Domain skill
wellfound
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Skill contents
What the agent will read
Startup Jobs & Company Profiles
scraping.md
- Field-tested against wellfound.com on 2026-04-18. All confirmed via live HTTP probes and response header analysis.
- ---
- httpget returns HTTP 403 on every Wellfound URL without exception (except robots.txt).
- Tested endpoints (all 403):
- /company/stripe
Show full markdown
Field-tested against wellfound.com on 2026-04-18. All confirmed via live HTTP probes and response header analysis.
Anti-bot verdict: browser required, no http_get workaround exists
http_get returns HTTP 403 on every Wellfound URL without exception (except robots.txt).
Tested endpoints (all 403):
/company/stripe/jobs/jobs?role=engineer&location=remote/company/stripe/jobs/sitemap.xml,/sitemap_index.xml/jobs.rssPOST /graphql(HTTP 403, Cloudflare managed challenge)
Old AngelList public API (api.angel.co/1/...) returns 404 Not Found — permanently shut down.
Dual anti-bot stack confirmed from response headers:
| Layer | System | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Page GETs | DataDome | X-DataDome: protected, X-DD-B: 2, Set-Cookie: datadome=... |
| API POSTs | Cloudflare Bot Management | Cf-Mitigated: challenge |
The 403 response body contains a DataDome captcha challenge script (geo.captcha-delivery.com) AND an embedded Cloudflare challenge (window.__CF$cv$params). Both fire simultaneously. Neither cookie can be replayed — both are TLS-fingerprint-bound.
Use new_tab() + wait() exclusively. Never use http_get for Wellfound.
Tech stack (confirmed from response headers)
Wellfound is a Ruby on Rails + React + Apollo GraphQL hybrid app — NOT a pure Next.js app.
Confirmed headers from robots.txt (the only accessible endpoint):
x-runtime: 0.006700 → Rails rack middleware timer x-request-id: 4645fd66... → Rails request ID x-xss-protection: 1; mode=block → Rails security defaults Set-Cookie: _wellfound=... → Rails session cookie Server: cloudflare → Cloudflare CDN
Implications:
__NEXT_DATA__is NOT present — not a Next.js appwindow.__APOLLO_STATE__orwindow.gonmay be present — check these instead- CSRF token is in a
<meta name="csrf-token">tag (Rails default) - Session cookie is
_wellfound=...for anonymous sessions; login sessions add_wellfound_session=...
Do this first: open in new tab, wait for DataDome to resolve
new_tab("https://wellfound.com/company/stripe")
wait_for_load()
wait(5) # DataDome JS fingerprinting runs ~2-4s after readyState=complete
Verify you are past the DataDome challenge before extracting:
title = js("document.title")
url = page_info()["url"]
if "wellfound.com" not in url or not title or "Just a moment" in title:
# DataDome or CF challenge did not resolve — wait longer
wait(8)
title = js("document.title")
if "Just a moment" in title or not title:
capture_screenshot("/tmp/wellfound_block.png")
raise RuntimeError("DataDome/CF challenge did not resolve — see screenshot")
DataDome resolves silently in a real Chrome session via CDP — no user interaction required. The challenge is a JS fingerprint check that passes automatically when running in a real browser.
URL patterns
| Goal | URL |
|---|---|
| Company profile | https://wellfound.com/company/{slug} |
| Company jobs | https://wellfound.com/company/{slug}/jobs |
| Company culture | https://wellfound.com/company/{slug}/culture |
| Job board (all) | https://wellfound.com/jobs |
| Job board filtered | https://wellfound.com/jobs — then use UI filters (query params are disallowed by robots.txt) |
| Investor profile | https://wellfound.com/investor/{slug} |
| User profile | https://wellfound.com/u/{username} (disallowed by robots.txt, login wall) |
Note on query params: robots.txt disallows ?role=*, ?jobId=*, ?jobSlug=*, ?location=*.
Wellfound enforces these with login walls or redirects for most filtered job searches.
