Private area search engine spider?

Hello,

We have a Private web area that contains links to PDFs and static pages for members only. We need to run a search engine spider over these links and files. The spider follows links just like a person using a web browser, storing all information in a database that can later be searched.

The problem is that (without significant customization) the spider can’t log in to the site before cataloging the specified pages. I typically overcome this problem by adding a GET parameter on the end of each of the URLs and modify the "private" code of the CMS to watch for this GET parameter and allow access if it is set to the proper value. I have been unable to find a way to do this in MODx. I suggested making the private areas public, running the spider, then switching them back to private again, but this is unacceptable to my client.

Can anyone provide any insight as to how I could modify the MODx code to allow access to private areas given a specified parameter in the URL? I tried setting $_SESSION[’managexxx’] to TRUE, but still had no luck.

Thanks in Advance,

Les