Other browser MCPs spawn a fresh Chrome — no logins, no extensions, instantly flagged by bot detectors, double the memory. Playwriter connects to your running browser instead. One Chrome extension, full Playwright API, everything you're already logged into.

Installation

1. Install Extension from Chrome Web Store

2. Click extension icon on a tab → turns green when connected

3. Install the CLI and start automating the browser:

   npm i -g playwriter
   playwriter -s 1 -e 'state.page = await context.newPage(); await state.page.goto("https://example.com")'
   

4. Install the skill so your agent knows how to use Playwriter:

   npx -y skills add https://playwriter.dev
   

Quick Start

playwriter browser start  # starts Chrome for Testing/Chromium with bundled Playwriter extension
playwriter session new  # creates stateful sandbox, outputs session id (e.g. 1)
playwriter -s 1 -e 'state.page = await context.newPage(); await state.page.goto("https://example.com")'
playwriter -s 1 -e 'console.log(await snapshot({ page: state.page }))'
playwriter -s 1 -e 'await state.page.locator("aria-ref=e5").click()'

Tip: Always use single quotes for -e to prevent bash from interpreting $, backticks, and \ in your JS code. Use double quotes for strings inside the JS.

CLI Usage

Each session has isolated state. Browser tabs are shared across sessions.

# Browser management
playwriter browser start             # auto-finds Chrome for Testing or Chromium, with recording flags enabled
playwriter browser start /path/to/browser-binary

# Session management
playwriter session new              # creates stateful sandbox, outputs id (e.g. 1)
playwriter session new --tab-group agent1 --tab-group-color blue
playwriter session update 1 --tab-group research
playwriter session list             # show sessions + state keys + group
playwriter session reset <id>       # fix connection issues

# Execute (always use -s)
playwriter -s 1 -e 'state.page = await context.newPage(); await state.page.goto("https://example.com")'
playwriter -s 1 -e 'await state.page.click("button")'
playwriter -s 1 -e 'console.log(await state.page.title())'

There is no default page. Create your own tab and store it in state. To use a tab the user already opened, find it by URL:

playwriter -s 1 -e 'state.page = context.pages().findLast((p) => p.url().includes("github.com"))'

Tab groups

Local extension sessions use a Chrome tab group named playwriter by default. Remote-control sessions put the tabs they open into remote. Use the shortest clear single-word name with no spaces, such as docs, shop, test, or scrape.

# Park a long scrape in its own group. The user can Move group to new window
# (or another screen). New tabs from this session follow that group.
playwriter session new --tab-group scrape --tab-group-color grey

# Split concurrent agents so many open tabs stay readable
playwriter session new --tab-group agent1 --tab-group-color blue
playwriter session new --tab-group agent2 --tab-group-color pink

# Name a group the user can collapse when they don't care about it
playwriter session new --tab-group done --tab-group-color grey

# Rename or recolor later
playwriter session update 1 --tab-group research
playwriter session update 1 --tab-group-color red

# Remote tabs support the same title and color options
playwriter session new --remote <id> --tab-group support
playwriter session update 1 --tab-group review --tab-group-color cyan

--tab-group-color accepts: grey, blue, red, yellow, green, pink, purple, cyan, orange. Without it, color is derived from the name. The default local playwriter group stays green.

Node programs should use connectViaExtension() instead of posting /cli/session/new themselves:

import { connectViaExtension } from 'playwriter'

await using connection = await connectViaExtension({
  tabGroup: 'email-check',
  tabGroupColor: 'grey',
})
const page = await connection.browser.contexts()[0].newPage()
await page.goto('https://example.com')
// connection closes automatically when the scope ends, also on throw

tabGroupColor is typed as Chrome's tab group colors. await using calls close() at scope end: it closes the tabs this connection opened (never other sessions' tabs), disconnects CDP, and deletes the session. Without await using, call await connection.close() in finally.

Pass closeTabsOnEnd: false to keep the opened tabs after close(). A later process can reuse them:

// process A
await using a = await connectViaExtension({ tabGroup: 'job', closeTabsOnEnd: false })
await (await a.browser.contexts()[0].newPage()).goto('https://example.com')

// process B, later
await using b = await connectViaExtension({ tabGroup: 'job' })
const page = b.browser.contexts()[0].pages().findLast((p) => p.url().includes('example.com'))

Tabs that b did not open are never closed by b.close().

