playwright-cli
Playwright CLI with SKILLS
Playwright CLI vs Playwright MCP
This package provides CLI interface into Playwright. If you are using coding agents, that is the best fit.
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CLI: Modern coding agents increasingly favor CLI–based workflows exposed as SKILLs over MCP because CLI invocations are more token-efficient: they avoid loading large tool schemas and verbose accessibility trees into the model context, allowing agents to act through concise, purpose-built commands. This makes CLI + SKILLs better suited for high-throughput coding agents that must balance browser automation with large codebases, tests, and reasoning within limited context windows.
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MCP: MCP remains relevant for specialized agentic loops that benefit from persistent state, rich introspection, and iterative reasoning over page structure, such as exploratory automation, self-healing tests, or long-running autonomous workflows where maintaining continuous browser context outweighs token cost concerns. Learn more about Playwright MCP.
Key Features
- Token-efficient. Does not force page data into LLM.
Requirements
- Node.js 18 or newer
- Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, or any other coding agent.
Getting Started
Installation
npm install -g @playwright/cli@latest playwright-cli --help
Installing skills
Claude Code, GitHub Copilot and others will use the locally installed skills.
playwright-cli install --skills
Skills-less operation
Point your agent at the CLI and let it cook. It'll read the skill off playwright-cli --help on its own:
Test the "add todo" flow on https://demo.playwright.dev/todomvc using playwright-cli.
Check playwright-cli --help for available commands.
Demo
> Use playwright skills to test https://demo.playwright.dev/todomvc/.
Take screenshots for all successful and failing scenarios.
Your agent will be running commands, but it does not mean you can't play with it manually:
playwright-cli open https://demo.playwright.dev/todomvc/ --headed
playwright-cli type "Buy groceries"
playwright-cli press Enter
playwright-cli type "Water flowers"
playwright-cli press Enter
playwright-cli check e21
playwright-cli check e35
playwright-cli screenshot
Headed operation
Playwright CLI is headless by default. If you'd like to see the browser, pass --headed to open:
playwright-cli open https://playwright.dev --headed
Sessions
Playwright CLI keeps the browser profile in memory by default. Your cookies and storage state
are preserved between CLI calls within the session, but lost when the browser closes. Use
--persistent to save the profile to disk for persistence across browser restarts.
You can use different instances of the browser for different projects with sessions. Pass -s= to
the invocation to talk to a specific browser.
playwright-cli open https://playwright.dev playwright-cli -s=example open https://example.com --persistent playwright-cli list
You can run your coding agent with the PLAYWRIGHT_CLI_SESSION environment variable:
PLAYWRIGHT_CLI_SESSION=todo-app claude .Or instruct it to prepend -s= to the calls.
A headless session shuts down on its own after an hour without commands; run open again to
start a new one. Headed browsers stay open. Use open --idle-timeout=<ms> to change the timeout,
or 0 to disable it.
Manage your sessions as follows:
playwright-cli list # list all sessions playwright-cli close-all # close all browsers playwright-cli kill-all # forcefully kill all browser processes
Monitoring
Use playwright-cli show to open a visual dashboard that lets you see and control all running
browser sessions. This is useful when your coding agents are running browser automation in the
background and you want to observe their progress or step in to help.
playwright-cli show
The dashboard opens a window with two views:
- Session grid — shows all active sessions grouped by workspace, each with a live screencast preview, session name, current URL, and page title. Click any session to zoom in.
- Session detail — shows a live view of the selected session with a tab bar, navigation controls (back, forward, reload, address bar), and full remote control. Click into the viewport to take over mouse and keyboard input; press Escape to release.
From the grid you can also close running sessions or delete data for inactive ones.