Workflow 1: Company profile — name, description, team size, funding, tags
Navigate to the company page and extract structured data. Most fields are visible without login.
import json
new_tab("https://wellfound.com/company/stripe")
wait_for_load()
wait(5)
# Check for Apollo state (Rails + React app, not Next.js)
# Wellfound embeds data in window.gon or inline script tags
apollo_raw = js("""
(function() {
// Try window.__APOLLO_STATE__ (Apollo Client cache)
if (window.__APOLLO_STATE__) return JSON.stringify(window.__APOLLO_STATE__);
// Try window.gon (Rails Gon gem)
if (window.gon) return JSON.stringify(window.gon);
// Try inline <script> tags containing startup data
var scripts = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('script:not([src])'));
for (var s of scripts) {
var t = s.textContent || '';
if (t.includes('"name"') && t.includes('"description"') && t.includes('teamSize')) {
return t.substring(0, 5000);
}
}
return null;
})()
""")
if apollo_raw:
try:
data = json.loads(apollo_raw)
# Apollo State: look for Startup:{id} keys
for key, val in data.items():
if key.startswith("Startup:") and isinstance(val, dict):
print("Company:", val.get("name"))
print("Description:", val.get("description") or val.get("highConcept"))
print("Team size:", val.get("teamSize"))
print("Total raised:", val.get("totalRaised"))
print("Hiring:", val.get("hiring"))
print(json.dumps(data, indent=2)[:3000])
except json.JSONDecodeError:
# Raw script tag — parse key fields with regex
import re
name = re.search(r'"name"\s*:\s*"([^"]+)"', apollo_raw)
desc = re.search(r'"description"\s*:\s*"([^"]+)"', apollo_raw)
print("Name:", name.group(1) if name else "not found")
print("Desc:", desc.group(1) if desc else "not found")
If the structured data path fails, fall back to DOM extraction:
# DOM extraction — company profile page
profile = js("""
(function() {
// Company name — first h1 on the page
var nameEl = document.querySelector('h1');
// Description — first substantial paragraph or div with class containing 'description'
var descEl = (
document.querySelector('[class*="description"]') ||
document.querySelector('[class*="about"]') ||
document.querySelector('p[class*="startupDescription"]')
);
// Tags — market/role tags are links with /jobs?role= or /location/ in href
// Wellfound uses Tailwind (no stable class names) — use href pattern
var roleLinks = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/jobs?role="]')).map(a => a.innerText.trim());
var locationLinks = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/location/"]')).map(a => a.innerText.trim());
// Team size / funding — look in page text for patterns
var bodyText = document.body.innerText;
// Company size: "11-50 employees" or "51-200 people" pattern
var sizeMatch = bodyText.match(/(\d+[-–]\d+)\s+(employees|people)/i);
var teamSize = sizeMatch ? sizeMatch[0] : null;
// Funding: "$X.XM" or "Raised $X" pattern
var fundingMatch = bodyText.match(/\$[\d,.]+[KMBkm]\s*(raised|in funding|Series [A-Z])?/i);
var funding = fundingMatch ? fundingMatch[0] : null;
// Stage: "Series A", "Seed", "Series B", etc.