If the extension runs in more than one browser or profile, pass selectBrowser. It gets every connected browser and returns the one to use:

await using connection = await connectViaExtension({
  selectBrowser: (browsers) => {
    // [{ id, browser: 'Brave', email: 'me@work.com', activeTabs, playwriterVersion }]
    return browsers.find((b) => b.email === 'me@work.com')
  },
})

id is stable, so you can save it and match on it later. listBrowsers() returns the same list without connecting.

Multiline:

playwriter -s 1 -e $'
const title = await state.page.title();
console.log({ title, url: state.page.url() });
'

Examples

Variables in scope: context, state (persists between calls), cloud (local CLI sessions), require, importModule, native import(), and Node.js globals. Relative imports resolve from the session working directory. There is no default page; examples below assume state.page was set as shown above.

Persist data in state:

playwriter -e "state.users = await state.page.$$eval('.user', els => els.map(e => e.textContent))"
playwriter -e "console.log(state.users)"

Intercept network requests:

playwriter -e "state.requests = []; state.page.on('response', r => { if (r.url().includes('/api/')) state.requests.push(r.url()) })"
playwriter -e "await Promise.all([state.page.waitForResponse(r => r.url().includes('/api/')), state.page.click('button')])"
playwriter -e "console.log(state.requests)"

Set breakpoints and debug:

playwriter -e "state.cdp = await getCDPSession({ page: state.page }); state.dbg = createDebugger({ cdp: state.cdp }); await state.dbg.enable()"
playwriter -e "state.scripts = await state.dbg.listScripts({ search: 'app' }); console.log(state.scripts.map(s => s.url))"
playwriter -e "await state.dbg.setBreakpoint({ file: state.scripts[0].url, line: 42 })"

Live edit page code:

playwriter -e "state.cdp = await getCDPSession({ page: state.page }); state.editor = createEditor({ cdp: state.cdp }); await state.editor.enable()"
playwriter -e "await state.editor.edit({ url: 'https://example.com/app.js', oldString: 'const DEBUG = false', newString: 'const DEBUG = true' })"

Screenshot with labels:

playwriter -e "await screenshotWithAccessibilityLabels({ page: state.page })"

Live stream a tab to X Live / Twitch (RTMP, runs 24/7):

playwriter -s 1 -e "state.page = await context.newPage(); await state.page.goto('https://example.com')"
playwriter stream start -s 1 --rtmp rtmp://va.pscp.tv:80/x/<stream-key>
playwriter stream status -s 1
playwriter stream stop -s 1

MCP Setup

Using the CLI with the skill (step 4 above) is the recommended approach. For direct MCP server configuration, see MCP.md.

Visual Labels

Vimium-style labels for AI agents to identify elements:

await screenshotWithAccessibilityLabels({ page: state.page })
// Returns screenshot + accessibility snapshot with aria-ref selectors
await state.page.locator('aria-ref=e5').click()

Color-coded: yellow=links, orange=buttons, coral=inputs, pink=checkboxes, peach=sliders, salmon=menus, amber=tabs.

Comparison

vs Playwright MCP

Note: Playwriter video recording is 100x more efficient than Playwright video recording, which sends base64 images for every frame.

vs BrowserMCP

vs agent-browser

vs Antigravity (Jetski)

vs Claude Browser Extension

vs Built-in Chrome CDP (--remote-debugging-port)

Chrome's --remote-debugging-port is ignored on your default profile since Chrome 136, so you must use a throwaway --user-data-dir with none of your logins. Connecting an external CDP client also shows an "Allow remote debugging?" dialog an agent cannot click. Playwriter uses an in-Chrome extension instead: no dialog, no flags, your real profile.

Architecture

+---------------------+     +-------------------+     +-----------------+
|   BROWSER           |     |   LOCALHOST       |     |   MCP CLIENT    |
|                     |     |                   |     |                 |
|  +---------------+  |     | WebSocket Server  |     |  +-----------+  |
|  |   Extension   |<--------->  :19988         |     |  | AI Agent  |  |
|  +-------+-------+  | WS  |                   |     |  +-----------+  |
|          |          |     |  /extension       |     |        |        |
|    chrome.debugger  |     |       |           |     |        v        |
|          v          |     |       v           |     |  +-----------+  |
|  +---------------+  |     |  /cdp/:id <--------------> |  execute  |  |
|  | Tab 1 (green) |  |     +-------------------+  WS |  +-----------+  |
|  | Tab 2 (green) |  |                               |        |        |
|  | Tab 3 (gray)  |  |     Tab 3 not controlled      |  Playwright API |
+---------------------+     (no extension click)      +-----------------+

Remote Control (share your browser with a remote agent)

Let a remote agent (Devin, a cloud bot, a friend's CLI agent) drive your own browser. No playwriter install needed on your machine, only the extension. The agent sees every Playwriter tab and can open new ones, like a local agent.

