using-playwright-cli

name

using-playwright-cli

description

Browser automation via playwright-cli (microsoft/playwright-cli), the AI-agent-focused CLI for controlling browsers through Bash commands. Covers element reference system, snapshot workflow, session management, cookies, storage, network interception, and content capture. Use when the user asks to automate a browser, scrape a webpage, fill a form, test a UI flow interactively, capture screenshots, manage cookies/storage, intercept network requests, or drive any browser interaction from the terminal. NOT for npx playwright test runner or codegen.

Playwright CLI

Browser automation through npx @playwright/cli commands executed in Bash. This is the AI-agent-focused CLI, not the test runner.

Required Reading

Read the relevant reference before using commands:

Working On	Reference File	Key Topics
Commands, flags, syntax	command-reference	All 50+ commands with flags and examples
Workflow patterns, sessions	workflows	Snapshot-first workflow, sessions, state, multi-tab
Network, cookies, storage	state-and-network	Cookies, localStorage, sessionStorage, route interception

Core Concept: Snapshot-First Workflow

Playwright-cli uses element references (e.g., e15, e21) to identify interactive elements on a page. These references come from snapshots.

# 1. Open a page
npx @playwright/cli open https://example.com

# 2. Take a snapshot to discover element references
npx @playwright/cli snapshot


npx @playwright/cli click e15
npx @playwright/cli fill e21 


npx @playwright/cli snapshot


npx @playwright/cli close