go-playwright

name	go-playwright
description	Expert capability for robust, stealthy, and efficient browser automation using Playwright Go.
type	skill
created	2026-02-27T00:00:00.000Z
domain	software-development
category	testing
risk	safe
source	https://github.com/playwright-community/playwright-go
tags	["skill","software-development","testing","playwright"]

Playwright Go Automation Expert

Overview

This skill provides a comprehensive framework for writing high-performance, production-grade browser automation scripts using github.com/playwright-community/playwright-go. It enforces architectural best practices (contexts over instances), robust error handling, structured logging (Zap), and advanced human-emulation techniques to bypass anti-bot systems.

When to Use This Skill

• Use when the user asks to "scrape," "automate," or "test" a website using Go.
• Use when the target site has complex dynamic content (SPA, React, Vue) requiring a real browser.
• Use when the user mentions "stealth," "avoiding detection," "cloudflare," or "human-like" behavior.
• Use when debugging existing Playwright scripts.

Safety & Risk

Risk Level: 🔵 Safe

• Sandboxed Execution: Browser contexts are isolated; they do not persist data to the host machine unless explicitly saved.
• Resource Management: Designed to close browsers and contexts via defer to prevent memory leaks.
• No External State-Change: Default behavior is read-only (scraping/testing) unless the script is explicitly designed to submit forms or modify data.

Limitations

• Environment Dependencies: Requires Playwright drivers and browsers to be installed (go run github.com/playwright-community/playwright-go/cmd/playwright@latest install --with-deps).
• Resource Intensity: Launching full browser instances (even headless) consumes significant RAM/CPU. Use single-browser/multi-context architecture.
• Bot Detection: While this skill includes stealth techniques, extremely strict anti-bot systems (e.g., rigorous Cloudflare settings) may still detect automation.
• CAPTCHAs: Does not include built-in CAPTCHA solving capabilities.

Strategic Implementation Guidelines

1. Architecture: Contexts vs. Browsers

CRITICAL: Never launch a new Browser instance for every task.

• Pattern: Launch the Browser once (singleton). Create a new BrowserContext for each distinct session or task.
• Why: Contexts are lightweight and created in milliseconds. Browsers take seconds to launch.
• Isolation: Contexts provide complete isolation (cookies, cache, storage) without the overhead of a new process.