LaunchOptions['executable_path'] is not used when launching camoufox.

[elliothursh]

I have camoufox installed at /usr/bin/camoufox, and set the LaunchOptions["executable_path"] to /usr/bin/camoufox but pkgman is looking for it at /username/.cache/camoufox. Is there anything else needed to have it pick up this non-standard executable path location?

const { Camoufox } = await import("camoufox-js")

const camoufoxConfig = {
   headless: true,
   humanize: true,
   debug: false,
   timeout: 60000,
   executable_path: '/usr/bin/camoufox'
};

browser = await Camoufox(config)

# throws
Uncaught:
FileNotFoundError: Version information not found at /username/.cache/camoufox/version.json. Please run `camoufox fetch` to install.
    at Version.fromPath (file:///var/task/node_modules/camoufox-js/dist/pkgman.js:74:19)
    at installedVerStr (file:///var/task/node_modules/camoufox-js/dist/pkgman.js:238:20)
    at launchOptions (file:///var/task/node_modules/camoufox-js/dist/utils.js:337:26)
    at NewBrowser (file:///var/task/node_modules/camoufox-js/dist/sync_api.js:19:29)
    at Camoufox (file:///var/task/node_modules/camoufox-js/dist/sync_api.js:6:12)

[barjin]

Hello and thank you for your interest in this project!

You're right — setting executable_path changes the binary that gets executed, but Camoufox still expects its metadata (like version.json or properties.json) in the default cache directory (~/.cache/camoufox). This is required for version management and automatic updates via npx camoufox fetch.

Currently, there's no supported way to change the metadata location. So even if you override the executable path, the metadata must remain in the default location.

Let us know if you have a specific use case — we understand that this is not optimal, but we'd prefer not to stray away from the original Python implementation too much either 🤔

[jzzj]

Same problem. Is there a way to get around it?

[jzzj]

Just wondering, Will manually fetching properties.json + version.json and put them in correct Cache path location work?

[TanishGrowthz]

Let us know if you have a specific use case — we understand that this is not optimal, but we'd prefer not to stray away from the original Python implementation too much either 🤔

Hi @barjin, I plan to use camoufox inside a lambda environment. Everything except /tmp is read only in a lambda environment.

So we want to setup the camoufox files in /tmp and pass an option in LaunchOptions to check for everything in that location.

[elliothursh]

I am also trying to use camoufox in a lambda environment. I was able to get around it this error by forking the project and changing this line https://github.com/apify/camoufox-js/blob/master/src/pkgman.ts#L289 to return path.join('/tmp', '.cache', appName).

I'm unfortunately still running into issues with glxtest crashing out in the lambda environment with "No GPUs detected via PCI".

It would maybe be useful to allow for passing in a flag or config to the fetch command which would allow setting a custom install path.

[TanishGrowthz]

I'm unfortunately still running into issues with glxtest crashing in the Lambda environment with the error: "No GPUs detected via PCI".

Hey @elliothursh,

I ran into this too, don’t worry about the “No GPUs detected via PCI” message, you can safely ignore that. The actual issue is likely coming from camoufox trying to write to $HOME, which is read-only in the Lambda environment.

I’m using Lambda container images and found a workaround that’s been working well for me until/if the devs add an option to change INSTALL_DIR:

• First, I fetch camoufox during the build step and copy it to ${LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT}.
• Then I use a custom entrypoint.sh script to copy it to /tmp/.cache/camoufox at runtime (since /tmp only gets mounted when the container starts).
• I also set HOME=/tmp in the Dockerfile so os.homedir() resolves correctly, and everything works as expected.

Here’s what my setup looks like:
Dockerfile (Simplified)

FROM public.ecr.aws/lambda/nodejs:22 AS builder
WORKDIR /build
COPY . .

# Fetch camoufox binaries
RUN npm install -g camoufox-js && camoufox-js fetch

# Install deps and build
RUN npm install -g pnpm && pnpm install --frozen-lockfile && pnpm run build

FROM public.ecr.aws/lambda/nodejs:22

# Install required camoufox dependencies
RUN dnf install -y gtk3-devel dbus-glib-0.* xorg-x11-server-Xvfb-1.* libXt-1.* && dnf clean all

# Copy app code and camoufox cache
COPY --from=builder /build/dist ${LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT}/
COPY --from=builder /build/node_modules ${LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT}/node_modules
COPY --from=builder /root/.cache/camoufox ${LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT}/camoufox
COPY entrypoint.sh /

RUN chmod +x /entrypoint.sh
ENTRYPOINT [ "/entrypoint.sh" ]
ENV HOME=/tmp
CMD [ "lambda.handler" ]

entrypoint.sh

#!/bin/sh
echo "Running pre-execution setup..."

mkdir -p /tmp/.cache

if [ -e /tmp/.cache/camoufox ]; then
  echo "Removing existing /tmp/.cache/camoufox to avoid cp conflicts"
  rm -rf /tmp/.cache/camoufox
fi

cp -r /var/task/camoufox /tmp/.cache/

echo "Starting original Lambda entrypoint..."
exec /lambda-entrypoint.sh "$@"

[corford]

This is a workaround we use to place the binary in a different path and avoid using fetch (not elegant but it does the job):

ARG CAMOUFOX_VERSION=135.0.1-beta.24
ARG CAMOUFOX_AMD64="https://github.com/daijro/camoufox/releases/download/v${CAMOUFOX_VERSION}/camoufox-${CAMOUFOX_VERSION}-lin.x86_64.zip"
ARG CAMOUFOX_ARM64="https://github.com/daijro/camoufox/releases/download/v${CAMOUFOX_VERSION}/camoufox-${CAMOUFOX_VERSION}-lin.arm64.zip"
RUN set -eux \
    && if [[ ${TARGETARCH} == "amd64" ]]; then curl -fsSL "${CAMOUFOX_AMD64}" -o /usr/src/camoufox.zip; else curl -fsSL "${CAMOUFOX_ARM64}" -o /usr/src/camoufox.zip; fi \
    && unzip -q /usr/src/camoufox.zip -d /opt/camoufox \
    && rm -rf /usr/src/camoufox.zip \
    && ( \
            VERSION_PART="${CAMOUFOX_VERSION%%-*}" \
            && RELEASE_PART="${CAMOUFOX_VERSION#*-}" \
            && echo "{\"version\": \"${VERSION_PART}\", \"release\": \"${RELEASE_PART}\"}" > /opt/camoufox/version.json \
       ) \
    && mkdir -p /root/.cache \
    && ln -s /opt/camoufox /root/.cache/camoufox