Commands
Core
playwright-cli open [url] # open browser, optionally navigate to url playwright-cli goto <url> # navigate to a url playwright-cli close # close the page playwright-cli type <text> # type text into editable element playwright-cli click <ref> [button] # perform click on a web page playwright-cli dblclick <ref> [button] # perform double click on a web page playwright-cli fill <ref> <text> # fill text into editable element playwright-cli fill <ref> <text> --submit # fill and press Enter playwright-cli drag <startRef> <endRef> # perform drag and drop between two elements playwright-cli drop <ref> --path=<file> # drop files onto an element (from outside the page) playwright-cli drop <ref> --data="k=v" # drop data onto an element playwright-cli hover <ref> # hover over element on page playwright-cli select <ref> <val> # select an option in a dropdown playwright-cli upload <file> # upload one or multiple files playwright-cli check <ref> # check a checkbox or radio button playwright-cli uncheck <ref> # uncheck a checkbox or radio button playwright-cli snapshot # capture page snapshot to obtain element ref playwright-cli snapshot --filename=f # save snapshot to specific file playwright-cli snapshot <ref> # snapshot a specific element playwright-cli snapshot --depth=N # limit snapshot depth for efficiency playwright-cli find <text> # search the snapshot for text, returns matching nodes playwright-cli find --regex <pattern> # search the snapshot with a regexp playwright-cli find <text> --filename=f # save matches to a file playwright-cli eval <func> [ref] # evaluate javascript expression on page or element playwright-cli dialog-accept [prompt] # accept a dialog playwright-cli dialog-dismiss # dismiss a dialog playwright-cli resize <w> <h> # resize the browser window
Navigation
playwright-cli go-back # go back to the previous page playwright-cli go-forward # go forward to the next page playwright-cli reload # reload the current page
Keyboard
playwright-cli press <key> # press a key on the keyboard, `a`, `arrowleft` playwright-cli keydown <key> # press a key down on the keyboard playwright-cli keyup <key> # press a key up on the keyboard
Mouse
playwright-cli mousemove <x> <y> # move mouse to a given position playwright-cli mousedown [button] # press mouse down playwright-cli mouseup [button] # press mouse up playwright-cli mousewheel <dx> <dy> # scroll mouse wheel
Save as
playwright-cli screenshot [ref] # screenshot of the current page or element playwright-cli screenshot --filename=f # save screenshot with specific filename playwright-cli screenshot --hires # capture at full device pixel ratio playwright-cli pdf # save page as pdf playwright-cli pdf --filename=page.pdf # save pdf with specific filename
Tabs
playwright-cli tab-list # list all tabs playwright-cli tab-new [url] # create a new tab playwright-cli tab-close [index] # close a browser tab playwright-cli tab-select <index> # select a browser tab
Storage
playwright-cli state-save [filename] # save storage state playwright-cli state-load <filename> # load storage state # Cookies playwright-cli cookie-list [--domain] # list cookies playwright-cli cookie-get <name> # get a cookie playwright-cli cookie-set <name> <val> # set a cookie playwright-cli cookie-delete <name> # delete a cookie playwright-cli cookie-clear # clear all cookies # LocalStorage playwright-cli localstorage-list # list localStorage entries playwright-cli localstorage-get <key> # get localStorage value playwright-cli localstorage-set <k> <v> # set localStorage value playwright-cli localstorage-delete <k> # delete localStorage entry playwright-cli localstorage-clear # clear all localStorage # SessionStorage playwright-cli sessionstorage-list # list sessionStorage entries playwright-cli sessionstorage-get <k> # get sessionStorage value playwright-cli sessionstorage-set <k> <v> # set sessionStorage value playwright-cli sessionstorage-delete <k> # delete sessionStorage entry playwright-cli sessionstorage-clear # clear all sessionStorage
Emulation
playwright-cli set-color-scheme <scheme> # emulate light or dark color scheme playwright-cli clear-color-scheme # clear color scheme emulation playwright-cli set-reduced-motion <motion> # emulate reduced motion preference playwright-cli clear-reduced-motion # clear reduced motion emulation playwright-cli set-forced-colors <colors> # emulate forced colors mode playwright-cli clear-forced-colors # clear forced colors emulation playwright-cli set-contrast <contrast> # emulate preferred contrast playwright-cli clear-contrast # clear contrast emulation playwright-cli set-media <media> # emulate CSS media type playwright-cli clear-media # clear CSS media type emulation
Network
