|
| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +title: "Generating a HAR file" |
| 3 | +description: "How to capture a HAR file from your browser to help the Lightdash support team troubleshoot issues" |
| 4 | +--- |
| 5 | + |
| 6 | +When troubleshooting issues with Lightdash, our support team may ask you to provide a **HAR (HTTP Archive) file**. A HAR file records all network requests between your browser and Lightdash, helping us diagnose loading failures, slow queries, API errors, and other issues. |
| 7 | + |
| 8 | +## Before you start |
| 9 | + |
| 10 | +<Warning> |
| 11 | + HAR files contain sensitive data including **cookies, session tokens, and the content of pages you visited** during the recording. Anyone with access to a HAR file could use this information to impersonate your session. |
| 12 | + |
| 13 | + **Before sharing a HAR file:** |
| 14 | + - Only record the minimum steps needed to reproduce the issue |
| 15 | + - Do not share HAR files publicly (e.g. in GitHub issues) — send them directly to the support team |
| 16 | + - If possible, use [Cloudflare's HAR sanitizer](https://har-sanitizer.pages.dev/) to strip cookies and authorization headers before sharing |
| 17 | +</Warning> |
| 18 | + |
| 19 | +## Generating a HAR file |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | +Select your browser below for step-by-step instructions. |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +<Tabs> |
| 24 | + <Tab title="Chrome"> |
| 25 | + 1. Open the page in Lightdash where you're experiencing the issue |
| 26 | + 2. Open Chrome DevTools: press `F12`, or `Cmd + Option + I` (Mac) / `Ctrl + Shift + I` (Windows/Linux) |
| 27 | + 3. Click the **Network** tab |
| 28 | + 4. Make sure the record button (top-left circle) is **red** — this means recording is active |
| 29 | + 5. Check the **Preserve log** checkbox to keep requests across page navigations |
| 30 | + 6. Click the **clear** button (circle with a line through it) to remove any existing logs |
| 31 | + 7. Reproduce the issue you're troubleshooting |
| 32 | + 8. Right-click anywhere in the network request list and select **Save all as HAR with Content** |
| 33 | + 9. Save the file to your computer |
| 34 | + |
| 35 | + <Tip> |
| 36 | + To also capture console errors: click the **Console** tab in DevTools, right-click in the console output, and select **Save as...** to download the console log. |
| 37 | + </Tip> |
| 38 | + </Tab> |
| 39 | + |
| 40 | + <Tab title="Firefox"> |
| 41 | + 1. Open the page in Lightdash where you're experiencing the issue |
| 42 | + 2. Open Developer Tools: press `F12`, or `Cmd + Option + I` (Mac) / `Ctrl + Shift + I` (Windows/Linux) |
| 43 | + 3. Click the **Network** tab |
| 44 | + 4. Reproduce the issue you're troubleshooting |
| 45 | + 5. Right-click any request in the network list and select **Save All As HAR** |
| 46 | + 6. Save the file to your computer |
| 47 | + |
| 48 | + <Tip> |
| 49 | + To also capture console errors: click the **Console** tab in Developer Tools and take a screenshot of any errors shown. |
| 50 | + </Tip> |
| 51 | + </Tab> |
| 52 | + |
| 53 | + <Tab title="Safari"> |
| 54 | + 1. Enable the developer tools if you haven't already: go to **Safari > Settings > Advanced** and check **Show features for web developers** |
| 55 | + 2. Open the page in Lightdash where you're experiencing the issue |
| 56 | + 3. Open Web Inspector: press `Cmd + Option + I`, or go to **Develop > Show Web Inspector** |
| 57 | + 4. Click the **Network** tab |
| 58 | + 5. Make sure **Preserve Log** is checked (click the filter icon in the toolbar if needed) |
| 59 | + 6. Reproduce the issue you're troubleshooting |
| 60 | + 7. Click **Export** in the top-right of the Network tab to save the HAR file |
| 61 | + |
| 62 | + <Tip> |
| 63 | + To also capture console errors: click the **Console** tab in Web Inspector and take a screenshot of any errors shown. |
| 64 | + </Tip> |
| 65 | + </Tab> |
| 66 | + |
| 67 | + <Tab title="Microsoft Edge"> |
| 68 | + 1. Open the page in Lightdash where you're experiencing the issue |
| 69 | + 2. Open Developer Tools: press `F12`, or `Ctrl + Shift + I` |
| 70 | + 3. Click the **Network** tab |
| 71 | + 4. Make sure the record button is active (red circle) |
| 72 | + 5. Check the **Preserve log** checkbox |
| 73 | + 6. Click the **clear** button to remove any existing logs |
| 74 | + 7. Reproduce the issue you're troubleshooting |
| 75 | + 8. Click the **Export HAR** button (down arrow icon) in the Network tab toolbar |
| 76 | + 9. Save the file to your computer |
| 77 | + |
| 78 | + <Tip> |
| 79 | + To also capture console errors: click the **Console** tab in Developer Tools, right-click in the console output, and select **Save as...** to download the console log. |
| 80 | + </Tip> |
| 81 | + </Tab> |
| 82 | +</Tabs> |
| 83 | + |
| 84 | +## Sending the HAR file to Lightdash support |
| 85 | + |
| 86 | +1. **Sanitize** the file using [Cloudflare's HAR sanitizer](https://har-sanitizer.pages.dev/) to remove sensitive headers and cookies |
| 87 | +2. **Compress** the file — HAR files can be large, so zip the file before sending (right-click the file and select **Compress** on Mac or **Send to > Compressed folder** on Windows) |
| 88 | +3. **Send** the file to [support@lightdash.com](mailto:support@lightdash.com) with a description of the issue, including: |
| 89 | + - What you were trying to do |
| 90 | + - What you expected to happen |
| 91 | + - What actually happened |
| 92 | + - The URL of the Lightdash page where the issue occurred |
| 93 | + |
| 94 | +<Note> |
| 95 | + If the compressed HAR file is too large for email (over 25 MB), let the support team know and they'll provide an alternative upload method. |
| 96 | +</Note> |
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