io.github.tiliondev/fortress

One browser engine to rule them all

Stealth Chromium engine · v3 (Chromium 153)

Fortress is a Chromium fork that stops scrapers and browser agents from getting blocked. Bot detectors flag automation by reading the browser fingerprint. Fortress corrects that fingerprint inside Chromium's C++, so the browser reads as an ordinary Chrome install. Point your existing Playwright or Puppeteer at it over CDP; nothing else in your code changes.

Headless, on datacenter IPs, with no proxies, Fortress loaded 86.4% of 92 protected sites. The next best stack (Camoufox) loaded 74.5%.

A site reads the fingerprint. Stock Chrome driven by a script fails CreepJS, BrowserScan, rebrowser and the WebGL check and is blocked; Fortress passes all four.

Real runs, fully headless

Unedited captures over CDP, with no stealth plugins. Reproduce with examples/scrape_demos.py.

Auto-pagination: 30 quotes across 3 pages.

Deep detail crawl: UPC · price · tax · stock · reviews.

Akamai, before and after, on aa.com from the same residential IP: a stock browser gets Access Denied, Fortress loads the page and Akamai issues its _abck sensor cookie. Same result on lowes.com, macys.com and kohls.com.

Contents

Quick start · Every session a distinct machine · The Fortress MCP · Works with your stack · Why patch the engine · How Fortress compares · Results · Configure the persona · Build & verify · Reference

Quick start

pip install tilion-fortress                       # or: npm install tilion-fortress
docker run --rm -p 9222:9222 tilion/fortress:latest   # any OS, raw CDP on :9222

from tilion_fortress import Fortress
from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright

with Fortress() as f:                       # launches the engine on a CDP endpoint
    with sync_playwright() as p:
        browser = p.chromium.connect_over_cdp(f.cdp_url)
        page = browser.new_page()
        page.goto("https://bot.sannysoft.com")

import { Fortress } from "tilion-fortress";
import { chromium } from "playwright";

const f = await Fortress.launch();
const browser = await chromium.connectOverCDP(f.cdpUrl);
const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto("https://browserscan.net");

The pip and npm SDKs download a prebuilt, SHA-256-verified binary (Linux x64, Windows x64). Portable tarballs, a .deb and the Windows .zip are on Releases.

Free for developers

v3 is free for developers, with no machine, session or concurrency caps. Activate once:

tilion activate      # sign in with GitHub, Google or email; key saved to ~/.tilion/license.jwt

The key is checked offline and Fortress never reports usage. Without activation it still runs, on the public first-generation engine. For CI, Docker and agents, set TILION_LICENSE_KEY=<key> or run tilion activate --token <key>; one key covers a fleet. Production keys for larger organizations are at fortress.tilion.com/pricing.

The tilion CLI

Platforms

The arm64, x86 and armhf builds ship without the bundled Widevine CDM.

Set it up with an AI assistant

Every session a distinct machine

Each launch mints a fresh, internally coherent machine: GPU, screen, cores, timezone, language and fonts all agree. The persona reaches the renderer over IPC, so nothing shows on the command line and every BrowserContext can hold its own identity. Across 40 back-to-back launches of the same binary:

Reproduce with tools/gauntlet.py --runs 40. A 64-clone fleet resumed from one snapshot comes up 48/48 distinct, because on_restore re-keys the whole persona with no relaunch.

The Fortress MCP

A Model Context Protocol server that gives Claude, Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline or any MCP client a stealth browser as 29 tools, local and free. When a plain fetch is blocked, the agent calls a tool and gets the page.

pip install "tilion[mcp]"                  # or zero-install: npx -y tilion-mcp
claude mcp add fortress -- tilion-mcp      # Claude Code

For Claude Desktop, Cursor (~/.cursor/mcp.json), Cline and Windsurf, add the same block to the client's MCP config:

{ "mcpServers": { "fortress": { "command": "tilion-mcp" } } }

The full tool reference, benchmarks and agent skill are in mcp/.

Works with your stack

With Fortress running (Docker or the tilion command), one line changes: launch() becomes connect_over_cdp("http://localhost:9222").

