URL: /guides/browser-rendering

---
title: "Browser Rendering"
description: "Audit JavaScript-heavy sites with cloud browser rendering"
---

Some sites build their content with JavaScript - single-page apps, client-rendered frameworks, content loaded after the initial response. A plain HTTP fetch sees the empty shell, so content rules report missing headings, thin word counts, and absent meta tags that are actually there.

Browser rendering solves this: pages are loaded in a real headless browser in the cloud, and the audit runs against the fully rendered HTML.

<Note>Browser rendering is a [cloud feature](/cloud) - it requires login and costs **2 credits per page**. See [how it works under the hood](/cloud/rendering).</Note>

## Try it on one run

```bash
squirrel auth login          # once
squirrel audit https://example.com --render
```

`--render` uses the cloud browser for this run only. The crawl progress shows the running credit spend:

```
Crawling (cloud-rendered) 34/100 · ~68 credits
```

## Make it permanent for a project

If a site always needs rendering, set it in `squirrel.toml`:

```toml squirrel.toml
[cloud]
rendering = "browser"   # default: "http"
```

Every audit of this project now renders pages, no flag needed.

## Watch your page count

At 2 credits per page, rendering is the most spend-sensitive cloud feature. Two settings to keep in mind:

- `--max-pages` / `[crawler] max_pages` - fewer pages, fewer credits.
- `[cloud] max_credits_per_audit` (default **200**) - the hard cap. A 100-page rendered crawl alone hits it; raise it or cap your pages.

```toml squirrel.toml
[cloud]
rendering = "browser"
max_credits_per_audit = 400
```

## Do I need it?

Run a normal audit first. If pages you know are full of content come back with implausibly low word counts or missing headings, the site is client-rendered - switch to browser rendering. Server-rendered sites (most CMSs, SSR frameworks, static sites) gain nothing from it.

## If rendering fails

You never lose an audit to rendering problems:

- A single page that fails to render falls back to plain HTTP; the rest keep rendering.
- If you run out of credits or the service is down, the whole crawl falls back to plain HTTP with a one-line warning, and the report notes the fallback.

## Related

- [Cloud rendering explained](/cloud/rendering) - service behavior, costs, fallback details
- [Credits & Pricing](/cloud/credits) - balance, pricing, spend controls
- [Crawler settings](/configuration/crawler) - page limits and crawl behavior