Cookie Scanning
Automatically detect and categorize cookies on your website with CookieFrame's scanning feature.
Cookie Scanning
CookieFrame's cookie scanning feature automatically crawls your website to detect cookies, localStorage, and sessionStorage items. This helps you maintain an accurate cookie disclosure and ensures your consent banner reflects what's actually on your site.
Starting a Scan
- Go to your domain in the CookieFrame dashboard
- Click Scan Cookies or navigate to Cookies → Run Scan
- Configure scan options (optional)
- Click Start Scan
[SCREENSHOT PLACEHOLDER: Scan configuration modal]
The scan runs in the background. You'll receive an email notification when it completes.
What Gets Detected
The scanner detects three types of browser storage:
| Storage Type | Detection Method |
|---|---|
| HTTP Cookies | Network response headers + client-side document.cookie |
| localStorage | JavaScript API inspection |
| sessionStorage | JavaScript API inspection |
The scanner does not currently detect IndexedDB, Service Worker caches, or browser fingerprinting techniques. These may be added in future updates.
Cookie Categories
Detected cookies are automatically categorized:
| Category | Description | User Choice |
|---|---|---|
| Necessary | Essential for site functionality (login, cart, security) | Always enabled |
| Analytics | Usage statistics and performance monitoring | Optional |
| Marketing | Advertising, retargeting, and tracking | Optional |
| Preferences | User settings like language or theme | Optional |
| Uncategorized | Unknown cookies pending review | Optional |
How Categorization Works
CookieFrame uses a multi-layer approach to categorize cookies:
- Known Cookie Database - Matches against 50+ patterns from major vendors (Google, Meta, HubSpot, Microsoft, etc.)
- Heuristic Classification - 7-layer analysis examines cookie names, domains, values, and expiration to assign a category with confidence scoring
Always review uncategorized cookies manually. Incorrect categorization can lead to compliance issues.
Scan Configuration
Fine-tune how the scanner crawls your site:
| Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Max Pages | Maximum pages to scan (plan-limited) | 50 |
| Max Depth | How many links deep to crawl | 3 |
| Include Subdomains | Scan subdomains (e.g., blog.example.com) | Off |
| Exclude Patterns | URL patterns to skip (comma-separated) | — |
| Entry URL | Starting page for the scan | Homepage |
| Wait Time | Milliseconds to wait for JavaScript | 3000 |
Exclude Patterns
Skip URLs matching specific patterns:
/admin/*
/api/*
*.pdf
/checkout/*This is useful for excluding authenticated areas, API endpoints, or large file downloads.
Understanding Results
After a scan completes, you'll see a summary:
[SCREENSHOT PLACEHOLDER: Scan results summary]
Summary Metrics
- Pages Scanned - Successfully analyzed pages
- Total Pages Found - All discovered URLs (may exceed max pages)
- Cookies Found - Total unique cookies
- localStorage Items - Client-side storage entries
- sessionStorage Items - Session-specific storage entries
Change Detection
The scanner tracks changes between scans:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| New | Cookie appeared since last scan |
| Updated | Cookie properties changed (expiration, value pattern, etc.) |
| Removed | Cookie no longer detected |
Technologies Detected
The scanner identifies common third-party services and their cookies:
- Google Analytics / GA4
- Google Ads / AdSense
- Meta Pixel (Facebook)
- HubSpot
- Hotjar
- And many more
Per-Page Breakdown
View which cookies appear on each scanned page:
- Go to Cookies → Scan Results
- Click on any scan
- Select Pages tab
This helps identify pages with excessive tracking or unexpected cookies.
Scan Statuses
| Status | Description |
|---|---|
| Pending | Scan queued, waiting to start |
| Running | Scan in progress |
| Completed | Scan finished successfully |
| Completed with Errors | Scan finished but some pages failed |
| Failed | Scan could not complete |
| Cancelled | Scan manually stopped |
Automated Scanning (Pro)
Pro plans include scheduled scans to keep your cookie list current:
| Schedule | Description |
|---|---|
| Weekly | Scans every 7 days |
| Monthly | Scans on the 1st of each month |
Enable automated scanning in Settings → Scanning.
Automated scans run during off-peak hours to minimize impact on your site. Results are emailed to your account email.
Managing Detected Cookies
After scanning, review and manage your cookies:
Edit Category
- Go to Cookies
- Click on any cookie
- Select the correct category from the dropdown
- Click Save
Add Description
Provide a user-friendly description for your privacy policy and consent banner:
- Click on the cookie
- Enter a description explaining what it does
- Click Save
Delete Cookie
Remove cookies that are no longer present or were false positives:
- Click on the cookie
- Click Delete
Deleting a cookie from CookieFrame doesn't remove it from your website. You need to remove the source code or service that sets the cookie.
Troubleshooting
Scan Shows Zero Cookies
- Check if site is accessible - The scanner needs public access to your site
- Verify JavaScript loads - Increase wait time if cookies are set by JavaScript
- Check robots.txt - Ensure the scanner isn't blocked
Scan Takes Too Long
- Reduce max pages - Start with 20-30 pages
- Reduce depth - Use depth 2 instead of 3
- Add exclude patterns - Skip large areas like archives or search results
Missing Expected Cookies
- Cookies may require interaction - The scanner doesn't fill forms or click buttons
- Login-protected cookies - The scanner can't access authenticated areas
- Conditional cookies - Some cookies only set on specific user actions
Scan Fails
- Site unreachable - Verify your domain is publicly accessible
- Timeout - Your site may be too slow; try during off-peak hours
- SSL errors - Ensure your SSL certificate is valid
Best Practices
- Scan after changes - Run a scan after adding new third-party services
- Review uncategorized - Don't leave cookies as "uncategorized" in production
- Document custom cookies - Add descriptions for first-party cookies
- Regular scans - Enable automated scanning to catch new cookies
- Test environments - Scan staging before production to catch issues early
Next Steps
- Consent Banner Design - Customize your banner appearance
- Compliance Frameworks - Configure GDPR, CCPA, or TCF
- TCF Vendors - Manage IAB TCF vendor consent