Browser Automation with playwright-cli

Comprehensive CLI-driven browser automation — navigate, interact, mock, debug, record, and generate tests without writing a single script file.

Quick Start

# Install and set up
playwright-cli install --skills
playwright-cli install-browser

# Open a browser and navigate
playwright-cli open https://playwright.dev

# Take a snapshot to see interactive elements (refs like e1, e2, e3...)
playwright-cli snapshot

# Interact using element refs from the snapshot
playwright-cli click e15
playwright-cli fill e5 "search query"
playwright-cli press Enter

# Take a screenshot
playwright-cli screenshot

# Close the browser
playwright-cli close

Golden Rules

1. Always snapshot first — identify element refs before interacting; never guess ref numbers
2. Use fill for inputs, click for buttons — type sends keystrokes one-by-one, fill replaces the entire value
3. Named sessions for parallel work — -s=name isolates cookies, storage, and tabs per session
4. Save auth state — state-save auth.json after login, state-load auth.json to skip login next time
5. Trace before debugging — tracing-start before the failing step, not after
6. run-code for advanced scenarios — when CLI commands aren't enough, drop into full Playwright API
7. Clean up sessions — close or close-all when done; kill-all for zombie processes
8. Descriptive filenames — screenshot --filename=checkout-step3.png not screenshot
9. Mock external APIs only — use route to intercept third-party services, not your own app
10. Persistent profiles for stateful flows — --persistent keeps cookies and storage across restarts

Command Reference

Core Interaction

playwright-cli open [url]                    # Launch browser, optionally navigate
playwright-cli goto <url>                    # Navigate to URL
playwright-cli snapshot                      # Show page elements with refs
playwright-cli snapshot --filename=snap.yaml # Save snapshot to file
playwright-cli click <ref>                   # Click an element
playwright-cli dblclick <ref>                # Double-click
playwright-cli fill <ref> "value"            # Clear and fill input
playwright-cli type "text"                   # Type keystroke by keystroke
playwright-cli select <ref> "option-value"   # Select dropdown option
playwright-cli check <ref>                   # Check a checkbox
playwright-cli uncheck <ref>                 # Uncheck a checkbox
playwright-cli hover <ref>                   # Hover over element