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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.

Playwright MCP vs Playwright CLI

This package provides MCP interface into Playwright. If you are using a coding agent, you might benefit from using the CLI+SKILLS instead.

Key Features

Requirements

Getting started

First, install the Playwright MCP server with your client.

Standard config works in most of the tools:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "@playwright/mcp@latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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.mcpServers": {
  "playwright": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": [
      "@playwright/mcp@latest"
    ]
  }
}

Amp CLI Setup:

Add via the amp mcp addcommand below

amp mcp add playwright -- npx @playwright/mcp@latest
Claude Code

Use the Claude Code CLI to add the Playwright MCP server:

claude mcp add playwright npx @playwright/mcp@latest
Claude Desktop

Follow the MCP install guide, use the standard config above.

Cline

Follow the instruction in the section Configuring MCP Servers

Example: Local Setup

Add the following to your cline_mcp_settings.json file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "timeout": 30,
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@playwright/mcp@latest"
      ],
      "disabled": false
    }
  }
}
Codex

Use the Codex CLI to add the Playwright MCP server:

codex mcp add playwright npx "@playwright/mcp@latest"

Alternatively, create or edit the configuration file ~/.codex/config.toml and add:

[mcp_servers.playwright]
command = "npx"
args = ["@playwright/mcp@latest"]

For more information, see the Codex MCP documentation.

Copilot

Use the Copilot CLI to interactively add the Playwright MCP server:

/mcp add

Alternatively, create or edit the configuration file ~/.copilot/mcp-config.json and add:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": "npx",
      "tools": [
        "*"
      ],
      "args": [
        "@playwright/mcp@latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

For more information, see the Copilot CLI documentation.

Cursor

Click the button to install:

Install in Cursor

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:

droid mcp add playwright "npx @playwright/mcp@latest"

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:

Install in Goose

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:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "@playwright/mcp@latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}
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:

{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "playwright": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": [
        "npx",
        "@playwright/mcp@latest"
      ],
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

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:

# For VS Code
code --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.

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:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "@playwright/mcp@latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}
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:

Option Description
--allowed-hosts <hosts...> comma-separated list of hosts this server is allowed to serve from. Defaults to the host the server is bound to. Pass '*' to disable the host check.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS
--allowed-origins semicolon-separated list of TRUSTED origins to allow the browser to request. Default is to allow all. Important: does not serve as a security boundary and does not affect redirects.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_ALLOWED_ORIGINS
--allow-unrestricted-file-access allow access to files outside of the workspace roots. Also allows unrestricted access to file:// URLs. By default access to file system is restricted to workspace root directories (or cwd if no roots are configured) only, and navigation to file:// URLs is blocked.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_ALLOW_UNRESTRICTED_FILE_ACCESS
--blocked-origins semicolon-separated list of origins to block the browser from requesting. Blocklist is evaluated before allowlist. If used without the allowlist, requests not matching the blocklist are still allowed. Important: does not serve as a security boundary and does not affect redirects.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_BLOCKED_ORIGINS
--block-service-workers block service workers
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_BLOCK_SERVICE_WORKERS
--browser browser or chrome channel to use, possible values: chrome, firefox, webkit, msedge.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_BROWSER
--caps comma-separated list of additional capabilities to enable, possible values: vision, pdf, devtools.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_CAPS
--cdp-endpoint CDP endpoint to connect to.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_CDP_ENDPOINT
--cdp-header <headers...> CDP headers to send with the connect request, multiple can be specified.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_CDP_HEADER
--cdp-timeout timeout in milliseconds for connecting to CDP endpoint, defaults to 30000ms
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_CDP_TIMEOUT
--codegen specify the language to use for code generation, possible values: "typescript", "none". Default is "typescript".
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_CODEGEN
--config path to the configuration file.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_CONFIG
--console-level level of console messages to return: "error", "warning", "info", "debug". Each level includes the messages of more severe levels.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_CONSOLE_LEVEL
--device device to emulate, for example: "iPhone 15"
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_DEVICE
--executable-path path to the browser executable.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_EXECUTABLE_PATH
--extension Connect to a running browser instance (Edge/Chrome only). Requires the "Playwright MCP Bridge" browser extension to be installed.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_EXTENSION
--grant-permissions <permissions...> List of permissions to grant to the browser context, for example "geolocation", "clipboard-read", "clipboard-write".
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_GRANT_PERMISSIONS
--headless run browser in headless mode, headed by default
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_HEADLESS
--host host to bind server to. Default is localhost. Use 0.0.0.0 to bind to all interfaces.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_HOST
--ignore-https-errors ignore https errors
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_IGNORE_HTTPS_ERRORS
--init-page <path...> path to TypeScript file to evaluate on Playwright page object
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_INIT_PAGE
--init-script <path...> path to JavaScript file to add as an initialization script. The script will be evaluated in every page before any of the page's scripts. Can be specified multiple times.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_INIT_SCRIPT
--isolated keep the browser profile in memory, do not save it to disk.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_ISOLATED
--image-responses whether to send image responses to the client. Can be "allow" or "omit", Defaults to "allow".
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_IMAGE_RESPONSES
--no-sandbox disable the sandbox for all process types that are normally sandboxed.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_NO_SANDBOX
--output-dir path to the directory for output files.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_OUTPUT_DIR
--output-mode whether to save snapshots, console messages, network logs to a file or to the standard output. Can be "file" or "stdout". Default is "stdout".
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_OUTPUT_MODE
--port port to listen on for SSE transport.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_PORT
--proxy-bypass comma-separated domains to bypass proxy, for example ".com,chromium.org,.domain.com"
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_PROXY_BYPASS
--proxy-server specify proxy server, for example "http://myproxy:3128" or "socks5://myproxy:8080"
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_PROXY_SERVER
--sandbox enable the sandbox for all process types that are normally not sandboxed.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_SANDBOX
--save-session Whether to save the Playwright MCP session into the output directory.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_SAVE_SESSION
--save-trace Whether to save the Playwright Trace of the session into the output directory.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_SAVE_TRACE
--save-video Whether to save the video of the session into the output directory. For example "--save-video=800x600"
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_SAVE_VIDEO
--secrets path to a file containing secrets in the dotenv format
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_SECRETS
--shared-browser-context reuse the same browser context between all connected HTTP clients.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_SHARED_BROWSER_CONTEXT
--snapshot-mode when taking snapshots for responses, specifies the mode to use. Can be "incremental", "full", or "none". Default is incremental.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_SNAPSHOT_MODE
--storage-state path to the storage state file for isolated sessions.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_STORAGE_STATE
--test-id-attribute specify the attribute to use for test ids, defaults to "data-testid"
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_TEST_ID_ATTRIBUTE
--timeout-action specify action timeout in milliseconds, defaults to 5000ms
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_TIMEOUT_ACTION
--timeout-navigation specify navigation timeout in milliseconds, defaults to 60000ms
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_TIMEOUT_NAVIGATION
--user-agent specify user agent string
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_USER_AGENT
--user-data-dir path to the user data directory. If not specified, a temporary directory will be created.
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_USER_DATA_DIR
--viewport-size specify browser viewport size in pixels, for example "1280x720"
env PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_VIEWPORT_SIZE

