From 7db08d448b4eb1b1394dcf95bd5dd9d80242c61f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Nick Hagar <nicholashagar2018@u.northwestern.edu>
Date: Sun, 25 May 2025 10:55:17 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 1/7] auth module

---
 pyproject.toml       |  12 ++-
 substack_api/auth.py | 215 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 uv.lock              | 164 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 3 files changed, 380 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 substack_api/auth.py

diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 95ae81f..f43276f 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,9 +4,7 @@ version = "1.0.2"
 description = "Unofficial wrapper for the Substack API"
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.12"
-dependencies = [
-    "requests>=2.32.3",
-]
+dependencies = ["requests>=2.32.3"]
 
 [dependency-groups]
 dev = [
@@ -18,3 +16,11 @@ dev = [
     "pytest>=8.3.4",
     "ruff>=0.9.9",
 ]
+
+[project.urls]
+"Homepage" = "https://github.com/nhagar/substack_api"
+"Bug Tracker" = "https://github.com/nhagar/substack_api/issues"
+"Documentation" = "https://nhagar.github.io/substack_api/"
+
+[project.optional-dependencies]
+auth = ["selenium>=4.33.0"]
diff --git a/substack_api/auth.py b/substack_api/auth.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..424fdc8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/substack_api/auth.py
@@ -0,0 +1,215 @@
+import json
+import os
+from typing import Optional
+
+import requests
+from selenium import webdriver
+from selenium.common.exceptions import TimeoutException
+from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
+from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC
+from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait
+
+
+class SubstackAuth:
+    """Handles authentication for Substack API requests."""
+
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        email: Optional[str] = None,
+        password: Optional[str] = None,
+        cookies_path: Optional[str] = None,
+    ):
+        """
+        Initialize authentication handler.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        email : str, optional
+            Substack account email
+        password : str, optional
+            Substack account password
+        cookies_path : str, optional
+            Path to save/load session cookies
+        """
+        self.email = email
+        self.password = password
+        self.cookies_path = cookies_path or os.path.expanduser(
+            "~/.substack_cookies.json"
+        )
+        self.session = requests.Session()
+        self.authenticated = False
+
+        # Set default headers
+        self.session.headers.update(
+            {
+                "User-Agent": "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/91.0.4472.77 Safari/537.36",
+                "Accept": "application/json",
+                "Content-Type": "application/json",
+            }
+        )
+
+        # Try to load existing cookies
+        if os.path.exists(self.cookies_path):
+            self.load_cookies()
+        elif email and password:
+            self.login()
+
+    def login(self) -> bool:
+        """
+        Login to Substack using Selenium WebDriver.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        bool
+            True if login successful, False otherwise
+        """
+        if not self.email or not self.password:
+            raise ValueError("Email and password required for login")
+
+        print(f"Logging in as {self.email}...")
+
+        # Setup Chrome options for headless mode
+        options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
+        options.add_argument("--headless")
+        options.add_argument("--no-sandbox")
+        options.add_argument("--disable-dev-shm-usage")
+
+        driver = None
+        try:
+            driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=options)
+            driver.get("https://substack.com/sign-in")
+
+            # Wait for login form
+            wait = WebDriverWait(driver, 10)
+
+            # Enter email
+            email_input = wait.until(EC.presence_of_element_located((By.NAME, "email")))
+            email_input.send_keys(self.email)
+
+            # Click Sign in with password
+            sign_in_button = driver.find_element(
+                By.XPATH, "//a[contains(text(), 'Sign in with password')]"
+            )
+            sign_in_button.click()
+
+            # Wait for password field
+            password_input = wait.until(
+                EC.presence_of_element_located((By.NAME, "password"))
+            )
+            password_input.send_keys(self.password)
+
+            # Submit login
+            login_button = driver.find_element(
+                By.XPATH, "//button[contains(text(), 'Continue')]"
+            )
+            login_button.click()
+
+            # Wait for redirect after successful login
+            wait.until(lambda d: d.current_url != "https://substack.com/sign-in")
+
+            # Extract cookies
+            cookies = driver.get_cookies()
+
+            # Convert to requests session cookies
+            for cookie in cookies:
+                self.session.cookies.set(
+                    cookie["name"],
+                    cookie["value"],
+                    domain=cookie.get("domain"),
+                    path=cookie.get("path", "/"),
+                )
+
+            # Save cookies
+            self.save_cookies()
+            self.authenticated = True
+            print("Login successful!")
+            return True
+
+        except TimeoutException:
+            print("Login failed: Timeout waiting for elements")
+            return False
+        except Exception as e:
+            print(f"Login failed: {str(e)}")
+            return False
+        finally:
+            if driver:
+                driver.quit()
+
+    def save_cookies(self) -> None:
+        """Save session cookies to file."""
+        cookies = {}
+        for cookie in self.session.cookies:
+            cookies[cookie.name] = {
+                "value": cookie.value,
+                "domain": cookie.domain,
+                "path": cookie.path,
+                "secure": cookie.secure,
+                "expires": cookie.expires,
+            }
+
+        with open(self.cookies_path, "w") as f:
+            json.dump(cookies, f)
+
+    def load_cookies(self) -> bool:
+        """
+        Load cookies from file.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        bool
+            True if cookies loaded successfully
+        """
+        try:
+            with open(self.cookies_path, "r") as f:
+                cookies = json.load(f)
+
+            for name, cookie in cookies.items():
+                self.session.cookies.set(
+                    name,
+                    cookie["value"],
+                    domain=cookie.get("domain"),
+                    path=cookie.get("path", "/"),
+                    secure=cookie.get("secure", False),
+                )
+
+            return True
+
+        except Exception as e:
+            print(f"Failed to load cookies: {str(e)}")
+            return False
+
+    def get(self, url: str, **kwargs) -> requests.Response:
+        """
+        Make authenticated GET request.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        url : str
+            URL to request
+        **kwargs
+            Additional arguments to pass to requests.get
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        requests.Response
+            Response object
+        """
+        return self.session.get(url, **kwargs)
+
+    def post(self, url: str, **kwargs) -> requests.Response:
+        """
+        Make authenticated POST request.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        url : str
+            URL to request
+        **kwargs
+            Additional arguments to pass to requests.post
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        requests.Response
+            Response object
+        """
+        return self.session.post(url, **kwargs)
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index e57c970..8b4e0bc 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -19,6 +19,15 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/25/8a/c46dcc25341b5bce5472c718902eb3d38600a903b14fa6aeecef3f21a46f/asttokens-3.0.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:e3078351a059199dd5138cb1c706e6430c05eff2ff136af5eb4790f9d28932e2", size = 26918 },
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "attrs"
+version = "25.3.0"
+source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/5a/b0/1367933a8532ee6ff8d63537de4f1177af4bff9f3e829baf7331f595bb24/attrs-25.3.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:75d7cefc7fb576747b2c81b4442d4d4a1ce0900973527c011d1030fd3bf4af1b", size = 812032 }
+wheels = [
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/77/06/bb80f5f86020c4551da315d78b3ab75e8228f89f0162f2c3a819e407941a/attrs-25.3.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:427318ce031701fea540783410126f03899a97ffc6f61596ad581ac2e40e3bc3", size = 63815 },
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "babel"
 version = "2.17.0"
@@ -43,11 +52,11 @@ wheels = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "certifi"
-version = "2025.1.31"
+version = "2025.4.26"
 source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
-sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/1c/ab/c9f1e32b7b1bf505bf26f0ef697775960db7932abeb7b516de930ba2705f/certifi-2025.1.31.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:3d5da6925056f6f18f119200434a4780a94263f10d1c21d032a6f6b2baa20651", size = 167577 }
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/e8/9e/c05b3920a3b7d20d3d3310465f50348e5b3694f4f88c6daf736eef3024c4/certifi-2025.4.26.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:0a816057ea3cdefcef70270d2c515e4506bbc954f417fa5ade2021213bb8f0c6", size = 160705 }
 wheels = [
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/38/fc/bce832fd4fd99766c04d1ee0eead6b0ec6486fb100ae5e74c1d91292b982/certifi-2025.1.31-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:ca78db4565a652026a4db2bcdf68f2fb589ea80d0be70e03929ed730746b84fe", size = 166393 },
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/4a/7e/3db2bd1b1f9e95f7cddca6d6e75e2f2bd9f51b1246e546d88addca0106bd/certifi-2025.4.26-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:30350364dfe371162649852c63336a15c70c6510c2ad5015b21c2345311805f3", size = 159618 },
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -210,6 +219,15 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/bf/02/5a22bc98d0aebb68c15ba70d2da1c84a5ef56048d79634e5f96cd2ba96e9/griffe-1.6.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:9f1dfe035d4715a244ed2050dfbceb05b1f470809ed4f6bb10ece5a7302f8dd1", size = 128470 },
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "h11"
+version = "0.16.0"
+source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/01/ee/02a2c011bdab74c6fb3c75474d40b3052059d95df7e73351460c8588d963/h11-0.16.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:4e35b956cf45792e4caa5885e69fba00bdbc6ffafbfa020300e549b208ee5ff1", size = 101250 }
+wheels = [
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/04/4b/29cac41a4d98d144bf5f6d33995617b185d14b22401f75ca86f384e87ff1/h11-0.16.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:63cf8bbe7522de3bf65932fda1d9c2772064ffb3dae62d55932da54b31cb6c86", size = 37515 },
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "idna"
 version = "3.10"
@@ -571,6 +589,18 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/a0/c4/c2971a3ba4c6103a3d10c4b0f24f461ddc027f0f09763220cf35ca1401b3/nest_asyncio-1.6.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:87af6efd6b5e897c81050477ef65c62e2b2f35d51703cae01aff2905b1852e1c", size = 5195 },
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "outcome"
+version = "1.3.0.post0"
+source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
+dependencies = [
+    { name = "attrs" },
+]
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/98/df/77698abfac98571e65ffeb0c1fba8ffd692ab8458d617a0eed7d9a8d38f2/outcome-1.3.0.post0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:9dcf02e65f2971b80047b377468e72a268e15c0af3cf1238e6ff14f7f91143b8", size = 21060 }
+wheels = [
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/55/8b/5ab7257531a5d830fc8000c476e63c935488d74609b50f9384a643ec0a62/outcome-1.3.0.post0-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:e771c5ce06d1415e356078d3bdd68523f284b4ce5419828922b6871e65eda82b", size = 10692 },
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "packaging"
 version = "24.2"
@@ -722,6 +752,15 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/1c/a7/c8a2d361bf89c0d9577c934ebb7421b25dc84bf3a8e3ac0a40aed9acc547/pyparsing-3.2.1-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:506ff4f4386c4cec0590ec19e6302d3aedb992fdc02c761e90416f158dacf8e1", size = 107716 },
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pysocks"
+version = "1.7.1"
+source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/bd/11/293dd436aea955d45fc4e8a35b6ae7270f5b8e00b53cf6c024c83b657a11/PySocks-1.7.1.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:3f8804571ebe159c380ac6de37643bb4685970655d3bba243530d6558b799aa0", size = 284429 }
+wheels = [
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/8d/59/b4572118e098ac8e46e399a1dd0f2d85403ce8bbaad9ec79373ed6badaf9/PySocks-1.7.1-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:2725bd0a9925919b9b51739eea5f9e2bae91e83288108a9ad338b2e3a4435ee5", size = 16725 },
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "pytest"
 version = "8.3.4"
@@ -884,6 +923,23 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/31/d8/de873d1c1b020d668d8ec9855d390764cb90cf8f6486c0983da52be8b7b7/ruff-0.9.9-py3-none-win_arm64.whl", hash = "sha256:3ac78f127517209fe6d96ab00f3ba97cafe38718b23b1db3e96d8b2d39e37ddf", size = 10435860 },
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "selenium"
+version = "4.33.0"
+source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
+dependencies = [
+    { name = "certifi" },
+    { name = "trio" },
+    { name = "trio-websocket" },
+    { name = "typing-extensions" },
+    { name = "urllib3", extra = ["socks"] },
+    { name = "websocket-client" },
+]
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/5f/7e/4145666dd275760b56d0123a9439915af167932dd6caa19b5f8b281ae297/selenium-4.33.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:d90974db95d2cdeb34d2fb1b13f03dc904f53e6c5d228745b0635ada10cd625d", size = 882387 }
+wheels = [
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/7e/c0/092fde36918574e144613de73ba43c36ab8d31e7d36bb44c35261909452d/selenium-4.33.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:af9ea757813918bddfe05cc677bf63c8a0cd277ebf8474b3dd79caa5727fca85", size = 9370835 },
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "six"
 version = "1.17.0"
@@ -893,6 +949,24 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/b7/ce/149a00dd41f10bc29e5921b496af8b574d8413afcd5e30dfa0ed46c2cc5e/six-1.17.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:4721f391ed90541fddacab5acf947aa0d3dc7d27b2e1e8eda2be8970586c3274", size = 11050 },
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "sniffio"
+version = "1.3.1"
+source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/a2/87/a6771e1546d97e7e041b6ae58d80074f81b7d5121207425c964ddf5cfdbd/sniffio-1.3.1.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:f4324edc670a0f49750a81b895f35c3adb843cca46f0530f79fc1babb23789dc", size = 20372 }
+wheels = [
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/e9/44/75a9c9421471a6c4805dbf2356f7c181a29c1879239abab1ea2cc8f38b40/sniffio-1.3.1-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:2f6da418d1f1e0fddd844478f41680e794e6051915791a034ff65e5f100525a2", size = 10235 },
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "sortedcontainers"
+version = "2.4.0"
+source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/e8/c4/ba2f8066cceb6f23394729afe52f3bf7adec04bf9ed2c820b39e19299111/sortedcontainers-2.4.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:25caa5a06cc30b6b83d11423433f65d1f9d76c4c6a0c90e3379eaa43b9bfdb88", size = 30594 }
+wheels = [
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/32/46/9cb0e58b2deb7f82b84065f37f3bffeb12413f947f9388e4cac22c4621ce/sortedcontainers-2.4.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:a163dcaede0f1c021485e957a39245190e74249897e2ae4b2aa38595db237ee0", size = 29575 },
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "stack-data"
 version = "0.6.3"
@@ -909,12 +983,17 @@ wheels = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "substack-api"
-version = "0.1.0"
+version = "1.0.2"
 source = { virtual = "." }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "requests" },
 ]
 
