fix: label TLS-backend timeouts ServerTimeoutError, flatten noble multi headers, ValueError on unknown profile (v0.1.5)

Both backends' asyncio.TimeoutError except-branch was dead code (neither curl_cffi
nor noble_tls raises it), so a real wire timeout fell through to the generic OSError
branch and got mislabeled a plain aiohttp.ClientError instead of aioweb's own
ServerTimeoutError contract; now detected via curl_cffi's Timeout type or Go-side
timeout text and re-wrapped correctly. Noble's multi-valued response headers (e.g.
two Set-Cookie lines) arrived as Python lists instead of strings, breaking any
downstream .split()/.lower() call; now comma-joined per RFC 7230. An unknown Noble
client profile string raised a raw AttributeError from the enum lookup; now a
ValueError listing the valid profile names. Also compresses essay-length docstrings
and narrating comments across the module with no behavior change.

Signed-off-by: disqualifier <dev@disqualifier.me>

README.md

@@ -22,17 +22,17 @@ you want; importing the package never fails because an extra is missing.
 `requirements.txt` (pick the extra you need):
 
 ```
-aioweb_tls[curl]  @ git+ssh://git@git.rethinkstudios.io/rethink-public/aioweb_tls.git@v0.1.3
-aioweb_tls[noble] @ git+ssh://git@git.rethinkstudios.io/rethink-public/aioweb_tls.git@v0.1.3
-aioweb_tls[all]   @ git+ssh://git@git.rethinkstudios.io/rethink-public/aioweb_tls.git@v0.1.3
+aioweb_tls[curl]  @ git+ssh://git@git.rethinkstudios.io/rethink-public/aioweb_tls.git@v0.1.5
+aioweb_tls[noble] @ git+ssh://git@git.rethinkstudios.io/rethink-public/aioweb_tls.git@v0.1.5
+aioweb_tls[all]   @ git+ssh://git@git.rethinkstudios.io/rethink-public/aioweb_tls.git@v0.1.5
 ```
 
 Direct:
 
 ```bash
-pip install "aioweb_tls[curl] @ git+ssh://git@git.rethinkstudios.io/rethink-public/aioweb_tls.git@v0.1.3"
-pip install "aioweb_tls[noble] @ git+ssh://git@git.rethinkstudios.io/rethink-public/aioweb_tls.git@v0.1.3"
-pip install "aioweb_tls[all] @ git+ssh://git@git.rethinkstudios.io/rethink-public/aioweb_tls.git@v0.1.3"
+pip install "aioweb_tls[curl] @ git+ssh://git@git.rethinkstudios.io/rethink-public/aioweb_tls.git@v0.1.5"
+pip install "aioweb_tls[noble] @ git+ssh://git@git.rethinkstudios.io/rethink-public/aioweb_tls.git@v0.1.5"
+pip install "aioweb_tls[all] @ git+ssh://git@git.rethinkstudios.io/rethink-public/aioweb_tls.git@v0.1.5"
 ```
 
 - `[curl]` → curl_cffi backend · `[noble]` → noble_tls backend · `[all]` → both.
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ pip install "aioweb_tls[all] @ git+ssh://git@git.rethinkstudios.io/rethink-publi
 Constructing a backend whose client isn't installed raises that `RuntimeError` at
 construction, never at import.
 
-Drop the `@v0.1.3` suffix from the line above to install the latest unpinned.
+Drop the `@v0.1.5` suffix from the line above to install the latest unpinned.
 
 ## curl_cffi backend
 
@@ -63,6 +63,10 @@ async with TLSSession(backend=CurlCffi(impersonate="chrome"), proxies={"https":
   backend kwargs — passing `impersonate=` there raises `TypeError`; set the profile on
   the `CurlCffi` instance for the retrying path.
 - curl_cffi forges JA3/JA4 + HTTP/2 fingerprints via the bundled curl-impersonate binary.
+- A wire-level timeout raises `aiohttp.ServerTimeoutError` (matching aioweb's own
+  contract), not a generic `aiohttp.ClientError` — both backends detect their
+  native timeout (curl_cffi's `Timeout` type, noble_tls's Go-side timeout text) and
+  re-wrap it before the fallback client-error path (v0.1.5).
