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🔑 Authentication Guide

To query problem details, list solved states, test code against judge servers, and submit solutions, leetrs requires authentication with LeetCode.com.

leetrs uses session cookies (LEETCODE_SESSION and csrftoken) to authenticate all API requests.

🔒 Interactive Auth (leetrs auth)​

Run the interactive authentication command:

leetrs auth

You will see an interactive prompt powered by dialoguer:

🔒 LeetCode Authentication

? How would you like to authenticate?
❯ Auto-detect browser (Recommended)
  Paste cURL / Cookie header manually
  Extract from Firefox
  Extract from Chrome
  Extract from Brave
  Extract from Edge
  Extract from Arc

🌐 Option 1: Automatic Cookie Extraction​

If you are already logged into LeetCode in any supported browser (Firefox, Chrome, Brave, Edge, Arc, or privacy forks like LibreWolf, Floorp, Waterfox), select:

  • Auto-detect browser (Recommended)
  • Or specify your browser directly from the menu.

Earlier versions of leetrs relied on the external rookie crate. In v1.2.0, rookie has been completely removed and deprecated in favor of the custom, lightweight cookie-extract workspace crate.

Key advantages of cookie-extract:

  • Zero External Runtime Dependencies: Eliminates bulky third-party dependencies and reduces compilation footprint.
  • Safe SQLite Staging: Stages isolated temporary copies of cookies.sqlite along with companion -wal (write-ahead log) and -shm (shared memory) files. This prevents file lock contention even if your browser is actively open and running while authenticating.
  • Native OS Keyring Decryption:
    • macOS: Queries macOS Keychain via Apple's Security framework and decrypts AES-128-CBC cookies.
    • Linux: Resolves encryption keys across GNOME Keyring / Secret Service, KWallet, and fallback passwords, with full support for native packages, Flatpak, and Snap sandboxes.
    • Windows: Decrypts AES-GCM payloads via DPAPI (CryptUnprotectData).
  • Privacy Browser Support: Out-of-the-box discovery for LibreWolf, Floorp, and Waterfox profiles from profiles.ini.
Prerequisites for Automatic Extraction
  • You must be logged into leetcode.com in the chosen browser.
  • Multi-profile and live sessions are supported safely via isolated temporary database staging.

✍️ Option 2: Single-Paste cURL / Header Fallback​

If you are on a headless server, remote SSH session, or unsupported environment:

  1. Select Paste cURL / Cookie header manually.
  2. Open leetcode.com in your browser and open Developer Tools (F12 or Cmd+Option+I) → Network tab.
  3. Right click any graphql or api request → Copy → Copy as cURL (or copy the raw Cookie: header).
  4. Paste the entire string into the single prompt in leetrs auth. leetrs will automatically parse LEETCODE_SESSION and csrftoken.

🔍 Checking Authentication Status (leetrs status)​

Verify your active credentials at any time:

leetrs status

Output:

✅ Currently authenticated!
🔑 csrftoken:
d9a8...f102

🔑 LEETCODE_SESSION:
eyJhbGciOi...

Credentials are saved in ~/.config/leetrs/credentials.json (or %APPDATA%\leetrs\credentials.json on Windows).