Long Sessions

By default, Browserbase sessions automatically terminate in two scenarios:

1. When a session disconnects
2. When the session reaches its timeout

This behavior optimizes resource utilization and session management, but you may need sessions that run longer or survive disconnections.

We introduced session keep alive and custom timeout to address this need.

Two Ways to Extend Sessions

Feature	Problem it solves
Session Timeouts	”I need my session to run longer than the default”
Keep Alive	”I need to disconnect and reconnect without ending my session”

When to use each

Timeouts extend how long a session can run before it automatically terminates. Use this when you have long-running tasks that exceed the default timeout.

Keep Alive allows you to disconnect and reconnect to the same session. Use this when your workflow involves multiple connections, when you need resilience against network issues, or when you want to reuse the same session for multiple runs.

Using both together

If you need a session that both survives disconnects and runs for an extended period, configure both options:

const session = await bb.sessions.create({
  keepAlive: true,
  timeout: 3600, // 1 hour
});

Session keep alive is only available on paid plans.

Why keep sessions alive?

Custom timeouts and session keep alive supports a broad spectrum of use cases. Key benefits include:

• Avoid interrupting long-running tasks and workflows.
• Connect, disconnect, and reconnect to the same session.
• Keep working with a session without worrying about it timing out.
• Reusing existing sessions is more performant than creating new ones.

Looking for serverless execution? If you don’t need persistent sessions or reconnection capabilities, consider Functions for on-demand, serverless browser automation. Functions automatically manage session lifecycle and are ideal for webhooks, scheduled tasks, and API endpoints.

Keep Alive Sessions

The keepAlive feature allows you to keep sessions alive across disconnects, permitting you to continue using it as long as needed.

Create a Keep Alive Session

Setting keepAlive to true will keep the session available for later use. You can reconnect to the keep alive session using the same connection URL as the original session.

Let’s walk through an example of how to keep a session alive:

Node.js

SDK

const bb = new Browserbase({ apiKey: process.env.BROWSERBASE_API_KEY! });
const session = await bb.sessions.create({
  keepAlive: true,
});

Python

SDK

bb = Browserbase(api_key=os.environ["BROWSERBASE_API_KEY"])
session = bb.sessions.create(
  keep_alive=True
)

Next time we run the script, we’ll be able to reconnect to the same session after a disconnect. This enables us to reuse the same session for multiple runs.

Stop a Keep Alive Session

In order to stop the session, use the Browserbase API or the SDK as shown here:

Node.js

SDK

import Browserbase from "browserbase";

const BROWSERBASE_API_KEY = process.env.BROWSERBASE_API_KEY!;
const BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID = process.env.BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID!;

const bb = new Browserbase({
  apiKey: BROWSERBASE_API_KEY,
});

// Create a session with keep alive set.
// Then, end it by closing it.
(async () => {
  const session = await bb.sessions.create({
    keepAlive: true,
  });

  await bb.sessions.update(session.id, {
    status: "REQUEST_RELEASE",
  });
})();

Python

SDK

from browserbase import Browserbase
import os

# Initialize the SDK
BROWSERBASE_API_KEY = os.environ["BROWSERBASE_API_KEY"]
BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID = os.environ["BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID"]

bb = Browserbase(api_key=BROWSERBASE_API_KEY)

# Create a session with keep alive set

session = bb.sessions.create(keep_alive=True)

# Manually complete the session to end it

bb.sessions.update(session.id, status="REQUEST_RELEASE")

We recommend that you stop your keep alive sessions explicitly when no longer needed. They will time out eventually, but you may be charged for the unneeded browser minutes used.

Session Timeouts

After the script is past the default timeout, we’ll see a TimeoutError: Timeout _____ms exceeded

Browserbase has a project wide settings for session timeout. We can change to session timeout project wide to a different value in the toggle.

Custom session timeout

We can also set a custom timeout for a created session through code.

If you’d like to set a custom timeout that isn’t shown in the toggle, you can set a custom timeout in the createSession function.

To set a custom timeout for your session, specify the timeout option in the API request body or with the SDK.

Node.js

SDK

import Browserbase from "browserbase";

const BROWSERBASE_API_KEY = process.env.BROWSERBASE_API_KEY!;
const BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID = process.env.BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID!;

const bb = new Browserbase({
  apiKey: BROWSERBASE_API_KEY,
});

// Creates a session with a timeout of 3600 seconds
(async () => {
  const session = await bb.sessions.create({
    timeout: 3600,
  });
})();

Python

SDK

from browserbase import Browserbase
import os

BROWSERBASE_API_KEY = os.environ["BROWSERBASE_API_KEY"]
BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID = os.environ["BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID"]

bb = Browserbase(
    api_key=BROWSERBASE_API_KEY,
)

# Creates a session with a timeout of 3600 seconds
session = bb.sessions.create(
    api_timeout=3600
)

Here the timeout has been set to 3600 seconds (1 hour), overriding the default. That means that unless explicitly closed beforehand, the session will continue running for an hour before terminating. At disconnect, it will end.

Setting a custom timeout won’t keep the session alive after disconnecting. To allow reconnecting to a session after disconnecting, it needs to be configured for keep alive.

The maximum duration of a session is 6 hours. Once a session times out, it can no longer be used.

Related Guides

Session Timeouts

Extend session duration beyond the default

Keep Alive

Survive disconnects and reconnect to sessions

Session Inspector

Watch your session in real time and debug issues after the session has ended

Browserbase Functions

Deploy serverless browser automation with automatic session management