 
 ## noble backend
 
@@ -76,10 +80,20 @@ async with TLSSession(backend=Noble(client="chrome_133")) as s:
         print(resp.json()["tls"]["ja3"])
 ```
 
-- `Noble(client="chrome_133")` — accepts a `noble_tls.Client` enum or a string name.
+- `Noble(client="chrome_133")` — accepts a `noble_tls.Client` enum or a string name;
+  an unknown string raises `ValueError` listing the valid profile names (v0.1.5).
 - noble_tls downloads a Go shared library on first use. `await s.setup()` fetches it
   once at startup; if you skip it, the first request fetches it lazily. The fetch is
   guarded by a lock, so even concurrent first requests download it exactly once.
+- Binary bodies (images, zips, PDFs, protobuf) round-trip as true bytes: noble_tls
+  returns response bodies as a UTF-8 JSON string by default, which mangles non-UTF-8
+  bytes (`U+FFFD` replacement, wrong length) even on a 200 response — the Noble
+  backend always requests `is_byte_response=True` and decodes the resulting
+  base64 data-URI back into raw bytes, so `resp.content` is never lossy.
+- Multi-valued response headers (e.g. two `Set-Cookie` lines) arrive from noble_tls's
+  Go side as a Python list — the Noble backend flattens them to a single
+  comma-joined string per RFC 7230, so `resp.headers[...]` is always a plain string
+  (v0.1.5).
 
 ## Writing your own backend (the `TLSBackend` protocol)
 
@@ -99,6 +113,9 @@ for the authoritative contract):
 | `raw_request` | **required** | `async (session, method, url, **kwargs) -> aioweb.Response` | send one request; adapt the client's response into an `aioweb.Response` |
 | `is_closed` | **required** | `(session) -> bool` | whether the session is closed |
 | `cookies_for_url` | optional | `(session, url) -> dict` | cookies for `preview()`; defaults to `{}` |
+| `set_cookie` | optional | `(session, name, value, domain=None, path="/") -> None` | backs `TLSSession.set_cookie()`; raises `NotImplementedError` if absent |
+| `get_cookies` | optional | `(session) -> dict` | backs `TLSSession.get_cookies()`; raises `NotImplementedError` if absent |
+| `clear_cookies` | optional | `(session) -> None` | backs `TLSSession.clear_cookies()`; raises `NotImplementedError` if absent |
 | `setup` | optional | `async () -> None` | one-time prep (e.g. fetch a native lib); idempotent |
 | `close` | optional | `async (session) -> None` | close the session; defaults to `await session.close()` |
 
@@ -156,8 +173,9 @@ async with TLSSession(backend=GoTLSBackend("http://localhost:8080")) as s:
 ## Inherited features work unchanged
 
 aioweb's overwrite/domain/ephemeral/proxy/retry/preview logic operates on plain dicts
-and never touches the HTTP backend — only the seams do. Every aioweb feature behaves
-identically on any backend:
+and never touches the HTTP backend — only the seams do. Header overwrites, domain
+rewriting, ephemeral headers, proxies, retries, and previews behave identically on
+any backend:
 
 ```python
 async with TLSSession(backend=CurlCffi(impersonate="chrome")) as s:
@@ -167,6 +185,19 @@ async with TLSSession(backend=CurlCffi(impersonate="chrome")) as s:
     print(s.preview("GET", "https://internal.local/x").as_curl())   # reflects all of the above
 ```
 
+Session-default headers are never baked into the underlying client (neither
+`CurlCffi` nor `Noble` passes `headers=` to their client's constructor) — they flow
+through aioweb's own per-request `_default_headers` merge instead. That keeps
+`update_headers()` / `clear_headers()` accurate for both backends: what
+`get_headers()` and `preview()` report is what actually goes out on the wire, with
+no stale, already-baked value resurfacing after a clear.
+
+The mutable cookie API — `set_cookie()` / `get_cookies()` / `clear_cookies()` — is
+also backend-aware: `CurlCffi` and `Noble` each route it through their own client's
+cookie store (both expose a `requests`-style `session.cookies` with `set()` /
+`items()` / `clear()`), so these calls work the same way they do on the base
+`aioweb.ExtendedSession`, not just `_cookies_for_url()` (used by `preview()`).