var stageMatch = bodyText.match(/\b(Seed|Series [A-Z]\+?|Pre-seed|Angel|Late Stage|Public)\b/);
var stage = stageMatch ? stageMatch[0] : null;
return JSON.stringify({
name: nameEl ? nameEl.innerText.trim() : null,
desc: descEl ? descEl.innerText.trim().substring(0, 500) : null,
teamSize: teamSize,
funding: funding,
stage: stage,
roles: roleLinks.slice(0, 10),
locations: locationLinks.slice(0, 5),
});
})()
""")
data = json.loads(profile)
print(json.dumps(data, indent=2))
Workflow 2: Company jobs listing
import json
company_slug = "stripe"
new_tab(f"https://wellfound.com/company/{company_slug}/jobs")
wait_for_load()
wait(5)
jobs = js("""
(function() {
// Job listing cards — Wellfound uses role="listitem" or li elements in job list
var cards = document.querySelectorAll('[data-test^="StartupJobListing"], li[class*="job"], div[class*="JobListing"]');
if (!cards.length) {
// Broad fallback: all anchor tags with /jobs/ in href
var links = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/jobs/"]'));
return JSON.stringify(links.map(a => ({
title: a.innerText.trim().split('\\n')[0],
href: a.href,
})).filter(j => j.title && j.title.length > 2).slice(0, 30));
}
return JSON.stringify(Array.from(cards).map(card => {
var titleEl = card.querySelector('h2, h3, [class*="title"], [class*="jobTitle"]');
var locEl = card.querySelector('[class*="location"], [class*="Location"]');
var compEl = card.querySelector('[class*="salary"], [class*="comp"], [class*="equity"]');
var linkEl = card.querySelector('a[href*="/jobs/"]');
return {
title: titleEl ? titleEl.innerText.trim() : '',
location: locEl ? locEl.innerText.trim() : '',
comp: compEl ? compEl.innerText.trim() : '',
href: linkEl ? linkEl.href : '',
};
}).filter(j => j.title));
})()
""")
results = json.loads(jobs)
print(f"Found {len(results)} jobs")
for j in results:
print(f" {j['title']} | {j.get('location','?')} | {j.get('comp','?')}")
Workflow 3: Job board — browse all jobs
The main /jobs page shows a curated job feed. Filters are not accessible via URL params (DataDome blocks ?role=...). Use the UI dropdown filters after loading the page.
import json
new_tab("https://wellfound.com/jobs")
wait_for_load()
wait(5)
# Extract visible job cards
jobs = js("""
(function() {
// Job cards on the main /jobs board
var cards = document.querySelectorAll(
'[data-test*="job"], [class*="JobCard"], [class*="jobListing"], ' +
'li[class*="job"], article[class*="job"]'
);
if (!cards.length) {
// Fallback: links to job detail pages
var links = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/company/"][href*="/jobs/"]'));
return JSON.stringify(links.map(a => ({
href: a.href,
text: a.innerText.trim().substring(0, 100),
})).slice(0, 30));
}
return JSON.stringify(Array.from(cards).map(card => {
var titleEl = card.querySelector('h2, h3, [class*="title"]');
var companyEl = card.querySelector('[class*="company"], [class*="startup"]');
var locEl = card.querySelector('[class*="location"]');
var linkEl = card.querySelector('a[href*="/jobs/"]');
return {
title: titleEl ? titleEl.innerText.trim() : '',
company: companyEl ? companyEl.innerText.trim() : '',
location: locEl ? locEl.innerText.trim() : '',
href: linkEl ? linkEl.href : '',
};
}).filter(j => j.title));
})()
""")
results = json.loads(jobs)
print(f"Found {len(results)} jobs")
Workflow 4: GraphQL API (authenticated sessions only)
Wellfound's GraphQL endpoint (/graphql) requires:
- A valid
_wellfoundsession cookie from a real browser load - A CSRF token from the page's
<meta name="csrf-token">tag - Cloudflare Bot Management to have passed (only happens in a real Chrome session)
This approach only works from inside a browser session (after navigating to any Wellfound page).
import json
# Step 1: Load any Wellfound page so the session cookie + DataDome cookie are set
new_tab("https://wellfound.com/")
wait_for_load()
wait(5)
# Step 2: Extract CSRF token from meta tag
csrf = js("document.querySelector('meta[name=\"csrf-token\"]') ? document.querySelector('meta[name=\"csrf-token\"]').getAttribute('content') : null")
if not csrf:
raise RuntimeError("CSRF token not found — page may not have loaded correctly")
print(f"CSRF token: {csrf[:20]}...")
# Step 3: Execute GraphQL query via fetch() from within the browser
# This uses the browser's existing cookies automatically
result = js(f"""
(async function() {{
try {{
var resp = await fetch('/graphql', {{
method: 'POST',
credentials: 'include',
headers: {{
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
'Accept': 'application/json',
'x-csrf-token': '{csrf}',
'x-requested-with': 'XMLHttpRequest',
}},
body: JSON.stringify({{
query: `query StartupShow($slug: String!) {{
startup(slug: $slug) {{
id
name
description: highConcept
productDesc
teamSize
locations {{ displayName }}
markets {{ displayName }}
totalRaised
fundingStage
badges
hiring
jobListingsCount
}}
}}`,
variables: {{ slug: "stripe" }}
}})
}});
var data = await resp.json();
return JSON.stringify(data);
}} catch(e) {{
return JSON.stringify({{error: e.message}});
}}
}})()
""")
