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.

Key Features

Fast and lightweight. Uses Playwright's accessibility tree, not pixel-based input.
LLM-friendly. No vision models needed, operates purely on structured data.
Deterministic tool application. Avoids ambiguity common with screenshot-based approaches.

Requirements

Node.js 18 or newer
VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Desktop or any other MCP client

Getting started

First, install the Playwright MCP server with your client. A typical configuration looks like this:

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

Install in VS Code

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.

Install in Cursor

Go to Cursor Settings -> MCP -> Add new MCP Server. Name to your liking, use command type with the command npx @playwright/mcp. You can also verify config or add command like arguments via clicking Edit.

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

Install in Windsurf

Follow Windsuff MCP documentation. Use following configuration:

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

Install in Claude Desktop

Follow the MCP install guide, use following configuration:

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

Configuration

Playwright MCP server supports following arguments. They can be provided in the JSON configuration above, as a part of the "args" list:

> npx @playwright/mcp@latest --help
  --allowed-origins <origins>  semicolon-separated list of origins to allow the
                               browser to request. Default is to allow all.
  --blocked-origins <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.
  --block-service-workers      block service workers
  --browser <browser>          browser or chrome channel to use, possible
                               values: chrome, firefox, webkit, msedge.
  --caps <caps>                comma-separated list of capabilities to enable,
                               possible values: tabs, pdf, history, wait, files,
                               install. Default is all.
  --cdp-endpoint <endpoint>    CDP endpoint to connect to.
  --config <path>              path to the configuration file.
  --device <device>            device to emulate, for example: "iPhone 15"
  --executable-path <path>     path to the browser executable.
  --headless                   run browser in headless mode, headed by default
  --host <host>                host to bind server to. Default is localhost. Use
                               0.0.0.0 to bind to all interfaces.
  --ignore-https-errors        ignore https errors
  --isolated                   keep the browser profile in memory, do not save
                               it to disk.
  --image-responses <mode>     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.
  --no-sandbox                 disable the sandbox for all process types that
                               are normally sandboxed.
  --output-dir <path>          path to the directory for output files.
  --port <port>                port to listen on for SSE transport.
  --proxy-bypass <bypass>      comma-separated domains to bypass proxy, for
                               example ".com,chromium.org,.domain.com"
  --proxy-server <proxy>       specify proxy server, for example
                               "http://myproxy:3128" or "socks5://myproxy:8080"
  --save-trace                 Whether to save the Playwright Trace of the
                               session into the output directory.
  --storage-state <path>       path to the storage state file for isolated
                               sessions.
  --user-agent <ua string>     specify user agent string
  --user-data-dir <path>       path to the user data directory. If not
                               specified, a temporary directory will be created.
  --viewport-size <size>       specify browser viewport size in pixels, for
                               example "1280, 720"
  --vision                     Run server that uses screenshots (Aria snapshots
                               are used by default)

User profile

You can run Playwright MCP with persistent profile like a regular browser (default), or in the isolated contexts for the testing sessions.

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}"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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

{
  // Browser configuration
  browser?: {
    // Browser type to use (chromium, firefox, or webkit)
    browserName?: 'chromium' | 'firefox' | 'webkit';

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

    // Path to user data directory for browser profile persistence
    userDataDir?: string;

    // Browser launch options (see Playwright docs)
    // @see https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-browsertype#browser-type-launch
    launchOptions?: {
      channel?: string;        // Browser channel (e.g. 'chrome')
      headless?: boolean;      // Run in headless mode
      executablePath?: string; // Path to browser executable
      // ... other Playwright launch options
    };

    // Browser context options
    // @see https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-browser#browser-new-context
    contextOptions?: {
      viewport?: { width: number, height: number };
      // ... other Playwright context options
    };

    // CDP endpoint for connecting to existing browser
    cdpEndpoint?: string;

    // Remote Playwright server endpoint
    remoteEndpoint?: string;
  },

  // Server configuration
  server?: {
    port?: number;  // Port to listen on
    host?: string;  // Host to bind to (default: localhost)
  },

  // List of enabled capabilities
  capabilities?: Array<
    'core' |    // Core browser automation
    'tabs' |    // Tab management
    'pdf' |     // PDF generation
    'history' | // Browser history
    'wait' |    // Wait utilities
    'files' |   // File handling
    'install' | // Browser installation
    'testing'   // Testing
  >;

  // Enable vision mode (screenshots instead of accessibility snapshots)
  vision?: boolean;

