Browser Automation with playwright-cli

Prerequisites

Before running any playwright-cli command, verify installation:

which playwright-cli || npm install -g @playwright/cli@latest

If the global install fails, fall back to npx playwright-cli for all commands.

Quick Start

playwright-cli open https://example.com
playwright-cli snapshot                    # see page elements with refs
playwright-cli click e15                   # interact using refs
playwright-cli fill e5 "[email protected]"  # fill form fields
playwright-cli screenshot                  # capture screenshot
playwright-cli close                       # close browser

Core Commands

# Navigation
playwright-cli open [url]
playwright-cli goto <url>
playwright-cli go-back / go-forward / reload

# Interaction (use ref IDs from snapshot)
playwright-cli click <ref>
playwright-cli dblclick <ref>
playwright-cli fill <ref> "<value>"
playwright-cli type "<text>"
playwright-cli select <ref> "<option-value>"
playwright-cli check / uncheck <ref>
playwright-cli hover <ref>
playwright-cli drag <ref-from> <ref-to>
playwright-cli upload <file-path>

# Keyboard & Mouse
playwright-cli press Enter|ArrowDown|Tab|...
playwright-cli keydown / keyup Shift
playwright-cli mousemove <x> <y>
playwright-cli mousedown / mouseup [right]
playwright-cli mousewheel <dx> <dy>

# Page inspection
playwright-cli snapshot [--filename=name.yaml]
playwright-cli screenshot [ref] [--filename=page.png]
playwright-cli pdf [--filename=page.pdf]
playwright-cli eval "<js-expression>" [ref]

# Dialog handling
playwright-cli dialog-accept ["text"]
playwright-cli dialog-dismiss

# Viewport
playwright-cli resize <width> <height>

# Tabs
playwright-cli tab-list / tab-new [url] / tab-select <index> / tab-close [index]

# Sessions
playwright-cli -s=<name> <command>   # isolated browser session
playwright-cli list                  # list sessions
playwright-cli close / close-all / kill-all

Snapshots

After each command, playwright-cli outputs a snapshot with element refs (e1, e2, etc.). Use these refs to interact with elements.

Named Sessions

Use -s=<name> for isolated browser sessions with independent cookies/storage:

playwright-cli -s=auth open https://app.example.com/login
playwright-cli -s=public open https://example.com

Open Parameters

playwright-cli open --browser=chrome|firefox|webkit|msedge
playwright-cli open --persistent            # persist profile to disk
playwright-cli open --profile=/path/to/dir  # custom profile directory
playwright-cli open --config=config.json
playwright-cli open --extension             # connect via browser extension

Storage Commands

# State save/load
playwright-cli state-save [filename.json]
playwright-cli state-load <filename.json>

# Cookies
playwright-cli cookie-list [--domain=example.com]
playwright-cli cookie-get / cookie-set / cookie-delete <name>
playwright-cli cookie-clear

# LocalStorage
playwright-cli localstorage-list / localstorage-get / localstorage-set / localstorage-delete <key>
playwright-cli localstorage-clear

# SessionStorage
playwright-cli sessionstorage-list / sessionstorage-get / sessionstorage-set / sessionstorage-delete <key>
playwright-cli sessionstorage-clear

DevTools

playwright-cli console [warning]
playwright-cli network
playwright-cli run-code "async page => { /* Playwright code */ }"
playwright-cli tracing-start / tracing-stop
playwright-cli video-start / video-stop <output.webm>

Network Mocking

playwright-cli route "**/*.jpg" --status=404
playwright-cli route "**/api/users" --body='[{"id":1}]' --content-type=application/json
playwright-cli route-list
playwright-cli unroute ["pattern"]

Specific Tasks (Reference Files)

Read the relevant reference file for detailed guides:

• Request mocking — references/request-mocking.md
• Running custom Playwright code — references/running-code.md
• Browser session management — references/session-management.md
• Storage state (cookies, localStorage) — references/storage-state.md
• Test generation — references/test-generation.md
• Tracing — references/tracing.md
• Video recording — references/video-recording.md

Common Workflow: Form Submission

playwright-cli open https://example.com/form
playwright-cli snapshot
playwright-cli fill e1 "[email protected]"
playwright-cli fill e2 "password123"
playwright-cli click e3
playwright-cli snapshot
playwright-cli close

Common Workflow: Auth State Reuse

# Login and save
playwright-cli open https://app.example.com/login
playwright-cli fill e1 "[email protected]"
playwright-cli fill e2 "secret"
playwright-cli click e3
playwright-cli state-save auth.json
playwright-cli close

# Restore later
playwright-cli state-load auth.json
playwright-cli open https://app.example.com/dashboard