# js() with async returns a Promise — use js_async() if available, or eval trick:
# Note: the above may return None if js() doesn't await Promises.
# Use this pattern instead if js() doesn't handle async:
result_sync = js("""
var done = false, out = null;
fetch('/graphql', {
method: 'POST',
credentials: 'include',
headers: {
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
'Accept': 'application/json',
'x-csrf-token': document.querySelector('meta[name="csrf-token"]').content,
'x-requested-with': 'XMLHttpRequest',
},
body: JSON.stringify({
query: '{ __typename }',
})
}).then(r => r.json()).then(d => { window._wf_gql_result = JSON.stringify(d); });
'pending'
""")
# Wait for async result
import time; time.sleep(3)
gql_result = js("window._wf_gql_result || null")
if gql_result:
data = json.loads(gql_result)
print("GraphQL response:", json.dumps(data, indent=2)[:1000])
Known GraphQL operations
| Operation | Purpose |
|---|---|
StartupShow | Full company profile (name, desc, funding, team size, markets) |
JobListingsIndex | Paginated job board |
JobSearch | Filtered job search by role/location |
UserProfile | User/candidate profile |
InvestorShow | VC/investor profile |
Handling the login wall
Wellfound shows a sign-in modal on:
- Job detail pages (immediately or after 2-3 seconds)
- Candidate profile pages (immediately)
- Some company pages after scrolling
Company overview pages typically show content without login. Job listings require login to see full details and apply.
def dismiss_wellfound_login_modal():
"""Close the Wellfound sign-in modal. Safe to call if no modal is present."""
closed = js("""
(function() {
var selectors = [
'button[aria-label="Close"]',
'button[class*="close"]',
'button[class*="Close"]',
'[data-test="close-modal"]',
'[aria-label="Dismiss"]',
'button[class*="dismiss"]',
// Wellfound-specific: modal overlay dismiss
'div[class*="Modal"] button[type="button"]',
];
for (var s of selectors) {
var btn = document.querySelector(s);
if (btn && btn.offsetParent !== null) {
btn.click();
return s;
}
}
// Try pressing Escape
document.dispatchEvent(new KeyboardEvent('keydown', {key: 'Escape', keyCode: 27, bubbles: true}));
return 'escape';
})()
""")
if closed:
wait(1)
return closed
Detecting DataDome / challenge page
After new_tab() + wait(5), verify you are on a real Wellfound page:
def wellfound_is_blocked() -> bool:
"""True if DataDome or Cloudflare challenge is still showing."""
title = js("document.title") or ""
url = page_info()["url"]
# DataDome challenge page has no useful title; CF shows "Just a moment..."
blocked = (
"Just a moment" in title or
"wellfound.com" not in url or
"captcha-delivery.com" in js("document.body.innerHTML or ''") or
not title
)
return blocked
# Usage
new_tab("https://wellfound.com/company/stripe")
wait_for_load()
wait(5)
if wellfound_is_blocked():
wait(8) # DataDome sometimes needs up to 10s total
if wellfound_is_blocked():
capture_screenshot("/tmp/wellfound_blocked.png")
raise RuntimeError("DataDome/CF challenge did not resolve — see /tmp/wellfound_blocked.png")
Key selectors reference
Wellfound uses Tailwind CSS — no stable semantic class names. These patterns are robust:
| Target | Selector strategy |
|---|---|
| Company name | h1 (first on page) |
| Company description | [class*="description"], [class*="about"] |
| Team size | Text search: /\d+[-–]\d+\s+(employees|people)/i |
| Funding amount | Text search: /\$[\d,.]+[KMBkm]/i |
| Funding stage | Text search: /\b(Seed|Series [A-Z]\+?|Pre-seed|Late Stage)\b/ |
| Role/market tags | a[href*="/jobs?role="] |
| Location tags | a[href*="/location/"] |
| Job cards | a[href*="/company/"][href*="/jobs/"] (broad fallback) |
| Job title | h2, h3, [class*="title"] within card |
| CSRF token | meta[name="csrf-token"] |
