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Troubleshooting: Generating a HAR file

Hannah

Troubleshooting issues is all about having the right information available. In cases where our own logging and instrumentation is insufficient to diagnose an issue you are facing, our support team might ask you to generate a HAR file.

With a HAR (HTTP Archive format) file, our development team can see all activity in your browser, including 'under the hood' requests, to get a complete picture of the situation. For the file to contain useful information, it is important to start the recording, reload the page, and reproduce the steps you took earlier which lead to the issue. The steps below will guide you through how to generate this HAR file in Google Chrome.

Data in HAR files can be sensitive, as all internet traffic generated during recording in the browser tab is stored. Only share the HAR file with our support team, delete the file after sharing.

Chrome:

  1. Use Google Chrome to head to the page where you encountered the issue.

  2. Click the ⠇button to open the Chrome menu (top right), navigate to More Tools and click Developer Tools.

  3. The Developer Tools (DevTools) will open. In the pane/window that opened, click the Network tab.

  4. Make sure the 🔴 record button in the top left corner of the Developer Tools is red, which means it is recording. If the button is grey, click it to start recording.

  5. Make sure ☑️ Preserve log is checked. This ensures the file will be complete, even when the page is reloaded.

  6. Refresh the page and retrace your steps: reproduce the clicks that lead to the issue.

  7. When you have captured the issue, within the Network tab, use the ⬇️ icon (on hover, 'Export HAR...' will show) (at the end of the same row as 'Preserve log') or right-click in the table and click Save all as HAR with Content. This will result in a file, which you can save in a convenient place.

After you are done, you can close the Developer Tools and send the HAR file to our support team.

Showing how to record a HAR file in Google Chrome

Generating a HAR in Safari:

  1. Open Safari

  2. Browse to the URL in question.

  3. Confirm that the "Develop" menu is visible at the top of the window.

    • If the "Develop" menu is not visible then go to Safari > Preferences > Advanced > check the box, "Show Develop Menu in menu bar"

  4. Navigate to Develop > Show Web Inspector

  5. Click the Network tab and complete the activity that is causing issues.

  6. Click the Export icon on the far right of the network tab and save the HAR file.

  7. Send us the file via your support ticket.

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