Browser Automation with playwright-cli
How it works
Every command returns a snapshot — a structured view of the page with element refs (e1, e2, e3...). Use these refs to target elements in subsequent commands. Always take a snapshot before interacting with unfamiliar page state.
Session Isolation (REQUIRED)
Always use named sessions (-s=<name>) to prevent conflicts between parallel browser automation efforts. Never use the default unnamed session.
- For single-use sessions:
playwright-cli -s=<task-name> open <url> - For UAT sessions:
playwright-cli -s=uat-<test-name> open <url> - All subsequent commands must include the same
-s=<name>flag - Clean up when done:
playwright-cli -s=<name> close
Quick start
# open new browser with named session (always use -s= for isolation)
playwright-cli -s=mytest open
# navigate to a page
playwright-cli -s=mytest goto https://playwright.dev
# take a snapshot to see element refs
playwright-cli -s=mytest snapshot
# interact with the page using refs from the snapshot
playwright-cli -s=mytest click e15
playwright-cli -s=mytest type "page.click"
playwright-cli -s=mytest press Enter
# take a screenshot (rarely used, as snapshot is more common)
playwright-cli -s=mytest screenshot
# close the browser
playwright-cli -s=mytest closeCommands
Core
playwright-cli open
# open and navigate right away
playwright-cli open https://example.com/
playwright-cli goto https://playwright.dev
playwright-cli type "search query"
playwright-cli click e3
playwright-cli dblclick e7
playwright-cli fill e5 "user@example.com"
playwright-cli drag e2 e8
playwright-cli hover e4
playwright-cli select e9 "option-value"
playwright-cli upload ./document.pdf
playwright-cli check e12
playwright-cli uncheck e12
playwright-cli snapshot
playwright-cli snapshot --filename=after-click.yaml
playwright-cli eval "document.title"
playwright-cli eval "el => el.textContent" e5
playwright-cli dialog-accept
playwright-cli dialog-accept "confirmation text"
playwright-cli dialog-dismiss
playwright-cli resize 1920 1080
playwright-cli closeNavigation
playwright-cli go-back
playwright-cli go-forward
playwright-cli reloadKeyboard
playwright-cli press Enter
playwright-cli press ArrowDown
playwright-cli keydown Shift
playwright-cli keyup ShiftMouse
playwright-cli mousemove 150 300
playwright-cli mousedown
playwright-cli mousedown right
playwright-cli mouseup
playwright-cli mouseup right
playwright-cli mousewheel 0 100Save as
playwright-cli screenshot
playwright-cli screenshot e5
playwright-cli screenshot --filename=page.png
playwright-cli pdf --filename=page.pdfTabs
playwright-cli tab-list
playwright-cli tab-new
playwright-cli tab-new https://example.com/page
playwright-cli tab-close
playwright-cli tab-close 2
playwright-cli tab-select 0Storage
playwright-cli state-save auth.json
playwright-cli state-load auth.json
playwright-cli cookie-list
playwright-cli cookie-set session_id abc123 --domain=example.com --httpOnly --secure
playwright-cli localstorage-set theme darkFor full cookie, localStorage, sessionStorage, and IndexedDB operations, see references/storage-state.md.
Network
playwright-cli route "**/*.jpg" --status=404
playwright-cli route "https://api.example.com/**" --body='{"mock": true}'
playwright-cli route-list
playwright-cli unroute "**/*.jpg"
playwright-cli unrouteDevTools
playwright-cli console
playwright-cli console warning
playwright-cli network
playwright-cli run-code "async page => await page.context().grantPermissions(['geolocation'])"
playwright-cli tracing-start
playwright-cli tracing-stop
playwright-cli video-start
playwright-cli video-stop video.webmOpen parameters
# Use specific browser when creating session
playwright-cli open --browser=chrome
playwright-cli open --browser=firefox
playwright-cli open --browser=webkit
playwright-cli open --browser=msedge
# Connect to an existing Chrome browser via extension (reuses logged-in sessions)
playwright-cli open --extension
# Use persistent profile (by default profile is in-memory)
playwright-cli open --persistent
# Use persistent profile with custom directory
playwright-cli open --profile=/path/to/profile
# Start with config file
playwright-cli open --config=my-config.json
# Close the browser
playwright-cli close
# Delete user data for the default session
playwright-cli delete-dataSnapshots
After each command, playwright-cli provides a snapshot of the current browser state.