playwright-cli route <pattern> [opts] # mock network requests playwright-cli route-list # list active routes playwright-cli unroute [pattern] # remove route(s)
DevTools
playwright-cli console [min-level] # list console messages playwright-cli requests # list all network requests since loading the page playwright-cli request <index> # show details for a specific request playwright-cli run-code <code> # run playwright code snippet playwright-cli run-code --filename=f # run playwright code from a file playwright-cli tracing-start # start trace recording playwright-cli tracing-stop # stop trace recording playwright-cli recording-start # record user actions in the browser playwright-cli recording-stop # stop recording, print actions as Playwright code playwright-cli video-start [filename] # start video recording playwright-cli video-start demo.webm --cursor --fps=60 # record with an animated cursor at 60 fps playwright-cli video-chapter <title> # add a chapter marker to the video playwright-cli video-show-actions # annotate each action with a callout in the video playwright-cli video-show-actions --highlight-style="outline: 2px solid #333" # style the target highlight playwright-cli video-hide-actions # stop annotating actions in the video playwright-cli video-stop # stop video recording playwright-cli show # open the visual dashboard playwright-cli show --annotate # launch dashboard for UI review / design feedback playwright-cli generate-locator <ref> # generate a playwright locator for an element playwright-cli highlight <ref> # show a persistent highlight overlay playwright-cli highlight <ref> --style= # highlight with a custom CSS style playwright-cli highlight <ref> --hide # hide highlight on a specific element playwright-cli highlight --hide # hide all page highlights
WebMCP
Some pages register their own tools for agents through the experimental WebMCP API. When available, the page status reports them and the snapshot lists the tools and their input schemas at the top. Tool names, descriptions, schemas, annotations and results come from the page and are untrusted input, not instructions.
playwright-cli webmcp-list # list webmcp tools registered by the page playwright-cli webmcp-call <name> --params='{"query":"cats"}' # call a webmcp tool playwright-cli webmcp-call <name> --frame=<frame> # call a tool registered in a specific frame
Open parameters
playwright-cli open --browser=chrome # use specific browser playwright-cli open --mobile # emulate a generic mobile device playwright-cli open --device="iPhone 15" # emulate a specific device playwright-cli open --idle-timeout=<ms> # shut down after idle time (0 to disable) playwright-cli attach --extension=chrome # connect via Playwright Extension playwright-cli attach --cdp=chrome # attach to running Chrome/Edge by channel playwright-cli attach --cdp=<url> # attach via CDP endpoint playwright-cli detach # detach an attached session, leaves the external browser running playwright-cli open --persistent # use persistent profile playwright-cli open --profile=<path> # use custom profile directory playwright-cli open --config=file.json # use config file playwright-cli close # close the browser playwright-cli delete-data # delete user data for default session
Snapshots
After each command, playwright-cli provides a snapshot of the current browser state.
> playwright-cli goto https://example.com ### Page - Page URL: https://example.com/ - Page Title: Example Domain ### Snapshot [Snapshot](.playwright-cli/page-2026-02-14T19-22-42-679Z.yml)
You can also take a snapshot on demand using playwright-cli snapshot command. All the options below can be combined as needed.
# default - save to a file with timestamp-based name playwright-cli snapshot # save to file, use when snapshot is a part of the workflow result playwright-cli snapshot --filename=after-click.yaml # snapshot an element instead of the whole page playwright-cli snapshot "#main" # limit snapshot depth for efficiency, take a partial snapshot afterwards playwright-cli snapshot --depth=4 playwright-cli snapshot e34 # include each element's bounding box as [box=x,y,width,height] playwright-cli snapshot --boxes # search a large snapshot instead of capturing it all — returns matching nodes # with 3 lines of context around each match (like grep -C) playwright-cli find "Add to cart" playwright-cli find --regex "\\$[0-9]+\\.[0-9]{2}" # wrap the regexp in slashes to add flags, e.g. /i for case-insensitive playwright-cli find --regex "/sign (in|up)/i"
Targeting elements
By default, use refs from the snapshot to interact with page elements.
# get snapshot with refs playwright-cli snapshot # interact using a ref playwright-cli click e15
You can also use css selectors or Playwright locators.
