🚀 Playwright MCP
A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that offers browser automation capabilities through Playwright. This server allows LLMs to interact with web pages via structured accessibility snapshots, eliminating the need for screenshots or visually - tuned models.
✨ Features
- Fast and lightweight: Utilizes Playwright's accessibility tree instead of pixel - based input.
- LLM - friendly: No vision models are required, operating solely on structured data.
- Deterministic tool application: Avoids the ambiguity commonly associated with screenshot - based approaches.
📦 Installation
Requirements
- Node.js 18 or newer
- VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Desktop or any other MCP client
Getting started
First, install the Playwright MCP server with your client. A typical configuration looks like this:
{
"mcpServers": {
"playwright": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"@playwright/mcp@latest"
]
}
}
}
Install in VS Code
You can also install the Playwright MCP server using the VS Code CLI:
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.
Install in Cursor
Go to Cursor Settings -> MCP -> Add new MCP Server. Name it as you like, use command type with the command npx @playwright/mcp. You can also verify the config or add command - like arguments by clicking Edit.
{
"mcpServers": {
"playwright": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"@playwright/mcp@latest"
]
}
}
}
Install in Windsurf
Follow Windsuff MCP documentation. Use the following configuration:
{
"mcpServers": {
"playwright": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"@playwright/mcp@latest"
]
}
}
}
Install in Claude Desktop
Follow the MCP install guide, use the following configuration:
{
"mcpServers": {
"playwright": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"@playwright/mcp@latest"
]
}
}
}
📚 Documentation
Configuration
Playwright MCP server supports the 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 capabilities to enable,
possible values: tabs, pdf, history, wait, files,
install. Default is all.
--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", "omit", or "auto". Defaults to
"auto", which sends images if the client can
display them.
--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-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"
--vision Run server that uses screenshots (Aria snapshots
are used by default)
User profile
You can run Playwright MCP with a persistent profile like a regular browser (default), or in isolated contexts for testing sessions.
Persistent profile
All the logged - in information will be stored in the persistent profile. You can delete it between sessions if you want to clear the offline state.
The persistent profile is located at the following locations and can be overridden with the --user-data-dir argument.
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\ms-playwright\mcp-{channel}-profile
- ~/Library/Caches/ms-playwright/mcp-{channel}-profile
- ~/.cache/ms-playwright/mcp-{channel}-profile
Isolated
In the isolated mode, each session starts with an 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 the initial storage state to the browser via the config's contextOptions or 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
Configuration file schema
{
browser?: {
browserName?: 'chromium' | 'firefox' | 'webkit';
isolated?: boolean;
userDataDir?: string;
launchOptions?: {
channel?: string;
headless?: boolean;
executablePath?: string;
};
contextOptions?: {
viewport?: { width: number, height: number };
};
cdpEndpoint?: string;
remoteEndpoint?: string;
},
server?: {
port?: number;
host?: string;
},
capabilities?: Array<
'core' |
'tabs' |
'pdf' |
'history' |
'wait' |
'files' |
'install' |
'testing'
>;
vision?: boolean;
outputDir?: string;
network?: {
allowedOrigins?: string[];
blockedOrigins?: string[];
};
noImageResponses?: boolean;
}
Standalone MCP server
When running a headed browser on a system without a display or from the worker processes of IDEs, run the MCP server from an environment with the DISPLAY and pass the --port flag to enable SSE transport.
npx @playwright/mcp@latest --port 8931
Then, in the MCP client config, set the url to the SSE endpoint:
{
"mcpServers": {
"playwright": {
"url": "http://localhost:8931/sse"
}
}
}
Docker
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 .
Programmatic usage
import http from 'http';
import { createConnection } from '@playwright/mcp';
import { SSEServerTransport } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/sse.js';
http.createServer(async (req, res) => {
const connection = await createConnection({ browser: { launchOptions: { headless: true } } });
const transport = new SSEServerTransport('/messages', res);
await connection.connect(transport);
});
Tools
The tools are available in two modes:
- Snapshot Mode (default): Uses accessibility snapshots for better performance and reliability
- Vision Mode: Uses screenshots for visual - based interactions
To use Vision Mode, add the --vision flag when starting the server:
{
"mcpServers": {
"playwright": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"@playwright/mcp@latest",
"--vision"
]
}
}
}
Vision Mode works best with computer use models that can interact with elements using the X Y coordinate space based on the provided screenshot.
Interactions
-
browser_snapshot
- Title: Page snapshot
- Description: Capture an accessibility snapshot of the current page, which is better than a screenshot
- Parameters: None
- Read - only: true
-
browser_click
- Title: Click
- Description: Perform a 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
- Read - only: false
-
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_hover
- Title: Hover mouse
- Description: Hover over an element on the 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_type
- Title: Type text
- Description: Type text into an 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 the 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, the entire text is filled in at once.
- Read - only: false
-
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_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_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_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
Navigation
-
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
Resources
-
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 the viewport. If the element is provided, ref must also be provided.
ref (string, optional): Exact target element reference from the page snapshot. If not provided, the screenshot will be taken of the viewport. If ref is provided, element must also be provided.
- Read - only: true
-
browser_pdf_save
- Title: Save as PDF
- Description: Save the page as a PDF
- Parameters:
filename (string, optional): File name to save the PDF to. Defaults to page-{timestamp}.pdf if not specified.
- Read - only: true
-
browser_network_requests
- Title: List network requests
- Description: Returns all network requests since the page was loaded
- Parameters: None
- Read - only: true
-
browser_console_messages
- Title: Get console messages
- Description: Returns all console messages
- Parameters: None
- Read - only: true
Utilities
-
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_close
- Title: Close browser
- Description: Close the page
- Parameters: None
- Read - only: true
-
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
Tabs
-
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_tab_close
- Title: Close a tab
- Description: Close a tab
- Parameters:
index (number, optional): The index of the tab to close. Closes the current tab if not provided.
- Read - only: false
Testing
- browser_generate_playwright_test
- Title: Generate a Playwright test
- Description: Generate a Playwright test for a given scenario
- Parameters:
name (string): The name of the test
description (string): The description of the test
steps (array): The steps of the test
- Read - only: true
Vision mode