playwright-cli-automation

name	Playwright CLI Automation
description	CLI-first browser automation using Playwright CLI for navigation, form filling, snapshots, screenshots, data extraction, and UI-flow debugging from the terminal.
version	1.0.0
author	openai
license	MIT
tags	["playwright","cli","browser","automation","snapshot","screenshot"]
testingTypes	["e2e","integration"]
frameworks	["playwright"]
languages	["typescript","javascript"]
domains	["web"]
agents	["claude-code","cursor","github-copilot","windsurf","codex","aider","continue","cline","zed","bolt"]

Playwright CLI Automation

Drive a real browser from the terminal using playwright-cli. Prefer the bundled wrapper script so the CLI works even when it is not globally installed. Treat this skill as CLI-first automation. Do not pivot to @playwright/test unless the user explicitly asks for test files.

Prerequisite check (required)

Before proposing commands, check whether npx is available (the wrapper depends on it):

command -v npx >/dev/null 2>&1

If it is not available, pause and ask the user to install Node.js/npm (which provides npx). Provide these steps verbatim:

# Verify Node/npm are installed
node --version
npm --version

# If missing, install Node.js/npm, then:
npm install -g @playwright/cli@latest
playwright-cli --help

Once npx is present, proceed with the wrapper script. A global install of playwright-cli is optional.

Core workflow

1. Open the page.
2. Snapshot to get stable element refs.
3. Interact using refs from the latest snapshot.
4. Re-snapshot after navigation or significant DOM changes.
5. Capture artifacts (screenshot, pdf, traces) when useful.

Minimal loop:

playwright-cli open https://example.com
playwright-cli snapshot
playwright-cli click e3
playwright-cli snapshot

When to snapshot again

Snapshot again after:

• navigation
• clicking elements that change the UI substantially
• opening/closing modals or menus
• tab switches

Refs can go stale. When a command fails due to a missing ref, snapshot again.

Recommended patterns

Form fill and submit

playwright-cli open https://example.com/form
playwright-cli snapshot
playwright-cli fill e1 "[e-mail]"
playwright-cli fill e2 "password123"
playwright-cli click e3
playwright-cli snapshot

Debug a UI flow with traces

playwright-cli open https://example.com --headed
playwright-cli tracing-start
# ...interactions...
playwright-cli tracing-stop