apify/crawlee · error · Error

Function `newContext()` is not available in incognito mode

Error message

Function `newContext()` is not available in incognito mode

What it means

When a Playwright browser is opened in incognito mode, the wrapper represents the incognito BrowserContext itself, so there is no separate browser-level context to create. Calling newContext() on it is therefore unsupported and always throws. Use newPage() to create pages directly within the existing incognito context.

Solutions

Call newPage() on the controller instead of newContext() — each page already gets the context options applied in incognito mode.
If you need real separate contexts, set useIncognitoPages: false and use the regular browser's newContext().
Restructure isolation needs around per-page context options (cookie/storage setup via contextOptions passed to newPage).

Example fix

// before
const context = await browserController.newContext();
const page = await context.newPage();
// after
const page = await browserController.newPage(); // incognito context handles isolation

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (launchContext.useIncognitoPages && typeof browserController.newContext === 'function') {
  // in incognito mode newContext() throws; use newPage() instead
}

Type guard

function supportsNewContext(bc: unknown): bc is { newContext: () => Promise<unknown> } {
  return typeof (bc as { newContext?: unknown }).newContext === 'function';
}

Try / catch

try {
  await browserController.newContext();
} catch (err) {
  if (err instanceof Error && err.message.includes('not available in incognito mode')) {
    await browserController.newPage(); // fallback
  } else throw err;
}

Prevention

Remember: useIncognitoPages: true means each page IS the isolated context.
Branch isolation logic on the useIncognitoPages flag before calling context APIs.
Prefer newPage() with contextOptions for per-page isolation.

When it happens

Trigger: Using PlaywrightPlugin with useIncognitoPages: true and then calling browserController.newContext() (on the wrapped incognito context) to make a nested browser context.

Common situations: Porting code from a non-incognito setup where newContext() worked; trying to isolate pages into separate contexts while also using incognito pages; framework code that generically calls newContext() for isolation.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of apify/crawlee@dbe57fb09c (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/42fa24f4a8794861. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at packages/browser-pool/src/playwright/playwright-browser.ts:66

    version(): string {
        return this.#version;
    }

    /** @internal */
    setBrowserType(browserType: BrowserType): void {
        this.#browserType = browserType;
    }

    browserType(): BrowserType {
        return this.#browserType!;
    }

    async newPage(...args: Parameters<BrowserContext['newPage']>): ReturnType<BrowserContext['newPage']> {
        return this.#browserContext.newPage(...args);
    }

    async newContext(): Promise<never> {
        throw new Error('Function `newContext()` is not available in incognito mode');
    }

    async newBrowserCDPSession(): Promise<never> {
        throw new Error('Function `newBrowserCDPSession()` is not available in incognito mode');
    }

    async startTracing(): Promise<never> {
        throw new Error('Function `startTracing()` is not available in incognito mode');
    }

    async stopTracing(): Promise<never> {
        throw new Error('Function `stopTracing()` is not available in incognito mode');
    }
}

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