  // Directory for output files
  outputDir?: string;

  // Network configuration
  network?: {
    // List of origins to allow the browser to request. Default is to allow all. Origins matching both `allowedOrigins` and `blockedOrigins` will be blocked.
    allowedOrigins?: string[];

    // List of origins to block the browser to request. Origins matching both `allowedOrigins` and `blockedOrigins` will be blocked.
    blockedOrigins?: string[];
  };
 
  /**
   * Do not send image responses to the client.
   */
  noImageResponses?: boolean;
}

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 SSE transport.

npx @playwright/mcp@latest --port 8931

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "url": "http://localhost:8931/sse"
    }
  }
}

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"]
    }
  }
}

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

The tools are available in two modes:

Snapshot Mode (default): Uses accessibility snapshots for better performance and reliability
Vision Mode: Uses screenshots for visual-based interactions

To use Vision Mode, add the --vision flag when starting the server:

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

Vision Mode works best with the computer use models that are able to interact with elements using X Y coordinate space, based on the provided screenshot.

Interactions

browser_snapshot
- Title: Page snapshot
- Description: Capture accessibility snapshot of the current page, this is better than screenshot
- Parameters: None
- Read-only: true

browser_click
- Title: Click
- Description: Perform click on a web page
- Parameters:
  - element (string): Human-readable element description used to obtain permission to interact with the element
  - ref (string): Exact target element reference from the page snapshot
- Read-only: false

browser_drag
- Title: Drag mouse
- Description: Perform drag and drop between two elements
- Parameters:
  - startElement (string): Human-readable source element description used to obtain the permission to interact with the element
  - startRef (string): Exact source element reference from the page snapshot
  - endElement (string): Human-readable target element description used to obtain the permission to interact with the element
  - endRef (string): Exact target element reference from the page snapshot
- Read-only: false

browser_hover
- Title: Hover mouse
- Description: Hover over element on page
- Parameters:
  - element (string): Human-readable element description used to obtain permission to interact with the element
  - ref (string): Exact target element reference from the page snapshot
- Read-only: true

browser_type
- Title: Type text
- Description: Type text into editable element
- Parameters:
  - element (string): Human-readable element description used to obtain permission to interact with the element
  - ref (string): Exact target element reference from the page snapshot
  - text (string): Text to type into the element
  - submit (boolean, optional): Whether to submit entered text (press Enter after)
  - slowly (boolean, optional): Whether to type one character at a time. Useful for triggering key handlers in the page. By default entire text is filled in at once.
- Read-only: false

browser_select_option
- Title: Select option
- Description: Select an option in a dropdown
- Parameters:
  - element (string): Human-readable element description used to obtain permission to interact with the element
  - ref (string): Exact target element reference from the page snapshot
  - values (array): Array of values to select in the dropdown. This can be a single value or multiple values.
- Read-only: false

browser_press_key
- Title: Press a key
- Description: Press a key on the keyboard
- Parameters:
  - key (string): Name of the key to press or a character to generate, such as ArrowLeft or a
- Read-only: false

browser_wait_for
- Title: Wait for
- Description: Wait for text to appear or disappear or a specified time to pass
- Parameters:
  - time (number, optional): The time to wait in seconds
  - text (string, optional): The text to wait for
  - textGone (string, optional): The text to wait for to disappear
- Read-only: true

browser_file_upload
- Title: Upload files
- Description: Upload one or multiple files
- Parameters:
  - paths (array): The absolute paths to the files to upload. Can be a single file or multiple files.
- Read-only: false

browser_handle_dialog
- Title: Handle a dialog
- Description: Handle a dialog
- Parameters:
  - accept (boolean): Whether to accept the dialog.
  - promptText (string, optional): The text of the prompt in case of a prompt dialog.
- Read-only: false

Navigation

browser_navigate
- Title: Navigate to a URL
- Description: Navigate to a URL
- Parameters:
  - url (string): The URL to navigate to
- Read-only: false

browser_navigate_back
- Title: Go back
- Description: Go back to the previous page
- Parameters: None
- Read-only: true

browser_navigate_forward
- Title: Go forward
- Description: Go forward to the next page
- Parameters: None
- Read-only: true

