🧪 Cookie Lab Pipeline

A browser automation pipeline for testing how coupon and affiliate browser extensions interact with affiliate cookies on merchant sites.

---

📁 Project Structure

File/Folder	Description
pipeline.py	Main orchestrator (supports --resume / --start flags)
runner_firefox_manual.py	Manual Firefox runner (install .xpi, navigate manually to checkout)
runner_chromium_manual.py	Manual Chromium-family runner (Chrome/Edge/Brave/Opera)
excel_writer.py	Atomic Excel writer helpers
matrix.yaml	Configuration: browsers, extensions, links, file paths
extensions/	(Not checked in) Contains extension files/folders
requirements.txt	Python dependencies

---

🚀 Quick Start (Inside VM)

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/<repo-name>.git
cd <repo-name>

2. Create and activate a virtual environment

python -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Place extension packages

Put your extension packages into:

extensions/firefox/
extensions/chromium/

Update matrix.yaml to point to the correct paths.

4. Run the pipeline

Example — manual Firefox runner:

python pipeline.py

To resume from a specific extension or link:

python pipeline.py --start-extension "Perkspot" --start-link 1

---

⚙️ matrix.yaml Configuration

Key	Description
master_workbook	Path to the input workbook (template)
output_workbook	Path where agent_output.xlsx will be written
browsers	List of browsers (Chromium ones can specify binary paths)
extensions	Each extension can have firefox_path and/or chromium_path
links	Array of affiliate/product links to test

---

💡 Notes & Recommendations

• Keep agent_output.xlsx closed while the pipeline runs (Windows locks the file)
• For reproducible runs, use a VM snapshot and either:
  • Launch each browser with a fresh --user-data-dir (faster), or
  • Restore the VM snapshot between browser runs (fully isolated)
• If storing large files (extension binaries, Excel workbooks, etc.), use Git LFS

---

🧩 Dependencies

See requirements.txt for details. Typical packages include:

• selenium
• pandas
• pyyaml
• openpyxl

---

📜 License

This project is for research and testing purposes only.
Use responsibly and comply with all relevant website terms and data policies.