+
 ## Honesty note
 
 TLS fingerprinting changes one layer — the TLS/HTTP fingerprint. It does **not** by

pyproject.toml

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "hatchling.build"
 
 [project]
 name = "aioweb_tls"
-version = "0.1.3"
+version = "0.1.5"
 description = "TLS-fingerprinting backends (curl_cffi / noble_tls) for aioweb via one injectable TLSSession, config-free, installable."
 requires-python = ">=3.10"
 dependencies = [

src/aioweb_tls/backends.py

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ this module never fails because an extra is missing.
 """
 
 import asyncio
+import base64
 import logging
 import math
 
@@ -24,14 +25,40 @@ log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 def _as_client_error(error: Exception, backend: str) -> aiohttp.ClientError:
     """wrap a backend-native network exception as an aiohttp.ClientError
 
-    aioweb's request() only re-wraps aiohttp.ClientError; curl_cffi raises
-    RequestException(OSError) and noble_tls raises TLSClientException(IOError), neither
-    of which is an aiohttp.ClientError. translating here gives TLS backends the same
-    typed failure contract as the aiohttp path on the bare request() route.
+    curl_cffi raises RequestException(OSError), noble_tls raises
+    TLSClientException(IOError) — neither is an aiohttp.ClientError, which is all
+    aioweb's request() re-wraps; translating here gives both the same typed contract.
     """
     return aiohttp.ClientError(f"{backend} request failed: {error}")
 
 
+_TIMEOUT_TEXT = ("timeout", "timed out", "deadline exceeded")
+
+
+def _is_timeout_error(error: Exception) -> bool:
+    """whether a backend-native network error is a timeout
+
+    neither backend raises asyncio.TimeoutError for a wire timeout: curl_cffi's own
+    Timeout and noble_tls's Go-side TLSClientException are both plain OSError
+    subclasses with no dedicated timeout type — check curl_cffi's Timeout class by
+    name first (precise), then fall back to matching the error text (covers
+    noble_tls's Go messages, e.g. "context deadline exceeded").
+    """
+    timeout_type = getattr(error, "__class__", None)
+    if timeout_type is not None and any(base.__name__ == "Timeout" for base in timeout_type.__mro__):
+        return True
+    return any(needle in str(error).lower() for needle in _TIMEOUT_TEXT)
+
+
+def _as_timeout_error(error: Exception, backend: str) -> aiohttp.ServerTimeoutError:
+    """wrap a backend-native timeout as aiohttp.ServerTimeoutError
+
+    matches aioweb's own contract (a total timeout raises ServerTimeoutError, both a
+    ClientError and a TimeoutError) instead of surfacing as a generic client error.
+    """
+    return aiohttp.ServerTimeoutError(f"{backend} request timed out: {error}")
+
+
 try:
     from curl_cffi import AsyncSession as _CurlAsyncSession
     _CURL_ERROR = None
@@ -50,21 +77,64 @@ except ImportError as error:
 
 
 def _coerce_timeout(value):
-    """turn aioweb's aiohttp ClientTimeout (or a number) into a plain number
+    """unwrap aioweb's aiohttp ClientTimeout (or a plain number) to a number
 
-    aioweb.request() wraps a numeric timeout in an aiohttp.ClientTimeout before the
-    seam sees it; the tls clients want a number, so unwrap .total when present.
+    aioweb.request() wraps a numeric timeout in aiohttp.ClientTimeout before the seam
+    sees it; the tls clients want a bare number.
     """
     total = getattr(value, "total", value)
     return total if isinstance(total, (int, float)) else None
 
 
+def _noble_timeout_seconds(value):
+    """coerce a raw or wrapped timeout into whole seconds for noble's Go int field
+
+    single source of truth for both Noble timeout paths (session-default and
+    per-call): the Go field timeoutSeconds is an int, so a sub-second float truncates
+    to 0 (= no timeout) and a non-integer fails Go-side JSON unmarshal outright.
+    rounds up so a sub-second timeout still waits at least 1s. None if uncoercible.
