Save a hard-to-open web page as a Google Doc
Saves the text of a web page into a new Google Doc, even when the site won't hand its text to anything but a browser.
Apps it connects
Authenticate each one once and the workflow is ready to run.
What it does
Each integration step this workflow runs, in order, what it is for, and the conditions and loops that decide when it runs.
If
looksBlocked- 1
Jina AIRead urlReads the page through a reader service only when the plain request was blocked, too short or a challenge screen.
- 1
- 2
Google DocsCreate documentCreates a fresh document for every run, titled with the page title or the site's host name. - 3
Google DocsAppend textWrites the source address, which route the text came by and the page text itself into the new document.
How it works
What happens on each run, in plain English.
Give it the address of a page that will not hand its text to anything but a browser, and run it whenever you need one read. A plain request is tried first, and only if that comes back blocked, too short or as a challenge screen is the address read through a reader service that renders it properly. Either way the text lands in a new Google Doc.
You get a document titled after the page, opening with the source address and which route the text came by, followed by the readable text. Each run creates its own document, so nothing you already have is overwritten. The address recorded is rebuilt from the scheme, host and path only: the query string, where an access key travels, is left out, and a failed request is reported by host and reason alone. If neither route produces any text, the run stops rather than saving an empty document.
Use it on pages you are entitled to read: it is for getting at an article you could open yourself in a browser, not for reaching anything you could not.
Start from a workflow that already works.
Add "Save a hard-to-open web page as a Google Doc" to your workspace, connect its apps, and make it yours.
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