playwright-mcp

Playwright MCP

What is Playwright MCP?

Playwright MCP is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that leverages Playwright to provide browser automation capabilities. It allows Large Language Models (LLMs) to interact with web pages by utilizing structured accessibility snapshots, eliminating the need for visual models or screenshots.

How to Use Playwright MCP?

1. Installation: Install the Playwright MCP server using your preferred client. For example, in VS Code, you can use the command code --add-mcp '{"name":"playwright","command":"npx","args":["@playwright/mcp@latest"]}'. A standard configuration for clients is provided:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "playwright": {
         "command": "npx",
         "args": [
           "@playwright/mcp@latest"
         ]
       }
     }
   }
   

2. Configuration: The server can be configured via command-line arguments or a JSON configuration file. Key arguments include:
   • --allowed-origins, --blocked-origins: To manage network requests.
   • --headless: To run the browser in headless mode.
   • --browser: To specify the browser (chrome, firefox, webkit, msedge).
   • --isolated: To run in isolated mode, where each session's storage is lost upon closing.
   • --storage-state: To provide initial storage state for isolated sessions.
   • --user-data-dir: To specify a persistent user data directory.
   • --config: To specify a path to a configuration file.
3. Standalone Server: For environments without a display or when running from IDE worker processes, you can run the MCP server with the --port flag:

   npx @playwright/mcp@latest --port 8931
   

   Then, configure your client to use the HTTP endpoint:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "playwright": {
         "url": "http://localhost:8931/mcp"
       }
     }
   }
   

4. Docker: A Docker image is available for headless chromium:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "playwright": {
         "command": "docker",
         "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "--init", "--pull=always", "mcr.microsoft.com/playwright/mcp"]
       }
     }
   }
   

Key Features of Playwright MCP

• Fast and Lightweight: Utilizes Playwright's accessibility tree, not pixel-based input.
• LLM-Friendly: Operates on structured data, requiring no vision models.
• Deterministic Tool Application: Avoids the ambiguity often associated with screenshot-based methods.
• Comprehensive Toolset: Offers a wide range of tools for browser automation, including navigation, interaction (click, type, drag), tab management, screenshotting, and JavaScript evaluation.
• Configuration Flexibility: Supports various configuration options for browser settings, network, and capabilities like vision and PDF generation.

Use Cases

• LLM-powered Web Browsing: Enabling LLMs to browse, understand, and interact with web pages.
• Automated Web Testing: Providing a robust backend for automated browser testing.
• Web Scraping: Extracting structured data from web pages efficiently.
• Accessibility Analysis: Leveraging accessibility snapshots for analysis.

FAQ

Q1: What are the requirements for running Playwright MCP? A1: Node.js 18 or newer, and an MCP client like VS Code, Cursor, or Claude Desktop.

Q2: How can I enable vision capabilities? A2: Opt-in via the --caps=vision argument or by including 'vision' in the capabilities array in the configuration.

Q3: Can I run Playwright MCP in headless mode? A3: Yes, use the --headless flag or configure headless: true in launchOptions.

Q4: How does Playwright MCP handle authentication or sessions? A4: You can use persistent profiles with --user-data-dir or isolated contexts with --storage-state to manage session data.

Q5: What browsers are supported? A5: Playwright supports Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit. The Docker implementation currently only supports headless Chromium.

Playwright MCP

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides browser automation capabilities using Playwright. This server enables LLMs to interact with web pages through structured accessibility snapshots, bypassing the need for screenshots or visually-tuned models.

Key Features

• Fast and lightweight. Uses Playwright's accessibility tree, not pixel-based input.
• LLM-friendly. No vision models needed, operates purely on structured data.
• Deterministic tool application. Avoids ambiguity common with screenshot-based approaches.

Requirements

• Node.js 18 or newer
• VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Desktop, Goose or any other MCP client

Getting started

First, install the Playwright MCP server with your client.

Standard config works in most of the tools:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "@playwright/mcp@latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Use the Claude Code CLI to add the Playwright MCP server:

claude mcp add playwright npx @playwright/mcp@latest

Follow the MCP install guide, use the standard config above.

Click the button to install:

Or install manually:

Go to Cursor Settings -> MCP -> Add new MCP Server. Name to your liking, use command type with the command npx @playwright/mcp. You can also verify config or add command like arguments via clicking Edit.

Follow the MCP install guide, use the standard config above.

Click the button to install:

Or install manually:

Go to Advanced settings -> Extensions -> Add custom extension. Name to your liking, use type STDIO, and set the command to npx @playwright/mcp. Click "Add Extension".

Click the button to install:

Or install manually:

Go to Program in the right sidebar -> Install -> Edit mcp.json. Use the standard config above.

