LinkedIn Connect

Automates sending LinkedIn connection requests from a list and tracks results in a data file.

⚠️ Pre-flight Checklist — Confirm Before Starting

Before doing anything else, confirm all of the following with the user. Do not proceed until each item is confirmed.

1. Data File

Ask the user to provide their spreadsheet/CSV/TSV file and confirm it has (or can have) these columns:

• Person/Founder Name — full name of the person to connect with
• Company/Brand Name — their company or brand (used for search fallback)
• LinkedIn Profile URL — optional but highly recommended; reduces automation footprint

If the file lacks any column, tell the user which columns are missing and offer to add them.

2. Browser Setup

Ask which browser setup they're using:

Option A — Chrome Browser Relay (recommended for accounts flagged for automation)

• User must have the OpenClaw Browser Relay Chrome extension installed
• User opens LinkedIn in their regular Chrome browser and clicks the OpenClaw Relay toolbar icon on that tab (badge turns ON)
• Use profile="chrome" for all browser tool calls in this mode

Option B — OpenClaw Isolated Browser (openclaw profile)

• OpenClaw manages a separate Chrome instance
• On first use, navigate to https://www.linkedin.com and let the user log in; cookies persist across sessions
• Use profile="openclaw" for all browser tool calls in this mode

Confirm which option they've set up. Default to Option A (Chrome Relay) if the user's account has been flagged or warned about automation.

3. Ready Check

Only proceed once the user says:

• ✅ File is ready and accessible
• ✅ Browser is open with LinkedIn logged in (and relay is attached if Option A)

Browser Profile

Set the profile variable based on user's choice in the Pre-flight Checklist:

• Option A: profile="chrome" — reuse the relay-attached tab; get targetId via browser action=tabs
• Option B: profile="openclaw" — OpenClaw-managed isolated Chrome instance

Do not mix profiles mid-run. Pick one and use it consistently for every browser tool call.

Data File Setup

Ensure the tracking file has a Connection Status column. If missing, add it:

import csv
rows = []
with open('file.tsv', 'r') as f:
    reader = csv.DictReader(f, delimiter='\t')
    fieldnames = reader.fieldnames + ['Connection Status']
    rows = list(reader)
with open('file.tsv', 'w', newline='') as f:
    writer = csv.DictWriter(f, fieldnames=fieldnames, delimiter='\t')
    writer.writeheader()
    for row in rows:
        row['Connection Status'] = ''
        writer.writerow(row)

Three-Tier Profile Discovery (Priority Order)

Always try in this order. Move to the next tier only if the current one fails.

Tier 1 — Direct LinkedIn URL (fastest, zero ambiguity)

Navigate directly to the LinkedIn profile URL from the data file.

• ✅ URL loads → correct profile, proceed to connect
• ❌ Returns 404 → escalate to Tier 2
• Skip Tier 1 if no URL is in the data file for this person

Tier 2 — Google Search (reliable fallback, preserves accuracy)

Search Google for "Founder Name" "Brand/Company" linkedin.

• Navigate to: https://www.google.com/search?q=++linkedin
• Find the LinkedIn profile link in results (usually first result), click it
• Once on the profile, proceed to Connect step
• ⚠️ Only escalate to Tier 3 if Google can't find the right person or returns no LinkedIn result

Tier 3 — LinkedIn People Search (last resort)

Run a LinkedIn people search for the founder + brand directly inside LinkedIn.

• Navigate to: https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/people/?keywords=+
• Look for inline Connect buttons first; otherwise open the profile from search results
• Confirm name + headline/company match before connecting
• ❌ No trustworthy match → mark Profile Not Found

See references/browser-workflow.md for detailed browser steps for each tier.

Connecting on a Profile

Once on the correct profile, two patterns exist:

Pattern A - Direct Connect button visible on profile → click it → confirm dialog → Send without a note

Pattern B - Follow mode (no Connect button, only Follow + Message + More) → click More actions → use selector .artdeco-dropdown__content--is-open to get dropdown → click Invite [Name] to connect → confirm dialog → Send without a note

If neither Connect nor Invite is available → mark Follow Only.

Status Values

Multi-founder Rows

When a TSV row has multiple founders, track per-founder status separated by | :

Founder1Slug: Request Sent | Founder2Slug: Already Connected

Rate Limiting & Anti-Detection

> ⚠️ LinkedIn flags accounts that jump directly between profile URLs. Always visit the feed between profiles — no exceptions.

• Navigate to /feed/ before every single profile, without exception. See references/browser-workflow.md for the exact call. This is the primary anti-detection measure.
• Add a short natural pause (2–4 seconds) after loading the feed before navigating to the next profile.
• If >3 consecutive clean URLs return 404, pause for 10 seconds on the feed before continuing (then fall back to Google/LinkedIn search).
• Do not open new browser tabs — the relay breaks; reuse the same attached tab for every action.
• Aim for no more than 20–25 connection requests per session. Stop and tell the user if you're approaching this limit.

Saving Progress

Use a linkedin_progress.json sidecar file:

{ "statuses": { "https://www.linkedin.com/in/username/": "Request Sent" } }

Update the TSV from this dict every 10 profiles or at the end.

References

• references/browser-workflow.md - Detailed browser steps for all three tiers and both connect patterns