+    """
+    timeout = _coerce_timeout(value)
+    if timeout is None:
+        return None
+    return max(1, math.ceil(timeout))
+
+
+def _noble_content(response) -> bytes:
+    """extract true response bytes from a noble_tls response fetched with is_byte_response
+
+    with is_byte_response=True, noble_tls's Go side returns the body as a
+    `data:<mime>;base64,<payload>` URI string in response.text (the whole Go response
+    is UTF-8-decoded before JSON parsing, so raw bytes travel as base64) —
+    response.content just re-encodes that string, so decode the data-URI here
+    instead. falls back to a plain utf-8 encode if the body isn't a data-URI.
+    """
+    text = getattr(response, "text", "") or ""
+    if text.startswith("data:") and ";base64," in text:
+        _, _, payload = text.partition(";base64,")
+        return base64.b64decode(payload)
+    return text.encode()
+
+
+def _flatten_headers(headers) -> dict:
+    """flatten a Go-style map[str][]str header dict into plain str values
+
+    noble_tls keeps a multi-valued header (e.g. two Set-Cookie lines) as a Python
+    list, breaking any downstream .split()/.lower() call; join with ", " per RFC 7230
+    field-value combination, leaving single values untouched.
+    """
+    return {
+        key: ", ".join(value) if isinstance(value, list) else value
+        for key, value in headers.items()
+    }
+
+
 def _jar_to_dict(session):
     """best-effort map of a requests-style cookie jar on session to a plain dict
 
-    intentionally broad: this feeds preview() only, the two backends expose differently-
-    shaped jars, and a cookie read must never crash a request — so any jar that doesn't
-    iterate cleanly degrades to {} rather than raising.
+    feeds preview() only; the two backends expose differently-shaped jars and a
+    cookie read must never crash a request, so a jar that fails to iterate degrades
+    to {} rather than raising.
     """
     jar = getattr(session, "cookies", None)
     if not jar:
@@ -80,10 +150,10 @@ class CurlCffi:
 
     config:
         impersonate: browser profile to forge (default "chrome"); override per call
-            by passing impersonate= to the low-level request()/_raw_request path,
-            which forwards **kwargs to the backend. NOT request_with_retries — its
-            signature is fixed (no **kwargs) and would raise TypeError. for a
-            per-call profile under retries, set it on the CurlCffi instance instead.
+            by passing impersonate= to the low-level request()/_raw_request path
+            (forwards **kwargs to the backend) — NOT request_with_retries, whose
+            fixed signature has no **kwargs and raises TypeError. for the retrying
+            path, set the profile on the CurlCffi instance instead.
 
     requires the [curl] extra (pip install "aioweb_tls[curl]").
     """
@@ -97,8 +167,15 @@ class CurlCffi:
         self.impersonate = impersonate
 
     def create_session(self, headers, timeout, **kwargs):
-        """build the curl_cffi AsyncSession"""
-        return _CurlAsyncSession(headers=headers, timeout=timeout, **kwargs)
+        """build the curl_cffi AsyncSession
+
+        deliberately does NOT pass `headers`: curl_cffi bakes a constructor
+        `headers=` into the client and re-merges it under per-request headers,
+        which would desync update_headers()/clear_headers() from what's actually on
+        the wire — aioweb's session-default headers already apply per request via
+        the base's _default_headers merge (see ExtendedSession._create_session).
+        """
+        return _CurlAsyncSession(timeout=timeout, **kwargs)
 
     async def raw_request(self, session, method, url, **kwargs) -> Response:
         """send via curl_cffi and adapt the result into an aioweb.Response"""
@@ -119,9 +196,11 @@ class CurlCffi:
         except asyncio.TimeoutError:
             raise
         except OSError as error:
-            # curl_cffi's RequestException subclasses OSError; translate the native
-            # network error into aiohttp.ClientError. narrowed from a bare Exception so a
-            # real bug (AttributeError/TypeError) isn't laundered into 'client error'
+            # RequestException (incl. curl_cffi's own Timeout) subclasses OSError, never
+            # asyncio.TimeoutError — check for a timeout first so it surfaces as
+            # ServerTimeoutError; narrowed from bare Exception so a real bug surfaces
+            if _is_timeout_error(error):
+                raise _as_timeout_error(error, "curl_cffi") from error
             raise _as_client_error(error, "curl_cffi") from error
         content = response.content if response.content is not None else b""
         return Response(
@@ -136,10 +215,9 @@ class CurlCffi:
     def is_closed(self, session) -> bool:
         """whether the curl_cffi session is closed
 
-        curl_cffi tracks closed state in the private `_closed` (no public `closed`
-        property), so read that; fall back to a public `closed` if a future version
-        adds one. TLSSession's own `_closed` flag is the primary signal — this is a
-        best-effort backend check for out-of-band closes.