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.

# Windows
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\ms-playwright\mcp-{channel}-profile

# macOS
- ~/Library/Caches/ms-playwright/mcp-{channel}-profile

# Linux
- ~/.cache/ms-playwright/mcp-{channel}-profile

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.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "@playwright/mcp@latest",
        "--isolated",
        "--storage-state={path/to/storage.json}"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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 packages/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:

For the page state, you can use:

// init-page.ts
export default async ({ page }) => {
  await page.context().grantPermissions(['geolocation']);
  await page.context().setGeolocation({ latitude: 37.7749, longitude: -122.4194 });
  await page.setViewportSize({ width: 1280, height: 720 });
};
// init-script.js
window.isPlaywrightMCP = true;

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:

npx @playwright/mcp@latest --config path/to/config.json
Configuration file schema
{
  /**
   * The browser to use.
   */
  browser?: {
    /**
     * The type of browser to use.
     */
    browserName?: 'chromium' | 'firefox' | 'webkit';

    /**
     * Keep the browser profile in memory, do not save it to disk.
     */
    isolated?: boolean;

    /**
     * Path to a user data directory for browser profile persistence.
     * Temporary directory is created by default.
     */
    userDataDir?: string;

    /**
     * Launch options passed to
     * @see https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-browsertype#browser-type-launch-persistent-context
     *
     * This is useful for settings options like `channel`, `headless`, `executablePath`, etc.
     */
    launchOptions?: playwright.LaunchOptions;

    /**
     * Context options for the browser context.
     *
     * This is useful for settings options like `viewport`.
     */
    contextOptions?: playwright.BrowserContextOptions;

    /**
     * Chrome DevTools Protocol endpoint to connect to an existing browser instance in case of Chromium family browsers.
     */
    cdpEndpoint?: string;

    /**
     * CDP headers to send with the connect request.
     */
    cdpHeaders?: Record<string, string>;

    /**
     * Timeout in milliseconds for connecting to CDP endpoint. Defaults to 30000 (30 seconds). Pass 0 to disable timeout.
     */
    cdpTimeout?: number;

    /**
     * Remote endpoint to connect to an existing Playwright server.
     */
    remoteEndpoint?: string;

    /**
     * Paths to TypeScript files to add as initialization scripts for Playwright page.
     */
    initPage?: string[];

    /**
     * Paths to JavaScript files to add as initialization scripts.
     * The scripts will be evaluated in every page before any of the page's scripts.
     */
    initScript?: string[];
  },

  /**
   * Connect to a running browser instance (Edge/Chrome only). If specified, `browser`
   * config is ignored.
   * Requires the "Playwright MCP Bridge" browser extension to be installed.
   */
  extension?: boolean;

  server?: {
    /**
     * The port to listen on for SSE or MCP transport.
     */
    port?: number;