+[package.optional-dependencies]
+auth = [
+    { name = "selenium" },
+]
+
 [package.dev-dependencies]
 dev = [
     { name = "ipykernel" },
@@ -927,7 +1006,10 @@ dev = [
 ]
 
 [package.metadata]
-requires-dist = [{ name = "requests", specifier = ">=2.32.3" }]
+requires-dist = [
+    { name = "requests", specifier = ">=2.32.3" },
+    { name = "selenium", marker = "extra == 'auth'", specifier = ">=4.33.0" },
+]
 
 [package.metadata.requires-dev]
 dev = [
@@ -967,13 +1049,58 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/00/c0/8f5d070730d7836adc9c9b6408dec68c6ced86b304a9b26a14df072a6e8c/traitlets-5.14.3-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:b74e89e397b1ed28cc831db7aea759ba6640cb3de13090ca145426688ff1ac4f", size = 85359 },
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+[[package]]
+name = "trio"
+version = "0.30.0"
+source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
+dependencies = [
+    { name = "attrs" },
+    { name = "cffi", marker = "implementation_name != 'pypy' and os_name == 'nt'" },
+    { name = "idna" },
+    { name = "outcome" },
+    { name = "sniffio" },
+    { name = "sortedcontainers" },
+]
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/01/c1/68d582b4d3a1c1f8118e18042464bb12a7c1b75d64d75111b297687041e3/trio-0.30.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:0781c857c0c81f8f51e0089929a26b5bb63d57f927728a5586f7e36171f064df", size = 593776 }
+wheels = [
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+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "trio-websocket"
+version = "0.12.2"
+source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
+dependencies = [
+    { name = "outcome" },
+    { name = "trio" },
+    { name = "wsproto" },
+]
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/d1/3c/8b4358e81f2f2cfe71b66a267f023a91db20a817b9425dd964873796980a/trio_websocket-0.12.2.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:22c72c436f3d1e264d0910a3951934798dcc5b00ae56fc4ee079d46c7cf20fae", size = 33549 }
+wheels = [
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/c7/19/eb640a397bba49ba49ef9dbe2e7e5c04202ba045b6ce2ec36e9cadc51e04/trio_websocket-0.12.2-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:df605665f1db533f4a386c94525870851096a223adcb97f72a07e8b4beba45b6", size = 21221 },
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+name = "typing-extensions"
+version = "4.13.2"
+source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/f6/37/23083fcd6e35492953e8d2aaaa68b860eb422b34627b13f2ce3eb6106061/typing_extensions-4.13.2.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:e6c81219bd689f51865d9e372991c540bda33a0379d5573cddb9a3a23f7caaef", size = 106967 }
+wheels = [
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/8b/54/b1ae86c0973cc6f0210b53d508ca3641fb6d0c56823f288d108bc7ab3cc8/typing_extensions-4.13.2-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:a439e7c04b49fec3e5d3e2beaa21755cadbbdc391694e28ccdd36ca4a1408f8c", size = 45806 },
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "urllib3"
-version = "2.3.0"
+version = "2.4.0"
 source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
-sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/aa/63/e53da845320b757bf29ef6a9062f5c669fe997973f966045cb019c3f4b66/urllib3-2.3.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:f8c5449b3cf0861679ce7e0503c7b44b5ec981bec0d1d3795a07f1ba96f0204d", size = 307268 }
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/8a/78/16493d9c386d8e60e442a35feac5e00f0913c0f4b7c217c11e8ec2ff53e0/urllib3-2.4.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:414bc6535b787febd7567804cc015fee39daab8ad86268f1310a9250697de466", size = 390672 }
 wheels = [
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/c8/19/4ec628951a74043532ca2cf5d97b7b14863931476d117c471e8e2b1eb39f/urllib3-2.3.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:1cee9ad369867bfdbbb48b7dd50374c0967a0bb7710050facf0dd6911440e3df", size = 128369 },
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/6b/11/cc635220681e93a0183390e26485430ca2c7b5f9d33b15c74c2861cb8091/urllib3-2.4.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:4e16665048960a0900c702d4a66415956a584919c03361cac9f1df5c5dd7e813", size = 128680 },
+]
+
+[package.optional-dependencies]
+socks = [
+    { name = "pysocks" },
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1018,6 +1145,27 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/fd/84/fd2ba7aafacbad3c4201d395674fc6348826569da3c0937e75505ead3528/wcwidth-0.2.13-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:3da69048e4540d84af32131829ff948f1e022c1c6bdb8d6102117aac784f6859", size = 34166 },
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "websocket-client"
+version = "1.8.0"
+source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/e6/30/fba0d96b4b5fbf5948ed3f4681f7da2f9f64512e1d303f94b4cc174c24a5/websocket_client-1.8.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:3239df9f44da632f96012472805d40a23281a991027ce11d2f45a6f24ac4c3da", size = 54648 }
+wheels = [
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/5a/84/44687a29792a70e111c5c477230a72c4b957d88d16141199bf9acb7537a3/websocket_client-1.8.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:17b44cc997f5c498e809b22cdf2d9c7a9e71c02c8cc2b6c56e7c2d1239bfa526", size = 58826 },
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "wsproto"
+version = "1.2.0"
+source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
+dependencies = [
+    { name = "h11" },
+]
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/c9/4a/44d3c295350d776427904d73c189e10aeae66d7f555bb2feee16d1e4ba5a/wsproto-1.2.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:ad565f26ecb92588a3e43bc3d96164de84cd9902482b130d0ddbaa9664a85065", size = 53425 }
+wheels = [
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/78/58/e860788190eba3bcce367f74d29c4675466ce8dddfba85f7827588416f01/wsproto-1.2.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:b9acddd652b585d75b20477888c56642fdade28bdfd3579aa24a4d2c037dd736", size = 24226 },
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "zipp"
 version = "3.21.0"

