What causes "LinkedIn cookie lookup returned malformed payload" in jackwener/OpenCLI?

Ensure the page object's getCookies returns a real array of cookie objects.

jackwener/OpenCLI · error · CommandExecutionError

LinkedIn cookie lookup returned malformed payload

Error message

LinkedIn cookie lookup returned malformed payload

What it means

After fetching cookies, requireLinkedInCookie asserts the result is an Array. If page.getCookies resolves to something other than an array (null, object, undefined), it throws CommandExecutionError indicating a malformed payload. This is a defensive check against unexpected driver/protocol behavior.

Source

Thrown at clis/linkedin/shared.js:128

export function parseLimit(value, fallback, max) {
  if (value === undefined || value === null || value === '') return fallback;
  const parsed = Number(value);
  if (!Number.isInteger(parsed) || parsed < 1 || parsed > max) {
    throw new ArgumentError(`--limit must be an integer between 1 and ${max}`);
  }
  return parsed;
}

export async function requireLinkedInCookie(page, context) {
  let cookies;
  try {
    cookies = await page.getCookies({ url: 'https://www.linkedin.com' });
  } catch (error) {
    throw new CommandExecutionError(`LinkedIn cookie lookup failed: ${error?.message || error}`);
  }
  if (!Array.isArray(cookies)) {
    throw new CommandExecutionError('LinkedIn cookie lookup returned malformed payload');
  }
  const jsession = cookies.find((c) => c.name === 'JSESSIONID')?.value;
  if (!jsession) {
    throw new AuthRequiredError(LINKEDIN_DOMAIN, `${context} requires an active signed-in LinkedIn browser session.`);
  }
  return jsession.replace(/^"|"$/g, '');
}

export function buildAuthProbeScript() {
  return String.raw`(() => {
    const text = [
      window.location.href || '',
      document.title || '',
      document.body ? (document.body.innerText || '').slice(0, 4000) : '',
    ].join('\n');
    return /linkedin\.com\/(?:login|checkpoint|authwall|uas)/i.test(text)
      || /\b(sign in|log in|join linkedin|captcha|verification required)\b/i.test(text)
      || /(请登录|登录领英|安全验证)/.test(text);

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

Ensure the page object's getCookies returns a real array of cookie objects.
If using a mock in tests, make it return `[]` at minimum instead of null/undefined.
Update or fix the driver/client so the cookies response matches the documented shape.
Log the actual value returned by getCookies to identify what is reshaping it.

Example fix

// before
const fakePage = { getCookies: async () => ({ cookies: [] }) };
await csrf({ page: fakePage });
// after
const fakePage = { getCookies: async () => [] };
await csrf({ page: fakePage });

Defensive patterns

Strategy: type-guard

Validate before calling

const cookies = await page.getCookies({ url: 'https://www.linkedin.com' });
if (!Array.isArray(cookies)) throw new Error('Driver returned non-array cookies; check driver version or mocks');

Type guard

const isCookieArray = (v) => Array.isArray(v) && v.every((c) => typeof c?.name === 'string');

Try / catch

try {
  const token = await requireLinkedInCookie(page, 'csrf');
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof CommandExecutionError && e.message.includes('malformed payload')) {
    console.error('getCookies returned a non-array; inspect your page driver/mocks.');
  } else throw e;
}

Prevention

Return plain arrays from any mocked getCookies in tests.
Keep the automation driver at a version whose getCookies resolves to Cookie[].
Wrap exotic CDP clients so responses are normalized to arrays.
Log the typeof/shape of getCookies output when debugging.

When it happens

Trigger: The automation driver returns null or an object instead of an array from getCookies — e.g. a mocked/stubbed page in tests, a custom CDP client with an unexpected response shape, or an incompatible driver version.

Common situations: Unit tests injecting fake page objects whose getCookies returns objects; wrapper libraries that reshape the cookies response; partial protocol responses on flaky connections.

Understand the failure class

Parsing and encoding errors: unexpected token, malformed input — why parsers reject input and how to find the real culprit.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e7bdb73510de8588. Report an issue: GitHub.