playwright-cli

name	playwright-cli
description	Use Playwright via npx to run browser tests, take screenshots, generate code, and automate browser interactions. Use this instead of the Playwright MCP server.

Playwright CLI (npx playwright)

Browser automation and testing framework. Run tests, capture screenshots, generate test code, and automate web interactions.

• Official repo: https://github.com/microsoft/playwright
• Docs: https://playwright.dev/docs/intro

Setup

npx playwright install              # Install browser binaries
npx playwright install chromium     # Install only Chromium
npx playwright install --with-deps  # Install browsers + system deps

Common Commands

Running Tests

npx playwright test                          # Run all tests
npx playwright test tests/login.spec.ts      # Run specific test file
npx playwright test --grep "login"           # Run tests matching pattern
npx playwright test --project=chromium       # Run on specific browser
npx playwright test --headed                 # Run with visible browser
npx playwright test --debug                  # Run in debug mode
npx playwright test --reporter=json          # JSON output for parsing

Code Generation

npx playwright codegen https://example.com   # Record actions as test code
npx playwright codegen --target javascript   # Generate JS code

Screenshots and PDFs

npx playwright screenshot https://example.com screenshot.png
npx playwright screenshot --full-page https://example.com full.png
npx playwright pdf https://example.com page.pdf

Trace Viewer

npx playwright test --trace on              # Record traces
npx playwright show-trace trace.zip         # View trace file

Test Report

npx playwright show-report                  # Open HTML report

Agent Best Practices

• Use --reporter=json for machine-parseable test results
• Use npx playwright codegen to generate test scaffolding, then refine
• Always install browsers first with npx playwright install
• Use --project=chromium to run on a single browser for speed
• Screenshots are useful for visual verification of page state
• Use --trace on when debugging flaky tests

Example Workflows

Take a screenshot of a page

npx playwright screenshot --full-page https://example.com /tmp/screenshot.png

Run tests and get JSON results

npx playwright test --reporter=json 2>/dev/null | jq '.suites[].specs[] | {title, ok}'