I stopped logging in every run and my automation stopped getting flagged

Avoiding detection in automated login systems hinges on a single principle: reuse sessions, not fresh logins. The author discovered this after 41 accounts, finding that those re-logged into every run failed first. Initially, the automation treated each run like a new visitor, solving captchas and logging in fresh each time. However, as captchas became harder and sessions began dying mid-run, flagging issues emerged.

Switching to persisting sessions reduced the failure rate significantly from 1 in 4 runs to 1 in 30. Key insights include:

1. A warm cookie jar outperforms a fresh password every time. Fresh logins signal new devices and IPs, triggering anti-bot systems. Persisting a session, akin to a returning human, is preferable.

2. Capture the session once, store it, and reuse it until it expires. After a successful manual login, save the storage_state, then reload it until the session dies. Then re-login once and capture again. Detect staleness through redirects, 401 errors, or pages lacking personal information, and recapture the session instead of preemptively logging in.

3. Maintain session vitality with light touch requests rather than full re-logins. Periodic GET requests to pages the session already owns reset the session's ticking clock without the suspicion of a full re-authentication.

4. One session per identity is paramount. Sharing sessions across accounts accelerates profile linking and flagging. Each account should have a unique state file, isolated by name from the start.

The author now captures sessions on the first login, detects staleness via URL or marker elements, and never shares state files between accounts. The most surprising takeaway was that acting smarter didn't increase stealth; stopping the logging-in-over-and-over again was the key to safety. The author asks: between a fresh login per run and a persisted session refreshed occasionally, which approach is cheaper and more effective in practice?