
Playwright Mcp
io.github.dinesh-nalla-sePublished by GitHub account dinesh-nalla-sev1.0.0Updated Oct 24, 2026
Playwright Tools for MCP
Overview
Playwright-based browser automation server that lets an assistant navigate pages, inspect accessibility snapshots, and click, type or fill forms without…
- What you can do
- Navigate pages, go back, resize the window and close the browser
- Inspect the page through accessibility snapshots, screenshots, console messages and network requests
- Interact with elements: click, hover, drag and drop, type text, press keys, select dropdown options and fill forms
- Run JavaScript or Playwright code snippets on the page, upload files and handle dialogs
- Wait for conditions and capture PDF or vision-based output when those capabilities are enabled
- When to use it
- Useful when an assistant should drive a real browser: testing web apps, filling in and submitting forms, checking console or network output, or collecting page content as structured accessibility data instead of screenshots.
- Requirements
- Runs locally over stdio as an npm package or Docker image; needs Node.js 18 or newer and an MCP client such as VS Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop or Goose. A browser (Chromium, Firefox, WebKit or Edge) must be available. The manifest declares a required secret named YOUR_API_KEY, though the README does not explain what it is for.
Installation
In SourceWeft
- Open Playwright Mcp in the dashboard and add it to a workspace.
- Enable the server for the chats that should use its tools.
Desktop only via STDIO. STDIO servers start a local process, so they need the SourceWeft desktop host.
Other MCP clients
Follow the launch instructions in the repository.
README
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, Goose or any other MCP client
Getting started
First, install the Playwright MCP server with your client.
Standard config works in most of the tools:
[Install in VS Code] [Install in VS Code Insiders]
Amp
Add via the Amp VS Code extension settings screen or by updating your settings.json file:
Amp CLI Setup:
Add via the amp mcp addcommand below
Claude Code
Use the Claude Code CLI to add the Playwright MCP server:
Claude Desktop
Follow the MCP install guide, use the standard config above.
Codex
Use the Codex CLI to add the Playwright MCP server:
Alternatively, create or edit the configuration file ~/.codex/config.toml and add:
For more information, see the Codex MCP documentation.
Cursor
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@latest. You can also verify config or add command like arguments via clicking Edit.
Factory
Use the Factory CLI to add the Playwright MCP server:
Alternatively, type /mcp within Factory droid to open an interactive UI for managing MCP servers.
For more information, see the Factory MCP documentation.
Gemini CLI
Follow the MCP install guide, use the standard config above.
Goose
Click the button to install:
Or install manually:
Go to Advanced settings -> Extensions -> Add custom extension. Name to your liking, use type STDIO, and set the command to npx @playwright/mcp. Click "Add Extension".
Kiro
Follow the MCP Servers documentation. For example in .kiro/settings/mcp.json:
LM Studio
Click the button to install:
[Add MCP Server playwright to LM Studio]
Or install manually:
Go to Program in the right sidebar -> Install -> Edit mcp.json. Use the standard config above.
opencode
Follow the MCP Servers documentation. For example in ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json:
Qodo Gen
Open Qodo Gen chat panel in VSCode or IntelliJ → Connect more tools → + Add new MCP → Paste the standard config above.
Click Save.
VS Code
Click the button to install:
[Install in VS Code] [Install in VS Code Insiders]
Or install manually:
Follow the MCP install guide, use the standard config above. 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.
Warp
Go to Settings -> AI -> Manage MCP Servers -> + Add to add an MCP Server. Use the standard config above.
Alternatively, use the slash command /add-mcp in the Warp prompt and paste the standard config from above:
Windsurf
Follow Windsurf MCP documentation. Use the standard config above.
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), in isolated contexts for testing sessions, or connect to your existing browser using the browser extension.
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.
Browser Extension
The Playwright MCP Chrome Extension allows you to connect to existing browser tabs and leverage your logged-in sessions and browser state. See extension/README.md for installation and setup instructions.
Initial state
There are multiple ways to provide the initial state to the browser context or a page.
