How to Fix Common Lightpanda Issues & Errors

Lightpanda is shaking things up in the world of headless browsers. Built from the ground up in Zig and optimized for AI-driven automation, it's already boasting speeds up to 11x faster and memory usage 9x lower than Chrome headless. But as exciting as that sounds, let’s not forget—it’s still in Beta. That means things can (and do) break.

If you're running into problems with Lightpanda, you're not alone. This step-by-step guide walks you through the most frequent issues and offers real, working solutions pulled from community feedback, GitHub threads, and official documentation.

Let’s get you back to building your web scrapers and automation tools—without the frustration.

Why You Can Trust This Guide

Let’s face it—Lightpanda is still under active development, and running into broken pages or failed scripts is par for the course. The browser's bleeding-edge nature means developers are constantly working around bugs and missing features.

That’s exactly why this guide exists.

We've distilled tried-and-tested fixes from the most reliable sources: official docs, active GitHub discussions, and developers actually using Lightpanda in production. If it’s in here, it works—or at least gets you one step closer.

Thousands of GitHub stargazers are already following this project. With up to a 10x performance edge, Lightpanda has serious potential—and these solutions can help you harness it today.

Step 1: Resolve Installation & Binary Issues

Fix Missing Binary for Your Platform

If you're on an Intel-based Mac, you’ve probably noticed: there’s no prebuilt binary for you. Right now, Lightpanda only ships nightlies for Linux x86_64 and Apple Silicon (macOS aarch64).

What can you do?

For Intel Mac users:

• Either build from source (see Step 2), or
• Use Docker with Linux emulation, or even
• Spin it up under WSL on Windows

For Windows users:

# Install WSL first
wsl --install

# Then inside WSL, download the Linux binary
curl -L -o lightpanda https://github.com/lightpanda-io/browser/releases/download/nightly/lightpanda-x86_64-linux
chmod a+x ./lightpanda

For Linux users:

# Download and setup
wget https://github.com/lightpanda-io/browser/releases/download/nightly/lightpanda-x86_64-linux
chmod a+x ./lightpanda-x86_64-linux

Fix Permission & Execution Errors

Running into a Permission denied error when executing the binary? Here’s your quick fix:

chmod +x ./lightpanda-*
# If still issues, check if binary is corrupted
file ./lightpanda-*

Disable Telemetry (Optional)

Prefer not to send usage data? You can disable telemetry with a simple environment variable:

export LIGHTPANDA_DISABLE_TELEMETRY=true

Step 2: Fix Build-from-Source Errors

Resolve Zig Version Conflicts

Lightpanda uses Zig 0.14.0. That exact version. No substitutes.

Here’s how to set it up:

# Download Zig 0.14.0 specifically
wget https://ziglang.org/download/0.14.0/zig-linux-x86_64-0.14.0.tar.xz
tar -xf zig-linux-x86_64-0.14.0.tar.xz
export PATH="$PWD/zig-linux-x86_64-0.14.0:$PATH"

Check your version:

zig version
# Should output: 0.14.0

Fix Dependency Installation Errors

You’ll also need some heavy-duty dependencies. Think: zig-js-runtime, Netsurf, Mimalloc, and others.

To get everything installed:

sudo apt install xz-utils \
  python3 ca-certificates git \
  pkg-config libglib2.0-dev \
  gperf libexpat1-dev unzip rsync \
  cmake clang

Then install project dependencies:

# This takes a long time and is CPU-intensive
make install

# For development versions
make install-dev

And don’t forget the submodules:

git submodule update --init --recursive

Handle V8 Build Failures

Running into build crashes while compiling V8?

What to try:

• Make sure your machine has at least 8GB RAM
• Run single-threaded with make -j1 if you're low on memory
• Double-check all system packages were installed

Step 3: Troubleshoot JavaScript & Web API Errors

Fix "TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'pushState')" Errors

This error often pops up when a script tries to use history.pushState()—a feature Lightpanda may not support yet.

What you can do:

• Stick to simpler sites that don’t need advanced Web APIs
• Avoid pages built with heavy JavaScript frameworks
• Watch Lightpanda’s roadmap to see when specific APIs land

Fix "ReferenceError: location is not defined" Errors

Some scripts will try to read the location object, but if it's not fully implemented, things break.

Workarounds:

• Choose websites that aren’t reliant on this object
• Wait for future browser updates
• Use Chrome headless as a fallback for more complex tasks

Step 4: Solve CDP Connection Problems

Fix WebSocket Connection Issues

If Puppeteer or Playwright can't connect to Lightpanda's CDP endpoint, here’s how to start troubleshooting.

First, launch Lightpanda correctly:

./lightpanda --host 127.0.0.1 --port 9222

Look for this confirmation in your terminal:

info(websocket): starting blocking worker to listen on 127.0.0.1:9222
info(server): accepting new conn...

Test the connection manually:

curl http://127.0.0.1:9222/json/version

Fix Puppeteer Connection Code

Using Puppeteer? Make sure you're connecting the right way:

import puppeteer from 'puppeteer-core';

const browser = await puppeteer.connect({ 
  browserWSEndpoint: "ws://127.0.0.1:9222" 
});

const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto('https://example.com');
await browser.disconnect(); // Important: disconnect, don’t close

Fix Port Conflicts

If something else is already using port 9222, here’s what to do:

# Use a different port
./lightpanda --host 127.0.0.1 --port 9223

# Or kill existing processes using port 9222
lsof -ti:9222 | xargs kill -9

Step 5: Handle Website Compatibility Issues

Understand Current Limitations

Right now, it’s totally normal for sites to crash in Lightpanda. It’s still early days, and full Web API coverage takes time.

Choose Compatible Websites

For smoother sailing:

• Start with static, no-JS sites
• Avoid anything built on React, Angular, Vue, etc.
• Try the demo pages provided by the Lightpanda team

Debug Website Issues

When things go wrong:

./lightpanda --dump https://example.com
# Look for specific error messages

Still failing? Try:

• Simpler pages
• Avoiding logins
• Cutting out CSS animations and transitions

And if nothing helps, report the issue on GitHub with as much detail as possible.

Step 6: Fix Puppeteer & Playwright Integration Problems

Resolve Playwright Compatibility Issues

Playwright scripts aren’t guaranteed to work forever—even small changes in the browser can break things.

Tips for smoother integration:

• Pin the version of Lightpanda you’re using
• Retest after each browser update
• Always keep Chrome as a backup
• Document which scripts and configs are currently working

Fix Common Integration Patterns

For cloud usage:

// For Lightpanda Cloud (when available)
const browser = await puppeteer.connect({
  browserWSEndpoint: "wss://cloud.lightpanda.io/ws?token=YOUR_TOKEN"
});

For local development:

// For local development
const browser = await puppeteer.connect({
  browserWSEndpoint: "ws://127.0.0.1:9222"
});

Handle Compatibility Testing

Here’s a solid process:

1. Build your script using Chrome
2. Switch to Lightpanda and check what breaks
3. Add fallback logic where needed
4. Track API implementation progress

Final Thoughts

Lightpanda is a bold new approach to headless browsing, tailor-made for modern AI pipelines and automation tools. Yes, the Beta stage comes with bugs—but most of them are fixable, and the performance gains are already hard to ignore.

The secret? Know the limitations, pick your battles, and build with flexibility in mind.

Want to help Lightpanda mature faster? Log bugs, test new builds, and be part of the GitHub community. Every report helps.