+        curl_cffi tracks closed state in the private `_closed` (no public `closed`);
+        fall back to a public `closed` if a future version adds one. TLSSession's own
+        `_closed` flag is the primary signal — this is a best-effort out-of-band check.
         """
         closed = getattr(session, "_closed", None)
         if closed is None:
@@ -150,6 +228,18 @@ class CurlCffi:
         """cookies curl_cffi would send for url (best-effort)"""
         return _jar_to_dict(session)
 
+    def set_cookie(self, session, name, value, domain=None, path="/") -> None:
+        """set a cookie in curl_cffi's own cookie store"""
+        session.cookies.set(name, value, domain=domain or "", path=path)
+
+    def get_cookies(self, session) -> dict:
+        """all cookies stored in curl_cffi's cookie store"""
+        return dict(session.cookies.items())
+
+    def clear_cookies(self, session) -> None:
+        """clear curl_cffi's cookie store"""
+        session.cookies.clear()
+
     async def close(self, session) -> None:
         """close the curl_cffi session"""
         await session.close()
@@ -179,21 +269,29 @@ class Noble:
 
     @staticmethod
     def _resolve_client(client):
-        """turn a string or Client enum into a noble_tls Client value"""
-        if isinstance(client, str):
-            return getattr(_NobleClient, client.upper())
-        return client
+        """turn a string or Client enum into a noble_tls Client value
+
+        raises ValueError naming the valid profiles for an unknown string, instead of
+        letting getattr's raw AttributeError leak the enum's internal lookup mechanics.
+        """
+        if not isinstance(client, str):
+            return client
+        name = client.upper()
+        resolved = getattr(_NobleClient, name, None)
+        if resolved is None:
+            valid = ", ".join(member.name for member in _NobleClient)
+            raise ValueError(f"unknown noble_tls client profile {client!r}; valid profiles: {valid}")
+        return resolved
 
     async def setup(self) -> None:
         """fetch the noble_tls Go shared library once; idempotent and concurrency-safe
 
-        uses noble_tls.download_if_necessary (the current API: it fetches the asset on
-        first use and no-ops when it already exists). older noble_tls without that name
-        is handled via update_if_necessary as a fallback.
+        uses noble_tls.download_if_necessary (fetches on first use, no-ops if
+        present); falls back to update_if_necessary on older noble_tls.
 
         guarded by an asyncio.Lock with a check-lock-recheck so concurrent first
-        requests don't both run the fetch: the fast path returns once _updated is
-        set, and only the first caller through the lock does the work.
+        requests don't both run the fetch — only the first caller through the lock
+        does the work, the rest see _updated already set.
         """
         if self._updated:
             return
@@ -208,34 +306,41 @@ class Noble:
             self._updated = True
 
     def create_session(self, headers, timeout, **kwargs):
-        """build the noble_tls Session, honoring session-default headers + timeout
+        """build the noble_tls Session, honoring the session-default timeout
 
-        noble_tls.Session takes neither headers nor timeout in its constructor, so
-        aioweb's session-default headers (and the coerced timeout) are applied after
-        construction — matching CurlCffi, which passes both through. without this a
-        TLSSession(backend=Noble(...), headers=...) would silently drop the headers.
+        noble_tls.Session takes neither headers nor timeout in its constructor.
+        deliberately does NOT bake `headers` into session.headers, same rationale as
+        CurlCffi.create_session — aioweb's per-request _default_headers merge already
+        applies them, so baking here would desync update_headers()/clear_headers().
+
+        the coerced timeout IS applied here (matching raw_request's per-call path):
+        noble's Go field timeoutSeconds is an int, so an uncoerced sub-second/float
+        session-default would fail Go-side JSON unmarshal on any request that doesn't
+        override it per call; max(1, ceil()) mirrors raw_request's own guard.