For the storage state, you can either:
- Start with a user data directory using the
--user-data-dirargument. This will persist all browser data between the sessions. - Start with a storage state file using the
--storage-stateargument. This will load cookies and local storage from the file into an isolated browser context.
For the page state, you can use:
--init-pageto point to a TypeScript file that will be evaluated on the Playwright page object. This allows you to run arbitrary code to set up the page.
--init-scriptto point to a JavaScript file that will be added as an initialization script. The script will be evaluated in every page before any of the page's scripts. This is useful for overriding browser APIs or setting up the environment.
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:
Configuration file schema
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 HTTP transport.
And then in MCP client config, set the url to the HTTP endpoint:
Docker
NOTE: The Docker implementation only supports headless chromium at the moment.
Or If you prefer to run the container as a long-lived service instead of letting the MCP client spawn it, use:
The server will listen on host port 8931 and can be reached by any MCP client.
You can build the Docker image yourself.
Programmatic usage
Tools
Core automation
- 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 elementref(string): Exact target element reference from the page snapshotdoubleClick(boolean, optional): Whether to perform a double click instead of a single clickbutton(string, optional): Button to click, defaults to leftmodifiers(array, optional): Modifier keys to press
- Read-only: false
- browser_close
- Title: Close browser
- Description: Close the page
- Parameters: None
- Read-only: false
- browser_console_messages
- Title: Get console messages
- Description: Returns all console messages
- Parameters:
onlyErrors(boolean, optional): Only return error messages
- Read-only: true
- 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 elementstartRef(string): Exact source element reference from the page snapshotendElement(string): Human-readable target element description used to obtain the permission to interact with the elementendRef(string): Exact target element reference from the page snapshot
- Read-only: false
- browser_evaluate
- Title: Evaluate JavaScript
- Description: Evaluate JavaScript expression on page or element
- Parameters:
function(string): () => { /* code / } or (element) => { / code */ } when element is providedelement(string, optional): Human-readable element description used to obtain permission to interact with the elementref(string, optional): Exact target element reference from the page snapshot
- Read-only: false
- browser_file_upload
- Title: Upload files
- Description: Upload one or multiple files
- Parameters:
paths(array, optional): The absolute paths to the files to upload. Can be single file or multiple files. If omitted, file chooser is cancelled.
- Read-only: false
- browser_fill_form
- Title: Fill form
- Description: Fill multiple form fields
- Parameters:
fields(array): Fields to fill in
- 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_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 elementref(string): Exact target element reference from the page snapshot
- 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: false
- browser_network_requests
- Title: List network requests
- Description: Returns all network requests since loading the page
- Parameters: None
- Read-only: true
- 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 asArrowLeftora
- Read-only: false
- browser_resize
- Title: Resize browser window
- Description: Resize the browser window
- Parameters:
width(number): Width of the browser windowheight(number): Height of the browser window
- Read-only: false
- browser_run_code
- Title: Run Playwright code
- Description: Run Playwright code snippet
- Parameters:
code(string): Playwright code snippet to run. The snippet should access thepageobject to interact with the page. Can make multiple statements. For example:await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Submit' }).click();
- 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 elementref(string): Exact target element reference from the page snapshotvalues(array): Array of values to select in the dropdown. This can be a single value or multiple values.
- Read-only: false
- browser_snapshot
- Title: Page snapshot
- Description: Capture accessibility snapshot of the current page, this is better than screenshot
- 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:
type(string, optional): Image format for the screenshot. Default is png.filename(string, optional): File name to save the screenshot to. Defaults topage-{timestamp}.{png|jpeg}if not specified. Prefer relative file names to stay within the output directory.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.fullPage(boolean, optional): When true, takes a screenshot of the full scrollable page, instead of the currently visible viewport. Cannot be used with element screenshots.
- 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 elementref(string): Exact target element reference from the page snapshottext(string): Text to type into the elementsubmit(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_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 secondstext(string, optional): The text to wait fortextGone(string, optional): The text to wait for to disappear
- Read-only: false
Tab management
- browser_tabs
- Title: Manage tabs
- Description: List, create, close, or select a browser tab.
