playwright-cli

# Browser Automation with playwright-cli ## Why playwright-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. This CLI is a skill for AI coding agents. ## Quick start ```bash playwright-cli open https://playwright.dev playwright-cli click e15 playwright-cli type "page.click" playwright-cli press Enter ``` ## Core workflow 1. Navigate: `playwright-cli open https://example.com` 2. Interact using refs from the snapshot 3. Re-snapshot after significant changes ## Commands ### Core ```bash playwright-cli open https://example.com/ playwright-cli close playwright-cli type "search query" playwright-cli click e3 playwright-cli dblclick e7 playwright-cli fill e5 "user@example.com" playwright-cli drag e2 e8 playwright-cli hover e4 playwright-cli select e9 "option-value" playwright-cli upload ./document.pdf playwright-cli check e12 playwright-cli uncheck e12 playwright-cli snapshot playwright-cli eval "document.title" playwright-cli eval "el => el.textContent" e5 playwright-cli dialog-accept playwright-cli dialog-accept "confirmation text" playwright-cli dialog-dismiss playwright-cli resize 1920 1080 ``` ### Navigation ```bash playwright-cli go-back playwright-cli go-forward playwright-cli reload ``` ### Keyboard ```bash playwright-cli press Enter playwright-cli press ArrowDown playwright-cli keydown Shift playwright-cli keyup Shift ``` ### Mouse ```bash playwright-cli mousemove 150 300 playwright-cli mousedown playwright-cli mousedown right playwright-cli mouseup playwright-cli mouseup right playwright-cli mousewheel 0 100 ``` ### Save as ```bash playwright-cli screenshot playwright-cli screenshot e5 playwright-cli pdf ``` ### Tabs ```bash playwright-cli tab-list playwright-cli tab-new playwright-cli tab-new https://example.com/page playwright-cli tab-close playwright-cli tab-close 2 playwright-cli tab-select 0 ``` ## Troubleshooting ### Command not found (Windows) If you get an error saying `playwright-cli` is not recognized, your global npm directory (typically `%AppData%\npm`) is likely missing from your `PATH`. #### Permanent Fix (Command Line): Run this in PowerShell, then **restart your terminal**: ```powershell $npmPath = (npm config get prefix); if ($env:Path -notlike "*$npmPath*") { [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "User") + ";$npmPath", "User"); Write-Host "Added $npmPath to User PATH. Restart terminal to apply." -ForegroundColor Green } ``` #### Verification: ```powershell playwright-cli --version ``` ### Where to get the path? The playwright-cli is usually installed globally via npm (e.g., npm install -g playwright-cli). After installation, you can find the absolute path to the binary using the following commands: WSL / Linux: Use which playwright-cli Windows: Use where.exe playwright-cli ### DevTools ```bash playwright-cli console playwright-cli console warning playwright-cli network playwright-cli run-code "async page => await page.context().grantPermissions(['geolocation'])" playwright-cli tracing-start playwright-cli tracing-stop playwright-cli video-start playwright-cli video-stop video.webm ``` ### Configuration ```bash # Configure the session playwright-cli config --config my-config.json playwright-cli config --headed --isolated --browser=firefox # Configure named session playwright-cli --session=mysession config my-config.json # Start with configured session playwright-cli open --config=my-config.json ``` ### Sessions ```bash playwright-cli --session=mysession open example.com playwright-cli --session=mysession click e6 playwright-cli session-list playwright-cli session-stop mysession playwright-cli session-stop-all playwright-cli session-delete playwright-cli session-delete mysession ``` ## Example: Form submission ```bash playwright-cli open https://example.com/form playwright-cli snapshot playwright-cli fill e1 "user@example.com" playwright-cli fill e2 "password123" playwright-cli click e3 playwright-cli snapshot ``` ## Example: Multi-tab workflow ```bash playwright-cli open https://example.com playwright-cli tab-new https://example.com/other playwright-cli tab-list playwright-cli tab-select 0 playwright-cli snapshot ``` ## Example: Debugging with DevTools ```bash playwright-cli open https://example.com playwright-cli click e4 playwright-cli fill e7 "test" playwright-cli console playwright-cli network ``` ```bash playwright-cli open https://example.com playwright-cli tracing-start playwright-cli click e4 playwright-cli fill e7 "test" playwright-cli tracing-stop ``` ## Specific tasks * **Request mocking** [references/request-mocking.md](references/request-mocking.md) * **Running Playwright code** [references/running-code.md](references/running-code.md) * **Session management** [references/session-management.md](references/session-management.md) * **Storage state (cookies, localStorage)** [references/storage-state.md](references/storage-state.md) * **Test generation** [references/test-generation.md](references/test-generation.md) * **Tracing** [references/tracing.md](references/tracing.md) * **Video recording** [references/video-recording.md](references/video-recording.md)