         """
         session = noble_tls.Session(client=self.client, **kwargs)
-        if headers:
-            session.headers.update(headers)
-        if timeout is not None:
-            session.timeout_seconds = timeout
+        timeout_seconds = _noble_timeout_seconds(timeout)
+        if timeout_seconds is not None:
+            session.timeout_seconds = timeout_seconds
         return session
 
     async def raw_request(self, session, method, url, **kwargs) -> Response:
         """send via noble_tls and adapt the result into an aioweb.Response"""
         await self.setup()
 
-        timeout = _coerce_timeout(kwargs.pop("timeout", None))
-        if timeout is not None:
-            # noble takes whole seconds; round UP so a sub-second timeout (e.g. 0.5)
-            # doesn't truncate to 0 (which would mean no/instant timeout)
-            kwargs["timeout_seconds"] = max(1, math.ceil(timeout))
+        timeout_seconds = _noble_timeout_seconds(kwargs.pop("timeout", None))
+        if timeout_seconds is not None:
+            kwargs["timeout_seconds"] = timeout_seconds
 
         proxy = kwargs.pop("proxy", None)
         if proxy:
             kwargs["proxy"] = proxy
 
+        # byte-safe transport: without this, noble_tls's Go side returns the body as a
+        # plain UTF-8 JSON string (U+FFFD-mangling any binary payload on a 200 response);
+        # see _noble_content() for the base64 data-URI decode this pairs with.
+        kwargs.setdefault("is_byte_response", True)
+
         try:
             response = await session.execute_request(method=method.upper(), url=url, **kwargs)
         except aiohttp.ClientError:
@@ -243,16 +348,16 @@ class Noble:
         except asyncio.TimeoutError:
             raise
         except OSError as error:
-            # noble_tls's TLSClientException subclasses IOError (== OSError); translate
-            # the native network error, narrowed from bare Exception so a real bug surfaces
+            # TLSClientException subclasses IOError (== OSError); the Go side has no
+            # distinct timeout type either, just a text body ("context deadline
+            # exceeded") — check for one before the generic client-error wrap
+            if _is_timeout_error(error):
+                raise _as_timeout_error(error, "noble_tls") from error
             raise _as_client_error(error, "noble_tls") from error
-        content = getattr(response, "content", None)
-        if content is None:
-            text = getattr(response, "text", "") or ""
-            content = text.encode()
+        content = _noble_content(response)
         return Response(
             status_code=response.status_code,
-            headers=dict(getattr(response, "headers", {}) or {}),
+            headers=_flatten_headers(getattr(response, "headers", {}) or {}),
             content=content,
             url=str(getattr(response, "url", url)),
             reason=getattr(response, "reason", None),
@@ -267,6 +372,18 @@ class Noble:
         """cookies noble_tls would send for url (best-effort)"""
         return _jar_to_dict(session)
 
+    def set_cookie(self, session, name, value, domain=None, path="/") -> None:
+        """set a cookie in noble_tls's own cookie jar"""
+        session.cookies.set(name, value, domain=domain or "", path=path)
+
+    def get_cookies(self, session) -> dict:
+        """all cookies stored in noble_tls's cookie jar"""
+        return dict(session.cookies.items())
+
+    def clear_cookies(self, session) -> None:
+        """clear noble_tls's cookie jar"""
+        session.cookies.clear()
+
     async def close(self, session) -> None:
         """close the noble_tls session if it exposes a close"""
         close = getattr(session, "close", None)

src/aioweb_tls/protocol.py

@@ -6,33 +6,39 @@ to one HTTP client. TLSSession owns the live session object (built by create_ses
 and passes it into every backend call, so backends hold no per-request state.
 
 implement this protocol to add a custom backend (e.g. a local Go TLS server); inject
-it via TLSSession(backend=MyBackend(...)) and it inherits all of aioweb's domain /
-header / ephemeral / proxy / retry / preview logic unchanged — those operate on plain
-dicts and never touch the backend.
+it via TLSSession(backend=MyBackend(...)) and it inherits aioweb's domain / header /
+ephemeral / proxy / retry / preview logic unchanged — those operate on plain dicts
+and never touch the backend.