    /**
     * The host to bind the server to. Default is localhost. Use 0.0.0.0 to bind to all interfaces.
     */
    host?: string;

    /**
     * The hosts this server is allowed to serve from. Defaults to the host server is bound to.
     * This is not for CORS, but rather for the DNS rebinding protection.
     */
    allowedHosts?: string[];
  },

  /**
   * List of enabled tool capabilities. Possible values:
   *   - 'core': Core browser automation features.
   *   - 'pdf': PDF generation and manipulation.
   *   - 'vision': Coordinate-based interactions.
   *   - 'devtools': Developer tools features.
   */
  capabilities?: ToolCapability[];

  /**
   * Whether to save the Playwright session into the output directory.
   */
  saveSession?: boolean;

  /**
   * Whether to save the Playwright trace of the session into the output directory.
   */
  saveTrace?: boolean;

  /**
   * If specified, saves the Playwright video of the session into the output directory.
   */
  saveVideo?: {
    width: number;
    height: number;
  };

  /**
   * Reuse the same browser context between all connected HTTP clients.
   */
  sharedBrowserContext?: boolean;

  /**
   * Secrets are used to prevent LLM from getting sensitive data while
   * automating scenarios such as authentication.
   * Prefer the browser.contextOptions.storageState over secrets file as a more secure alternative.
   */
  secrets?: Record<string, string>;

  /**
   * The directory to save output files.
   */
  outputDir?: string;

  /**
   * Whether to save snapshots, console messages, network logs and other session logs to a file or to the standard output. Defaults to "stdout".
   */
  outputMode?: 'file' | 'stdout';

  console?: {
    /**
     * The level of console messages to return. Each level includes the messages of more severe levels. Defaults to "info".
     */
    level?: 'error' | 'warning' | 'info' | 'debug';
  },

  network?: {
    /**
     * List of origins to allow the browser to request. Default is to allow all. Origins matching both `allowedOrigins` and `blockedOrigins` will be blocked.
     *
     * Supported formats:
     * - Full origin: `https://example.com:8080` - matches only that origin
     * - Wildcard port: `http://localhost:*` - matches any port on localhost with http protocol
     */
    allowedOrigins?: string[];

    /**
     * List of origins to block the browser to request. Origins matching both `allowedOrigins` and `blockedOrigins` will be blocked.
     *
     * Supported formats:
     * - Full origin: `https://example.com:8080` - matches only that origin
     * - Wildcard port: `http://localhost:*` - matches any port on localhost with http protocol
     */
    blockedOrigins?: string[];
  };

  /**
   * Specify the attribute to use for test ids, defaults to "data-testid".
   */
  testIdAttribute?: string;

  timeouts?: {
    /*
     * Configures default action timeout: https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-page#page-set-default-timeout. Defaults to 5000ms.
     */
    action?: number;

    /*
     * Configures default navigation timeout: https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-page#page-set-default-navigation-timeout. Defaults to 60000ms.
     */
    navigation?: number;
  };

  /**
   * Whether to send image responses to the client. Can be "allow", "omit", or "auto". Defaults to "auto", which sends images if the client can display them.
   */
  imageResponses?: 'allow' | 'omit';

  snapshot?: {
    /**
     * When taking snapshots for responses, specifies the mode to use.
     */
    mode?: 'incremental' | 'full' | 'none';
  };

  /**
   * Whether to allow file uploads from anywhere on the file system.
   * By default (false), file uploads are restricted to paths within the MCP roots only.
   */
  allowUnrestrictedFileAccess?: boolean;

  /**
   * Specify the language to use for code generation.
   */
  codegen?: 'typescript' | 'none';
}

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.

npx @playwright/mcp@latest --port 8931

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "url": "http://localhost:8931/mcp"
    }
  }
}
Docker

NOTE: The Docker implementation only supports headless chromium at the moment.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "--init", "--pull=always", "mcr.microsoft.com/playwright/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Or If you prefer to run the container as a long-lived service instead of letting the MCP client spawn it, use:

docker run -d -i --rm --init --pull=always \
  --entrypoint node \
  --name playwright \
  -p 8931:8931 \
  mcr.microsoft.com/playwright/mcp \
  cli.js --headless --browser chromium --no-sandbox --port 8931

The server will listen on host port 8931 and can be reached by any MCP client.

You can build the Docker image yourself.

docker build -t mcr.microsoft.com/playwright/mcp .
Programmatic usage
import http from 'http';

import { createConnection } from '@playwright/mcp';
import { SSEServerTransport } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/sse.js';

http.createServer(async (req, res) => {
  // ...

  // Creates a headless Playwright MCP server with SSE transport
  const connection = await createConnection({ browser: { launchOptions: { headless: true } } });
  const transport = new SSEServerTransport('/messages', res);
  await connection.connect(transport);

  // ...
});

Tools

Core automation
Tab management
Browser installation
Coordinate-based (opt-in via --caps=vision)
PDF generation (opt-in via --caps=pdf)
Test assertions (opt-in via --caps=testing)
Tracing (opt-in via --caps=tracing)

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