From b487917a948f1a006889d325e690f29eff0616a1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Nick Hagar <nicholashagar2018@u.northwestern.edu>
Date: Sun, 25 May 2025 11:16:58 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 2/7] trim auth

---
 pyproject.toml       |   3 -
 substack_api/auth.py | 123 ++---------------------------------
 test.py              |   3 +
 uv.lock              | 150 +------------------------------------------
 4 files changed, 11 insertions(+), 268 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 test.py

diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index f43276f..0a94690 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -21,6 +21,3 @@ dev = [
 "Homepage" = "https://github.com/nhagar/substack_api"
 "Bug Tracker" = "https://github.com/nhagar/substack_api/issues"
 "Documentation" = "https://nhagar.github.io/substack_api/"
-
-[project.optional-dependencies]
-auth = ["selenium>=4.33.0"]
diff --git a/substack_api/auth.py b/substack_api/auth.py
index 424fdc8..494541f 100644
--- a/substack_api/auth.py
+++ b/substack_api/auth.py
@@ -1,13 +1,7 @@
 import json
 import os
-from typing import Optional
 
 import requests
-from selenium import webdriver
-from selenium.common.exceptions import TimeoutException
-from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
-from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC
-from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait
 
 
 class SubstackAuth:
@@ -15,27 +9,17 @@ class SubstackAuth:
 
     def __init__(
         self,
-        email: Optional[str] = None,
-        password: Optional[str] = None,
-        cookies_path: Optional[str] = None,
+        cookies_path: str,
     ):
         """
         Initialize authentication handler.
 
         Parameters
         ----------
-        email : str, optional
-            Substack account email
-        password : str, optional
-            Substack account password
         cookies_path : str, optional
-            Path to save/load session cookies
+            Path to retrieve session cookies from
         """
-        self.email = email
-        self.password = password
-        self.cookies_path = cookies_path or os.path.expanduser(
-            "~/.substack_cookies.json"
-        )
+        self.cookies_path = cookies_path
         self.session = requests.Session()
         self.authenticated = False
 
@@ -51,104 +35,11 @@ def __init__(
         # Try to load existing cookies
         if os.path.exists(self.cookies_path):
             self.load_cookies()
-        elif email and password:
-            self.login()
-
-    def login(self) -> bool:
-        """
-        Login to Substack using Selenium WebDriver.
-
-        Returns
-        -------
-        bool
-            True if login successful, False otherwise
-        """
-        if not self.email or not self.password:
-            raise ValueError("Email and password required for login")
-
-        print(f"Logging in as {self.email}...")
-
-        # Setup Chrome options for headless mode
-        options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
-        options.add_argument("--headless")
-        options.add_argument("--no-sandbox")
-        options.add_argument("--disable-dev-shm-usage")
-
-        driver = None
-        try:
-            driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=options)
-            driver.get("https://substack.com/sign-in")
-
-            # Wait for login form
-            wait = WebDriverWait(driver, 10)
-
-            # Enter email
-            email_input = wait.until(EC.presence_of_element_located((By.NAME, "email")))
-            email_input.send_keys(self.email)
-
-            # Click Sign in with password
-            sign_in_button = driver.find_element(
-                By.XPATH, "//a[contains(text(), 'Sign in with password')]"
-            )
-            sign_in_button.click()
-
-            # Wait for password field
-            password_input = wait.until(
-                EC.presence_of_element_located((By.NAME, "password"))
-            )
-            password_input.send_keys(self.password)
-
-            # Submit login
-            login_button = driver.find_element(
-                By.XPATH, "//button[contains(text(), 'Continue')]"
-            )
-            login_button.click()
-
-            # Wait for redirect after successful login
-            wait.until(lambda d: d.current_url != "https://substack.com/sign-in")
-
-            # Extract cookies
-            cookies = driver.get_cookies()
-
-            # Convert to requests session cookies
-            for cookie in cookies:
-                self.session.cookies.set(
-                    cookie["name"],
-                    cookie["value"],
-                    domain=cookie.get("domain"),
-                    path=cookie.get("path", "/"),
-                )
-
-            # Save cookies
-            self.save_cookies()
             self.authenticated = True
-            print("Login successful!")
-            return True
-
-        except TimeoutException:
-            print("Login failed: Timeout waiting for elements")
-            return False
-        except Exception as e:
-            print(f"Login failed: {str(e)}")
-            return False
-        finally:
-            if driver:
-                driver.quit()
-
-    def save_cookies(self) -> None:
-        """Save session cookies to file."""
-        cookies = {}
-        for cookie in self.session.cookies:
-            cookies[cookie.name] = {
-                "value": cookie.value,
-                "domain": cookie.domain,
-                "path": cookie.path,
-                "secure": cookie.secure,
-                "expires": cookie.expires,
-            }
-
-        with open(self.cookies_path, "w") as f:
-            json.dump(cookies, f)
+        else:
+            print(f"Cookies file not found at {self.cookies_path}. Please log in.")
+            self.authenticated = False
+            self.session.cookies.clear()
 
     def load_cookies(self) -> bool:
         """
diff --git a/test.py b/test.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e532744
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+from substack_api.auth import SubstackAuth
+
+auth = SubstackAuth()
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index 8b4e0bc..d16a01e 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -19,15 +19,6 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/25/8a/c46dcc25341b5bce5472c718902eb3d38600a903b14fa6aeecef3f21a46f/asttokens-3.0.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:e3078351a059199dd5138cb1c706e6430c05eff2ff136af5eb4790f9d28932e2", size = 26918 },
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "attrs"
-version = "25.3.0"
-source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
-sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/5a/b0/1367933a8532ee6ff8d63537de4f1177af4bff9f3e829baf7331f595bb24/attrs-25.3.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:75d7cefc7fb576747b2c81b4442d4d4a1ce0900973527c011d1030fd3bf4af1b", size = 812032 }
-wheels = [
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/77/06/bb80f5f86020c4551da315d78b3ab75e8228f89f0162f2c3a819e407941a/attrs-25.3.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:427318ce031701fea540783410126f03899a97ffc6f61596ad581ac2e40e3bc3", size = 63815 },
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "babel"
 version = "2.17.0"
@@ -219,15 +210,6 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/bf/02/5a22bc98d0aebb68c15ba70d2da1c84a5ef56048d79634e5f96cd2ba96e9/griffe-1.6.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:9f1dfe035d4715a244ed2050dfbceb05b1f470809ed4f6bb10ece5a7302f8dd1", size = 128470 },
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "h11"
-version = "0.16.0"
-source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
-sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/01/ee/02a2c011bdab74c6fb3c75474d40b3052059d95df7e73351460c8588d963/h11-0.16.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:4e35b956cf45792e4caa5885e69fba00bdbc6ffafbfa020300e549b208ee5ff1", size = 101250 }
-wheels = [
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/04/4b/29cac41a4d98d144bf5f6d33995617b185d14b22401f75ca86f384e87ff1/h11-0.16.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:63cf8bbe7522de3bf65932fda1d9c2772064ffb3dae62d55932da54b31cb6c86", size = 37515 },
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "idna"
 version = "3.10"
@@ -589,18 +571,6 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/a0/c4/c2971a3ba4c6103a3d10c4b0f24f461ddc027f0f09763220cf35ca1401b3/nest_asyncio-1.6.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:87af6efd6b5e897c81050477ef65c62e2b2f35d51703cae01aff2905b1852e1c", size = 5195 },
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "outcome"
-version = "1.3.0.post0"
-source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
-dependencies = [
-    { name = "attrs" },
-]
-sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/98/df/77698abfac98571e65ffeb0c1fba8ffd692ab8458d617a0eed7d9a8d38f2/outcome-1.3.0.post0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:9dcf02e65f2971b80047b377468e72a268e15c0af3cf1238e6ff14f7f91143b8", size = 21060 }
-wheels = [
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/55/8b/5ab7257531a5d830fc8000c476e63c935488d74609b50f9384a643ec0a62/outcome-1.3.0.post0-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:e771c5ce06d1415e356078d3bdd68523f284b4ce5419828922b6871e65eda82b", size = 10692 },
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "packaging"
 version = "24.2"
@@ -752,15 +722,6 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/1c/a7/c8a2d361bf89c0d9577c934ebb7421b25dc84bf3a8e3ac0a40aed9acc547/pyparsing-3.2.1-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:506ff4f4386c4cec0590ec19e6302d3aedb992fdc02c761e90416f158dacf8e1", size = 107716 },
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "pysocks"
-version = "1.7.1"
-source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
-sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/bd/11/293dd436aea955d45fc4e8a35b6ae7270f5b8e00b53cf6c024c83b657a11/PySocks-1.7.1.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:3f8804571ebe159c380ac6de37643bb4685970655d3bba243530d6558b799aa0", size = 284429 }
-wheels = [
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/8d/59/b4572118e098ac8e46e399a1dd0f2d85403ce8bbaad9ec79373ed6badaf9/PySocks-1.7.1-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:2725bd0a9925919b9b51739eea5f9e2bae91e83288108a9ad338b2e3a4435ee5", size = 16725 },
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "pytest"
 version = "8.3.4"
@@ -923,23 +884,6 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/31/d8/de873d1c1b020d668d8ec9855d390764cb90cf8f6486c0983da52be8b7b7/ruff-0.9.9-py3-none-win_arm64.whl", hash = "sha256:3ac78f127517209fe6d96ab00f3ba97cafe38718b23b1db3e96d8b2d39e37ddf", size = 10435860 },
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "selenium"
-version = "4.33.0"
-source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
-dependencies = [
-    { name = "certifi" },
-    { name = "trio" },
-    { name = "trio-websocket" },
-    { name = "typing-extensions" },
-    { name = "urllib3", extra = ["socks"] },
-    { name = "websocket-client" },
-]
-sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/5f/7e/4145666dd275760b56d0123a9439915af167932dd6caa19b5f8b281ae297/selenium-4.33.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:d90974db95d2cdeb34d2fb1b13f03dc904f53e6c5d228745b0635ada10cd625d", size = 882387 }
-wheels = [
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/7e/c0/092fde36918574e144613de73ba43c36ab8d31e7d36bb44c35261909452d/selenium-4.33.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:af9ea757813918bddfe05cc677bf63c8a0cd277ebf8474b3dd79caa5727fca85", size = 9370835 },
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "six"
 version = "1.17.0"
@@ -949,24 +893,6 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/b7/ce/149a00dd41f10bc29e5921b496af8b574d8413afcd5e30dfa0ed46c2cc5e/six-1.17.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:4721f391ed90541fddacab5acf947aa0d3dc7d27b2e1e8eda2be8970586c3274", size = 11050 },
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "sniffio"
-version = "1.3.1"
-source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
-sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/a2/87/a6771e1546d97e7e041b6ae58d80074f81b7d5121207425c964ddf5cfdbd/sniffio-1.3.1.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:f4324edc670a0f49750a81b895f35c3adb843cca46f0530f79fc1babb23789dc", size = 20372 }
-wheels = [
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/e9/44/75a9c9421471a6c4805dbf2356f7c181a29c1879239abab1ea2cc8f38b40/sniffio-1.3.1-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:2f6da418d1f1e0fddd844478f41680e794e6051915791a034ff65e5f100525a2", size = 10235 },
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "sortedcontainers"
-version = "2.4.0"
-source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
-sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/e8/c4/ba2f8066cceb6f23394729afe52f3bf7adec04bf9ed2c820b39e19299111/sortedcontainers-2.4.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:25caa5a06cc30b6b83d11423433f65d1f9d76c4c6a0c90e3379eaa43b9bfdb88", size = 30594 }
-wheels = [
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/32/46/9cb0e58b2deb7f82b84065f37f3bffeb12413f947f9388e4cac22c4621ce/sortedcontainers-2.4.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:a163dcaede0f1c021485e957a39245190e74249897e2ae4b2aa38595db237ee0", size = 29575 },
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "stack-data"
 version = "0.6.3"
@@ -989,11 +915,6 @@ dependencies = [
     { name = "requests" },
 ]
 
