Overview
Some social networks use complex login flows that can make authentication difficult when creating or validating crawling profiles. To improve login reliability, Maltego Evidence allows you to provide session cookies directly within a crawling profile.
If valid cookies are present, Evidence will attempt to authenticate with them first before falling back to the normal login methods such as username and password or QR login, depending on the network.
This page explains what cookies are, when you should use them, and how to obtain and add them to your crawling profile.
Supported Modules
The option to manually add cookies is currently available only for the following networks:
- TikTok
- Twitter (X)
For all other networks, the Cookies field is not displayed. These modules do not currently support manual cookie input.
Support for additional networks may be added in future updates.
What are session cookies?
Session cookies are small pieces of data created by your web browser when you log in to a social network. They prove to the website that you are already authenticated and allow Evidence to reuse your session without going through the full login process again.
Providing valid cookies can help in situations such as:
- Login flows that require repeated verification steps
- Networks that frequently block username and password login attempts
- Cases where QR-based login is time-sensitive or inconsistent
- Situations where an account must not trigger additional security challenges
Cookies are optional. If the field is empty, Evidence will authenticate using the other methods available for that network.
When to add cookies
You may want to add cookies if:
- You experience repeated login failures during crawling
- The network frequently asks for verification challenges such as SMS, email, CAPTCHA, or QR scan
- You want to avoid disruptions in long-running or large crawling tasks
- You have just successfully logged in through your browser and want Evidence to reuse that session
Remember that cookies expire after some time, depending on the network. If authentication fails again later, you may need to refresh the cookies from your browser.
How to obtain cookies from your browser
To add cookies to a crawling profile, you must first log into the relevant social network using the same sock puppet account in your web browser. Once logged in, you can extract the session cookies using your browser’s developer tools.
Follow the steps for your preferred browser below.
Chrome and Microsoft Edge
- Log in to the social network using the crawling profile’s account.
- Press F12 (Windows or Linux) or Cmd + Option + I (macOS) to open Developer Tools.
- Select the Application tab.
- In the left sidebar, expand Cookies and click the site’s URL (for example, https://www.facebook.com).
- Click anywhere in the cookie table.
- Press Ctrl + A (Cmd + A on mac OS) to select all cookies.
- Press Ctrl + C (Cmd + C on mac OS) to copy them.
- Paste the cookies into the Cookies field of the crawling profile in Evidence.
Adding cookies to your crawling profile in Evidence
Once you have copied the cookies from your browser:
- Open Settings → Crawling Profiles, or create a new crawling profile inside a project.
- Locate the Cookies field.
- Paste the copied cookies as plain text, with no formatting.
- Save the crawling profile.
- Optionally, enable Check login status after saving to immediately validate the cookies.
Evidence will now first attempt login using your cookies. If this fails, it will try the available fallback methods for the configured network.
Troubleshooting
The cookies do not work
- The session may have expired. Try logging in again and copying a fresh set of cookies.
- Make sure you copied the cookies while you were fully logged in.
- Some networks invalidate cookies when you log in from another device.
I do not see any cookies in Developer Tools
- Make sure you are logged in with the correct account.
- Ensure the cookies tab for the correct domain is selected.
- Some third-party login pages redirect to a different domain. Check all domains listed under Cookies.
Evidence still asks for verification
- Your cookies may be incomplete or invalid.
- The network may require additional checks such as CAPTCHA or two-factor authentication before issuing valid session cookies.
Summary
Adding cookies to a crawling profile is an optional but powerful way to stabilize authentication for complex networks. It allows Evidence to reuse an active browser session and reduces common login issues that can disrupt crawling tasks.
Use this page whenever you need to extract cookies or refresh them for a crawling profile.