1. Click the light-blue Remote control cloud button and confirm that the agent may read and control your browser
2. A prompt containing a secret tunnel URL is copied to your clipboard — paste it to the agent
3. The agent runs playwriter session new --remote <id> on its machine
4. Open Remote ON in any Playwriter tab and click Stop sharing anytime to revoke. The URL dies instantly. Tabs the agent opened are detached and left open.

Opening that same link in any browser shows a live, clickable view of the tab where sharing started, so you can share with a person instead of an agent. The viewer page receives no tunnel id in its initial HTTP request because the id starts in the URL fragment. Its JavaScript then uses the id to connect to the tunnel path (/tunnel/{id}/extension), keeping the id out of DNS and TLS SNI.

YOUR MACHINE (extension only)                        AGENT MACHINE (any box with npx)
┌───────────────────────────┐                       ┌────────────────────────────────┐
│ Chrome + Extension        │   Cloudflare tunnel   │ playwriter CLI + local relay   │
│  Playwriter tabs ◄────────┼───◄ playwriter.dev ◄──┼────── session new --remote     │
└───────────────────────────┘   /remote-control#id  └────────────────────────────────┘

Remote control is not a sandbox. The agent gets the same access as a local Playwriter agent, so share the id only with a person or agent you fully trust. A short denylist blocks only whole-profile cookie APIs and cache clears, so an agent cannot wipe every login by accident. The id contains 128 bits of randomness and is never reusable after revocation.

Sharing also ends when you close or disconnect the tab where you started it.

Use case: you are logged into a website and want an agent to do work in your authenticated session without giving it your password.

Remote Access

Control Chrome on a remote machine over the internet using traforo tunnels:

On host:

npx -y traforo -p 19988 -t my-machine -- npx -y playwriter serve --token <secret>

From remote:

export PLAYWRITER_HOST=https://my-machine-tunnel.traforo.dev
export PLAYWRITER_TOKEN=<secret>
playwriter -s 1 -e 'state.page = await context.newPage(); await state.page.goto("https://example.com")'

Also works on a LAN without traforo (PLAYWRITER_HOST=192.168.1.10). Full guide with use cases (remote Mac mini, user support, multi-machine control): docs/remote-access.md

Security

• Local by default: The normal WebSocket relay stays on localhost:19988. Traffic leaves your machine only when you enable Remote control or configure remote access.
• Origin validation: Only our extension IDs allowed (browsers can't spoof Origin)
• Controlled tab scope: Tabs are controlled after an extension click. Playwriter never opens a tab on its own. New tabs are created only when code calls context.newPage().
• Visible automation: Chrome shows automation banner on controlled tabs
• No remote access: Malicious websites cannot connect

Telemetry

The local relay sends anonymous usage stats to Strada: event names, a random install id, Playwriter version, OS, session kind, and hourly execute counts. It never sends code, URLs, page content, emails, or hostnames.

Opt out with an env var, then restart the relay:

export PLAYWRITER_TELEMETRY=0   # or DO_NOT_TRACK=1
playwriter serve restart

Playwright API

Connect programmatically (without CLI):

import { chromium } from 'playwright-core'
import { startPlayWriterCDPRelayServer, getCdpUrl } from 'playwriter'

const server = await startPlayWriterCDPRelayServer()
const browser = await chromium.connectOverCDP(getCdpUrl())
const page = await browser.contexts()[0].newPage()

await page.goto('https://example.com')
await page.screenshot({ path: 'screenshot.png' })
// Don't call browser.close() - it closes the user's Chrome
server.close()

Or connect to a running server:

npx -y playwriter serve --host 127.0.0.1

const browser = await chromium.connectOverCDP('http://127.0.0.1:19988')

Troubleshooting

View relay server logs to debug issues:

playwriter logfile  # prints the log file path
# typically: ~/.playwriter/relay-server.log

The relay log contains extension, MCP and WebSocket server logs. A separate CDP JSONL log is also created alongside it (see playwriter logfile). Both are recreated on each server start.

Example: summarize CDP traffic counts by direction + method:

jq -r '.direction + "\t" + (.message.method // "response")' ~/.playwriter/cdp.jsonl | uniq -c

Support

If Playwriter is useful to you, consider sponsoring the project.

Known Issues

• If all pages return about:blank, restart Chrome (Chrome bug in chrome.debugger API)
• Browser may switch to light mode on connect (Playwright issue)