Selectors

Selectors tell RTILA which element(s) on the page to interact with or extract data from.

Selector Types

Type	Syntax	Description
CSS	css=.product-card	Standard CSS selector
XPath	xpath=//div[@class='product']	XPath expression
Text	text=Click Me	Exact text match
Variable	variable=my_var	Value of a runtime variable

CSS Selectors

CSS selectors are the most common and versatile type.

Selector	Matches
css=.product-card	Elements with class product-card
css=#main-content	Element with ID main-content
css=div.product	<div> elements with class product
css=div.product h2	<h2> inside <div class="product">
css=a[href^="https"]	Links starting with https
css=input[name="email"]	Input with name attribute email
css=div:nth-of-type(2)	Second <div> sibling
css=div.product:first-child	First child with class product

XPath Selectors

Use XPath for complex queries that CSS can’t handle.

Selector	Matches
xpath=//div[@class='product']	Divs with class product
xpath=//a[contains(text(), 'Next')]	Links containing “Next”
xpath=//div[@id='main']//h2	H2 inside div#main
xpath=//table//tr[position()>1]	Table rows except the first

Text Selectors

Match elements by their exact text content.

text=Click Me
text=Add to Cart
text=Next Page

Note: Text selectors match exact text. Partial matches are not supported.

Variable Selectors

Extract the value of a runtime variable as a dataset property.

variable=my_variable

This is useful when you want to include a runtime value in your extracted data.

Choosing the Right Selector

Scenario	Recommended Selector
Simple element with a class	css=.class-name
Element with a unique ID	css=#element-id
Element inside a specific parent	css=parent > child
Element by attribute	css=[data-id="123"]
Complex nested structure	xpath=//div[@class='parent']//span
Element by visible text	text=Exact Text
Dynamic value from a variable	variable=var_name

Selector Tips

Tip	Description
Prefer IDs and classes	They’re more stable than positional selectors
Avoid auto-generated classes	Classes like .css-1a2b3c or .sc-xyz change frequently
Use data attributes	data-id, data-product-id are stable
Use aria-label	aria-label attributes are stable and descriptive
Test selectors	Use the element picker in the Visual Builder to verify selectors
Avoid nth-child when possible	Position-based selectors break when content changes

Using the Element Picker

The easiest way to create selectors:

1. Open the project in the Visual Builder.
2. Click the pointer icon next to any selector field.
3. Click an element on the page.
4. The selector is auto-generated and filled in.

Iframe Selectors

If the target element is inside an iframe, specify the iframe selector separately:

Parameter	Description
iframe	Selector for the iframe (e.g., css=iframe#my-frame)
selector	Selector for the element inside the iframe