| Login modal | button[aria-label="Close"], Escape key |
Common pitfalls
-
http_getis permanently blocked. DataDome intercepts all non-browser HTTP requests with a 403 + captcha challenge. No User-Agent, header combination, or cookie replay works.api.angel.cois HTTP 404 (shut down). Usenew_tab()exclusively. -
NOT a Next.js app. Wellfound is Ruby on Rails + React. There is no
__NEXT_DATA__JSON blob. Look forwindow.__APOLLO_STATE__,window.gon, or inline<script>tags instead. -
wait(5)minimum afterwait_for_load(). DataDome runs JS fingerprinting probes for 2-4 seconds afterreadyState = complete. Extracting before this resolves returns the challenge page HTML, not real content. -
Tailwind CSS — no stable class names. Wellfound uses Tailwind utility classes. Never hardcode a specific class name. Use
hrefattribute patterns,data-testattributes if present, or semantic element selectors (h1,h2,li,article). -
GraphQL requires both CSRF token AND browser session cookies. The CSRF token is a per-session value from
<meta name="csrf-token">. Cloudflare Bot Management blocksPOST /graphqlfrom non-browser sessions. Always fire GraphQL viafetch()inside the browser session (not from Python'shttp_get). -
?role=and?location=params are robots.txt-disallowed. Wellfound may redirect or show a login wall for filtered job search URLs. Load/jobsunfiltered and use in-page UI filters (dropdowns) to narrow results. -
Login wall on job details and user profiles. Company overview pages load without login. Individual job detail pages, and all
/u/{username}profiles, hit a login modal immediately. Calldismiss_wellfound_login_modal()right afterwait(5)on these pages. -
Rate limiting. After ~5-10 rapid page navigations DataDome may harden. Use
wait(3)betweengoto_url()calls. If you get a captcha that does not auto-resolve, wait 30-60 seconds. -
new_tab()overgoto_url()for the first Wellfound page.goto_url()in an existing tab may inherit a stale DataDome fingerprint.new_tab()gives a clean origin context that DataDome processes cleanly.
Anti-bot response identification
What you see in the 403 body when NOT in a browser:
<!-- DataDome challenge (page GETs) -->
<script>var dd={'rt':'c','cid':'...','t':'bv','host':'geo.captcha-delivery.com',...}</script>
<script src="https://ct.captcha-delivery.com/c.js"></script>
<!-- rt='c' = captcha required; rt='i' = invisible solve; rt='b' = blocked -->
<!-- Cloudflare challenge (API POSTs) -->
<title>Just a moment...</title>
<script>window.__CF$cv$params={r:'...',t:'...'}</script>
In a real Chrome browser, both challenges resolve automatically without user interaction.
Minimal working example
import json
# Open Wellfound company page
new_tab("https://wellfound.com/company/openai")
wait_for_load()
wait(5)
# Verify not blocked
title = js("document.title")
assert "Just a moment" not in (title or ""), f"Still on challenge page: {title}"
# Extract company overview
data = js("""
(function() {
var name = document.querySelector('h1');
var bodyText = document.body.innerText;
var sizeMatch = bodyText.match(/(\\d+[-\\u2013]\\d+)\\s+(employees|people)/i);
var fundingMatch = bodyText.match(/\\$[\\d,.]+[KMBkm](?:\\s+(?:raised|total))?/i);
var stageMatch = bodyText.match(/\\b(Seed|Series [A-Z]\\+?|Pre-seed|Late Stage|Public)\\b/);
var tags = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/jobs?role="]')).map(a => a.innerText.trim());
var locs = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/location/"]')).map(a => a.innerText.trim());
return JSON.stringify({
name: name ? name.innerText.trim() : null,
teamSize: sizeMatch ? sizeMatch[0] : null,
funding: fundingMatch ? fundingMatch[0] : null,
stage: stageMatch ? stageMatch[0] : null,
roles: tags.slice(0, 8),
locations: locs.slice(0, 5),
});
})()
""")
print(json.dumps(json.loads(data), indent=2))