Why patch the engine, not the page

A JavaScript stealth patch is a function standing where a native one belongs, and detectors check for exactly that:

Realm re-acquisition defeats every main-world patch. A detector takes a pristine primitive from another realm and turns it on your function:

const iframe = document.createElement('iframe'); document.body.appendChild(iframe);
const realToString = iframe.contentWindow.Function.prototype.toString;
realToString.call(navigator.__lookupGetter__('vendor')); // returns your source code. Caught.

In Fortress the getter for navigator.vendor is the C++ getter. It reports [native code] because it is native code, the same in every frame and worker. Fortress applies the Camoufox idea to V8 and Blink, so the fingerprint matches a Chrome user agent by construction.

The four layers of bot detection

Fortress is the Layer C engine, built to be driven so A and B hold too, and to stay geo-coherent (timezone, locale, WebRTC) once you bring a Layer D IP.

How Fortress compares

¹ Multilogin / GoLogin / Dolphin / Nstbrowser: closed-source engine patches, persistent identity by design, bundled residential egress (their Layer-D advantage over Fortress).

Fortress builds on prior art: fingerprint-chromium, ChromiumFish and CloakBrowser came first, and Camoufox, Multilogin, GoLogin and Dolphin also patch engine C++. Fortress's edge is the combination: the broadest native surface set on a Chromium base, fleet dynamism with on_restore, and parameter-level coherence. Where it is behind: IP egress (bring your own) and behavioral humanization beyond mouse motion.

What changed from v2 to v3

Full release notes

Results

Benchmark: 92 protected sites, eight stacks

Run on 2026-09-28 from US-East cloud machines, headless, on datacenter IPs with no proxies. Every tool loaded every target twice, each time on a fresh machine destroyed afterwards (1,584 machines). A run counts only if the real page loaded with no challenge or deny page. Method and target list: docs/BENCHMARK.md.

95% Wilson intervals; Fortress's does not overlap the next stack's. Fortress got 2/2 on ten sites where neither Camoufox nor puppeteer-stealth got more than 1/2, and there is no site where it got 0/2 while either of them got 2/2. A repeat run the same day scored 85.3%.

Live detectors

Headless, from a datacenter IP, on the v3 binary. Reproduce with tools/gauntlet.py --bundle ./fortress-v153; dated re-runs are in docs/GAUNTLET_RESULTS.md.

Unedited capture in a real window: Fortress clears a live Cloudflare challenge, turns bot.sannysoft.com all green and reads BrowserScan "Normal".

Configure the persona

The default is a fresh coherent persona per launch, delivered over IPC. Pin or override any surface with --uxr-* switches:

--uxr-platform / --uxr-ua-platform / --uxr-ua-os / --uxr-ua-arch / --uxr-ua-bitness
--uxr-ua-platform-version / --uxr-ua-brand / --uxr-hw-concurrency / --uxr-device-memory
--uxr-webgl-vendor / --uxr-webgl-renderer / --uxr-webgl-fullparams / --uxr-webgpu-vendor
--uxr-canvas-seed / --uxr-audio-seed / --uxr-timezone / --uxr-languages / --uxr-color-scheme
--uxr-screen-width / --uxr-screen-height / --uxr-webrtc-policy=disable_non_proxied_udp

Every flag, env var and coherence rule: docs/UXR_CONFIG.md.

Build & verify

export CHROMIUM_VERSION=$(cat CHROMIUM_VERSION)   # 153.0.8010.36
build/build.sh                         # depot_tools, sync the tag, apply patches, gn gen, ninja
build/rebase-monthly.sh 154.0.XXXX.0   # bump + 3-way apply + rebuild + gauntlet-gate

Output: out/Fortress/chrome. The fork is 81 single-surface patches, and the gauntlet gates every release. The first-generation patch series is public and rebuilds with the same script.

Fortress ships only from these channels:

Every release ships SHA256SUMS (the SDKs check it on install). Verify the Docker image by digest against the release notes:

BASE=https://github.com/tiliondev/fortress/releases/download/v153.0.8010.36
curl -LO $BASE/fortress-v153-linux-x64.tar.gz
curl -Ls $BASE/SHA256SUMS | sha256sum -c --ignore-missing     # -> OK
docker inspect --format '{{index .RepoDigests 0}}' tilion/fortress:153.0.8010.36

Reference

Troubleshooting

Still blocked on Cloudflare, DataDome or Kasada. Usually the IP: datacenter ranges are flagged before any page script runs. Retry through a residential or mobile proxy; if it clears, the fingerprint was fine. Tilion Cloud runs Fortress on residential egress (waitlist at tilion.com).