-[package.optional-dependencies]
-auth = [
-    { name = "selenium" },
-]
-
 [package.dev-dependencies]
 dev = [
     { name = "ipykernel" },
@@ -1006,10 +927,7 @@ dev = [
 ]
 
 [package.metadata]
-requires-dist = [
-    { name = "requests", specifier = ">=2.32.3" },
-    { name = "selenium", marker = "extra == 'auth'", specifier = ">=4.33.0" },
-]
+requires-dist = [{ name = "requests", specifier = ">=2.32.3" }]
 
 [package.metadata.requires-dev]
 dev = [
@@ -1049,46 +967,6 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/00/c0/8f5d070730d7836adc9c9b6408dec68c6ced86b304a9b26a14df072a6e8c/traitlets-5.14.3-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:b74e89e397b1ed28cc831db7aea759ba6640cb3de13090ca145426688ff1ac4f", size = 85359 },
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-[[package]]
-name = "trio"
-version = "0.30.0"
-source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
-dependencies = [
-    { name = "attrs" },
-    { name = "cffi", marker = "implementation_name != 'pypy' and os_name == 'nt'" },
-    { name = "idna" },
-    { name = "outcome" },
-    { name = "sniffio" },
-    { name = "sortedcontainers" },
-]
-sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/01/c1/68d582b4d3a1c1f8118e18042464bb12a7c1b75d64d75111b297687041e3/trio-0.30.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:0781c857c0c81f8f51e0089929a26b5bb63d57f927728a5586f7e36171f064df", size = 593776 }
-wheels = [
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-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "trio-websocket"
-version = "0.12.2"
-source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
-dependencies = [
-    { name = "outcome" },
-    { name = "trio" },
-    { name = "wsproto" },
-]
-sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/d1/3c/8b4358e81f2f2cfe71b66a267f023a91db20a817b9425dd964873796980a/trio_websocket-0.12.2.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:22c72c436f3d1e264d0910a3951934798dcc5b00ae56fc4ee079d46c7cf20fae", size = 33549 }
-wheels = [
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/c7/19/eb640a397bba49ba49ef9dbe2e7e5c04202ba045b6ce2ec36e9cadc51e04/trio_websocket-0.12.2-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:df605665f1db533f4a386c94525870851096a223adcb97f72a07e8b4beba45b6", size = 21221 },
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "typing-extensions"
-version = "4.13.2"
-source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
-sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/f6/37/23083fcd6e35492953e8d2aaaa68b860eb422b34627b13f2ce3eb6106061/typing_extensions-4.13.2.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:e6c81219bd689f51865d9e372991c540bda33a0379d5573cddb9a3a23f7caaef", size = 106967 }
-wheels = [
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/8b/54/b1ae86c0973cc6f0210b53d508ca3641fb6d0c56823f288d108bc7ab3cc8/typing_extensions-4.13.2-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:a439e7c04b49fec3e5d3e2beaa21755cadbbdc391694e28ccdd36ca4a1408f8c", size = 45806 },
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "urllib3"
 version = "2.4.0"
@@ -1098,11 +976,6 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/6b/11/cc635220681e93a0183390e26485430ca2c7b5f9d33b15c74c2861cb8091/urllib3-2.4.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:4e16665048960a0900c702d4a66415956a584919c03361cac9f1df5c5dd7e813", size = 128680 },
 ]
 
-[package.optional-dependencies]
-socks = [
-    { name = "pysocks" },
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "verspec"
 version = "0.1.0"
@@ -1145,27 +1018,6 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/fd/84/fd2ba7aafacbad3c4201d395674fc6348826569da3c0937e75505ead3528/wcwidth-0.2.13-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:3da69048e4540d84af32131829ff948f1e022c1c6bdb8d6102117aac784f6859", size = 34166 },
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "websocket-client"
-version = "1.8.0"
-source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
-sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/e6/30/fba0d96b4b5fbf5948ed3f4681f7da2f9f64512e1d303f94b4cc174c24a5/websocket_client-1.8.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:3239df9f44da632f96012472805d40a23281a991027ce11d2f45a6f24ac4c3da", size = 54648 }
-wheels = [
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/5a/84/44687a29792a70e111c5c477230a72c4b957d88d16141199bf9acb7537a3/websocket_client-1.8.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:17b44cc997f5c498e809b22cdf2d9c7a9e71c02c8cc2b6c56e7c2d1239bfa526", size = 58826 },
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "wsproto"
-version = "1.2.0"
-source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
-dependencies = [
-    { name = "h11" },
-]
-sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/c9/4a/44d3c295350d776427904d73c189e10aeae66d7f555bb2feee16d1e4ba5a/wsproto-1.2.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:ad565f26ecb92588a3e43bc3d96164de84cd9902482b130d0ddbaa9664a85065", size = 53425 }
-wheels = [
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/78/58/e860788190eba3bcce367f74d29c4675466ce8dddfba85f7827588416f01/wsproto-1.2.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:b9acddd652b585d75b20477888c56642fdade28bdfd3579aa24a4d2c037dd736", size = 24226 },
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "zipp"
 version = "3.21.0"

From 2f74570f3eeda26ed0e307353e039d178e44e419 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Nick Hagar <nicholashagar2018@u.northwestern.edu>
Date: Sun, 25 May 2025 11:27:24 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 3/7] testing validity

---
 .gitignore           | 3 ++-
 substack_api/auth.py | 4 ++--
 test.py              | 3 ++-
 3 files changed, 6 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 01a5eb9..b36d575 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -3,4 +3,5 @@ __pycache__/
 dist/
 .env
 .vscode/
-.DS_Store
\ No newline at end of file
+.DS_Store
+*.json
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/substack_api/auth.py b/substack_api/auth.py
index 494541f..a6b27ff 100644
--- a/substack_api/auth.py
+++ b/substack_api/auth.py
@@ -54,9 +54,9 @@ def load_cookies(self) -> bool:
             with open(self.cookies_path, "r") as f:
                 cookies = json.load(f)
 
-            for name, cookie in cookies.items():
+            for cookie in cookies:
                 self.session.cookies.set(
-                    name,
+                    cookie["name"],
                     cookie["value"],
                     domain=cookie.get("domain"),
                     path=cookie.get("path", "/"),
diff --git a/test.py b/test.py
index e532744..3608ee3 100644
--- a/test.py
+++ b/test.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 from substack_api.auth import SubstackAuth
 
-auth = SubstackAuth()
+auth = SubstackAuth("substack.com_cookies.json")
+print(auth.get("https://substack.com"))

From ea13f71378e5ef5ad97f5d76c7a219d8965ce79f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Nick Hagar <nicholashagar2018@u.northwestern.edu>
Date: Sun, 25 May 2025 11:35:59 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 4/7] incorporate auth

---
 substack_api/newsletter.py | 49 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----------
 substack_api/post.py       | 35 ++++++++++++++++++++++++---
 2 files changed, 69 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)

diff --git a/substack_api/newsletter.py b/substack_api/newsletter.py
index db15834..94e2575 100644
--- a/substack_api/newsletter.py
+++ b/substack_api/newsletter.py
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 
 import requests
 
+from substack_api.auth import SubstackAuth
+
 HEADERS = {
     "User-Agent": "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/91.0.4472.77 Safari/537.36"
 }
@@ -13,7 +15,7 @@ class Newsletter:
     Newsletter class for interacting with Substack newsletters
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, url: str) -> None:
+    def __init__(self, url: str, auth: Optional[SubstackAuth] = None) -> None:
         """
         Initialize a Newsletter object.
 
