Playwright MCP Server

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.

Use Cases

Web navigation and form-filling
Data extraction from structured content
Automated testing driven by LLMs
General-purpose browser interaction for agents

Example config

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

Installation in VS Code

Install the Playwright MCP server using the VS Code CLI:

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

# For VS Code Insiders
code-insiders --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.

Running headless browser (Browser without GUI).

This mode is useful for background or batch operations.

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

Running headed browser on Linux w/o DISPLAY

When running headed browser on system w/o display or from worker processes of the IDEs, you can run Playwright in a client-server manner. You'll run the Playwright server from environment with the DISPLAY

npx playwright run-server

And then in MCP config, add following to the env:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "@playwright/mcp@latest"
      ],
      "env": {
        // Use the endpoint from the output of the server above.
        "PLAYWRIGHT_WS_ENDPOINT": "ws://localhost:<port>/"
      }
    }
  }
}

Tool Modes

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

Programmatic usage with custom transports

import { createServer } from '@playwright/mcp';

// ...

const server = createServer({
  launchOptions: { headless: true }
});
transport = new SSEServerTransport("/messages", res);
server.connect(transport);

Snapshot Mode

The Playwright MCP provides a set of tools for browser automation. Here are all available tools:

browser_navigate
- Description: Navigate to a URL
- Parameters:
  - url (string): The URL to navigate to
browser_go_back
- Description: Go back to the previous page
- Parameters: None
browser_go_forward
- Description: Go forward to the next page
- Parameters: None
browser_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
browser_hover
- 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
browser_drag
- Description: Perform drag and drop between two elements
- Parameters:
  - startElement (string): Human-readable source element description used to obtain 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 permission to interact with the element
  - endRef (string): Exact target element reference from the page snapshot
browser_type
- 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): Whether to submit entered text (press Enter after)
browser_select_option
- Description: Select 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.
browser_press_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
browser_snapshot
- Description: Capture accessibility snapshot of the current page (better than screenshot)
- Parameters: None
browser_save_as_pdf
- Description: Save page as PDF
- Parameters: None
browser_wait
- Description: Wait for a specified time in seconds
- Parameters:
  - time (number): The time to wait in seconds (capped at 10 seconds)
browser_close
- Description: Close the page
- Parameters: None

Vision Mode

Vision Mode provides tools for visual-based interactions using screenshots. Here are all available tools:

browser_navigate
- Description: Navigate to a URL
- Parameters:
  - url (string): The URL to navigate to
browser_go_back
- Description: Go back to the previous page
- Parameters: None
browser_go_forward
- Description: Go forward to the next page
- Parameters: None
browser_screenshot
- Description: Capture screenshot of the current page
- Parameters: None
browser_move_mouse
- Description: Move mouse to specified coordinates
- Parameters:
  - x (number): X coordinate
  - y (number): Y coordinate
browser_click
- Description: Click at specified coordinates
- Parameters:
  - x (number): X coordinate to click at
  - y (number): Y coordinate to click at
browser_drag
- Description: Perform drag and drop operation
- Parameters:
  - startX (number): Start X coordinate
  - startY (number): Start Y coordinate
  - endX (number): End X coordinate
  - endY (number): End Y coordinate
browser_type
- Description: Type text at specified coordinates
- Parameters:
  - text (string): Text to type
  - submit (boolean): Whether to submit entered text (press Enter after)
browser_press_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
browser_save_as_pdf
- Description: Save page as PDF
- Parameters: None
browser_wait
- Description: Wait for a specified time in seconds
- Parameters:
  - time (number): The time to wait in seconds (capped at 10 seconds)
browser_close
- Description: Close the page
- Parameters: None

Integrations