Resources

browser_take_screenshot
- Title: Take a screenshot
- Description: Take a screenshot of the current page. You can't perform actions based on the screenshot, use browser_snapshot for actions.
- Parameters:
  - raw (boolean, optional): Whether to return without compression (in PNG format). Default is false, which returns a JPEG image.
  - filename (string, optional): File name to save the screenshot to. Defaults to page-{timestamp}.{png|jpeg} if not specified.
  - element (string, optional): Human-readable element description used to obtain permission to screenshot the element. If not provided, the screenshot will be taken of viewport. If element is provided, ref must be provided too.
  - ref (string, optional): Exact target element reference from the page snapshot. If not provided, the screenshot will be taken of viewport. If ref is provided, element must be provided too.
- Read-only: true

browser_pdf_save
- Title: Save as PDF
- Description: Save page as PDF
- Parameters:
  - filename (string, optional): File name to save the pdf to. Defaults to page-{timestamp}.pdf if not specified.
- Read-only: true

browser_network_requests
- Title: List network requests
- Description: Returns all network requests since loading the page
- Parameters: None
- Read-only: true

browser_console_messages
- Title: Get console messages
- Description: Returns all console messages
- Parameters: None
- Read-only: true

Utilities

browser_install
- Title: Install the browser specified in the config
- Description: Install the browser specified in the config. Call this if you get an error about the browser not being installed.
- Parameters: None
- Read-only: false

browser_close
- Title: Close browser
- Description: Close the page
- Parameters: None
- Read-only: true

browser_resize
- Title: Resize browser window
- Description: Resize the browser window
- Parameters:
  - width (number): Width of the browser window
  - height (number): Height of the browser window
- Read-only: true

Tabs

browser_tab_list
- Title: List tabs
- Description: List browser tabs
- Parameters: None
- Read-only: true

browser_tab_new
- Title: Open a new tab
- Description: Open a new tab
- Parameters:
  - url (string, optional): The URL to navigate to in the new tab. If not provided, the new tab will be blank.
- Read-only: true

browser_tab_select
- Title: Select a tab
- Description: Select a tab by index
- Parameters:
  - index (number): The index of the tab to select
- Read-only: true

browser_tab_close
- Title: Close a tab
- Description: Close a tab
- Parameters:
  - index (number, optional): The index of the tab to close. Closes current tab if not provided.
- Read-only: false

Testing

browser_generate_playwright_test
- Title: Generate a Playwright test
- Description: Generate a Playwright test for given scenario
- Parameters:
  - name (string): The name of the test
  - description (string): The description of the test
  - steps (array): The steps of the test
- Read-only: true

Vision mode

browser_screen_capture
- Title: Take a screenshot
- Description: Take a screenshot of the current page
- Parameters: None
- Read-only: true

browser_screen_move_mouse
- Title: Move mouse
- Description: Move mouse to a given position
- Parameters:
  - element (string): Human-readable element description used to obtain permission to interact with the element
  - x (number): X coordinate
  - y (number): Y coordinate
- Read-only: true

browser_screen_click
- Title: Click
- Description: Click left mouse button
- Parameters:
  - element (string): Human-readable element description used to obtain permission to interact with the element
  - x (number): X coordinate
  - y (number): Y coordinate
- Read-only: false

browser_screen_drag
- Title: Drag mouse
- Description: Drag left mouse button
- Parameters:
  - element (string): Human-readable element description used to obtain permission to interact with the element
  - startX (number): Start X coordinate
  - startY (number): Start Y coordinate
  - endX (number): End X coordinate
  - endY (number): End Y coordinate
- Read-only: false

browser_screen_type
- Title: Type text
- Description: Type text
- Parameters:
  - text (string): Text to type into the element
  - submit (boolean, optional): Whether to submit entered text (press Enter after)
- Read-only: false

browser_press_key
- Title: Press a key
- Description: Press a key on the keyboard
- Parameters:
  - key (string): Name of the key to press or a character to generate, such as ArrowLeft or a
- Read-only: false

browser_wait_for
- Title: Wait for
- Description: Wait for text to appear or disappear or a specified time to pass
- Parameters:
  - time (number, optional): The time to wait in seconds
  - text (string, optional): The text to wait for
  - textGone (string, optional): The text to wait for to disappear
- Read-only: true

browser_file_upload
- Title: Upload files
- Description: Upload one or multiple files
- Parameters:
  - paths (array): The absolute paths to the files to upload. Can be a single file or multiple files.
- Read-only: false

browser_handle_dialog
- Title: Handle a dialog
- Description: Handle a dialog
- Parameters:
  - accept (boolean): Whether to accept the dialog.
  - promptText (string, optional): The text of the prompt in case of a prompt dialog.
- Read-only: false