Playwright MCP

Open pages and click or type through Playwright MCP, Microsoft's MCP server for browser automation (@playwright/mcp, Apache-2.0). The server hands back an accessibility snapshot. Actions use element refs from that snapshot.

When to use

A task needs a real page: open a URL, read what is on it, fill a form, or check that a control is there. The MCP client must already be able to start a local stdio server.

Install

Node.js 18 or newer. Confirm the package, then install the browser it launches.

node -v
npx -y @playwright/mcp@latest --version
npx -y @playwright/mcp@latest install-browser chromium

Point the MCP client at the server. --headless matters on a machine with no display. Headed is the default. -y lets npx install the package without a prompt.

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

Commands

Call these tools through the MCP client. Names and fields below are the ones the server publishes.

1. browser_navigate with url. The result includes a snapshot. Each element has a ref.
2. On a large page, browser_find with text returns matching nodes and their refs.
3. browser_click or browser_type with target set to a ref from that latest snapshot. browser_type also takes text.

browser_snapshot captures the tree again. Pass depth when the full tree is too large.

Gotchas

• Use a ref from the latest snapshot. A click or navigation that changes the page needs a new snapshot before the next target.
• browser_take_screenshot is for looking. Clicks and typing take a snapshot ref.
• Core tools are on by default. vision, pdf, devtools, network, storage, testing, and config stay off until you add them with --caps.
• browser_run_code_unsafe runs arbitrary JavaScript in the server process. Leave it alone.
• The server binds to localhost. It is not a security boundary. Leave --host at the default.
• File access stays inside the workspace roots, and file:// URLs are blocked. Turn on unrestricted file access only when the user asked for that.
• A normal run stores a profile under ~/.cache/ms-playwright/ on Linux. Pass --isolated when the session should stay in memory.

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