Agent-readable docs index: /llms.txt. Download /docs.zip to grep all markdown files locally.

Use Cases

Playwriter gives agents and scripts access to your real Chrome browser with all your logins, extensions, and cookies. Here are some things people use it for.

Web development

Let your coding agent verify its own work in a real browser. The agent writes code, then uses Playwriter to navigate to the dev server, check the rendered page, take screenshots, and fix issues, all in one loop.
# Agent writes React component, then verifies
playwriter -s 1 -e 'await page.goto("http://localhost:3000/new-feature")'
playwriter -s 1 -e 'console.log(await snapshot({ page }))'
# Agent sees broken layout, fixes the code, checks again
Because Playwriter exposes the full Playwright API, agents can also set breakpoints with createDebugger, inspect CSS with getStylesForLocator, live-edit source with createEditor, and intercept network requests. All from the same session.
The agent works in your browser, so it sees the same thing you do. No headless rendering differences.

QA testing

Run tests against your real Chrome profile with real login state. No need to set up test accounts or mock authentication.
# Test authenticated flows without login setup
playwriter -s 1 -e 'await page.goto("https://myapp.com/dashboard")'
playwriter -s 1 -e 'console.log(await snapshot({ page, search: /error|warning/i }))'

# Verify forms, buttons, navigation
playwriter -s 1 -e 'await page.locator("button:has-text(\"Save\")").click()'
playwriter -s 1 -e 'console.log(await snapshot({ page, search: /success|saved/i }))'
Great for manual QA workflows that agents can now automate: fill forms, click through flows, verify results, and report back.

Task automation

Automate repetitive browser tasks that need your logged-in session.
Download a YouTube playlist:
playwriter -s 1 -e $'
state.page = context.pages().find(p => p.url() === "about:blank") ?? await context.newPage()
await state.page.goto("https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxxxxxx")
await waitForPageLoad({ page: state.page, timeout: 5000 })
const videos = await state.page.$$eval("a#video-title", els => els.map(e => ({ title: e.textContent.trim(), href: e.href })))
console.log(JSON.stringify(videos, null, 2))
'
Bulk fill forms:
# Read CSV data and fill a form for each row
playwriter -s 1 -f fill-forms.js
Export data from authenticated dashboards:
playwriter -s 1 -e $'
state.page = context.pages().find(p => p.url() === "about:blank") ?? await context.newPage()
await state.page.goto("https://analytics.example.com/export")
const [download] = await Promise.all([
  state.page.waitForEvent("download"),
  state.page.click("button:has-text(\"Export CSV\")")
])
await download.saveAs("/tmp/analytics.csv")
console.log("Saved to /tmp/analytics.csv")
'

API reverse engineering

Use network interception to discover undocumented APIs behind JavaScript-rendered pages.
# Start intercepting API calls
playwriter -s 1 -e $'
state.page = context.pages().find(p => p.url() === "about:blank") ?? await context.newPage()
state.responses = []
state.page.on("response", async res => {
  if (res.url().includes("/api/")) {
    try { state.responses.push({ url: res.url(), status: res.status(), body: await res.json() }) } catch {}
  }
})
'

# Navigate and interact — API calls are captured
playwriter -s 1 -e 'await state.page.click("button.load-more")'

# Inspect captured API schemas
playwriter -s 1 -e 'state.responses.forEach(r => console.log(r.status, r.url.slice(0, 100)))'
playwriter -s 1 -e 'console.log(JSON.stringify(state.responses[0].body, null, 2).slice(0, 2000))'
This is much faster than scraping the DOM. The agent captures the real API calls, inspects their schemas, and can replay them with different parameters.

Remote support

Control a user's browser to fix issues remotely. The user starts a tunnel, shares the URL, and you can see exactly what they see.
# User runs on their machine
npx -y traforo -p 19988 -- npx -y playwriter serve --token SHARED_SECRET

# You connect from anywhere
export PLAYWRITER_HOST=https://user-machine-tunnel.traforo.dev
export PLAYWRITER_TOKEN=SHARED_SECRET
playwriter session new
playwriter -s 1 -e 'console.log(await snapshot({ page }))'
The user sees Chrome's automation banner so they always know when their browser is being controlled. They can revoke access by closing the terminal. See Remote Access for the full guide.

Screen recording

Have the agent record what it's doing as an MP4 video. The recording uses chrome.tabCapture and survives page navigation.
# Start recording
playwriter -s 1 -e 'await recording.start({ page, outputPath: "/tmp/demo.mp4" })'

# Do things — recording continues through navigation
playwriter -s 1 -e 'await page.goto("https://example.com")'
playwriter -s 1 -e 'await page.click("a")'

# Stop and save
playwriter -s 1 -e 'await recording.stop({ page })'
Useful for creating demo videos, recording bug reproductions, or documenting workflows. The agent can also speed up idle sections with createDemoVideo to produce polished demos.

Scraping JS-heavy sites

Sites like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook return empty HTML shells to curl and fetch. Playwriter renders them in a real browser with your logged-in session.
playwriter -s 1 -e $'
state.page = context.pages().find(p => p.url() === "about:blank") ?? await context.newPage()
await state.page.goto("https://www.instagram.com/p/ABC123/", { waitUntil: "domcontentloaded" })
await waitForPageLoad({ page: state.page, timeout: 8000 })
const content = await getPageMarkdown({ page: state.page, showDiffSinceLastCall: false })
console.log(content)
'
The agent can dismiss cookie modals, scroll through lazy-loaded content, click through carousels, and extract data from the fully rendered page.
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