SF Scraper — SuccessFactors Browser Scraping Skill
Scrape employee data from a live, logged-in SAP SuccessFactors session via browser automation.
This skill uses ONLY browser snapshots and actions — zero API calls.
Prerequisites
- - User must have SAP SuccessFactors open and logged in on a Chrome tab.
- OpenClaw Browser Relay Chrome extension must be active (badge ON) on that tab.
- Always use
profile="chrome" for all browser calls (we need the authenticated session).
Step-by-Step Workflow
Step 1: Verify Session & Get Base URL
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Check for these states:
- - Login page detected (look for: "Log in", "Username", "Password", "Company ID" fields) → Tell user to log in first and re-attach the relay.
- Session expired ("Session Timeout", "session has expired") → Same, ask user to re-login.
- SF Home/Dashboard → Good. Extract the base URL from the page URL in the snapshot. It will be one of:
-
https://<company>.successfactors.com
-
https://<company>.successfactors.eu
-
https://<company>.sapsf.com
-
https://pmsalesdemo<N>.successfactors.com (demo instances)
-
https://hcm<N>preview.sapsf.com (preview instances)
Store the base URL — all subsequent navigation uses it.
Step 2: Navigate to Employee Profile
Try these navigation strategies in order. Move to the next only if the current one fails.
Strategy A: People Profile Deep Link (preferred)
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Wait 2-3 seconds for load, then snapshot. This is the most reliable deep link in modern SF instances.
Success indicators:
- - Page contains a heading with a person's name
- You see sections like "Personal Information", "Job Information", "About Me"
- URL contains
liveprofile and the employee ID
Failure indicators:
- - Blank page, spinner that never resolves
- "Page not found", "Error", or redirect to home
- Generic dashboard with no employee context
Strategy B: Alternative Deep Links
If Strategy A fails, try these one at a time:
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Same validation — snapshot after each and check for profile content.
Strategy C: Global Search Bar
If all deep links fail, use the search:
- 1. Snapshot the current page.
- Find the search element. Look for:
- A
searchbox role element (most common)
- A
textbox with placeholder containing "Search", "Search People", "Find Someone"
- An element with aria-label containing "search"
- The magnifying glass icon / search icon button (click it first to expand the search bar)
- 3. Click the search box to focus it.
- Type the employee ID:
browser(action="act", profile="chrome", request={kind: "type", ref: "<search_ref>", text: "{employee_id}"})
- 5. Press Enter or click the search button:
browser(action="act", profile="chrome", request={kind: "press", ref: "<search_ref>", key: "Enter"})
- 6. Wait 2-3 seconds, then snapshot the results.
- Parse the results:
- If one result → click it to open the profile.
- If multiple results → look for the one matching the employee ID. Results typically show as a list with name, ID, and photo. Click the correct one.
- If no results → report to user that employee ID was not found.
Strategy D: Admin Center / Employee Files
Last resort — navigate through menus:
- 1. Navigate to INLINECODE9
- Snapshot, look for "Employee Files" or "Manage Employees" link
- Click it, then use the search/filter within that view
- Find and click the employee
Step 3: Handle Page Loading & Iframes
SuccessFactors heavily uses iframes and lazy loading. Critical handling:
Iframe detection:
- - After navigating, if the snapshot shows minimal content or an iframe structure, try:
browser(action="snapshot", profile="chrome", compact=true, frame="main")
- - Common iframe names/ids in SF:
"main", "contentFrame", "bizmuleApp", INLINECODE13 - If
frame doesn't work, take a full (non-compact) snapshot to see the full DOM tree
Lazy loading / SPA transitions:
- - SuccessFactors is a Single Page Application. After navigation, content may take 3-5 seconds to render.
- Always snapshot twice if the first snapshot shows loading indicators:
- Loading spinners: look for "Loading", "Please wait", spinner icons, progress bars
- Wait 3 seconds between snapshots
- If still loading after 2 retries (total ~9 seconds), inform user of slow load
Popup/Modal handling:
- - SF sometimes shows popups ("What's New", cookie consent, tour prompts)
- If a modal/dialog appears, look for "Close", "X", "Dismiss", "Got it", "Skip" buttons
- Click to dismiss, then re-snapshot
Step 4: Scrape the Profile Page
Once on the employee profile, take a detailed snapshot:
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SuccessFactors People Profile has these typical sections/cards:
Header / Banner Area
Contains the most important info, always visible at top:
- - Full Name — Large heading text, usually
heading level 1 or 2 - Job Title — Text directly below the name
- Photo — Avatar image (not scrapable as data, but confirms you're on the right profile)
- Employee ID — Sometimes shown near name, sometimes in a subtitle like "ID: 12345"
- Quick action buttons — Email, phone icons (these contain contact data)
Info Cards / Sections (varies by company config)
Each card has a header and key-value pairs. Common patterns:
"Personal Information" / "About" card:
- - First Name, Last Name, Middle Name
- Preferred Name / Display Name
- Date of Birth (may be restricted)
- Gender
- Nationality
- Marital Status
"Job Information" card:
- - Job Title / Position Title
- Job Code
- Department / Division / Business Unit
- Cost Center
- Employment Type (Full-time, Part-time, etc.)
