Playwright MCP

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 or any other MCP client

Getting started

First, install the Playwright MCP server with your client. A typical configuration looks like this:

You can also install the Playwright MCP server using the VS Code CLI:

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

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 Windsuff MCP documentation. Use following configuration:

Follow the MCP install guide, use following configuration:

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

Open Qodo Gen chat panel in VSCode or IntelliJ → Connect more tools → + Add new MCP → Paste the following configuration:

Click Save.

Configuration

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

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.

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.

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:

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 SSE transport.

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

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

You can build the Docker image yourself.

Tools

The tools are available in two modes:

1. Snapshot Mode (default): Uses accessibility snapshots for better performance and reliability

2. Vision Mode: Uses screenshots for visual-based interactions

To use Vision Mode, add the --vision flag when starting the server:

Vision Mode works best with the computer use models that are able to interact with elements using X Y coordinate space, based on the provided screenshot.

• browser_snapshot

  • Title: Page snapshot

  • Description: Capture accessibility snapshot of the current page, this is better than screenshot

  • Parameters: None

  • Read-only: true

• 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

  • 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 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_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_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

• 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_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.

  • 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

• browser_network_requests

  • Title: List network requests

  • Description: Returns all network requests since loading 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_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

• 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 current tab if not provided.

  • Read-only: false

• browser_generate_playwright_test

  • Title: Generate a Playwright test

  • Description: Generate a Playwright test for 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

• browser_screen_capture

  • Title: Take a screenshot

  • Description: Take a screenshot of the current page

  • Parameters: None

  • Read-only: true

• browser_screen_move_mouse

  • 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_screen_click

  • Title: Click

  • Description: Click left mouse button

  • 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_screen_drag

  • Title: Drag mouse

  • Description: Drag left mouse button

  • 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_screen_type

  • Title: Type text

  • Description: Type text

  • Parameters:

    • text (string): Text to type into the element

    • submit (boolean, optional): Whether to submit entered text (press Enter after)

  • 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