,
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verified: !!document.querySelector('h1 svg[aria-label*="Verified"]'),
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category: (Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/pages/category/"]'))[0]?.innerText) || null,
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followers: (Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('a'))
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.find(a => /followers$/.test(a.getAttribute('href')||''))?.innerText) || null,
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website_redirector: (Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('a[href^="https://l.facebook.com/l.php"]'))
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.find(a => !a.closest('div[role="article"]'))?.href) || null,
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})
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""")
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# Feed sweep
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seen = {}
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empty_streak = 0
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for _ in range(MAX_SCROLLS):
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batch = js("""
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Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('div[role="article"]')).map(el => {
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const link = el.querySelector('a[href*="/posts/"][href*="pfbid"], a[href*="/permalink.php"], a[href*="/story.php"]');
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const body = el.querySelector('div[data-ad-preview="message"], div[data-ad-comet-preview="message"]');
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const time = el.querySelector('abbr, a[role="link"] > span > span');
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const externals = Array.from(el.querySelectorAll('a[href^="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u="]')).map(a => a.href);
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return { url: link?.href, time: time?.innerText,
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body: body?.innerText?.slice(0, 4000), externals };
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}).filter(p => p.url)
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""") or []
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before = len(seen)
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for p in batch:
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seen.setdefault(p["url"], p)
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empty_streak = empty_streak + 1 if len(seen) == before else 0
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if len(seen) >= TARGET or empty_streak >= 2:
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break
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scroll(640, 400, dy=900)
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wait(2.5)
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def decode(u):
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if not u.startswith("https://l.facebook.com/l.php"): return u
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q = parse_qs(urlparse(u).query)
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return unquote(q["u"][0]) if "u" in q else u
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posts = list(seen.values())
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if meta.get("website_redirector"):
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meta["website"] = decode(meta["website_redirector"])
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all_externals = sorted({decode(x) for p in posts for x in p["externals"]})
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capture_screenshot(f"/tmp/fb-page-{PAGE}.png", full=True)
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print(json.dumps({
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"page": PAGE,
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"meta": meta,
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"post_count": len(posts),
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"posts": posts,
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"external_urls": all_externals,
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}, ensure_ascii=False))
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PY
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```
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The stdout JSON is the handoff payload — parse it in the calling agent and
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route `external_urls` into a downstream extractor, route `meta` into a
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competitor-intel table, or feed `posts` into keyword matching.
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## When to reach for pages.md vs groups.md
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| If the URL is... | Use |
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|------------------|-----|
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| `facebook.com/groups/{id_or_slug}` | `groups.md` |
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| `facebook.com/{vanity}` or `facebook.com/{numeric_id}` | `pages.md` |
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| `facebook.com/profile.php?id={id}` | neither — that's a **personal profile**, different DOM and much stricter rate limits |
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| `facebook.com/marketplace/...` | neither — dedicated Marketplace skill needed |
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A quick way to tell Pages from personal profiles when the URL shape is
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ambiguous: Pages have an `h1` with a verified-badge slot and a category link
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underneath; personal profiles have a cover photo component and a "Friends" tab.
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## Gotchas log (append when you hit something new)
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- **Initial version:** Post-article selectors inherited from `groups.md` because
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FB renders the feed article component identically across Group and Page
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contexts. Run the self-inspection block on first live use to confirm no drift
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since the groups.md verification date, and append a note here with what you
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|
found.
|