- Employee Class / Employee Type
- Regular/Temporary
- Standard Hours
- FTE (Full-Time Equivalent)
- Pay Grade
- Worker's Compensation Code
"Employment Details" / "Employment Information" card:
- - Hire Date / Original Start Date
- Seniority Date
- Service Date
- Last Date Worked
- Termination Date (if applicable)
- Employment Status (Active, Terminated, Leave, etc.)
"Compensation Information" card (may be restricted):
- - Annual Salary / Base Pay
- Pay Component
- Currency
- Compa-Ratio
- Range Penetration
"Contact Information" card:
- - Business Email
- Personal Email
- Business Phone
- Mobile Phone
- Home Phone
- Business Address (Street, City, State, Zip, Country)
- Home Address
"Organizational" / "Position" card:
- - Manager Name (usually a clickable link)
- Manager ID
- Position
- Direct Reports count
- Legal Entity
- Company Code
"Spot Profile" / "About Me" card:
- - Bio / About Me text
- Skills
- Interests
- Social accounts
How to Extract Key-Value Pairs
In the accessibility tree snapshot, profile data appears as:
- - Labels —
text or label nodes with the field name (e.g., "Department") - Values — Adjacent
text, link, or statictext nodes with the value (e.g., "Engineering") - Pattern: label followed by its value, often in a grid/table or definition list structure
Example snapshot patterns:
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Scan sequentially and pair each label with its following value.
Step 5: Navigate Tabs for More Data
SuccessFactors profiles often organize data into tabs or collapsible sections.
Common tab names:
- - "Personal Information" / "Personal Info"
- "Job Information" / "Job Info"
- "Employment Information" / "Employment Details"
- "Compensation Information" / "Compensation"
- "Pay Components" / "Pay Details"
- "Organizational Information" / "Organization"
- "Contact Information"
- "Documents"
- "Performance History"
- "Goal Plan"
- "Time Off" / "Leave"
To navigate tabs:
- 1. Snapshot and identify tab elements (role:
tab, tablist, or clickable links with these names) - Click the tab you need:
browser(action="act", profile="chrome", request={kind: "click", ref: "<tab_ref>"})
- 3. Wait 1-2 seconds for content to load
- Snapshot again and extract the new section's data
Collapsible sections:
- - Some profiles use expandable/collapsible sections instead of tabs
- Look for
button elements with section names and expand/collapse indicators - Click to expand if collapsed, then snapshot
Step 6: Handle "Show More" / Pagination
- - Some sections show limited data with a "Show More", "View All", or "See More" link
- Click it if present to reveal full data, then re-snapshot
- Employment history or compensation history may have multiple records — scrape all visible
Step 7: Return Results
Format results clearly, grouped by section:
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Rules:
- - Only include fields actually found on the page — NEVER fabricate data
- If a field's value is empty or hidden ("*", "Restricted"), report it as restricted
- If the user only asked for a name, don't scrape every tab — just return what's visible in the header
Batch Mode
For multiple employee IDs:
- 1. Process one at a time sequentially
- After each profile, navigate to the next using Strategy A
- Collect all results
- Present as a formatted table at the end
- Note any IDs that failed
Configuration (Optional)
User can add to TOOLS.md:
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If configured, use the base URL directly (skip discovery). If default fields are specified, only scrape those.
Error Handling
| Scenario | Detection | Action |
|---|
| Not logged in | Login form visible | Tell user to log in and re-attach relay |
| Session expired |
"Session Timeout" text | Same as above |
| Employee not found | Search returns 0 results | Report clearly, suggest checking ID |
| Access denied | "Unauthorized", "No access", "Insufficient privileges" | Report — user may lack permissions |
| Profile restricted | Fields show "
*" or "Restricted" | Report which fields are restricted |
| Page won't load | Loading spinner after 3 retries | Report timeout, suggest refreshing SF |
| Multiple matches | Search returns >1 result | List matches with names/IDs, ask user to pick |
| Wrong instance | URL doesn't match expected SF domain | Warn user, ask to confirm |
Important Notes
- - NEVER use OData, REST API, or any programmatic endpoint. Pure browser scraping only.
- Always use
profile="chrome" — never profile="openclaw" (need the user's auth session). - Be patient — SF can be slow. Always verify page state with snapshots before extracting.
- Don't navigate away from SF without warning the user.
- Respect permissions — if data is restricted/hidden in the UI, it's restricted for a reason. Don't try to circumvent.
- Screenshot fallback — if snapshot (accessibility tree) doesn't capture visible text, use
browser(action="screenshot", profile="chrome") to see the rendered page visually and extract from the image.