Infinite scrolling is an interface pattern that loads another batch of records when the user approaches the end of a list, replacing numbered page navigation with repeated viewport-driven requests. Scrapers must trigger the load, wait for a measurable state change, collect stable record identities, and define when the feed is finished.
A page may watch a sentinel element with an intersection observer, listen for scroll position, or expose a Load more button. Reaching the bottom starts an asynchronous request; it does not mean the records have arrived. Wait for the item count, a cursor response, or a documented end marker to change rather than sleeping for an arbitrary number of seconds.
Playwright recommends scrolling a known element into view when that action should load more content. Mouse-wheel loops are less deterministic because the scrollable container may not be the window and a fixed distance may stop short on different viewport sizes.
Some feeds keep only the visible window of elements in the DOM and recycle nodes as the user moves. In that design, document-wide element count can stay flat even while new records load, and extracting only after the final scroll loses items that were removed above the viewport.
Capture each batch as it appears and deduplicate by a stable item ID or canonical URL. A locator returning all current matches is only a snapshot of the current DOM; it does not wait for a dynamic list to become complete.
Stop on an explicit end-of-results marker, a pagination response with no next cursor, or several bounded attempts that produce no new stable IDs while no request is in flight. Also cap items, requests, and wall-clock time so a repeating cursor or endless recommendation feed cannot run forever.
If the page calls a documented JSON endpoint behind the feed, consuming its pagination contract is often more reliable than reproducing viewport behavior. Keep the UI route when it is the only supported path or when rendering itself is part of what must be observed.
How Crawlora handles this
Crawlora's platform endpoints use documented request parameters and pagination fields for supported sources, so callers can bound collection without simulating a visual feed. Arbitrary browser jobs still need explicit wait, deduplication, and termination rules.
Related reading
Glossary
FAQ
No. Infinite scrolling is a user-interface pattern; cursor pagination is a data continuation contract. An infinite feed may use cursors, offsets, or another backend mechanism.
The page may use list virtualization and recycle off-screen nodes. Extract each visible batch as it loads instead of waiting until the end to read the DOM once.
Prefer an explicit end marker or missing next cursor. Otherwise require several bounded no-growth attempts and enforce hard limits on items, requests, and elapsed time.
Beyond Infinite Scrolling, Crawlora's own docs cover the rest of the stack — browse the APIs, test a request in Playground, and move from scraping infrastructure work to production data workflows.