Automate linkedin connections using Python

 Automating LinkedIn connections using Python involves creating a script that navigates LinkedIn, finds users based on specific criteria (e.g., job title, company, or location), and sends personalized connection requests. In this article, we will walk you through the process, using Selenium for web automation. This automation simplifies networking while maintaining a personal touch.

Step 1: Install Required Libraries

We need a few libraries to perform web automation and handle web elements effectively.

1. Install Selenium: For controlling browser activities.
2. Install webdriver_manager: For managing the appropriate browser driver version automatically.
3. Install time and other standard libraries: For adding delays and managing timing during automation.

pip install selenium webdriver-manager

Step 2: Set Up the Environment

To automate LinkedIn connections, you’ll need:

• A LinkedIn account.
• Installed Chrome or another browser.
• Downloaded and installed the corresponding web driver (e.g., ChromeDriver for Chrome).

Step 3: Import Necessary Libraries

Let’s begin by importing the required libraries into your Python script.

from selenium import webdriver

from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By

from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys

from selenium.webdriver.chrome.service import Service

from webdriver_manager.chrome import ChromeDriverManager

import time

Step 4: Log in to LinkedIn

We will automate the login process to access LinkedIn.

1. Define the LinkedIn URL and your login credentials.
2. Use Selenium to open the browser and navigate to LinkedIn's login page.
3. Enter your username and password, then click the "Sign in" button.

# Set up the browser

driver = webdriver.Chrome(service=Service(ChromeDriverManager().install()))

driver.get("https://www.linkedin.com/login")

​

# Enter login credentials

username = driver.find_element(By.ID, "username")

password = driver.find_element(By.ID, "password")

username.send_keys("your_email@example.com")

password.send_keys("your_password")

​

# Click login button

login_button = driver.find_element(By.XPATH, "//button[@type='submit']")

login_button.click()

​

time.sleep(3)  # Wait for the page to load

Step 5: Search for Profiles

Search for users based on specific criteria like job titles or companies.

1. Navigate to the LinkedIn search bar.
2. Input your desired search query (e.g., "Software Engineer").
3. Automate pressing the "Enter" key to fetch results.

search_box = driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, ".search-global-typeahead__input.search-global-typeahead__input--ellipsis")

search_box.send_keys("Software Engineer")  # Replace with your search query

search_box.send_keys(Keys.RETURN)

time.sleep(5)

Step 6: Send Connection Requests

Now we’ll loop through the profiles and send connection requests.

1. Locate the "Connect" buttons on the page.
2. Click each button and handle any pop-ups.
3. Add delays between actions to mimic human behavior.

try:

    while True:  # Loop to process profiles on the current page

        # Scroll to load profiles dynamically

        driver.execute_script("window.scrollTo(0, document.body.scrollHeight);")

        time.sleep(3)  # Wait for new profiles to load

​

        # Find all "Connect" buttons

        connect_buttons = driver.find_elements(By.XPATH, "//button[.//span[contains(@class, 'artdeco-button__text') and text()='Connect']]")

​

        if not connect_buttons:

            print("No 'Connect' buttons found on the current page.")

            break  # Exit the loop if no buttons are found

​

        for button in connect_buttons:

            try:

                # Scroll to the "Connect" button to bring it into view

                driver.execute_script("arguments[0].scrollIntoView(true);", button)

                time.sleep(1)  # Allow time for scrolling

​

                # Try normal click

                try:

                    button.click()

                except:

                    # Fallback to JavaScript click if intercepted

                    driver.execute_script("arguments[0].click();", button)

​

                time.sleep(2)  # Allow time for the pop-up to load

​

                # Click the "Send without a note" button in the pop-up

                try:

                    send_without_note_button = WebDriverWait(driver, 5).until(

                        EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.XPATH, "//button[.//span[contains(@class, 'artdeco-button__text') and text()='Send without a note']]"))

                    )

                    send_without_note_button.click()

                    print("Connection request sent successfully.")

                    time.sleep(2)

                except Exception as send_error:

                    print(f"Error finding 'Send without a note' button: {send_error}")

​

            except Exception as button_error:

                print(f"Error clicking 'Connect' button: {button_error}")

​

except KeyboardInterrupt:

    print("Script stopped by user.")

