Troubleshooting: browser environment check
You landed here because a Capcat verification widget showed Error with a Troubleshoot link. That means the browser environment check did not pass: the page could not confirm it is running inside an ordinary, human-operated browser, so the verification was refused before it reached the website.
This is not about your identity or your account. Capcat never asks you to solve puzzles or type anything; the check only looks at whether the browser itself behaves like a normal browser.
Common causes
- Automation tools. Selenium, Playwright, Puppeteer, browser "macro" extensions, and app testing harnesses drive the browser programmatically. Websites protected by Capcat reject those sessions by default.
- Privacy or anti-fingerprinting extensions that rewrite browser properties (for example ones that spoof
navigator.webdriver, the user agent, or plugin lists). Well-meaning spoofing looks identical to automation. - Embedded or in-app browsers with unusual engines, remote-debugging enabled, or JavaScript partially disabled.
- Very old browsers or builds with WebAssembly and Web Workers turned off.
What to try
- Reload the page and click the checkbox again. A transient glitch (for example a suspended tab) can trip the check once.
- Temporarily disable extensions that modify browser fingerprints or block scripts, then retry.
- Open the page in a regular desktop or mobile browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari) instead of an in-app or automation-controlled window.
- Make sure JavaScript, WebAssembly, and Web Workers are enabled for the site.
- If it still fails, contact the website owner and tell them the Capcat widget reports an environment check error. They can adjust the protection level for their site.
For site owners
The widget emits an error event with code: "instr_blocked" when this happens. If you want to let automated browsers through (for example on an internal QA site), turn off Block automated browsers for that site in the console. You can also point the link at your own help page with the data-cap-troubleshooting-url attribute. See the Protection Stack page for how this layer fits with the others.
中文版：浏览器环境校验排障