[GH-ISSUE #1695] Feature Request: Chrome ARGS cannot be edited by config files at present #4028

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opened 2026-03-15 01:20:23 +03:00 by kerem · 2 comments
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Originally created by @jyeric on GitHub (Sep 12, 2025).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/issues/1695

Originally assigned to: @pirate on GitHub.

What type of suggestion are you making?

Modification of existing behavior

What is the problem that your feature request solves?

When I am archiving some pages, I notice that some screenshots show blank pages. And the "--virtual-time-budget=15000" can resolve the issue.

However, in this commit github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox@ac53fdf677 , this arg has been removed. (I think this is removed in v0.8. I haven't found where has been removed in v0.7)

I tried to add it back by using the config file. But the default config file does not contain CHROME_ARGS that can be modified just like WGET_ARGS and so on. I think sometimes people need to add some args to chrome.

What is your proposed solution?

Adding CHROME_DEFAULT_ARGS or CHROME_EXTRA_ARGS to https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/blob/main/archivebox/config.py

What hacks or alternative solutions have you tried to solve the problem?

Hacks to the file https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/blob/dev/archivebox/pkgs/abx-plugin-chrome/abx_plugin_chrome/config.py (for new version v0.8)

Hacks to the file https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/blob/v0.7.3/archivebox/util.py (for old version v0.7)

Share the entire output of the archivebox version command for the current verison you are using.

(archivebox-venv) archivebox@ser238101420887:~/archivebox/data$ archivebox version
0.7.2
ArchiveBox v0.7.2 BUILD_TIME=2025-06-28 07:59:40 1751097580
IN_DOCKER=False IN_QEMU=False ARCH=x86_64 OS=Linux PLATFORM=Linux-5.10.0-14-cloud-amd64-x86_64-with-glibc2.36 PYTHON=Cpython
FS_ATOMIC=True FS_REMOTE=False FS_USER=1000:1000 FS_PERMS=644
DEBUG=False IS_TTY=True TZ=UTC SEARCH_BACKEND=ripgrep LDAP=False

[i] Dependency versions:
 √  PYTHON_BINARY         v3.11.2         valid     /usr/bin/python3.11                                                         
 √  SQLITE_BINARY         v2.6.0          valid     /usr/lib/python3.11/sqlite3/dbapi2.py                                       
 √  DJANGO_BINARY         v3.1.14         valid     /home/archivebox/archivebox-venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/django/__init__.py
 √  ARCHIVEBOX_BINARY     v0.7.2          valid     /home/archivebox/archivebox-venv/bin/archivebox                             

 √  CURL_BINARY           v7.88.1         valid     /usr/bin/curl                                                               
 √  WGET_BINARY           v1.21.3         valid     /usr/bin/wget                                                               
 √  NODE_BINARY           v20.19.3        valid     /usr/bin/node                                                               
 √  SINGLEFILE_BINARY     v1.1.54         valid     ./node_modules/single-file-cli/single-file                                  
 √  READABILITY_BINARY    v0.0.11         valid     ./node_modules/readability-extractor/readability-extractor                  
 √  MERCURY_BINARY        v1.0.0          valid     ./node_modules/@postlight/parser/cli.js                                     
 √  GIT_BINARY            v2.39.5         valid     /usr/bin/git                                                                
 √  YOUTUBEDL_BINARY      v2025.06.25     valid     /home/archivebox/archivebox-venv/bin/yt-dlp                                 
 √  CHROME_BINARY         v140.0.7339.127  valid     /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome                                            
 √  RIPGREP_BINARY        v13.0.0         valid     /usr/bin/rg                                                                 

[i] Source-code locations:
 √  PACKAGE_DIR           23 files        valid     /home/archivebox/archivebox-venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/archivebox    
 √  TEMPLATES_DIR         3 files         valid     /home/archivebox/archivebox-venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/archivebox/templates
 -  CUSTOM_TEMPLATES_DIR  -               disabled  None                                                                        

[i] Secrets locations:
 -  CHROME_USER_DATA_DIR  -               disabled  None                                                                        
 -  COOKIES_FILE          -               disabled  None                                                                        

[i] Data locations:
 √  OUTPUT_DIR            7 files         valid     /home/archivebox/archivebox/data                                            
 √  SOURCES_DIR           685 files       valid     ./sources                                                                   
 √  LOGS_DIR              1 files         valid     ./logs                                                                      
 √  ARCHIVE_DIR           10 files        valid     ./archive                                                                   
 √  CONFIG_FILE           358.0 Bytes     valid     ./ArchiveBox.conf                                                           
 √  SQL_INDEX             280.0 KB        valid     ./index.sqlite3

How badly do you want this new feature?

