Browser monitors: 401 failures on challenge-response pages

nandini_balakri — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 14:41:06 GMT

Summary

Since the transition to MV3, browser monitors (clickpaths and single-URL monitors) might fail with a 401 status code on challenge-response pages where it was previously possible to bypass such challenges.

Resolution

For such pages, you first need to set up HTTP authentication in the browser monitor settings.
- In browser clickpaths, Enable HTTP authentication and provide credentials in the Navigate event.
- In single-URL browser monitors, select Advanced setup in edit mode and Enable global login authentication. Then select HTTP authentication and provide credentials.
Read more in Supported authentication methods in Synthetic Monitoring and Configure browser monitors.
Additionally, you might need to ignore the 401 status code in browser monitor settings in edit mode. Select Advanced setup and turn on Ignore specific status codes.

Previously, adding credentials, even dummy ones, into the HTTP authentication fields allowed 401 challenges to be bypassed. However, updates to the Dynatrace Synthetic Recorder extension, required by Chrome, have caused this solution to be deprecated starting with Dynatrace version 1.257.

What's Next

If this article didn't help resolve the issue, open a chat and provide

a link to the browser monitor that you are troubleshooting.
an explanation of the behavior you are seeing, and what you are expecting.
the troubleshooting steps you have already completed.

You can find further troubleshooting tips for Synthetic in the Synthetic Troubleshooting Map

Re: Browser monitors: 401 failures on challenge-response pages

radek_jasinski — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 10:14:25 GMT

Great guide:) Thank you @nandini_balakri

article Browser monitors: 401 failures on challenge-response pages in Troubleshooting

Browser monitors: 401 failures on challenge-response pages

Summary

Resolution

What's Next

Re: Browser monitors: 401 failures on challenge-response pages