Playwright CLI

Browser automation via Playwright. Token-efficient CLI for coding agents.

Installation

bash
npm install -g @playwright/mcp@latest
playwright-cli --help

Core Commands

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | playwright-cli open <url> | Open URL in browser | | playwright-cli close | Close the page | | playwright-cli type <text> | Type text into editable element | | playwright-cli click <ref> [button] | Click on element | | playwright-cli dblclick <ref> [button] | Double click | | playwright-cli fill <ref> <text> | Fill text into field | | playwright-cli drag <startRef> <endRef> | Drag and drop | | playwright-cli hover <ref> | Hover over element | | playwright-cli check <ref> | Check checkbox/radio | | playwright-cli uncheck <ref> | Uncheck checkbox | | playwright-cli select <ref> <val> | Select dropdown option | | playwright-cli snapshot | Capture page snapshot for refs |

Navigation

bash
playwright-cli go-back           # Go back
playwright-cli go-forward        # Go forward
playwright-cli reload            # Reload page

Keyboard & Mouse

bash
playwright-cli press <key>       # Press key (a, arrowleft, enter...)
playwright-cli keydown <key>     # Key down
playwright-cli keyup <key>       # Key up
playwright-cli mousemove <x> <y> # Move mouse
playwright-cli mousedown [button] # Mouse down
playwright-cli mouseup [button]   # Mouse up
playwright-cli mousewheel <dx> <dy> # Scroll

Save & Export

bash
playwright-cli screenshot [ref]  # Screenshot page or element
playwright-cli pdf               # Save as PDF

Tabs

bash
playwright-cli tab-list          # List all tabs
playwright-cli tab-new [url]     # Open new tab
playwright-cli tab-close [index] # Close tab
playwright-cli tab-select <index> # Switch tab

DevTools

bash
playwright-cli console [min-level]  # View console messages
playwright-cli network              # View network requests
playwright-cli run-code <code>      # Run JS snippet
playwright-cli tracing-start        # Start trace
playwright-cli tracing-stop         # Stop trace

Sessions

bash
playwright-cli session-list         # List sessions
playwright-cli session-stop [name]  # Stop session
playwright-cli session-stop-all     # Stop all
playwright-cli session-delete [name] # Delete session data

Headed Mode

bash
playwright-cli open https://example.com --headed

Examples

bash
# Open and interact
playwright-cli open https://example.com
playwright-cli type "search query"
playwright-cli press Enter
playwright-cli screenshot

# Use sessions
playwright-cli open https://site1.com
playwright-cli --session=project-a open https://site2.com

Environment Variables

| Variable | Description | |----------|-------------| | PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_BROWSER | Browser: chrome, firefox, webkit, msedge | | PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_HEADLESS | Run headless (default: headed) | | PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS | Comma-separated allowed hosts | | PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_CONFIG | Path to config file |

Configuration

Create playwright-cli.json for persistent settings:

json
{
  "browser": {
    "browserName": "chromium",
    "headless": false
  },
  "outputDir": "./playwright-output",
  "console": {
    "level": "info"
  }
}

Notes

• Cross-platform — requires Node.js 18+ (Linux, macOS, Windows)
• Sessions persist cookies/storage by default
• Use --session flag for isolated browser instances
• Snapshots return element refs for subsequent commands

Source

https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli