Cookies and browser data

WebviewJS uses the operating system's browser engine. Persistent cookies, cache, local storage, and IndexedDB live in that engine's browser context, not in the JavaScript wrapper. Use an explicit WebContext when your app needs predictable sharing or separation between webviews.

Share a profileCopy Anchor Link

Create one context and pass it to each webview that should share browser data:

const profile = app.createWebContext({ dataDirectory: './data/profile' });

const first = firstWindow.createWebview({
  url: 'https://example.com',
  webContext: profile,
});

const second = secondWindow.createWebview({
  url: 'https://example.com/account',
  webContext: profile,
});

dataDirectory is an optional native data path. Keep it stable and writable when the profile should survive restarts. On Windows, a custom directory can keep WebView2 data out of a protected application installation directory. Without an explicit context, Wry uses the platform's default context behavior; do not rely on that to isolate webviews.

Create separate WebContext instances with separate data directories when profiles must not share persistent state. A context is an application-owned native resource. Dispose it after its webviews are finished; app.exit() also disposes it. allowsAutomation is currently enforced only on Linux, and only one context at a time may enable it.

WebviewOptions.incognito asks the native engine for private browsing behavior. Its storage behavior is provided by each system browser engine. Use a separate explicit WebContext and directory when you need an application-managed persistent profile boundary.

Read cookiesCopy Anchor Link

const matching = webview.getCookies('https://example.com');
const all = webview.getCookies();

for (const cookie of matching) {
  console.log(cookie.name, cookie.value, cookie.domain, cookie.path);
}

getCookies(url?) returns cookies matching the URL, or all cookies when the argument is omitted. Cookie fields are:

Cookie parsing, defaults, and persistence follow the underlying browser engine.

Write and delete cookiesCopy Anchor Link

webview.setCookie({
  name: 'session',
  value: 'abc123',
  domain: 'example.com',
  path: '/',
  httpOnly: true,
  secure: true,
  sameSite: 'strict',
});

webview.deleteCookie('session', 'example.com', '/');
webview.deleteCookie('old-session');

deleteCookie(name, domain?, path?) uses the supplied domain and path to narrow the match. Omit them to request deletion by name across scopes. The browser engine decides how cookies with matching attributes are resolved.

Clear browsing dataCopy Anchor Link

clearAllBrowsingData() asks the native engine to clear cookies, cache, local storage, and IndexedDB for that webview's browser context:

webview.clearAllBrowsingData();

This acts on the context used by the webview. If multiple webviews share that context, they share the affected browser data. It does not dispose the webview or its WebContext.

See the runnable WebContext example and the WebContext API.