Playwright Bowser

Playwright Bowser

Purpose

Automate browsers using playwright-cli — a token-efficient CLI for Playwright. Runs headless by default, supports parallel sessions via named sessions (-s=), and doesn't load tool schemas into context.

Key Details

• Headless by default — pass --headed to open to see the browser
• Parallel sessions — use -s=<name> to run multiple independent browser instances
• Persistent profiles — cookies and storage state preserved between calls
• Token-efficient — CLI-based, no accessibility trees or tool schemas in context
• Vision mode (opt-in) — set PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_CAPS=vision to receive screenshots as image responses in context instead of just saving to disk

Sessions

Always use a named session. Derive a short, descriptive kebab-case name from the user's prompt.

playwright-cli -s=mystore-checkout open https://mystore.com --persistent
playwright-cli -s=mystore-checkout snapshot
playwright-cli -s=mystore-checkout click e12
playwright-cli -s=mystore-checkout close

Managing sessions:

playwright-cli list          # list all sessions
playwright-cli close-all     # close all sessions
playwright-cli -s=<name> close
playwright-cli -s=<name> delete-data

Quick Reference

Core:       open [url], goto <url>, click <ref>, fill <ref> <text>, type <text>, snapshot, screenshot [ref], close
Navigate:   go-back, go-forward, reload
Keyboard:   press <key>, keydown <key>, keyup <key>
Mouse:      mousemove <x> <y>, mousedown, mouseup, mousewheel <dx> <dy>
Tabs:       tab-list, tab-new [url], tab-close [index], tab-select <index>
Save:       screenshot [ref], pdf, screenshot --filename=f
Storage:    state-save, state-load, cookie-*, localstorage-*, sessionstorage-*
Network:    route <pattern>, route-list, unroute, network
DevTools:   console, run-code <code>, tracing-start/stop, video-start/stop
Sessions:   -s=<name> <cmd>, list, close-all, kill-all
Config:     open --headed, open --browser=chrome, resize <w> <h>

Workflow

1. Derive a session name from context and open with --persistent:

PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_VIEWPORT_SIZE=1440x900 playwright-cli -s=<session-name> open <url> --persistent
# headed:
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_VIEWPORT_SIZE=1440x900 playwright-cli -s=<session-name> open <url> --persistent --headed
# vision mode:
PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_VIEWPORT_SIZE=1440x900 PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_CAPS=vision playwright-cli -s=<session-name> open <url> --persistent

2. Get element references:

playwright-cli -s=<session-name> snapshot

3. Interact using refs:

playwright-cli -s=<session-name> click <ref>
playwright-cli -s=<session-name> fill <ref> "text"
playwright-cli -s=<session-name> press Enter

4. Capture results:

playwright-cli -s=<session-name> screenshot --filename=output.png

5. Always close when done:

playwright-cli -s=<session-name> close