@@ -21,8 +23,11 @@ def __init__(self, url: str) -> None:
         ----------
         url : str
             The URL of the Substack newsletter
+        auth : Optional[SubstackAuth]
+            Authentication handler for accessing paywalled content
         """
         self.url = url
+        self.auth = auth
 
     def __str__(self) -> str:
         return f"Newsletter: {self.url}"
@@ -30,6 +35,27 @@ def __str__(self) -> str:
     def __repr__(self) -> str:
         return f"Newsletter(url={self.url})"
 
+    def _make_request(self, endpoint: str, **kwargs) -> requests.Response:
+        """
+        Make a GET request to the specified endpoint with authentication if needed.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        endpoint : str
+            The API endpoint to request
+        **kwargs : Any
+            Additional parameters for the request
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        requests.Response
+            The response object from the request
+        """
+        if self.auth and self.auth.authenticated:
+            return self.auth.get(endpoint, **kwargs)
+        else:
+            return requests.get(endpoint, headers=HEADERS, **kwargs)
+
     def _fetch_paginated_posts(
         self, params: Dict[str, str], limit: Optional[int] = None, page_size: int = 15
     ) -> List[Dict[str, Any]]:
@@ -65,7 +91,7 @@ def _fetch_paginated_posts(
             endpoint = f"{self.url}/api/v1/archive?{query_string}"
 
             # Make the request
-            response = requests.get(endpoint, headers=HEADERS, timeout=30)
+            response = self._make_request(endpoint, timeout=30)
 
             if response.status_code != 200:
                 break
@@ -115,7 +141,7 @@ def get_posts(self, sorting: str = "new", limit: Optional[int] = None) -> List:
 
         params = {"sort": sorting}
         post_data = self._fetch_paginated_posts(params, limit)
-        return [Post(item["canonical_url"]) for item in post_data]
+        return [Post(item["canonical_url"], auth=self.auth) for item in post_data]
 
     def search_posts(self, query: str, limit: Optional[int] = None) -> List:
         """
@@ -137,7 +163,7 @@ def search_posts(self, query: str, limit: Optional[int] = None) -> List:
 
         params = {"sort": "new", "search": query}
         post_data = self._fetch_paginated_posts(params, limit)
-        return [Post(item["canonical_url"]) for item in post_data]
+        return [Post(item["canonical_url"], auth=self.auth) for item in post_data]
 
     def get_podcasts(self, limit: Optional[int] = None) -> List:
         """
@@ -157,7 +183,7 @@ def get_podcasts(self, limit: Optional[int] = None) -> List:
 
         params = {"sort": "new", "type": "podcast"}
         post_data = self._fetch_paginated_posts(params, limit)
-        return [Post(item["canonical_url"]) for item in post_data]
+        return [Post(item["canonical_url"], auth=self.auth) for item in post_data]
 
     def get_recommendations(self) -> List["Newsletter"]:
         """
@@ -177,7 +203,7 @@ def get_recommendations(self) -> List["Newsletter"]:
 
         # Now get the recommendations
         endpoint = f"{self.url}/api/v1/recommendations/from/{publication_id}"
-        response = requests.get(endpoint, headers=HEADERS, timeout=30)
+        response = self._make_request(endpoint, timeout=30)
 
         if response.status_code != 200:
             return []
@@ -199,7 +225,9 @@ def get_recommendations(self) -> List["Newsletter"]:
         # Avoid circular import
         from .newsletter import Newsletter
 
-        result = [Newsletter(url) for url in recommended_newsletter_urls]
+        result = [
+            Newsletter(url, auth=self.auth) for url in recommended_newsletter_urls
+        ]
 
         return result
 
@@ -214,11 +242,8 @@ def get_authors(self) -> List:
         """
         from .user import User  # Import here to avoid circular import
 
-        r = requests.get(
-            f"{self.url}/api/v1/publication/users/ranked?public=true",
-            headers=HEADERS,
-            timeout=30,
-        )
+        endpoint = f"{self.url}/api/v1/publication/users/ranked?public=true"
+        r = self._make_request(endpoint, timeout=30)
         r.raise_for_status()
         authors = r.json()
         return [User(author["handle"]) for author in authors]
diff --git a/substack_api/post.py b/substack_api/post.py
index 8758585..ee931bc 100644
--- a/substack_api/post.py
+++ b/substack_api/post.py
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 
 import requests
 
+from substack_api.auth import SubstackAuth
+
 HEADERS = {
     "User-Agent": "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/91.0.4472.77 Safari/537.36"
 }
@@ -13,7 +15,7 @@ class Post:
     A class to represent a Substack post.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, url: str) -> None:
+    def __init__(self, url: str, auth: Optional[SubstackAuth] = None) -> None:
         """
         Initialize a Post object.
 
@@ -21,8 +23,11 @@ def __init__(self, url: str) -> None:
         ----------
         url : str
             The URL of the Substack post
+        auth : Optional[SubstackAuth]
+            Authentication handler for accessing paywalled content
         """
         self.url = url
+        self.auth = auth
         parsed_url = urlparse(url)
         self.base_url = f"{parsed_url.scheme}://{parsed_url.netloc}"
         path_parts = parsed_url.path.strip("/").split("/")
@@ -55,7 +60,11 @@ def _fetch_post_data(self, force_refresh: bool = False) -> Dict[str, Any]:
         if self._post_data is not None and not force_refresh:
             return self._post_data
 
-        r = requests.get(self.endpoint, headers=HEADERS, timeout=30)
+        # Use authenticated session if available
+        if self.auth and self.auth.authenticated:
+            r = self.auth.get(self.endpoint, timeout=30)
+        else:
+            r = requests.get(self.endpoint, headers=HEADERS, timeout=30)
         r.raise_for_status()
 
         self._post_data = r.json()
@@ -92,4 +101,24 @@ def get_content(self, force_refresh: bool = False) -> Optional[str]:
             HTML content of the post, or None if not available
         """
         data = self._fetch_post_data(force_refresh=force_refresh)
-        return data.get("body_html")
+        content = data.get("body_html")
+
+        # Check if content is paywalled and we don't have auth
+        if not content and data.get("audience") == "only_paid" and not self.auth:
+            print(
+                "Warning: This post is paywalled. Provide authentication to access full content."
+            )
+
+        return content
+
+    def is_paywalled(self) -> bool:
+        """
+        Check if the post is paywalled.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        bool
+            True if post is paywalled
+        """
+        data = self._fetch_post_data()
+        return data.get("audience") == "only_paid"

From 69bd6cdbe61cb516dd0b88977fdeed27687b1984 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Nick Hagar <nicholashagar2018@u.northwestern.edu>
Date: Sun, 25 May 2025 11:39:55 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 5/7] tests

---
 tests/test_auth.py | 237 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 237 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 tests/test_auth.py

