MCP Servers

Playwright MCP

A Model Context Protocol server that provides browser automation capabilities using Playwright, enabling LLMs to interact with web pages through structured accessibility snapshots without needing screenshots or visually-tuned models.

README

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"
      ]
    }
  }
}

<details><summary>Install in VS Code</summary>

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. </details>

<details> <summary>Install in Cursor</summary>

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"
      ]
    }
  }
}

</details>

<details> <summary>Install in Windsurf</summary>

Follow Windsuff MCP documentation. Use following configuration:

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

</details>

<details> <summary>Install in Claude Desktop</summary>

Follow the MCP install guide, use following configuration:

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

</details>

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

<details> <summary>Configuration file schema</summary>

{
  // 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;
}

</details>

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"
    }
  }
}

<details> <summary>Docker</summary>

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 .

</details>

<details> <summary>Programmatic usage</summary>

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);

  // ...
});

</details>

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.

<details> <summary>Interactions</summary>