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.

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 in VS Code using one of these buttons:

Alternatively, you can 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.

CLI Options

The Playwright MCP server supports the following command-line options:

• --browser <browser>: Browser or chrome channel to use. Possible values:

  • chrome, firefox, webkit, msedge

  • Chrome channels: chrome-beta, chrome-canary, chrome-dev

  • Edge channels: msedge-beta, msedge-canary, msedge-dev

  • Default: chrome

• --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

• --executable-path <path>: Path to the browser executable

• --headless: Run browser in headless mode (headed by default)

• --port <port>: Port to listen on for SSE transport

• --user-data-dir <path>: Path to the user data directory

• --vision: Run server that uses screenshots (Aria snapshots are used by default)

User data directory

Playwright MCP will launch the browser with the new profile, located at

- `%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\ms-playwright\mcp-chrome-profile` on Windows
- `~/Library/Caches/ms-playwright/mcp-chrome-profile` on macOS
- `~/.cache/ms-playwright/mcp-chrome-profile` on Linux

All the logged in information will be stored in that profile, you can delete it between sessions if you'd like to clear the offline state.

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, run the MCP server from environment with the DISPLAY and pass the --port flag to enable SSE transport.

npx @playwright/mcp@latest --port 8931

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

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

Tool Modes

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:

{
  "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-based Interactions

• 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, 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.

• browser_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.

• browser_snapshot

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

  • Parameters: None

• browser_take_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.

Vision-based Interactions

• browser_screen_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

• browser_screen_capture

  • Description: Take a screenshot of the current page

  • Parameters: None

• browser_screen_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

• browser_screen_drag

  • 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

• browser_screen_type

  • Description: Type text

  • Parameters:

    • text (string): Text to type

    • submit (boolean, optional): 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

Tab Management

• browser_tab_list

  • Description: List browser tabs

  • Parameters: None

• browser_tab_new

  • 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.

• browser_tab_select

  • Description: Select a tab by index

  • Parameters:

    • index (number): The index of the tab to select

• browser_tab_close

  • Description: Close a tab

  • Parameters:

    • index (number, optional): The index of the tab to close. Closes current tab if not provided.

Navigation

• browser_navigate

  • Description: Navigate to a URL

  • Parameters:

    • url (string): The URL to navigate to

• browser_navigate_back

  • Description: Go back to the previous page

  • Parameters: None

• browser_navigate_forward

  • Description: Go forward to the next page

  • Parameters: None

Keyboard

• 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

Console

• browser_console_messages

  • Description: Returns all console messages

  • Parameters: None

Files and Media

• browser_file_upload

  • Description: Choose one or multiple files to upload

  • Parameters:

    • paths (array): The absolute paths to the files to upload. Can be a single file or multiple files.

• browser_pdf_save

  • Description: Save page as PDF

  • Parameters: None

Utilities

• 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

• browser_install

  • Description: Install the browser specified in the config. Call this if you get an error about the browser not being installed.

  • Parameters: None