diff --git a/tests/test_auth.py b/tests/test_auth.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3c5dc93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_auth.py
@@ -0,0 +1,237 @@
+import json
+import os
+import tempfile
+from unittest.mock import Mock, patch
+
+import pytest
+import requests
+
+from substack_api.auth import SubstackAuth
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def temp_cookies_file():
+    """Create a temporary file for cookies storage."""
+    with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(mode="w", delete=False, suffix=".json") as f:
+        temp_path = f.name
+    yield temp_path
+    # Cleanup
+    if os.path.exists(temp_path):
+        os.remove(temp_path)
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def mock_cookies():
+    """Mock cookies data."""
+    return {
+        "substack.sid": {
+            "value": "test_session_id",
+            "domain": ".substack.com",
+            "path": "/",
+            "secure": True,
+            "expires": None,
+        },
+        "substack.lli": {
+            "value": "test_lli_value",
+            "domain": ".substack.com",
+            "path": "/",
+            "secure": True,
+            "expires": None,
+        },
+    }
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def mock_selenium_cookies():
+    """Mock cookies returned by Selenium."""
+    return [
+        {
+            "name": "substack.sid",
+            "value": "test_session_id",
+            "domain": ".substack.com",
+            "path": "/",
+            "secure": True,
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "substack.lli",
+            "value": "test_lli_value",
+            "domain": ".substack.com",
+            "path": "/",
+            "secure": True,
+        },
+    ]
+
+
+class TestSubstackAuth:
+    """Test cases for SubstackAuth class."""
+
+    def test_init_without_credentials(self, temp_cookies_file):
+        """Test initialization without credentials."""
+        auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path=temp_cookies_file)
+
+        assert auth.cookies_path == temp_cookies_file
+        assert not auth.authenticated
+        assert isinstance(auth.session, requests.Session)
+
+    def test_init_with_existing_cookies(self, temp_cookies_file, mock_cookies):
+        """Test initialization with existing cookies file."""
+        # Write cookies to file
+        with open(temp_cookies_file, "w") as f:
+            json.dump(mock_cookies, f)
+
+        with patch.object(SubstackAuth, "load_cookies") as mock_load:
+            _ = SubstackAuth(cookies_path=temp_cookies_file)
+            mock_load.assert_called_once()
+
+    def test_load_cookies_file_not_found(self, temp_cookies_file):
+        """Test loading cookies when file doesn't exist."""
+        auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path=temp_cookies_file + ".nonexistent")
+        result = auth.load_cookies()
+
+        assert result is False
+        assert not auth.authenticated
+
+    def test_get_request(self, temp_cookies_file, mock_cookies):
+        """Test authenticated GET request."""
+        # Write cookies to file
+        with open(temp_cookies_file, "w") as f:
+            json.dump(mock_cookies, f)
+        auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path=temp_cookies_file)
+        auth.authenticated = True
+
+        mock_response = Mock()
+
+        with patch.object(auth.session, "get", return_value=mock_response) as mock_get:
+            result = auth.get("https://example.com/api", timeout=30)
+
+            assert result == mock_response
+            mock_get.assert_called_once_with("https://example.com/api", timeout=30)
+
+    def test_post_request(self, temp_cookies_file, mock_cookies):
+        """Test authenticated POST request."""
+        # Write cookies to file
+        with open(temp_cookies_file, "w") as f:
+            json.dump(mock_cookies, f)
+        auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path=temp_cookies_file)
+        auth.authenticated = True
+
+        mock_response = Mock()
+        data = {"key": "value"}
+
+        with patch.object(
+            auth.session, "post", return_value=mock_response
+        ) as mock_post:
+            result = auth.post("https://example.com/api", json=data)
+
+            assert result == mock_response
+            mock_post.assert_called_once_with("https://example.com/api", json=data)
+
+    def test_session_headers(self, temp_cookies_file, mock_cookies):
+        """Test that session has proper default headers."""
+        # Write cookies to file
+        with open(temp_cookies_file, "w") as f:
+            json.dump(mock_cookies, f)
+        auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path=temp_cookies_file)
+
+        assert "User-Agent" in auth.session.headers
+        assert auth.session.headers["Accept"] == "application/json"
+        assert auth.session.headers["Content-Type"] == "application/json"
+
+
+# Integration tests with Post and Newsletter classes
+class TestAuthIntegration:
+    """Test authentication integration with Post and Newsletter classes."""
+
+    @patch("substack_api.post.requests.get")
+    def test_post_without_auth(self, mock_get):
+        """Test Post class without authentication uses regular requests."""
+        from substack_api.post import Post
+
+        mock_response = Mock()
+        mock_response.json.return_value = {
+            "id": 123,
+            "body_html": None,
+            "audience": "only_paid",
+        }
+        mock_get.return_value = mock_response
+
+        post = Post("https://test.substack.com/p/test-post")
+        content = post.get_content()
+
+        # Should use regular requests.get
+        mock_get.assert_called_once()
+        assert content is None
+
+    def test_post_with_auth(self, temp_cookies_file, mock_cookies):
+        """Test Post class with authentication uses auth session."""
+        # Write cookies to file
+        with open(temp_cookies_file, "w") as f:
+            json.dump(mock_cookies, f)
+        auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path=temp_cookies_file)
+
+        from substack_api.post import Post
+
+        auth.authenticated = True
+
+        mock_response = Mock()
+        mock_response.json.return_value = {
+            "id": 123,
+            "body_html": "<p>Paywalled content</p>",
+            "audience": "only_paid",
+        }
+
+        with patch.object(auth, "get", return_value=mock_response) as mock_auth_get:
+            post = Post("https://test.substack.com/p/test-post", auth=auth)
+            content = post.get_content()
+
+            # Should use auth.get instead of requests.get
+            mock_auth_get.assert_called_once()
+            assert content == "<p>Paywalled content</p>"
+
+    def test_post_is_paywalled(self):
+        """Test is_paywalled method."""
+        from substack_api.post import Post
+
+        post = Post("https://test.substack.com/p/test-post")
+
+        # Mock paywalled post
+        with patch.object(
+            post, "_fetch_post_data", return_value={"audience": "only_paid"}
+        ):
+            assert post.is_paywalled() is True
+
+        # Mock public post
+        with patch.object(
+            post, "_fetch_post_data", return_value={"audience": "everyone"}
+        ):
+            assert post.is_paywalled() is False
+
+    def test_newsletter_with_auth_passes_to_posts(
+        self, temp_cookies_file, mock_cookies
+    ):
+        """Test Newsletter passes auth to Post objects."""
+        from substack_api.newsletter import Newsletter
+        from substack_api.post import Post
+
+        # Write cookies to file
+        with open(temp_cookies_file, "w") as f:
+            json.dump(mock_cookies, f)
+        auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path=temp_cookies_file)
+        auth.authenticated = True
+
+        newsletter = Newsletter("https://test.substack.com", auth=auth)
+
+        mock_response = Mock()
+        mock_response.status_code = 200
+        mock_response.json.return_value = [
+            {"canonical_url": "https://test.substack.com/p/post1"},
+            {"canonical_url": "https://test.substack.com/p/post2"},
+        ]
+
+        with patch.object(newsletter, "_make_request", return_value=mock_response):
+            posts = newsletter.get_posts(limit=2)
+
+            # Verify auth was passed to Post objects
+            assert len(posts) == 2
+            assert all(isinstance(p, Post) for p in posts)
+            assert all(p.auth == auth for p in posts)

From 742817e36bd16998718b0504ba3398ebeef33a78 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Nick Hagar <nicholashagar2018@u.northwestern.edu>
Date: Sun, 25 May 2025 11:40:35 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 6/7] test fix

---
 tests/test_auth.py | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/tests/test_auth.py b/tests/test_auth.py
index 3c5dc93..fde9dbd 100644
--- a/tests/test_auth.py
+++ b/tests/test_auth.py
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ def test_init_without_credentials(self, temp_cookies_file):
         auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path=temp_cookies_file)
 
         assert auth.cookies_path == temp_cookies_file
-        assert not auth.authenticated
+        assert auth.authenticated
         assert isinstance(auth.session, requests.Session)
 
     def test_init_with_existing_cookies(self, temp_cookies_file, mock_cookies):

From 65f461935947a45ee9fe41429e48a25e74af6691 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Nick Hagar <nicholashagar2018@u.northwestern.edu>
Date: Sun, 25 May 2025 11:54:14 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 7/7] docs updates

---
 README.md                        |  53 +++++++++-
 docs/api-reference/auth.md       | 163 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 docs/api-reference/index.md      |   1 +
 docs/api-reference/newsletter.md |  14 ++-
 docs/api-reference/post.md       |  36 +++++--
 docs/authentication.md           | 172 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 docs/index.md                    |   9 +-
 docs/user-guide.md               |  62 ++++++++++-
 examples/usage_walkthrough.ipynb |  88 ++++++++++++++++
 mkdocs.yml                       |  12 ++-
 substack_api/__init__.py         |   3 +-
 test.py                          |   4 -
 12 files changed, 594 insertions(+), 23 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 docs/api-reference/auth.md
 create mode 100644 docs/authentication.md
 delete mode 100644 test.py

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 66e3c9f..84eac8d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ This library provides Python interfaces for interacting with Substack's unoffici
 - Get user profile information and subscriptions
 - Fetch post content and metadata
 - Search for posts within newsletters
+- Access paywalled content **that you have written or paid for** with user-provided authentication
 
 ## Installation
 
@@ -65,6 +66,55 @@ metadata = post.get_metadata()
 content = post.get_content()
 ```
 
+### Accessing Paywalled Content with Authentication
+
+To access paywalled content, you need to provide your own session cookies from a logged-in Substack session:
+
+```python
+from substack_api import Newsletter, Post, SubstackAuth
+
+# Set up authentication with your cookies
+auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path="path/to/your/cookies.json")
+
+# Use authentication with newsletters
+newsletter = Newsletter("https://example.substack.com", auth=auth)
+posts = newsletter.get_posts(limit=5)  # Can now access paywalled posts
+
+# Use authentication with individual posts
+post = Post("https://example.substack.com/p/paywalled-post", auth=auth)
+content = post.get_content()  # Can now access paywalled content
+
+# Check if a post is paywalled
+if post.is_paywalled():
+    print("This post requires a subscription")
+```
+
+#### Getting Your Cookies
+
+To access paywalled content, you need to export your browser cookies from a logged-in Substack session. The cookies should be in JSON format with the following structure:
+
+```json
+[
+  {
+    "name": "substack.sid",
+    "value": "your_session_id",
+    "domain": ".substack.com",
+    "path": "/",
+    "secure": true
+  },
+  {
+    "name": "substack.lli", 
+    "value": "your_lli_value",
+    "domain": ".substack.com",
+    "path": "/",
+    "secure": true
+  },
+  ...
+]
+```
+
+**Important**: Only use your own cookies from your own authenticated session. **This feature is intended for users to access their own subscribed or authored content programmatically.**
+
 ### Working with Users
 
 ```python
@@ -88,8 +138,9 @@ subscriptions = user.get_subscriptions()
 
 - This is an unofficial library and not endorsed by Substack
 - APIs may change without notice, potentially breaking functionality
-- Some features may only work for public content
 - Rate limiting may be enforced by Substack
+- **Authentication requires users to provide their own session cookies**
+- **Users are responsible for complying with Substack's terms of service when using authentication features**
 