> playwright-cli goto https://example.com
### Page
- Page URL: https://example.com/
- Page Title: Example Domain
### Snapshot
[Snapshot](.playwright-cli/page-2026-02-14T19-22-42-679Z.yml)You can also take a snapshot on demand using playwright-cli snapshot command.
If --filename is not provided, a new snapshot file is created with a timestamp. Default to automatic file naming, use --filename= when artifact is a part of the workflow result.
Browser Sessions
# create new browser session named "mysession" with persistent profile
playwright-cli -s=mysession open example.com --persistent
# same with manually specified profile directory (use when requested explicitly)
playwright-cli -s=mysession open example.com --profile=/path/to/profile
playwright-cli -s=mysession click e6
playwright-cli -s=mysession close # stop a named browser
playwright-cli -s=mysession delete-data # delete user data for persistent session
playwright-cli list
# Close all browsers
playwright-cli close-all
# Forcefully kill all browser processes
playwright-cli kill-allParallel UAT with Subagents
Named sessions (-s=name) provide full process-level isolation, making them ideal for parallel UAT: each subagent gets its own browser with independent cookies, storage, and state.
Session naming: Always use -s=uat-{test-name} for UAT sessions:
# Team lead spawns 3 subagents, each with their own session
playwright-cli -s=uat-login open https://app.example.com/login
playwright-cli -s=uat-checkout open https://app.example.com/checkout
playwright-cli -s=uat-settings open https://app.example.com/settings
# After all subagents complete, team lead cleans up
playwright-cli close-allWARNING: Do NOT use MCP Playwright tools (mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__*) for parallel testing — all subagents share the same MCP server with a single browser context. Use playwright-cli with named sessions instead.
Resource limit: Max 3–5 parallel sessions. Monitor with playwright-cli list.
See references/parallel-uat.md for the full workflow including evidence collection, error recovery, and result aggregation.
Local installation
In some cases user might want to install playwright-cli locally. If running globally available playwright-cli binary fails, use npx playwright-cli to run the commands. For example:
npx playwright-cli open https://example.com
npx playwright-cli click e1Example: Form submission
playwright-cli -s=form-test open https://example.com/form
playwright-cli -s=form-test snapshot
playwright-cli -s=form-test fill e1 "user@example.com"
playwright-cli -s=form-test fill e2 "password123"
playwright-cli -s=form-test click e3
playwright-cli -s=form-test snapshot
playwright-cli -s=form-test closeExample: Multi-tab workflow
playwright-cli -s=tabs open https://example.com
playwright-cli -s=tabs tab-new https://example.com/other
playwright-cli -s=tabs tab-list
playwright-cli -s=tabs tab-select 0
playwright-cli -s=tabs snapshot
playwright-cli -s=tabs closeExample: Debugging with DevTools
playwright-cli -s=debug open https://example.com
playwright-cli -s=debug click e4
playwright-cli -s=debug fill e7 "test"
playwright-cli -s=debug console
playwright-cli -s=debug network
playwright-cli -s=debug closeplaywright-cli -s=trace open https://example.com
playwright-cli -s=trace tracing-start
playwright-cli -s=trace click e4
playwright-cli -s=trace fill e7 "test"
playwright-cli -s=trace tracing-stop
playwright-cli -s=trace closeReferences
Read these when the specific capability is needed:
- Request mocking — Read when intercepting, blocking, or modifying network requests: references/request-mocking.md
- Running Playwright code — Read when CLI commands are insufficient and custom page code is needed (geolocation, permissions, iframes, downloads): references/running-code.md
- Browser session management — Read when running multiple concurrent browsers or managing persistent profiles: references/session-management.md
- Storage state — Read when managing cookies, localStorage, sessionStorage, or saving/restoring auth state: references/storage-state.md
- Test generation — Read when building Playwright test files from interactive browser sessions: references/test-generation.md
- Tracing — Read when capturing detailed execution traces for debugging (DOM snapshots, network, console): references/tracing.md
- Video recording — Read when recording browser sessions as video for demos or documentation: references/video-recording.md
- Parallel UAT testing — Read when running multiple subagents for simultaneous user acceptance testing: references/parallel-uat.md
Troubleshooting
If playwright-cli is not found, fall back to npx playwright-cli. If the browser fails to open, try playwright-cli kill-all to clear stale processes, then retry.