  • It's an urgent deal-breaker, I can't live without it
  • It's important to add it in the near-mid term future
  • It would be nice to have eventually
  • I'm willing to start a PR to develop this myself
  • I have donated money to go towards fixing this issue

Mini Survey

  • I like ArchiveBox so far / would recommend it to a friend
  • I've had a lot of difficulty getting ArchiveBox set up
  • I would pay $10/mo for a hosted version of ArchiveBox if it had this feature
Originally created by @jyeric on GitHub (Sep 12, 2025). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/issues/1695 Originally assigned to: @pirate on GitHub. ### What type of suggestion are you making? Modification of existing behavior ### What is the problem that your feature request solves? When I am archiving some pages, I notice that some screenshots show blank pages. And the "--virtual-time-budget=15000" can resolve the issue. However, in this commit https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/commit/ac53fdf67782a30364998cedad840afa515cc2e2 , this arg has been removed. (I think this is removed in v0.8. I haven't found where has been removed in v0.7) I tried to add it back by using the config file. But the default config file does not contain CHROME_ARGS that can be modified just like WGET_ARGS and so on. I think sometimes people need to add some args to chrome. ### What is your proposed solution? Adding CHROME_DEFAULT_ARGS or CHROME_EXTRA_ARGS to https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/blob/main/archivebox/config.py ### What hacks or alternative solutions have you tried to solve the problem? Hacks to the file https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/blob/dev/archivebox/pkgs/abx-plugin-chrome/abx_plugin_chrome/config.py (for new version v0.8) Hacks to the file https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/blob/v0.7.3/archivebox/util.py (for old version v0.7) ### Share the entire output of the `archivebox version` command for the current verison you are using. ```shell (archivebox-venv) archivebox@ser238101420887:~/archivebox/data$ archivebox version 0.7.2 ArchiveBox v0.7.2 BUILD_TIME=2025-06-28 07:59:40 1751097580 IN_DOCKER=False IN_QEMU=False ARCH=x86_64 OS=Linux PLATFORM=Linux-5.10.0-14-cloud-amd64-x86_64-with-glibc2.36 PYTHON=Cpython FS_ATOMIC=True FS_REMOTE=False FS_USER=1000:1000 FS_PERMS=644 DEBUG=False IS_TTY=True TZ=UTC SEARCH_BACKEND=ripgrep LDAP=False [i] Dependency versions: √ PYTHON_BINARY v3.11.2 valid /usr/bin/python3.11 √ SQLITE_BINARY v2.6.0 valid /usr/lib/python3.11/sqlite3/dbapi2.py √ DJANGO_BINARY v3.1.14 valid /home/archivebox/archivebox-venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/django/__init__.py √ ARCHIVEBOX_BINARY v0.7.2 valid /home/archivebox/archivebox-venv/bin/archivebox √ CURL_BINARY v7.88.1 valid /usr/bin/curl √ WGET_BINARY v1.21.3 valid /usr/bin/wget √ NODE_BINARY v20.19.3 valid /usr/bin/node √ SINGLEFILE_BINARY v1.1.54 valid ./node_modules/single-file-cli/single-file √ READABILITY_BINARY v0.0.11 valid ./node_modules/readability-extractor/readability-extractor √ MERCURY_BINARY v1.0.0 valid ./node_modules/@postlight/parser/cli.js √ GIT_BINARY v2.39.5 valid /usr/bin/git √ YOUTUBEDL_BINARY v2025.06.25 valid /home/archivebox/archivebox-venv/bin/yt-dlp √ CHROME_BINARY v140.0.7339.127 valid /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome √ RIPGREP_BINARY v13.0.0 valid /usr/bin/rg [i] Source-code locations: √ PACKAGE_DIR 23 files valid /home/archivebox/archivebox-venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/archivebox √ TEMPLATES_DIR 3 files valid /home/archivebox/archivebox-venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/archivebox/templates - CUSTOM_TEMPLATES_DIR - disabled None [i] Secrets locations: - CHROME_USER_DATA_DIR - disabled None - COOKIES_FILE - disabled None [i] Data locations: √ OUTPUT_DIR 7 files valid /home/archivebox/archivebox/data √ SOURCES_DIR 685 files valid ./sources √ LOGS_DIR 1 files valid ./logs √ ARCHIVE_DIR 10 files valid ./archive √ CONFIG_FILE 358.0 Bytes valid ./ArchiveBox.conf √ SQL_INDEX 280.0 KB valid ./index.sqlite3 ``` ### How badly do you want this new feature? - [ ] It's an urgent deal-breaker, I can't live without it - [ ] It's important to add it in the near-mid term future - [x] It would be nice to have eventually - [ ] I'm willing to [start a PR](https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox#archivebox-development) to develop this myself - [ ] I have [donated money](https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/wiki/Donations) to go towards fixing this issue ### Mini Survey - [x] I like ArchiveBox so far / would recommend it to a friend - [ ] I've had a lot of difficulty getting ArchiveBox set up - [ ] I would pay $10/mo for a hosted version of ArchiveBox if it had this feature
kerem closed this issue 2026-03-15 01:20:29 +03:00
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Owner

@pirate commented on GitHub (Sep 16, 2025):

That argument doesn't work with the other args we use, you have to use playwright or puppeteer for custom delays at the moment.

<!-- gh-comment-id:3299508707 --> @pirate commented on GitHub (Sep 16, 2025): That argument doesn't work with the other args we use, you have to use playwright or puppeteer for custom delays at the moment.
Author
Owner

@pirate commented on GitHub (Dec 29, 2025):

this is fixed on dev, we dont use virtual-time-budget by default but you should be able to add it to CHROME_ARGS_EXTRA='["--virtual-time-budget=12345"]' to use it now

<!-- gh-comment-id:3697637716 --> @pirate commented on GitHub (Dec 29, 2025): this is fixed on `dev`, we dont use `virtual-time-budget` by default but you should be able to add it to `CHROME_ARGS_EXTRA='["--virtual-time-budget=12345"]'` to use it now
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starred/ArchiveBox#4028
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