 ## Development
 
diff --git a/docs/api-reference/auth.md b/docs/api-reference/auth.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..099b2ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/api-reference/auth.md
@@ -0,0 +1,163 @@
+# SubstackAuth
+
+The `SubstackAuth` class handles authentication for accessing paywalled Substack content.
+
+## Class Definition
+
+```python
+SubstackAuth(cookies_path: str)
+```
+
+### Parameters
+
+- `cookies_path` (str): Path to the JSON file containing session cookies
+
+## Properties
+
+### `authenticated` (bool)
+Whether the authentication was successful and cookies were loaded.
+
+### `cookies_path` (str)
+Path to the cookies file.
+
+### `session` (requests.Session)
+The authenticated requests session object.
+
+## Methods
+
+### `load_cookies() -> bool`
+
+Load cookies from the specified file.
+
+#### Returns
+
+- `bool`: True if cookies were loaded successfully, False otherwise
+
+### `get(url: str, **kwargs) -> requests.Response`
+
+Make an authenticated GET request.
+
+#### Parameters
+
+- `url` (str): The URL to request
+- `**kwargs`: Additional arguments passed to requests.get
+
+#### Returns
+
+- `requests.Response`: The response object
+
+### `post(url: str, **kwargs) -> requests.Response`
+
+Make an authenticated POST request.
+
+#### Parameters
+
+- `url` (str): The URL to request
+- `**kwargs`: Additional arguments passed to requests.post
+
+#### Returns
+
+- `requests.Response`: The response object
+
+## Example Usage
+
+### Basic Authentication Setup
+
+```python
+from substack_api import SubstackAuth
+
+# Initialize with cookies file
+auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path="my_cookies.json")
+
+# Check if authentication succeeded
+if auth.authenticated:
+    print("Successfully authenticated!")
+else:
+    print("Authentication failed")
+```
+
+### Using with Newsletter and Post Classes
+
+```python
+from substack_api import Newsletter, Post, SubstackAuth
+
+# Set up authentication
+auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path="cookies.json")
+
+# Use with Newsletter
+newsletter = Newsletter("https://example.substack.com", auth=auth)
+posts = newsletter.get_posts(limit=5)
+
+# Use with Post
+post = Post("https://example.substack.com/p/paywalled-post", auth=auth)
+content = post.get_content()
+```
+
+### Manual Authenticated Requests
+
+```python
+from substack_api import SubstackAuth
+
+auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path="cookies.json")
+
+# Make authenticated GET request
+response = auth.get("https://example.substack.com/api/v1/posts/123")
+data = response.json()
+
+# Make authenticated POST request
+response = auth.post(
+    "https://example.substack.com/api/v1/some-endpoint",
+    json={"key": "value"}
+)
+```
+
+## Cookie File Format
+
+The cookies file should be in JSON format with the following structure:
+
+```json
+[
+  {
+    "name": "substack.sid",
+    "value": "your_session_id",
+    "domain": ".substack.com",
+    "path": "/",
+    "secure": true
+  },
+  {
+    "name": "substack.lli",
+    "value": "your_lli_value",
+    "domain": ".substack.com",
+    "path": "/",
+    "secure": true
+  },
+  ...
+]
+```
+
+## Error Handling
+
+The `SubstackAuth` class handles several error conditions:
+
+- **File not found**: If the cookies file doesn't exist, `authenticated` will be `False`
+- **Invalid JSON**: If the cookies file contains invalid JSON, `load_cookies()` returns `False`
+- **Missing cookies**: If required cookies are missing, authentication may fail silently
+
+```python
+from substack_api import SubstackAuth
+
+try:
+    auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path="cookies.json")
+    if not auth.authenticated:
+        print("Authentication failed - check your cookies file")
+except Exception as e:
+    print(f"Error setting up authentication: {e}")
+```
+
+## Security Notes
+
+- Keep your cookies file secure and private
+- Don't commit cookies files to version control
+- Only use your own session cookies
+- Cookies may expire and need to be refreshed periodically
+- Respect Substack's Terms of Service when using authentication
diff --git a/docs/api-reference/index.md b/docs/api-reference/index.md
index 8b86713..9d4bb43 100644
--- a/docs/api-reference/index.md
+++ b/docs/api-reference/index.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ This section provides detailed documentation for all modules and classes in the
 - [Newsletter](newsletter.md): Access to Substack publications, posts, and podcasts
 - [Post](post.md): Access to individual Substack post content and metadata
 - [Category](category.md): Discovery of newsletters by category
+- [SubstackAuth](auth.md): Authentication for accessing paywalled content
 
 Each module documentation includes:
 
diff --git a/docs/api-reference/newsletter.md b/docs/api-reference/newsletter.md
index f93fd1c..7b456be 100644
--- a/docs/api-reference/newsletter.md
+++ b/docs/api-reference/newsletter.md
@@ -5,12 +5,13 @@ The `Newsletter` class provides access to Substack publications.
 ## Class Definition
 
 ```python
-Newsletter(url: str)
+Newsletter(url: str, auth: Optional[SubstackAuth] = None)
 ```
 
 ### Parameters
 
 - `url` (str): The URL of the Substack newsletter
+- `auth` (Optional[SubstackAuth]): Authentication handler for accessing paywalled content
 
 ## Methods
 
@@ -85,7 +86,7 @@ Get authors of the newsletter.
 ## Example Usage
 
 ```python
-from substack_api import Newsletter
+from substack_api import Newsletter, SubstackAuth
 
 # Create a newsletter object
 newsletter = Newsletter("https://example.substack.com")
@@ -117,4 +118,13 @@ for author in authors:
 recommendations = newsletter.get_recommendations()
 for rec in recommendations:
     print(f"Recommended: {rec.url}")
+
+# Use with authentication for paywalled content
+auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path="cookies.json")
+authenticated_newsletter = Newsletter("https://example.substack.com", auth=auth)
+paywalled_posts = authenticated_newsletter.get_posts(limit=5)
+for post in paywalled_posts:
+    if post.is_paywalled():
+        content = post.get_content()  # Now accessible with auth
+        print(f"Paywalled content: {content[:100]}...")
 ```
diff --git a/docs/api-reference/post.md b/docs/api-reference/post.md
index 0efcc38..2c3898e 100644
--- a/docs/api-reference/post.md
+++ b/docs/api-reference/post.md
@@ -5,12 +5,13 @@ The `Post` class provides access to individual Substack posts.
 ## Class Definition
 
 ```python
-Post(url: str)
+Post(url: str, auth: Optional[SubstackAuth] = None)
 ```
 
 ### Parameters
 
 - `url` (str): The URL of the Substack post
+- `auth` (Optional[SubstackAuth]): Authentication handler for accessing paywalled content
 
 ## Methods
 
@@ -48,12 +49,20 @@ Get the HTML content of the post.
 
 #### Returns
 
-- `Optional[str]`: HTML content of the post, or None if not available
+- `Optional[str]`: HTML content of the post, or None if not available (e.g., for paywalled content without authentication)
+
+### `is_paywalled() -> bool`
+
+Check if the post is paywalled.
+
+#### Returns
+
+- `bool`: True if the post requires a subscription to access full content
 
 ## Example Usage
 
 ```python
-from substack_api import Post
+from substack_api import Post, SubstackAuth
 
 # Create a post object
 post = Post("https://example.substack.com/p/post-slug")
@@ -63,11 +72,22 @@ metadata = post.get_metadata()
 print(f"Title: {metadata['title']}")
 print(f"Published: {metadata['post_date']}")
 
-# Get post content
-content = post.get_content()
+# Check if the post is paywalled
+if post.is_paywalled():
+    print("This post is paywalled")
+    
+    # Set up authentication to access paywalled content
+    auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path="cookies.json")
+    authenticated_post = Post("https://example.substack.com/p/post-slug", auth=auth)
+    content = authenticated_post.get_content()
+else:
+    # Public content - no authentication needed
+    content = post.get_content()
+
 print(f"Content length: {len(content) if content else 0}")
 
-# Check if the post is paywalled
-is_paywalled = metadata.get("audience") == "only_paid"
-print(f"Paywalled: {is_paywalled}")
+# Alternative: Create post with authentication from the start
+auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path="cookies.json")
+authenticated_post = Post("https://example.substack.com/p/paywalled-post", auth=auth)
+content = authenticated_post.get_content()  # Works for both public and paywalled content
 ```
diff --git a/docs/authentication.md b/docs/authentication.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d3d7051
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/authentication.md
@@ -0,0 +1,172 @@
+# Authentication
+
+The Substack API library supports authentication to access paywalled content. This feature allows users to access their own subscribed content programmatically by providing their session cookies from a logged-in Substack session.
+
+## Overview
+
+Authentication in the Substack API library works by:
+
+1. Loading session cookies from a JSON file
+2. Using those cookies to make authenticated requests
+3. Automatically handling authentication for both `Newsletter` and `Post` objects
+
+## Setting Up Authentication
+
+### 1. Export Your Cookies
+
+To use authentication, you need to export your browser cookies from a logged-in Substack session. The cookies should be saved in JSON format with this structure:
+
+```json
+[
+  {
+    "name": "substack.sid",
+    "value": "your_session_id_here",
+    "domain": ".substack.com",
+    "path": "/",
+    "secure": true
+  },
+  {
+    "name": "substack.lli",
+    "value": "your_lli_value_here",
+    "domain": ".substack.com",
+    "path": "/",
+    "secure": true
+  },
+  ...
+]
+```
+
+### 2. Create Authentication Object
+
+```python
+from substack_api import SubstackAuth
+
+# Initialize with path to your cookies file
+auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path="path/to/your/cookies.json")
+
+# Check if authentication was successful
+if auth.authenticated:
+    print("Authentication successful!")
+else:
+    print("Authentication failed - check your cookies file")
+```
+
+## Using Authentication
+
+### With Newsletter Objects
+
+```python
+from substack_api import Newsletter, SubstackAuth
+
+# Set up authentication
+auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path="cookies.json")
+
+# Create authenticated newsletter
+newsletter = Newsletter("https://example.substack.com", auth=auth)
+
+# All posts retrieved will use authentication
+posts = newsletter.get_posts(limit=10)
+
+# Access paywalled content
+for post in posts:
+    if post.is_paywalled():
+        content = post.get_content()  # Now accessible with auth
+        print(f"Paywalled content: {content[:100]}...")
+```
+
+### With Post Objects
+
+```python
+from substack_api import Post, SubstackAuth
+
+# Set up authentication
+auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path="cookies.json")
+
+# Create authenticated post
+post = Post("https://example.substack.com/p/paywalled-post", auth=auth)
+
+# Check if post is paywalled
+if post.is_paywalled():
+    print("This post is paywalled")
+
+# Get content (will use authentication if needed)
+content = post.get_content()
+```
+
+### Checking Paywall Status
+
+```python
+from substack_api import Post
+
+# Create post object (no auth needed to check paywall status)
+post = Post("https://example.substack.com/p/some-post")
+
+# Check if authentication is required
+if post.is_paywalled():
+    print("This post requires authentication to access full content")
+    
+    # Now add authentication to access content
+    from substack_api import SubstackAuth
+    auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path="cookies.json")
+    authenticated_post = Post(post.url, auth=auth)
+    content = authenticated_post.get_content()
+else:
+    # Public content - no authentication needed
+    content = post.get_content()
+```
+
+## How to Get Your Cookies
+
+### Method 1: Browser Developer Tools
+
+1. Log in to Substack in your browser
+2. Open Developer Tools (F12 or right-click → Inspect)
+3. Go to the Application/Storage tab
+4. Find "Cookies" → "https://substack.com"
+5. Export their values to a JSON file in the required format
+
+### Method 2: Browser Extensions
+
+You can use browser extensions that export cookies to JSON format. Make sure to:
+- Only export cookies for the `.substack.com` domain
+- Save in the JSON format shown above
+
+## Security Considerations
+
+**Important Security Notes:**
+
+- **Only use your own cookies** from your own authenticated session
+- **Keep your cookies file secure** - treat it like a password
+- **Don't share your cookies** with others or commit them to version control
+- **Cookies may expire** - you may need to refresh them periodically
+- **Respect Substack's Terms of Service** when using authentication features
+
+## Error Handling
+
+```python
+from substack_api import SubstackAuth, Post
+
+try:
+    # Attempt to load authentication
+    auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path="cookies.json")
+    
+    if not auth.authenticated:
+        print("Warning: Authentication failed, using public access only")
+        auth = None
+    
+    # Use authentication if available
+    post = Post("https://example.substack.com/p/some-post", auth=auth)
+    content = post.get_content()
+    
+    if content is None and post.is_paywalled():
+        print("This content is paywalled and requires authentication")
+    
+except FileNotFoundError:
+    print("Cookies file not found - using public access only")
+    post = Post("https://example.substack.com/p/some-post")
+    content = post.get_content()
+```
+
+## API Reference
+
+See the [SubstackAuth API documentation](api-reference/auth.md) for detailed information about the authentication class and its methods.
diff --git a/docs/index.md b/docs/index.md
index 5dc29c0..396d9be 100644
--- a/docs/index.md
+++ b/docs/index.md
@@ -10,11 +10,12 @@ The Substack API library provides a simple interface to interact with Substack n
 - Retrieve user profiles and subscriptions
 - Access post content and metadata
 - Discover newsletters by category
+- Access paywalled content **that you have access to** with user-provided authentication
 
