Custom CAPTCHA Types: Submitting Unusual Challenges to CaptchaAI

Not all CAPTCHAs are reCAPTCHA or standard text images. Custom CAPTCHAs require creative approaches for parameter extraction and submission.

Identifying Custom CAPTCHAs

Submitting Custom Images with Instructions

For any visual CAPTCHA, screenshot it and provide instructions:

import requests
import base64
import time
import os

API_KEY = os.environ["CAPTCHAAI_API_KEY"]


def solve_custom_captcha(image_b64, instructions):
    """Solve any visual CAPTCHA using image + text instructions."""
    resp = requests.post("https://ocr.captchaai.com/in.php", data={
        "key": API_KEY,
        "method": "base64",
        "body": image_b64,
        "textinstructions": instructions,
        "json": 1,
    }, timeout=30)

    result = resp.json()
    if result.get("status") != 1:
        raise RuntimeError(result.get("request"))

    task_id = result["request"]

    time.sleep(10)
    for _ in range(30):
        resp = requests.get("https://ocr.captchaai.com/res.php", params={
            "key": API_KEY, "action": "get",
            "id": task_id, "json": 1,
        }, timeout=15)
        data = resp.json()
        if data.get("status") == 1:
            return data["request"]
        if data["request"] != "CAPCHA_NOT_READY":
            raise RuntimeError(data["request"])
        time.sleep(5)

    raise TimeoutError("Solve timeout")

Slider Position CAPTCHAs

CAPTCHAs that require dragging a slider to a specific position:

# slider_captcha.py
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
from selenium.webdriver.common.action_chains import ActionChains


def solve_slider_captcha(driver, captcha_selector):
    """Screenshot slider CAPTCHA and solve via CaptchaAI."""
    captcha = driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, captcha_selector)
    image_b64 = captcha.screenshot_as_base64

    result = solve_custom_captcha(
        image_b64,
        "What pixel position should the slider be dragged to? "
        "Return only the X offset number."
    )

    try:
        offset = int(result)
    except ValueError:
        return False

    # Drag slider to position
    slider = driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, ".slider-handle")
    ActionChains(driver).click_and_hold(slider).move_by_offset(offset, 0).release().perform()

    return True

Rotation CAPTCHAs

CAPTCHAs where an image must be rotated to the correct orientation:

# rotation_captcha.py


def solve_rotation_captcha(driver, captcha_selector):
    """Solve rotation CAPTCHA."""
    captcha = driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, captcha_selector)
    image_b64 = captcha.screenshot_as_base64

    result = solve_custom_captcha(
        image_b64,
        "How many degrees should this image be rotated clockwise "
        "to be in the correct upright orientation? Return only the number."
    )

    try:
        degrees = int(result)
    except ValueError:
        return False

    # Click rotation button the correct number of times
    rotate_btn = driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, ".rotate-button")
    clicks = degrees // 90  # Each click rotates 90 degrees

    for _ in range(clicks):
        rotate_btn.click()
        time.sleep(0.3)

    return True

Selection Order CAPTCHAs

CAPTCHAs where items must be clicked in a specific order:

# order_captcha.py


def solve_order_captcha(driver, captcha_selector, item_selector):
    """Solve click-in-order CAPTCHA."""
    captcha = driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, captcha_selector)
    image_b64 = captcha.screenshot_as_base64

    result = solve_custom_captcha(
        image_b64,
        "What is the correct order? Return as comma-separated "
        "numbers (1-indexed) representing positions left-to-right, top-to-bottom."
    )

    # Parse order
    try:
        order = [int(x.strip()) for x in result.split(",")]
    except ValueError:
        return False

    # Click items in order
    items = driver.find_elements(By.CSS_SELECTOR, item_selector)
    for idx in order:
        if 1 <= idx <= len(items):
            items[idx - 1].click()
            time.sleep(0.5)

    return True

Audio CAPTCHAs

Some sites offer audio alternatives:

# audio_captcha.py
import requests


def solve_audio_captcha(audio_url):
    """Download and solve an audio CAPTCHA."""
    # Download audio
    resp = requests.get(audio_url, timeout=30)
    audio_b64 = base64.b64encode(resp.content).decode("ascii")

    # Submit as image with instructions
    # CaptchaAI may support audio via the base64 method
    result = solve_custom_captcha(
        audio_b64,
        "This is an audio CAPTCHA. Transcribe the spoken characters."
    )
    return result

Custom Widget CAPTCHAs

For completely custom CAPTCHA widgets:

# custom_widget.py
from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By


def handle_custom_widget(driver, widget_selector):
    """Handle an unknown custom CAPTCHA widget."""

    # Step 1: Screenshot the entire widget
    widget = driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, widget_selector)
    image_b64 = widget.screenshot_as_base64

    # Step 2: Get any visible instructions
    try:
        instructions_el = widget.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, ".instructions, .prompt, p")
        visible_instructions = instructions_el.text
    except Exception:
        visible_instructions = "Solve this CAPTCHA"

    # Step 3: Submit with descriptive instructions
    result = solve_custom_captcha(
        image_b64,
        f"CAPTCHA instructions: {visible_instructions}. "
        f"Return the answer text."
    )

    # Step 4: Try to submit result
    try:
        input_el = widget.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "input")
        input_el.clear()
        input_el.send_keys(result)
    except Exception:
        # No input — try clicking based on result
        driver.execute_script("""
            var input = document.querySelector('input[name*="captcha"]');
            if (input) input.value = arguments[0];
        """, result)

    return result

CAPTCHA Type Detection

# detector.py
import re


def detect_captcha_type(page_html):
    """Detect which CAPTCHA type is on a page."""
    checks = {
        "recaptcha_v2": r'data-sitekey.*g-recaptcha',
        "recaptcha_v3": r'recaptcha/api\.js\?render=',
        "turnstile": r'cf-turnstile|challenges\.cloudflare\.com/turnstile',
        "geetest": r'gt\b.*challenge|geetest',
        "bls": r'method.*bls|bls-captcha',
        "image_text": r'captcha.*\.(png|jpg|gif|jpeg)',
        "slider": r'slider.*captcha|slide.*verify',
        "audio": r'audio.*captcha|captcha.*audio',
    }

    detected = []
    for captcha_type, pattern in checks.items():
        if re.search(pattern, page_html, re.IGNORECASE):
            detected.append(captcha_type)

    return detected if detected else ["unknown"]

Troubleshooting

FAQ

Can CaptchaAI solve any CAPTCHA type?

CaptchaAI supports 27,500+ CAPTCHA types natively. For truly novel custom CAPTCHAs, the image + text instructions approach provides the best coverage.

What if the custom CAPTCHA changes frequently?

Use the type detection function to identify the current challenge and route to the appropriate solver.

How do I get support for a new CAPTCHA type?

Contact CaptchaAI support with example images and the site URL. New types can be added to the platform.

Related Guides

• Multi-Character Solving Strategies
• Base64 Encoding Best Practices

Solve any CAPTCHA — start with CaptchaAI.