LandonSchropp Playwright
REQUIRED: Use the playwright-cli skill for the commands themselves. Drive the browser through playwright-cli, never through the Playwright MCP tools, which know nothing about the session.
Always name the session, and pass the name on every later command:
playwright-cli --session=<name> open <url> [flags]
Later commands attach to that browser and inherit the flags it was opened with, so one omitting --headed still drives the headed window. Name the session after the site or account, not the task, and prefer the long --session over -s.
Headed Or Headless
Assume headless unless the instructions or the user say otherwise, or unless the work is blocked on something only the user can do in the window. A window steals focus, so open one only when it earns the interruption: signing in, approving a prompt, or watching the work happen.
Profiles
Use a profile whenever the work depends on a login, in this phase or a later one. Without one the profile is in memory and every login dies with the session.
--browser=chrome --profile="$HOME/.local/share/agent-toolkit/playwright/<profile>"
When using profiles, always use --browser=chrome. This ensures that the user can use their password manager to log into the website.
main is the profile unless a skill names its own. Chrome allows one browser per profile at a time, so an open that fails because the profile is in use should reuse the running session rather than start a second. Ignore the --isolated flag that failure suggests, which hands back a copy holding none of the logins.
When the profile directory is missing, create it with ./scripts/set-up-profile.rb --profile <name>, never by hand. It writes the profile with Chrome's own password manager turned off, and the user installs 1Password in it before the first sign-in.
Write $HOME, not ~, which is not expanded after =.
Recipes
| Situation | Headed | Profile |
|---|---|---|
| Reading a public page | Headless | None |
| Taking a look at a page together | Headed | None |
| Working behind a login | Headless | Profile |
| Signing in to a site | Headed | Profile |
The combinations can change between phases of a task. For example, you can open a headed session to allow the user to sign in, close it, and then reopen the same session name headless to work.
Signing In
You cannot sign in yourself (unless explicitly given credentials by the user). Logins go through native dialogs and second factors Playwright can't drive. Open a headed window, tell the user exactly what to do in it, and wait.
A persistent profile stays signed in between runs, so check whether the site already has a session before asking the user to sign in again.
Cleaning Up
Close the session you opened: playwright-cli --session=<name> close.
Never run close-all or kill-all; other sessions belong to other work.