Playwright CLI

Playwright CLI Plugin

Token-efficient browser automation CLI by Microsoft. Designed for coding agents — snapshot pages, interact via element refs, and control multiple browser sessions.

Commands

Self

• playwright-cli self version — Print version
• playwright-cli self install-skills — Install Playwright skills for agents

Browser

• playwright-cli browser open — Open browser, optionally navigate to URL (use --headed to see it)
• playwright-cli browser goto — Navigate to a URL
• playwright-cli browser close — Close the current page/session
• playwright-cli browser reload — Reload current page

Element

• playwright-cli element click — Click element by ref, CSS selector, or Playwright locator
• playwright-cli element dblclick — Double click element
• playwright-cli element type — Type text into focused element
• playwright-cli element fill — Fill text into editable element (use --submit for Enter)
• playwright-cli element check — Check checkbox or radio button
• playwright-cli element select — Select dropdown option
• playwright-cli element hover — Hover over element
• playwright-cli element snapshot — Capture page snapshot to get element refs
• playwright-cli element upload — Upload files

Keyboard

• playwright-cli keyboard press — Press a key (Enter, Escape, Tab, arrow keys, etc.)

Screenshot

• playwright-cli screenshot take — Take screenshot of page or element

Tabs

• playwright-cli tab new — Create new tab
• playwright-cli tab close — Close tab by index
• playwright-cli tab select — Select tab by index

Sessions

• playwright-cli session list — List all active sessions
• playwright-cli session close-all — Close all browser sessions
• playwright-cli session kill-all — Force kill all browser processes

Passthrough

• playwright-cli _ _ — Direct passthrough for any playwright-cli command (cookies, storage, network, devtools, dialogs, etc.)

Usage Examples

• "Open https://example.com and take a screenshot"
• "Snapshot the page and click the login button"
• "Fill the search form and press Enter"
• "Open demo app and test the signup flow"
• "Check all completed todos on the page"

Installation

npm install -g @playwright/cli@latest
playwright-cli install --skills

Examples

# Open and interact with a page
playwright-cli open https://demo.playwright.dev/todomvc/ --headed
playwright-cli snapshot
playwright-cli type "Buy groceries"
playwright-cli press Enter
playwright-cli check e21
playwright-cli screenshot --filename=todo.png

# Multiple sessions
playwright-cli -s=project1 open https://example.com
playwright-cli -s=project2 open https://playwright.dev
playwright-cli list

# Tab management
playwright-cli tab-new https://example.com
playwright-cli tab-select 1

# Cookie operations (via passthrough)
playwright-cli cookie-list
playwright-cli cookie-set session_id abc123

# Network (via passthrough)
playwright-cli requests
playwright-cli route "**/*.png" --abort

# DevTools (via passthrough)
playwright-cli console
playwright-cli generate-locator e15

Key Features

• Token-efficient: Does not force page data into LLM context
• Element refs from snapshots for precise interaction
• Multi-session support for parallel browser instances
• Screenshots, PDFs, videos, and traces
• Network request inspection and mocking
• Full storage state management (cookies, localStorage, sessionStorage)
• Tab management
• Keyboard and mouse control
• Config file support for repeatable workflows