# css selector playwright-cli click "#main > button.submit" # role locator playwright-cli click "getByRole('button', { name: 'Submit' })" # test id playwright-cli click "getByTestId('submit-button')"
Sessions
playwright-cli -s=name <cmd> # run command in named session playwright-cli -s=name close # stop a named browser playwright-cli -s=name delete-data # delete user data for named browser playwright-cli list # list all sessions playwright-cli close-all # close all browsers playwright-cli kill-all # forcefully kill all browser processes
Local installation
If global playwright-cli command is not available, try a local version via npx playwright cli:
npx --no-install playwright --version
When local version is available, use npx playwright cli in all commands. Otherwise, install playwright-cli as a global command:
npm install -g @playwright/cli@latest
Configuration file
The Playwright CLI can be configured using a JSON configuration file. You can specify the configuration file using the --config command line option:
playwright-cli --config path/to/config.json open example.com
Playwright CLI will load config from .playwright/cli.config.json by default so that you did not need to specify it every time.
Configuration file schema
{ /** * The browser to use. */ browser?: { /** * The type of browser to use. */ browserName?: 'chromium' | 'firefox' | 'webkit'; /** * Keep the browser profile in memory, do not save it to disk. */ isolated?: boolean; /** * Path to a user data directory for browser profile persistence. * Temporary directory is created by default. */ userDataDir?: string; /** * Launch options passed to * @see https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-browsertype#browser-type-launch-persistent-context * * This is useful for settings options like `channel`, `headless`, `executablePath`, etc. */ launchOptions?: playwright.LaunchOptions; /** * Context options for the browser context. * * This is useful for settings options like `viewport`. */ contextOptions?: playwright.BrowserContextOptions; /** * Chrome DevTools Protocol endpoint to connect to an existing browser instance in case of Chromium family browsers. */ cdpEndpoint?: string; /** * CDP headers to send with the connect request. */ cdpHeaders?: Record<string, string>; /** * Timeout in milliseconds for connecting to CDP endpoint. Defaults to 30000 (30 seconds). Pass 0 to disable timeout. */ cdpTimeout?: number; /** * Remote endpoint to connect to an existing Playwright server. */ remoteEndpoint?: string; /** * Paths to TypeScript files to add as initialization scripts for Playwright page. */ initPage?: string[]; /** * Paths to JavaScript files to add as initialization scripts. * The scripts will be evaluated in every page before any of the page's scripts. */ initScript?: string[]; }, /** * If specified, saves the Playwright video of the session into the output directory. */ saveVideo?: { width: number; height: number; }; /** * The directory to save output files. */ outputDir?: string; /** * Whether to save snapshots, console messages, network logs and other session logs to a file or to the standard output. Defaults to "stdout". */ outputMode?: 'file' | 'stdout'; console?: { /** * The level of console messages to return. Each level includes the messages of more severe levels. Defaults to "info". */ level?: 'error' | 'warning' | 'info' | 'debug'; }, network?: { /** * List of origins to allow the browser to request. Default is to allow all. Origins matching both `allowedOrigins` and `blockedOrigins` will be blocked. */ allowedOrigins?: string[]; /** * List of origins to block the browser to request. Origins matching both `allowedOrigins` and `blockedOrigins` will be blocked. */ blockedOrigins?: string[]; }; /** * Specify the attribute to use for test ids, defaults to "data-testid". */ testIdAttribute?: string; timeouts?: { /* * Configures default action timeout: https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-page#page-set-default-timeout. Defaults to 5000ms. */ action?: number; /* * Configures default navigation timeout: https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-page#page-set-default-navigation-timeout. Defaults to 60000ms. */ navigation?: number; }; /** * Whether to allow file uploads from anywhere on the file system. * By default (false), file uploads are restricted to paths within the MCP roots only. */ allowUnrestrictedFileAccess?: boolean; /** * Specify the language to use for code generation. */ codegen?: 'typescript' | 'none'; }
Configuration via env
| Environment |
|---|
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS comma-separated list of hosts this server is allowed to serve from. Defaults to the host the server is bound to. Pass '*' to disable the host check. |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_ALLOWED_ORIGINS semicolon-separated list of TRUSTED origins to allow the browser to request. Default is to allow all. Important: does not serve as a security boundary and does not affect redirects. |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_ALLOW_UNRESTRICTED_FILE_ACCESS allow access to files outside of the workspace roots. Also allows unrestricted access to file:// URLs. By default access to file system is restricted to workspace root directories (or cwd if no roots are configured) only, and navigation to file:// URLs is