# Network requests and responses

Canonical: https://fairleadhq.com/docs/recorder/network/

Updated: 2026-10-07
Publication state: published
Product version: Source verified — 52de40a

Agent summary: Find a request and inspect its captured details. Bodies may be unavailable or truncated; HTTP status alone does not establish application success.

## Prerequisites

- A recorded session open in the viewer

## Inputs

- Captured requests and responses

## Outputs

- Relevant request details and identified gaps

## Limitations

- Bodies may be unavailable or truncated; HTTP status alone does not establish application success

## Permissions

- Access to the session

## Privacy

- Review captured content before sharing


Find a request and inspect its captured details.

Use **Network** in the session viewer to inspect traffic around a check. Start with the action and observed result so you know which request matters.

## Find the request

1. Open **Investigate** after stopping the recording.
2. Select **Network**.
3. Search for a URL, header, payload value, response text, or message.

Narrow the list with **Response status**, **Method**, or **Source**. **More filters** includes domain, exact status, duration, response size, and GraphQL filtering. Use **Type** to distinguish traffic such as WebSocket rows, **Attention** to narrow diagnostic findings, and **Hide data: URLs** or **Hide extension URLs** to reduce noise. **From** and **To** sliders isolate a time range. Use **Reset filters** if an expected request disappears from the list.

The **Only caused by action** filter uses inferred associations; it can exclude relevant traffic that has no recorded action link.

## Inspect request details

Select a request, then examine the relevant detail tabs:

- **Headers:** Request and response headers and general information.
- **Payload:** Request content and **Query String Parameters**.
- **Response:** Captured response content.
- **Initiator:** Available information about what initiated the request.
- **Timing:** Available phases and waterfall evidence.
- **Cookies:** Captured cookie details and available privacy controls. Values are initially masked; permitted review decisions can include originals in exports.
- **EventStream:** Captured stream messages where available.

Search within the request details to find a field. Add a [note](https://fairleadhq.com/docs/recorder/notes/) to a request or a specific field when it explains the result.

## Interpret failures

An HTTP failure, a transport error, and an application-level error are different observations. GraphQL responses can contain errors with HTTP 200; inspect the response instead of relying only on status.

Missing, redacted, or truncated bodies are evidence gaps. They can result from capture rules, size limits, streaming behavior, or browser availability. A missing response does not establish that the server sent no data.

## Example: a successful request with the wrong result

In the [real sample](https://fairleadhq.com/docs/recorder/developers/trace-a-failure/#worked-example-the-sticky-blocked-tag), the In progress click occurs at +32.226 seconds. The following POST sends the card ID and `status: "in_progress"`; the next board response changes the status but retains the blocked value seen after entering Blocked. All six requests returned HTTP 200. Inspecting only failed requests would miss this finding.

## Review an image response

For eligible uncaptured image responses in a local session, **Load from cache** attempts to read the browser's cached image. It does not request it from the origin server. If that fails, **Re-download image**, when offered, makes a new request to the displayed URL and may use browser cookies or follow redirects. It can return a different image from the one seen during recording; the preview shows when it was retrieved.

Use **Add as attachment** only after checking the image. Record that it was retrieved later if timing matters. Masked URLs cannot be re-downloaded, and these controls are unavailable in stored-session review.

## Reuse the request

Use [Copy and reproduce a request](https://fairleadhq.com/docs/recorder/developers/reproduce-a-request/) for cURL and HAR handoff. Review sensitive fields before copying or downloading. [Streaming traffic](https://fairleadhq.com/docs/recorder/developers/graphql-and-streams/) explains evidence that does not carry into a standard HAR.