Step 7: Log Out and Close the Browser

Once all actions are completed, log out and close the browser to end the session.

# Log out (optional)

driver.get("https://www.linkedin.com/login?session_redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fm%2Flogout%2F")

​

# Close the browser

driver.quit()

Step 8: Full Code Implementation

Below is the complete Python script for automating LinkedIn connections. You can run this code after ensuring you have set up everything correctly.

from selenium import webdriver

from webdriver_manager.chrome import ChromeDriverManager

from selenium.webdriver.chrome.service import Service

from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By

from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys

from selenium.webdriver.common.action_chains import ActionChains

from selenium.webdriver.chrome.service import Service

from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait

from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC

from webdriver_manager.chrome import ChromeDriverManager

import time

​

# Step 1: Set up the browser

driver = webdriver.Chrome(service=Service(ChromeDriverManager().install()))

driver.get("https://www.linkedin.com/login")

​

# Step 2: Log in to LinkedIn

username = driver.find_element(By.ID, "username")

password = driver.find_element(By.ID, "password")

username.send_keys("Enter your linkedin email")  # Replace with your LinkedIn email

password.send_keys("Enter your password here")              # Replace with your LinkedIn password

​

# Click login button

login_button = driver.find_element(By.XPATH, "//button[@type='submit']")

login_button.click()

time.sleep(3)

​

# Step 3: Search for profiles using the correct class name for search box

search_box = driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, ".search-global-typeahead__input.search-global-typeahead__input--ellipsis")

search_box.send_keys("Software Engineer")  # Replace with your search query

search_box.send_keys(Keys.RETURN)

time.sleep(5)

​

# Step 4: Navigate to the "People" tab using Explicit Wait

try:

    # Wait for the "People" button to be clickable

    people_tab = WebDriverWait(driver, 10).until(

        EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.XPATH, "//button[contains(., 'People')]"))

    )

    people_tab.click()

    print("Navigated to the 'People' section successfully.")

    time.sleep(5)

except Exception as e:

    print(f"Error navigating to the 'People' section: {e}")

    driver.quit()

    exit()

​

# Step 5: Send connection requests

try:

    while True:  # Loop to process profiles on the current page

        # Scroll to load profiles dynamically

        driver.execute_script("window.scrollTo(0, document.body.scrollHeight);")

        time.sleep(3)  # Wait for new profiles to load

​

        # Find all "Connect" buttons

        connect_buttons = driver.find_elements(By.XPATH, "//button[.//span[contains(@class, 'artdeco-button__text') and text()='Connect']]")

​

        if not connect_buttons:

            print("No 'Connect' buttons found on the current page.")

            break  # Exit the loop if no buttons are found

​

        for button in connect_buttons:

            try:

                # Scroll to the "Connect" button to bring it into view

                driver.execute_script("arguments[0].scrollIntoView(true);", button)

                time.sleep(1)  # Allow time for scrolling

​

                # Try normal click

                try:

                    button.click()

                except:

                    # Fallback to JavaScript click if intercepted

                    driver.execute_script("arguments[0].click();", button)

​

                time.sleep(2)  # Allow time for the pop-up to load

​

                # Click the "Send without a note" button in the pop-up

                try:

                    send_without_note_button = WebDriverWait(driver, 5).until(

                        EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.XPATH, "//button[.//span[contains(@class, 'artdeco-button__text') and text()='Send without a note']]"))

                    )

                    send_without_note_button.click()

                    print("Connection request sent successfully.")

                    time.sleep(2)

                except Exception as send_error:

                    print(f"Error finding 'Send without a note' button: {send_error}")

​

            except Exception as button_error:

                print(f"Error clicking 'Connect' button: {button_error}")

​

except KeyboardInterrupt:

    print("Script stopped by user.")

Output:

Navigated to the 'People' section successfully.
Connection request sent successfully.
Connection request sent successfully.
Connection request sent successfully.
Connection request sent successfully.
Connection request sent successfully.
Connection request sent successfully.
Connection request sent successfully.
Connection request sent successfully.
Connection request sent successfully.
Connection request sent successfully.
No 'Connect' buttons found on the current page.