With Cerby, you can transfer an app’s active session to the cloud to improve the performance of automation tasks triggered for your accounts from the Cerby platform.
This feature keeps your session live in Cerby even if you close your browser or switch to a different device. With the transferred session, Cerby can minimize disruptive, unrecognized login alerts and CAPTCHA challenges that must be solved manually for applications and service providers that don’t support automation tasks in the cloud.
The following are some of the use cases for the Session Transfer feature:
Automatically turn on and off multi-factor authentication (MFA) for your accounts.
Check automatically whether MFA is still active and whether the correct secret key is set for an account.
Swap the email address or phone number of an account automatically to an email address or phone number managed by Cerby.
Rotate passwords automatically based on user actions or policies.
Check for business hub updates.
For security, Cerby encrypts your session data and securely stores it on the cloud. Also, only users with the Account Owner role on an account can use this feature. Whenever you transfer a new session, all previously stored sessions for that account are permanently deleted.
IMPORTANT: The Session Transfer feature is only available for Cerby-supported apps and service providers, and you must provide your consent to transfer your session. |
Requirements
The following are the requirements to transfer your active session to the cloud:
A Cerby account.
A user account added to Cerby for an app supported with Session Transfer and with the Account Owner role on the account.
The app must have one active session in your browser. Having multiple active sessions for the same service may cause the automation to fail.
Log out of all other accounts on the target domain, for example, other Google accounts, except for the one you intend to transfer.
Only have one session active for the app with the same browser.
IMPORTANT: The automation tasks may fail because the extension captures all cookies for a domain; if multiple users are logged in, the automation might pick up the wrong account.
Transfer your active session
To transfer your active session, you can use the Cerby browser extension or web app. This section contains the instructions for both clients.
Transfer session using the Cerby browser extension
To transfer the active session of an account using the Cerby browser extension, you must complete the following steps:
Open the Cerby browser extension popup.
Click the View Details button of the corresponding account card. The account details page is displayed.
Click the Share (
) icon of the Transfer Session field. The session is transferred to Cerby, and a success message box is displayed.
Now you are done.
Transfer session using the Cerby web app
To transfer the active session of an account using the Cerby web app, you must complete the following steps:
Log in to your Cerby workspace.
Click the corresponding account card. The account details page is displayed.
Expand the Session transfer section in the account details page.
Click the Transfer active session button. A wizard is displayed on the Let Cerby transfer your session to the cloud? page.
Figure 1. The Let Cerby transfer your session to the cloud? page
Select the I agree to transfer my active session option.
Click the Next button. The Log out from other accounts page of the wizard is displayed.
Click the Transfer session button. The session is transferred to Cerby, and a success message box is displayed.
Now you are done.
Delete an active session
Users can manually delete a transferred session at any time for security, using the Cerby browser extension or web app. This section contains the instructions for both clients.
Delete a session using the Cerby browser extension
To delete a session using the Cerby browser extension, you must complete the following steps:
Open the Cerby browser extension popup.
Click the View Details button of the corresponding account card. The account details page is displayed.
Click the Delete (
) icon of the Transfer Session field. The session is deleted from Cerby.
Now you are done.
Delete a session using the Cerby web app
To delete a session using the Cerby web app, you must complete the following steps:
Log in to your Cerby workspace.
Click the corresponding card. The account details page is displayed.
Expand the Session transfer section in the account details page.
Figure 2. The Session transfer dialog box with the Delete session button
Click the Delete session button. The Delete transferred session? dialog box is displayed.
Click the Yes, delete session button.
Now you are done.
Troubleshooting: Expired session
An expired session occurs when the link between the Cerby cloud and your active app session becomes invalid, preventing automation tasks from performing successfully on your behalf.
Why do sessions expire
Sessions might expire for different reasons, such as the following:
Security retention policy: For your protection, Cerby's secure storage is configured to delete all browser state objects. If the session is not used or refreshed within this window, it expires automatically.
App-side invalidation: Service providers such as Google or Instagram may terminate sessions if they detect a password change, security settings update, or if you manually log out from all devices.
New transfer performed: Whenever you initiate a new session transfer for an account, all previously stored sessions are permanently deleted to ensure data integrity.
How to identify an expired session
The following are some hints to identify when a session has expired:
Automation failures: You may notice a decrease in the success rate of background automation tasks like password rotations or MFA checks.
Status indicators: In the Cerby web app or browser extension, the session status might change from Transferred to Invalid or Expired.
Automation detection: If the session has expired, you might see a CAPTCHA challenge or a non-secure browser alert from the provider.
How to fix an expired session
If your session has expired, you must manually re-authorize the connection:
Verify your browser by performing the following:
Ensure you are logged into the target app in your current browser.
Log out of any secondary accounts.
Follow the Transfer active session steps to capture a fresh, valid session.
Now you are done.