Open Qodo Gen chat panel in VSCode or IntelliJ → Connect more tools → + Add new MCP → Paste the standard config above.

Click Save.

Click the button to install:

Or install manually:

Follow the MCP install guide, use the standard config above. You can also install the Playwright MCP server using the VS Code CLI:

# For VS Code
code --add-mcp '{"name":"playwright","command":"npx","args":["@playwright/mcp@latest"]}'

After installation, the Playwright MCP server will be available for use with your GitHub Copilot agent in VS Code.

Follow Windsurf MCP documentation. Use the standard config above.

Configuration

Playwright MCP server supports following arguments. They can be provided in the JSON configuration above, as a part of the "args" list:

> npx @playwright/mcp@latest --help
  --allowed-origins <origins>  semicolon-separated list of origins to allow the
                               browser to request. Default is to allow all.
  --blocked-origins <origins>  semicolon-separated list of origins to block the
                               browser from requesting. Blocklist is evaluated
                               before allowlist. If used without the allowlist,
                               requests not matching the blocklist are still
                               allowed.
  --block-service-workers      block service workers
  --browser <browser>          browser or chrome channel to use, possible
                               values: chrome, firefox, webkit, msedge.
  --caps <caps>                comma-separated list of additional capabilities
                               to enable, possible values: vision, pdf.
  --cdp-endpoint <endpoint>    CDP endpoint to connect to.
  --config <path>              path to the configuration file.
  --device <device>            device to emulate, for example: "iPhone 15"
  --executable-path <path>     path to the browser executable.
  --headless                   run browser in headless mode, headed by default
  --host <host>                host to bind server to. Default is localhost. Use
                               0.0.0.0 to bind to all interfaces.
  --ignore-https-errors        ignore https errors
  --isolated                   keep the browser profile in memory, do not save
                               it to disk.
  --image-responses <mode>     whether to send image responses to the client.
                               Can be "allow" or "omit", Defaults to "allow".
  --no-sandbox                 disable the sandbox for all process types that
                               are normally sandboxed.
  --output-dir <path>          path to the directory for output files.
  --port <port>                port to listen on for SSE transport.
  --proxy-bypass <bypass>      comma-separated domains to bypass proxy, for
                               example ".com,chromium.org,.domain.com"
  --proxy-server <proxy>       specify proxy server, for example
                               "http://myproxy:3128" or "socks5://myproxy:8080"
  --save-session               Whether to save the Playwright MCP session into
                               the output directory.
  --save-trace                 Whether to save the Playwright Trace of the
                               session into the output directory.
  --storage-state <path>       path to the storage state file for isolated
                               sessions.
  --user-agent <ua string>     specify user agent string
  --user-data-dir <path>       path to the user data directory. If not
                               specified, a temporary directory will be created.
  --viewport-size <size>       specify browser viewport size in pixels, for
                               example "1280, 720"

User profile

You can run Playwright MCP with persistent profile like a regular browser (default), or in the isolated contexts for the testing sessions.

Persistent profile

All the logged in information will be stored in the persistent profile, you can delete it between sessions if you'd like to clear the offline state. Persistent profile is located at the following locations and you can override it with the --user-data-dir argument.

# Windows
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\ms-playwright\mcp-{channel}-profile

# macOS
- ~/Library/Caches/ms-playwright/mcp-{channel}-profile

# Linux
- ~/.cache/ms-playwright/mcp-{channel}-profile

Isolated

In the isolated mode, each session is started in the isolated profile. Every time you ask MCP to close the browser, the session is closed and all the storage state for this session is lost. You can provide initial storage state to the browser via the config's contextOptions or via the --storage-state argument. Learn more about the storage state here.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "@playwright/mcp@latest",
        "--isolated",
        "--storage-state={path/to/storage.json}"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Configuration file

The Playwright MCP server can be configured using a JSON configuration file. You can specify the configuration file using the --config command line option:

npx @playwright/mcp@latest --config path/to/config.json

{
  // Browser configuration
  browser?: {
    // Browser type to use (chromium, firefox, or webkit)
    browserName?: 'chromium' | 'firefox' | 'webkit';

    // Keep the browser profile in memory, do not save it to disk.
    isolated?: boolean;

    // Path to user data directory for browser profile persistence
    userDataDir?: string;

    // Browser launch options (see Playwright docs)
    // @see https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-browsertype#browser-type-launch
    launchOptions?: {
      channel?: string;        // Browser channel (e.g. 'chrome')
      headless?: boolean;      // Run in headless mode
      executablePath?: string; // Path to browser executable
      // ... other Playwright launch options
    };

    // Browser context options
    // @see https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-browser#browser-new-context
    contextOptions?: {
      viewport?: { width: number, height: number };
      // ... other Playwright context options
    };

