Generate and Sanitize HTTP Archive Files

When you report issues with Palette to Spectro Cloud Support, we may ask you to generate an HTTP Archive (HAR) file to help us identify and resolve those issues.

warning

HAR files contain all network activity for a specific page, including sensitive and confidential information, such as API keys, secrets, cookies, passwords, and more. Before sending your HAR files to us, sanitize the sensitive data. We do not recommend using any third-party tools for HAR sanitization, as they can overlook some details.

This guide explains how you can generate HAR files in Chrome, Safari, and Firefox and sanitize the sensitive data they contain.

Prerequisites

• A browser of choice. For instance, you could use Chrome, Safari, or Firefox. If you're using Safari, make sure to enable its web development features first.
• A text editor of choice. For example, you could use Visual Studio Code or Sublime.

Generate and Sanitize HARs

Generate HAR Files

Chrome

1. Open the page with issues in Chrome.

2. On your keyboard, open Developer Tools:

   • For Windows and Linux, press F12 or Ctrl + Shift + I.
   • For Mac, press Fn + F12 or Cmd + Option + I.

   For alternative methods to open Developer Tools, refer to Open Chrome DevTools.

3. In Developer Tools, select the Network tab, and, on the Network pane:

   1. If the leftmost icon displays a circle within a circle, click it to start recording network activity.
   2. Click the Clear network log icon that follows it to clear the current network log.
   3. Select the Preserve log and Disable cache checkboxes.

   

4. On the page, reproduce the issues you've encountered.

5. In the network log, right-click any item and select Save all as HAR with content.

Safari

1. Open the page with issues in Safari.

2. On your keyboard, press ⌥ + ⌘ + I to open Web Inspector.

3. Select the Network tab, and, in the Network tab menu:

   1. Press ⌘ + K to clear the current network items.
   2. Next to the All drop-down menu, click the Other filter options icon > Preserve Log.
   3. Select the Disable Caches checkbox.

   

4. On the page, reproduce the issues you've encountered.

5. In the Network tab menu, select Export.

Firefox

1. Open the page with issues in Firefox.

2. On your keyboard, open DevTools:

   • For Windows and Linux, press F12 or Ctrl + Shift + I.
   • For Mac, press Fn + F12 or Cmd + Option + I.

   For alternative methods to open DevTools, refer to Firefox DevTools User Docs.

3. In DevTools, select the Network tab and, in the Network tab menu:

   1. Click the trash can icon to clear the current network log.
   2. If the icon next to the Filter URLs field displays a play button, click it to start recording network activity.
   3. Click the Network Settings icon > Persist Logs.

   

4. On the page, reproduce the issues you've encountered.

5. In the network log, right-click any item and select Save All As HAR.

Sanitize HAR Files

1. Open the generated HAR file in a text editor.

2. Carefully examine the file contents and either remove or redact sensitive information.

   tip

   If you're using a built-in search feature, ensure it's case-insensitive and check every instance of confidential data it highlights.

You can use the following keywords for reference.

Keywords for sanitization

warning

This list is not exhaustive. You should also check for data that is considered sensitive or confidential within your organization.

• state
• shdf
• usg
• password
• code
• code_verifier
• client_secret
• token
• Access_token
• refresh_token
• authenticity_token
• Id_token
• SAMLResponse
• SAML Request
• appID
• challenge
• facetID
• assertion
• fcParams
• serverData
• Authorization
• auth
• key
• pem
• rsa
• dsa
• ecdsa
• signature
• passkey

Consider the following examples of how to approach redacting passwords, tokens, and cookies.

Passwords

  "postData": {
    "mimeType": "application/json",
    "text": "{\"emailId\":\"REDACTED\",\"password\":\"REDACTED\",\"org\":\"spectro-cloud\"}"
  }

Tokens

  "queryString": [
    {
      "name": "access_token",
      "value": "REDACTED"
    }
  ],

Cookies

  "cookies": [
    {
      "name": "__stripe_mid",
      "value": "REDACTED",
      "path": "/",
      "domain": "console.spectrocloud.com",
      "expires": "2025-01-10T20:51:03.000Z",
      "httpOnly": false,
      "secure": true,
      "sameSite": "Strict"
    },
  ]

Validate

Review the generated HAR file against the list of keywords we provided for reference, and make sure you've redacted every instance of sensitive information.

Next Steps

After you've successfully generated and sanitized your HAR file, send it to the Support Specialist who asked you for this file.