blocked. |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_BLOCKED_ORIGINS semicolon-separated list of origins to block the browser from requesting. Blocklist is evaluated before allowlist. If used without the allowlist, requests not matching the blocklist are still allowed. Important: does not serve as a security boundary and does not affect redirects. |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_BLOCK_SERVICE_WORKERS block service workers |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_BROWSER browser or chrome channel to use, possible values: chrome, firefox, webkit, msedge. |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_CAPS comma-separated list of additional capabilities to enable, possible values: vision, pdf. |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_CDP_ENDPOINT CDP endpoint to connect to. |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_CDP_HEADERS CDP headers to send with the connect request, multiple can be specified. |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_CDP_TIMEOUT timeout for the CDP connection. |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_CONFIG path to the configuration file. |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_CONSOLE_LEVEL level of console messages to return: "error", "warning", "info", "debug". Each level includes the messages of more severe levels. |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_DEVICE device to emulate, for example: "iPhone 15" |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_EXECUTABLE_PATH path to the browser executable. |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_EXTENSION Connect to a running browser instance (Edge/Chrome only). Requires the "Playwright MCP Bridge" browser extension to be installed. |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_GRANT_PERMISSIONS List of permissions to grant to the browser context, for example "geolocation", "clipboard-read", "clipboard-write". |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_HEADLESS whether to run browser in headless mode, headless by default. |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_IGNORE_HTTPS_ERRORS ignore https errors |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_INIT_PAGE path to TypeScript file to evaluate on Playwright page object |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_INIT_SCRIPT path to JavaScript file to add as an initialization script. The script will be evaluated in every page before any of the page's scripts. Can be specified multiple times. |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_ISOLATED keep the browser profile in memory, do not save it to disk. |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_SANDBOX whether to enable the browser sandbox. |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_OUTPUT_DIR path to the directory for output files. |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_PROXY_BYPASS comma-separated domains to bypass proxy, for example ".com,chromium.org,.domain.com" |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_PROXY_SERVER specify proxy server, for example "http://myproxy:3128" or "socks5://myproxy:8080" |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_SAVE_TRACE Whether to save the Playwright Trace of the session into the output directory. |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_SAVE_VIDEO Whether to save the video of the session into the output directory. For example "--save-video=800x600" |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_SECRETS_FILE path to a file containing secrets in the dotenv format |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_STORAGE_STATE path to the storage state file for isolated sessions. |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_TEST_ID_ATTRIBUTE specify the attribute to use for test ids, defaults to "data-testid" |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_TIMEOUT_ACTION specify action timeout in milliseconds, defaults to 5000ms |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_TIMEOUT_NAVIGATION specify navigation timeout in milliseconds, defaults to 60000ms |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_USER_AGENT specify user agent string |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_USER_DATA_DIR path to the user data directory. If not specified, a temporary directory will be created. |
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_VIEWPORT_SIZE specify browser viewport size in pixels, for example "1280x720" |
Specific tasks
The installed skill includes detailed reference guides for common tasks:
- Running and Debugging Playwright tests — run, debug and manage Playwright test suites
- Request mocking — intercept and mock network requests
- Running Playwright code — execute arbitrary Playwright scripts
- Browser session management — manage multiple browser sessions
- Storage state (cookies, localStorage) — persist and restore browser state
- Test generation (plan / generate / heal) — generate Playwright tests from a spec or interactions
- Tracing — record and inspect execution traces
- Video recording — capture browser session videos
- Attaching screenshots and videos to pull requests — upload visual evidence with
gh --attach - Inspecting element attributes — get element id, class, or any attribute not visible in the snapshot