    // CDP endpoint for connecting to existing browser
    cdpEndpoint?: string;

    // Remote Playwright server endpoint
    remoteEndpoint?: string;
  },

  // Server configuration
  server?: {
    port?: number;  // Port to listen on
    host?: string;  // Host to bind to (default: localhost)
  },

  // List of additional capabilities
  capabilities?: Array<
    'tabs' |    // Tab management
    'install' | // Browser installation
    'pdf' |     // PDF generation
    'vision' |  // Coordinate-based interactions
  >;

  // Directory for output files
  outputDir?: string;

  // Network configuration
  network?: {
    // List of origins to allow the browser to request. Default is to allow all. Origins matching both `allowedOrigins` and `blockedOrigins` will be blocked.
    allowedOrigins?: string[];

    // List of origins to block the browser to request. Origins matching both `allowedOrigins` and `blockedOrigins` will be blocked.
    blockedOrigins?: string[];
  };
 
  /**
   * Whether to send image responses to the client. Can be "allow" or "omit". 
   * Defaults to "allow".
   */
  imageResponses?: 'allow' | 'omit';
}

Standalone MCP server

When running headed browser on system w/o display or from worker processes of the IDEs, run the MCP server from environment with the DISPLAY and pass the --port flag to enable HTTP transport.

npx @playwright/mcp@latest --port 8931

And then in MCP client config, set the url to the HTTP endpoint:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "url": "http://localhost:8931/mcp"
    }
  }
}

NOTE: The Docker implementation only supports headless chromium at the moment.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "--init", "--pull=always", "mcr.microsoft.com/playwright/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

You can build the Docker image yourself.

docker build -t mcr.microsoft.com/playwright/mcp .

import http from 'http';

import { createConnection } from '@playwright/mcp';
import { SSEServerTransport } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/sse.js';

http.createServer(async (req, res) => {
  // ...

  // Creates a headless Playwright MCP server with SSE transport
  const connection = await createConnection({ browser: { launchOptions: { headless: true } } });
  const transport = new SSEServerTransport('/messages', res);
  await connection.sever.connect(transport);

  // ...
});

Tools

• browser_click
  • Title: Click
  • Description: Perform click on a web page
  • Parameters:
    • element (string): Human-readable element description used to obtain permission to interact with the element
    • ref (string): Exact target element reference from the page snapshot
    • doubleClick (boolean, optional): Whether to perform a double click instead of a single click
    • button (string, optional): Button to click, defaults to left
  • Read-only: false

• browser_close
  • Title: Close browser
  • Description: Close the page
  • Parameters: None
  • Read-only: true

• browser_console_messages
  • Title: Get console messages
  • Description: Returns all console messages
  • Parameters: None
  • Read-only: true

• browser_drag
  • Title: Drag mouse
  • Description: Perform drag and drop between two elements
  • Parameters:
    • startElement (string): Human-readable source element description used to obtain the permission to interact with the element
    • startRef (string): Exact source element reference from the page snapshot
    • endElement (string): Human-readable target element description used to obtain the permission to interact with the element
    • endRef (string): Exact target element reference from the page snapshot
  • Read-only: false

• browser_evaluate
  • Title: Evaluate JavaScript
  • Description: Evaluate JavaScript expression on page or element
  • Parameters:
    • function (string): () => { /* code / } or (element) => { / code */ } when element is provided
    • element (string, optional): Human-readable element description used to obtain permission to interact with the element
    • ref (string, optional): Exact target element reference from the page snapshot
  • Read-only: false

• browser_file_upload
  • Title: Upload files
  • Description: Upload one or multiple files
  • Parameters:
    • paths (array): The absolute paths to the files to upload. Can be a single file or multiple files.
  • Read-only: false

• browser_handle_dialog
  • Title: Handle a dialog
  • Description: Handle a dialog
  • Parameters:
    • accept (boolean): Whether to accept the dialog.
    • promptText (string, optional): The text of the prompt in case of a prompt dialog.
  • Read-only: false

• browser_hover
  • Title: Hover mouse
  • Description: Hover over element on page
  • Parameters:
    • element (string): Human-readable element description used to obtain permission to interact with the element
    • ref (string): Exact target element reference from the page snapshot
  • Read-only: true

• browser_navigate
  • Title: Navigate to a URL
  • Description: Navigate to a URL
  • Parameters:
    • url (string): The URL to navigate to
  • Read-only: false

• browser_navigate_back
  • Title: Go back
  • Description: Go back to the previous page
  • Parameters: None
  • Read-only: true

• browser_navigate_forward
  • Title: Go forward
  • Description: Go forward to the next page
  • Parameters: None
  • Read-only: true