 
 required:
     create_session(headers: dict, timeout, **kwargs) -> session
-        build and return the live client session object. TLSSession stores it as
-        self.session and hands it back to every other method below.
+        build and return the live client session object, stored as self.session and
+        passed to every method below.
 
     async raw_request(session, method, url, **kwargs) -> aioweb.Response
-        send one request with `session` and adapt the client's response into an
-        aioweb.Response built from primitives (status_code, headers, content bytes,
-        url, reason). kwargs arrive aioweb-shaped — the base has already resolved the
-        proxy into kwargs["proxy"] and merged headers into kwargs["headers"], and a
-        numeric timeout is wrapped in an aiohttp.ClientTimeout (unwrap .total).
+        send one request; adapt the client's response into an aioweb.Response built
+        from primitives (status_code, headers, content bytes, url, reason). kwargs
+        arrive aioweb-shaped: proxy resolved into kwargs["proxy"], headers merged
+        into kwargs["headers"], numeric timeout wrapped in aiohttp.ClientTimeout
+        (unwrap .total).
 
     is_closed(session) -> bool
         whether `session` is closed.
 
 optional:
     cookies_for_url(session, url) -> dict
-        cookies the client would send for url, for preview(). default {} (used when
-        the backend has no introspectable jar).
+        cookies the client would send for url, for preview(). default {}.
+
+    set_cookie(session, name, value, domain=None, path="/") -> None
+    get_cookies(session) -> dict
+    clear_cookies(session) -> None
+        back TLSSession's mutable cookie api. the aiohttp-only base reaches into
+        session.cookie_jar, which TLS backends lack, so an implementation without
+        these raises NotImplementedError instead of a private-attribute AttributeError.
 
     async setup() -> None
-        one-time async preparation (e.g. fetch a native lib). called once via
-        TLSSession.setup() and lazily before the first request; make it idempotent.
+        one-time async preparation (e.g. fetch a native lib); idempotent. called via
+        TLSSession.setup() and lazily before the first request.
 
     async close(session) -> None
         close `session`. default awaits session.close() if present.

src/aioweb_tls/session.py

@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ TLSSession — one aioweb session, any tls backend
 TLSSession subclasses aioweb.ExtendedSession and delegates only the four backend
 seams to an injected backend object (see protocol.py). everything else — header
 overwrites, domain rewriting, ephemeral headers, proxies, retries, previews — is
-inherited from aioweb unchanged, because that logic operates on plain dicts and
-never touches the backend.
+inherited unchanged, since that logic operates on plain dicts and never touches
+the backend.
 
     from aioweb_tls import TLSSession, CurlCffi, Noble
 
@@ -81,6 +81,38 @@ class TLSSession(ExtendedSession):
             return True
         return self.backend.is_closed(self.session)
 
+    # -------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    #   mutable cookie api — the base's set_cookie/get_cookies/clear_cookies reach
+    #   into self.session.cookie_jar (aiohttp-only), so TLS backends override them
+    #   to route through the backend instead of crashing with AttributeError
+
+    def set_cookie(self, name, value, domain=None, path="/"):
+        """set a cookie via the backend's own cookie store"""
+        set_cookie = getattr(self.backend, "set_cookie", None)
+        if set_cookie is None:
+            raise NotImplementedError(
+                f"{type(self.backend).__name__} does not support the mutable cookie api"
+            )
+        set_cookie(self.session, name, value, domain=domain, path=path)
+
+    def get_cookies(self) -> dict:
+        """all cookies stored in the backend's cookie store"""
+        get_cookies = getattr(self.backend, "get_cookies", None)
+        if get_cookies is None:
+            raise NotImplementedError(
+                f"{type(self.backend).__name__} does not support the mutable cookie api"
+            )
+        return get_cookies(self.session)
+
+    def clear_cookies(self) -> None:
+        """clear the backend's cookie store"""
+        clear_cookies = getattr(self.backend, "clear_cookies", None)
+        if clear_cookies is None:
+            raise NotImplementedError(
+                f"{type(self.backend).__name__} does not support the mutable cookie api"
+            )
+        clear_cookies(self.session)
+
     # -------------------------------------------------------------------------
     #   lifecycle — backends close differently, so route through the backend