- Parameters:
action(string): Operation to performindex(number, optional): Tab index, used for close/select. If omitted for close, current tab is closed.
- Read-only: false
Browser installation
- 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
Coordinate-based (opt-in via --caps=vision)
- browser_mouse_click_xy
- Title: Click
- Description: Click left mouse button at a given position
- Parameters:
element(string): Human-readable element description used to obtain permission to interact with the elementx(number): X coordinatey(number): Y coordinate
- Read-only: false
- browser_mouse_drag_xy
- Title: Drag mouse
- Description: Drag left mouse button to a given position
- Parameters:
element(string): Human-readable element description used to obtain permission to interact with the elementstartX(number): Start X coordinatestartY(number): Start Y coordinateendX(number): End X coordinateendY(number): End Y coordinate
- Read-only: false
- browser_mouse_move_xy
- 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 elementx(number): X coordinatey(number): Y coordinate
- Read-only: false
PDF generation (opt-in via --caps=pdf)
- browser_pdf_save
- Title: Save as PDF
- Description: Save page as PDF
- Parameters:
filename(string, optional): File name to save the pdf to. Defaults topage-{timestamp}.pdfif not specified. Prefer relative file names to stay within the output directory.
- Read-only: true
Test assertions (opt-in via --caps=testing)
- browser_generate_locator
- Title: Create locator for element
- Description: Generate locator for the given element to use in tests
- Parameters:
element(string): Human-readable element description used to obtain permission to interact with the elementref(string): Exact target element reference from the page snapshot
- Read-only: true
- browser_verify_element_visible
- Title: Verify element visible
- Description: Verify element is visible on the page
- Parameters:
role(string): ROLE of the element. Can be found in the snapshot like this:- {ROLE} "Accessible Name":accessibleName(string): ACCESSIBLE_NAME of the element. Can be found in the snapshot like this:- role "{ACCESSIBLE_NAME}"
- Read-only: false
- browser_verify_list_visible
- Title: Verify list visible
- Description: Verify list is visible on the page
- Parameters:
element(string): Human-readable list descriptionref(string): Exact target element reference that points to the listitems(array): Items to verify
- Read-only: false
- browser_verify_text_visible
- Title: Verify text visible
- Description: Verify text is visible on the page. Prefer browser_verify_element_visible if possible.
- Parameters:
text(string): TEXT to verify. Can be found in the snapshot like this:- role "Accessible Name": {TEXT}or like this:- text: {TEXT}
- Read-only: false
- browser_verify_value
- Title: Verify value
- Description: Verify element value
- Parameters:
type(string): Type of the elementelement(string): Human-readable element descriptionref(string): Exact target element reference that points to the elementvalue(string): Value to verify. For checkbox, use "true" or "false".
- Read-only: false
Tracing (opt-in via --caps=tracing)
- browser_start_tracing
- Title: Start tracing
- Description: Start trace recording
- Parameters: None
- Read-only: true
- browser_stop_tracing
- Title: Stop tracing
- Description: Stop trace recording
- Parameters: None
- Read-only: true
Source: README.md at commit c016643
Tools
0Version history
1- v1.0.0LatestSep 16, 2026
Score
50% of the applicable checks met
How complete this listing is, computed from the registry entry, the endpoint and public sources. Not a rating of the server and not a statement that it is safe or working today: reachability is a dated check, and no installs or reviews go into the score.
- Reached in the last 30 days25 pts
Keep the endpoint answering the MCP handshake; SourceWeft probes it every 30 days.
- Auth declared10 pts
Declare the credential headers in the registry entry, or keep the endpoint answering the probe so its auth can be classified.
- Tools listed15 pts
Answer tools/list without a credential, or ship a package that starts in a sandbox without one.
- DescriptionRequired15 pts
- Logo10 pts
- Documentation15 pts
- License10 pts