• browser_network_requests
  • Title: List network requests
  • Description: Returns all network requests since loading the page
  • Parameters: None
  • Read-only: true

• browser_press_key
  • Title: Press a key
  • Description: Press a key on the keyboard
  • Parameters:
    • key (string): Name of the key to press or a character to generate, such as ArrowLeft or a
  • Read-only: false

• browser_resize
  • Title: Resize browser window
  • Description: Resize the browser window
  • Parameters:
    • width (number): Width of the browser window
    • height (number): Height of the browser window
  • Read-only: true

• browser_select_option
  • Title: Select option
  • Description: Select an option in a dropdown
  • Parameters:
    • element (string): Human-readable element description used to obtain permission to interact with the element
    • ref (string): Exact target element reference from the page snapshot
    • values (array): Array of values to select in the dropdown. This can be a single value or multiple values.
  • Read-only: false

• browser_snapshot
  • Title: Page snapshot
  • Description: Capture accessibility snapshot of the current page, this is better than screenshot
  • Parameters: None
  • Read-only: true

• browser_take_screenshot
  • Title: Take a screenshot
  • Description: Take a screenshot of the current page. You can't perform actions based on the screenshot, use browser_snapshot for actions.
  • Parameters:
    • raw (boolean, optional): Whether to return without compression (in PNG format). Default is false, which returns a JPEG image.
    • filename (string, optional): File name to save the screenshot to. Defaults to page-{timestamp}.{png|jpeg} if not specified.
    • element (string, optional): Human-readable element description used to obtain permission to screenshot the element. If not provided, the screenshot will be taken of viewport. If element is provided, ref must be provided too.
    • ref (string, optional): Exact target element reference from the page snapshot. If not provided, the screenshot will be taken of viewport. If ref is provided, element must be provided too.
    • fullPage (boolean, optional): When true, takes a screenshot of the full scrollable page, instead of the currently visible viewport. Cannot be used with element screenshots.
  • Read-only: true

• browser_type
  • Title: Type text
  • Description: Type text into editable element
  • Parameters:
    • element (string): Human-readable element description used to obtain permission to interact with the element
    • ref (string): Exact target element reference from the page snapshot
    • text (string): Text to type into the element
    • submit (boolean, optional): Whether to submit entered text (press Enter after)
    • slowly (boolean, optional): Whether to type one character at a time. Useful for triggering key handlers in the page. By default entire text is filled in at once.
  • Read-only: false

• browser_wait_for
  • Title: Wait for
  • Description: Wait for text to appear or disappear or a specified time to pass
  • Parameters:
    • time (number, optional): The time to wait in seconds
    • text (string, optional): The text to wait for
    • textGone (string, optional): The text to wait for to disappear
  • Read-only: true

• browser_tab_close
  • Title: Close a tab
  • Description: Close a tab
  • Parameters:
    • index (number, optional): The index of the tab to close. Closes current tab if not provided.
  • Read-only: false

• browser_tab_list
  • Title: List tabs
  • Description: List browser tabs
  • Parameters: None
  • Read-only: true

• browser_tab_new
  • Title: Open a new tab
  • Description: Open a new tab
  • Parameters:
    • url (string, optional): The URL to navigate to in the new tab. If not provided, the new tab will be blank.
  • Read-only: true

• browser_tab_select
  • Title: Select a tab
  • Description: Select a tab by index
  • Parameters:
    • index (number): The index of the tab to select
  • Read-only: true

• browser_install
  • Title: Install the browser specified in the config
  • Description: Install the browser specified in the config. Call this if you get an error about the browser not being installed.
  • Parameters: None
  • Read-only: false

• browser_mouse_click_xy
  • Title: Click
  • Description: Click left mouse button at a given position
  • Parameters:
    • element (string): Human-readable element description used to obtain permission to interact with the element
    • x (number): X coordinate
    • y (number): Y coordinate
  • Read-only: false

• browser_mouse_drag_xy
  • Title: Drag mouse
  • Description: Drag left mouse button to a given position
  • Parameters:
    • element (string): Human-readable element description used to obtain permission to interact with the element
    • startX (number): Start X coordinate
    • startY (number): Start Y coordinate
    • endX (number): End X coordinate
    • endY (number): End Y coordinate
  • Read-only: false

• browser_mouse_move_xy
  • Title: Move mouse
  • Description: Move mouse to a given position
  • Parameters:
    • element (string): Human-readable element description used to obtain permission to interact with the element
    • x (number): X coordinate
    • y (number): Y coordinate
  • Read-only: true

• browser_pdf_save
  • Title: Save as PDF
  • Description: Save page as PDF
  • Parameters:
    • filename (string, optional): File name to save the pdf to. Defaults to page-{timestamp}.pdf if not specified.
  • Read-only: true