The fingerprint looks off on a Linux host. The default persona is Windows, but TLS and some OS signals follow the host. Match the persona to your egress OS with --uxr-*, or run the native Windows build.

macOS. Run the Docker image or build the .app from source.

A detector flags something the gauntlet passes. Confirm you are on the current rebase, then email team@tilion.dev with the test page.

FAQ

Does Fortress work with Selenium? Drive it over CDP. chromedriver adds the driver artifacts Fortress is built to avoid.

How is it different from puppeteer-stealth, undetected-chromedriver, nodriver and patchright? Those patch the JavaScript or CDP layer, which toString and realm re-acquisition reveal, and headless they send HeadlessChrome in the user agent. In the benchmark they loaded 34 to 36% (puppeteer-stealth 72.3%) against Fortress's 86.4%.

How is it different from Camoufox? Same engine-level idea. Camoufox forks Firefox; Fortress forks Chromium/V8, the majority engine, and adds WebGPU coherence and on_restore fleet re-identity. Benchmark: 86.4% vs 74.5%.

Is it an alternative to Multilogin, GoLogin, Kameleo, AdsPower or Dolphin? Those are closed-source builds sold as persistent profiles with bundled proxies. Fortress is an engine you run yourself, with a fresh identity per launch, published first-generation patches and no telemetry.

Does it run headless? Yes. The benchmark is headless, and headless and headed launches present the same fingerprint.

Do I still need proxies? For sites that block datacenter ranges, yes. Fortress keeps timezone, locale and WebRTC coherent with whatever exit you use.

Is it open source? What does it cost? Source-available under the Fortress Source Available License 1.1; see License.

Is this legal? Fortress is for legitimate automation, testing and scraping of public data. Respect each site's terms and your local law.

Will it pass everything forever? No. Detection moves, so Fortress rebases on Chromium monthly and publishes a dated, reproducible gauntlet.

Roadmap

• [ ] First-party residential and mobile egress, wired to the existing geo-coherence
• [ ] Keystroke and scroll variance (mouse motion has shipped)
• [ ] TLS ClientHello (JA3/JA4) in the persona surface set
• [ ] Linux arm64 / x86 / armhf tarballs (rolling out) and a macOS .app
• [ ] Code-signed Windows .exe and macOS .app

Shipped in v3: the IPC persona with per-context isolation, on_restore, parameter-level WebGL and WebGPU, recorded-human mouse motion, the Widevine CDM, the native Windows build, the MCP server and the 92-site benchmark.

Repo layout

patches/     the first-generation C++ patch series (Fortress Source Available License 1.1)
build/       args.gn, build.sh, apply-patches.sh, rebase-monthly.sh, windows/, macos/
packaging/   tilion launcher, fonts.conf, Dockerfile, .deb + bundle builders
fonts/       222 metric-compatible OS-named font files (154 distinct families, incl. color emoji)
sdk/         python + node (tilion-fortress) prebuilt-binary SDKs
mcp/         the Fortress MCP server (29 tools) and the agent skill
tools/       gauntlet.py, the CreepJS / Sannysoft / BrowserScan CI gate
docs/        UXR_CONFIG (the --uxr-* reference), GAUNTLET_RESULTS, BENCHMARK

Contributing

Fortress does not accept outside pull requests; see CONTRIBUTING.md. Found a detection vector or a leak? Email team@tilion.dev with a reproducible test page.

License

Fortress Source Available License 1.1. Free to read, modify, rebuild and redistribute, and to use for development, testing and evaluation at any size. Production use is free for individuals and for organizations under US$500,000 in cumulative funding and US$300,000 or less in ARR; other organizations need one flat subscription (fortress.tilion.com/pricing, LICENSE, SUBSCRIPTION-TERMS.md). Earlier BSD-licensed releases keep their BSD permissions (LICENSE-BSD-LEGACY). Chromium and the bundled fonts keep their own licenses (NOTICE).