playwright-cli - Claude MCP Skill

# Browser Automation with playwright-cli

## How it works

Every command returns a **snapshot** — a structured view of the page with element refs (e1, e2, e3...). Use these refs to target elements in subsequent commands. Always take a snapshot before interacting with unfamiliar page state.

## Quick start

```bash
# open new browser
playwright-cli open
# navigate to a page
playwright-cli goto https://playwright.dev
# take a snapshot to see element refs
playwright-cli snapshot
# interact with the page using refs from the snapshot
playwright-cli click e15
playwright-cli type "page.click"
playwright-cli press Enter
# take a screenshot (rarely used, as snapshot is more common)
playwright-cli screenshot
# close the browser
playwright-cli close
```

## Commands

### Core

```bash
playwright-cli open
# open and navigate right away
playwright-cli open https://example.com/
playwright-cli goto https://playwright.dev
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 snapshot --filename=after-click.yaml
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
playwright-cli close
```

### 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 screenshot --filename=page.png
playwright-cli pdf --filename=page.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
```

### Storage

```bash
playwright-cli state-save auth.json
playwright-cli state-load auth.json
playwright-cli cookie-list
playwright-cli cookie-set session_id abc123 --domain=example.com --httpOnly --secure
playwright-cli localstorage-set theme dark
```

For full cookie, localStorage, sessionStorage, and IndexedDB operations, see [references/storage-state.md](references/storage-state.md).

### Network

```bash
playwright-cli route "**/*.jpg" --status=404
playwright-cli route "https://api.example.com/**" --body='{"mock": true}'
playwright-cli route-list
playwright-cli unroute "**/*.jpg"
playwright-cli unroute
```

### 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
```

## Open parameters
```bash
# Use specific browser when creating session
playwright-cli open --browser=chrome
playwright-cli open --browser=firefox
playwright-cli open --browser=webkit
playwright-cli open --browser=msedge
# Connect to an existing Chrome browser via extension (reuses logged-in sessions)
playwright-cli open --extension

# Use persistent profile (by default profile is in-memory)
playwright-cli open --persistent
# Use persistent profile with custom directory
playwright-cli open --profile=/path/to/profile

# Start with config file
playwright-cli open --config=my-config.json

# Close the browser
playwright-cli close
# Delete user data for the default session
playwright-cli delete-data
```

## Snapshots

After each command, playwright-cli provides a snapshot of the current browser state.

```bash
> playwright-cli goto https://example.com
### Page
- Page URL: https://example.com/
- Page Title: Example Domain
### Snapshot
[Snapshot](.playwright-cli/page-2026-02-14T19-22-42-679Z.yml)
```

You can also take a snapshot on demand using `playwright-cli snapshot` command.

If `--filename` is not provided, a new snapshot file is created with a timestamp. Default to automatic file naming, use `--filename=` when artifact is a part of the workflow result.

## Browser Sessions

```bash
# create new browser session named "mysession" with persistent profile
playwright-cli -s=mysession open example.com --persistent
# same with manually specified profile directory (use when requested explicitly)
playwright-cli -s=mysession open example.com --profile=/path/to/profile
playwright-cli -s=mysession click e6
playwright-cli -s=mysession close  # stop a named browser
playwright-cli -s=mysession delete-data  # delete user data for persistent session

playwright-cli list
# Close all browsers
playwright-cli close-all
# Forcefully kill all browser processes
playwright-cli kill-all
```

## Parallel UAT with Subagents

Named sessions (`-s=name`) provide full process-level isolation, making them ideal for parallel UAT: each subagent gets its own browser with independent cookies, storage, and state.

**Session naming:** Always use `-s=uat-{test-name}` for UAT sessions:

```bash
# Team lead spawns 3 subagents, each with their own session
playwright-cli -s=uat-login open https://app.example.com/login
playwright-cli -s=uat-checkout open https://app.example.com/checkout
playwright-cli -s=uat-settings open https://app.example.com/settings

# After all subagents complete, team lead cleans up
playwright-cli close-all
```

**WARNING:** Do NOT use MCP Playwright tools (`mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__*`) for parallel testing — all subagents share the same MCP server with a single browser context. Use `playwright-cli` with named sessions instead.

**Resource limit:** Max 3–5 parallel sessions. Monitor with `playwright-cli list`.

See [references/parallel-uat.md](references/parallel-uat.md) for the full workflow including evidence collection, error recovery, and result aggregation.

## Local installation

In some cases user might want to install playwright-cli locally. If running globally available `playwright-cli` binary fails, use `npx playwright-cli` to run the commands. For example:

```bash
npx playwright-cli open https://example.com
npx playwright-cli click e1
```

## 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
playwright-cli close
```

## 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
playwright-cli close
```

## 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
playwright-cli close
```

```bash
playwright-cli open https://example.com
playwright-cli tracing-start
playwright-cli click e4
playwright-cli fill e7 "test"
playwright-cli tracing-stop
playwright-cli close
```

## References

Read these when the specific capability is needed:

* **Request mocking** — Read when intercepting, blocking, or modifying network requests: [references/request-mocking.md](references/request-mocking.md)
* **Running Playwright code** — Read when CLI commands are insufficient and custom page code is needed (geolocation, permissions, iframes, downloads): [references/running-code.md](references/running-code.md)
* **Browser session management** — Read when running multiple concurrent browsers or managing persistent profiles: [references/session-management.md](references/session-management.md)
* **Storage state** — Read when managing cookies, localStorage, sessionStorage, or saving/restoring auth state: [references/storage-state.md](references/storage-state.md)
* **Test generation** — Read when building Playwright test files from interactive browser sessions: [references/test-generation.md](references/test-generation.md)
* **Tracing** — Read when capturing detailed execution traces for debugging (DOM snapshots, network, console): [references/tracing.md](references/tracing.md)
* **Video recording** — Read when recording browser sessions as video for demos or documentation: [references/video-recording.md](references/video-recording.md)
* **Parallel UAT testing** — Read when running multiple subagents for simultaneous user acceptance testing: [references/parallel-uat.md](references/parallel-uat.md)

## Troubleshooting

If `playwright-cli` is not found, fall back to `npx playwright-cli`. If the browser fails to open, try `playwright-cli kill-all` to clear stale processes, then retry.