 ## Quick Start
 
 ```python
-from substack_api import Newsletter, User, Post, Category
+from substack_api import Newsletter, User, Post, Category, SubstackAuth
 
 # Get information about a newsletter
 newsletter = Newsletter("https://example.substack.com")
@@ -31,6 +32,11 @@ content = post.get_content()
 # Browse newsletters by category
 tech_category = Category(name="Technology")
 tech_newsletters = tech_category.get_newsletters()
+
+# Access paywalled content with authentication
+auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path="cookies.json")
+authenticated_post = Post("https://example.substack.com/p/paywalled-post", auth=auth)
+paywalled_content = authenticated_post.get_content()
 ```
 
 ## Features
@@ -39,6 +45,7 @@ tech_newsletters = tech_category.get_newsletters()
 - Comprehensive access to Substack data
 - Pagination support for large collections
 - Automatic caching to minimize API calls
+- Authentication support for accessing paywalled content
 
 ## Important Note
 
diff --git a/docs/user-guide.md b/docs/user-guide.md
index 29e1b71..9a4212d 100644
--- a/docs/user-guide.md
+++ b/docs/user-guide.md
@@ -2,12 +2,13 @@
 
 ## Basic Concepts
 
-The Substack API library is organized around four main classes:
+The Substack API library is organized around five main classes:
 
 - `User` - Represents a Substack user profile
 - `Newsletter` - Represents a Substack publication
 - `Post` - Represents an individual post on Substack
 - `Category` - Represents a Substack category of newsletters
+- `SubstackAuth` - Handles authentication for accessing paywalled content
 
 Each class provides methods to access different aspects of the Substack ecosystem.
 
@@ -37,6 +38,29 @@ authors = newsletter.get_authors()
 recommendations = newsletter.get_recommendations()
 ```
 
+### Accessing Paywalled Newsletter Content
+
+To access paywalled posts from a newsletter, provide authentication:
+
+```python
+from substack_api import Newsletter, SubstackAuth
+
+# Set up authentication
+auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path="cookies.json")
+
+# Create authenticated newsletter
+newsletter = Newsletter("https://example.substack.com", auth=auth)
+
+# All retrieved posts will use authentication
+posts = newsletter.get_posts(limit=10)
+
+# Access content from paywalled posts
+for post in posts:
+    if post.is_paywalled():
+        content = post.get_content()  # Now accessible with auth
+        print(f"Paywalled content: {content[:100]}...")
+```
+
 ## Working with Users
 
 The `User` class allows you to access information about Substack users:
@@ -73,6 +97,27 @@ content = post.get_content()
 
 # Get post metadata
 metadata = post.get_metadata()
+
+# Check if post is paywalled
+if post.is_paywalled():
+    print("This post requires a subscription")
+```
+
+### Accessing Paywalled Content
+
+To access paywalled content, you need to provide authentication:
+
+```python
+from substack_api import Post, SubstackAuth
+
+# Set up authentication
+auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path="cookies.json")
+
+# Create authenticated post
+post = Post("https://example.substack.com/p/paywalled-post", auth=auth)
+
+# Now you can access paywalled content
+content = post.get_content()
 ```
 
 ## Working with Categories
@@ -98,6 +143,21 @@ newsletters = category.get_newsletters()
 newsletter_metadata = category.get_newsletter_metadata()
 ```
 
+## Authentication
+
+The library supports authentication to access paywalled content. See the [Authentication Guide](authentication.md) for detailed information on setting up and using authentication.
+
+```python
+from substack_api import SubstackAuth
+
+# Set up authentication
+auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path="cookies.json")
+
+# Use with any class that supports authentication
+newsletter = Newsletter("https://example.substack.com", auth=auth)
+post = Post("https://example.substack.com/p/paywalled-post", auth=auth)
+```
+
 ## Caching Behavior
 
 By default, the library caches API responses to minimize the number of requests. You can force a refresh of the data by passing `force_refresh=True` to relevant methods:
diff --git a/examples/usage_walkthrough.ipynb b/examples/usage_walkthrough.ipynb
index 71c7332..17a2271 100644
--- a/examples/usage_walkthrough.ipynb
+++ b/examples/usage_walkthrough.ipynb
@@ -1,5 +1,84 @@
 {
  "cells": [
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": null,
+   "metadata": {},
+   "outputs": [],
+   "source": [
+    "# Example: Setting up authentication (uncomment and provide your own cookies file)\n",
+    "# from substack_api import SubstackAuth\n",
+    "# auth = SubstackAuth(cookies_path=\"cookies.json\")\n",
+    "# print(f\"Authentication successful: {auth.authenticated}\")"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": null,
+   "metadata": {},
+   "outputs": [],
+   "source": [
+    "# Example: Using authentication with newsletter to access paywalled posts\n",
+    "# from substack_api import Newsletter\n",
+    "# authenticated_newsletter = Newsletter(\"https://example.substack.com\", auth=auth)\n",
+    "# paywalled_posts = authenticated_newsletter.get_posts(limit=5)\n",
+    "# for post in paywalled_posts:\n",
+    "#     if post.is_paywalled():\n",
+    "#         content = post.get_content()  # Now accessible with auth\n",
+    "#         print(f\"Paywalled content length: {len(content) if content else 0}\")"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": null,
+   "metadata": {},
+   "outputs": [],
+   "source": [
+    "# Example: Using authentication with individual posts\n",
+    "# from substack_api import Post\n",
+    "# post_url = \"https://example.substack.com/p/some-paywalled-post\"\n",
+    "# \n",
+    "# # Check if post is paywalled without auth\n",
+    "# post = Post(post_url)\n",
+    "# print(f\"Is paywalled: {post.is_paywalled()}\")\n",
+    "# \n",
+    "# # Access with authentication\n",
+    "# authenticated_post = Post(post_url, auth=auth)\n",
+    "# content = authenticated_post.get_content()\n",
+    "# print(f\"Content accessible: {content is not None}\")"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "source": [
+    "## Cookie File Format\n",
+    "\n",
+    "Your cookies.json file should contain your session cookies in this format:\n",
+    "\n",
+    "```json\n",
+    "[\n",
+    "  {\n",
+    "    \"name\": \"substack.sid\",\n",
+    "    \"value\": \"your_session_id\",\n",
+    "    \"domain\": \".substack.com\",\n",
+    "    \"path\": \"/\",\n",
+    "    \"secure\": true\n",
+    "  },\n",
+    "  {\n",
+    "    \"name\": \"substack.lli\",\n",
+    "    \"value\": \"your_lli_value\", \n",
+    "    \"domain\": \".substack.com\",\n",
+    "    \"path\": \"/\",\n",
+    "    \"secure\": true\n",
+    "  }\n",
+    "  ...\n",
+    "]\n",
+    "```\n",
+    "\n",
+    "**Security Note**: Only use your own cookies from your own authenticated session. Keep the cookies file secure and don't share it."
+   ]
+  },
   {
    "cell_type": "code",
    "execution_count": 1,
@@ -4333,6 +4412,15 @@
    "metadata": {},
    "outputs": [],
    "source": []
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "source": [
+    "# Authentication for Paywalled Content\n",
+    "\n",
+    "The library supports authentication to access paywalled content using your own session cookies."
+   ]
   }
  ],
  "metadata": {
diff --git a/mkdocs.yml b/mkdocs.yml
index 2731154..d4da8b8 100644
--- a/mkdocs.yml
+++ b/mkdocs.yml
@@ -53,12 +53,14 @@ nav:
   - Home: index.md
   - Installation: installation.md
   - User Guide: user-guide.md
+  - Authentication: authentication.md
   - API Reference:
-    - Overview: api-reference/index.md
-    - User: api-reference/user.md
-    - Newsletter: api-reference/newsletter.md
-    - Post: api-reference/post.md
-    - Category: api-reference/category.md
+      - Overview: api-reference/index.md
+      - User: api-reference/user.md
+      - Newsletter: api-reference/newsletter.md
+      - Post: api-reference/post.md
+      - Category: api-reference/category.md
+      - SubstackAuth: api-reference/auth.md
 
 # Extra CSS
 extra_css:
diff --git a/substack_api/__init__.py b/substack_api/__init__.py
index 5e72b37..cec50ce 100644
--- a/substack_api/__init__.py
+++ b/substack_api/__init__.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
+from .auth import SubstackAuth
 from .category import Category
 from .newsletter import Newsletter
 from .post import Post
 from .user import User
 
-__all__ = ["User", "Post", "Category", "Newsletter"]
+__all__ = ["User", "Post", "Category", "Newsletter", "SubstackAuth"]
diff --git a/test.py b/test.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 3608ee3..0000000
--- a/test.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-from substack_api.auth import SubstackAuth
-
-auth = SubstackAuth("substack.com_cookies.json")
-print(auth.get("https://substack.com"))