Playwright Browser Automation MCP server for AI agents

The Playwright MCP server provides browser automation capabilities using Playwright, enabling Large Language Models (LLMs) to interact with web pages through structured accessibility snapshots rather than requiring screenshots or visually-tuned models.

Installation

The Playwright MCP server can be installed and configured with various MCP clients. The basic installation requires Node.js 18 or newer and a compatible MCP client like VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, or Claude Desktop.

Basic Installation

Install the Playwright MCP server with this typical configuration:

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

VS Code Installation

You can install the Playwright MCP server using the VS Code CLI:

# For VS Code
code --add-mcp '{"name":"playwright","command":"npx","args":["@playwright/mcp@latest"]}'

Cursor Installation

Go to Cursor Settings -> MCP -> Add new MCP Server. Name it to your liking, use command type with the command npx @playwright/mcp. You can verify config or add command arguments by clicking Edit.

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

Configuration Options

The Playwright MCP server supports various command-line arguments that can be provided in the JSON configuration:

npx @playwright/mcp@latest --help

Key configuration options include:

--browser <browser>: Choose the browser to use (chrome, firefox, webkit, msedge)
--headless: Run browser in headless mode (headed by default)
--isolated: Keep the browser profile in memory, not on disk
--vision: Run server that uses screenshots (Aria snapshots used by default)
--port <port>: Port to listen on for SSE transport
--allowed-origins <origins>: Semicolon-separated list of origins to allow
--blocked-origins <origins>: Semicolon-separated list of origins to block

User Profiles

The Playwright MCP server can run in two profile modes:

Persistent Profile (Default)

All logged-in information is stored in a persistent profile. Default locations:

# Windows
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\ms-playwright\mcp-{channel}-profile

# macOS
~/Library/Caches/ms-playwright/mcp-{channel}-profile

# Linux
~/.cache/ms-playwright/mcp-{channel}-profile

You can override the location with the --user-data-dir argument.

Isolated Mode

In isolated mode, each session starts with a fresh profile. Storage state is lost when the browser closes:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "@playwright/mcp@latest",
        "--isolated",
        "--storage-state={path/to/storage.json}"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Configuration File

You can specify a JSON configuration file using the --config option:

npx @playwright/mcp@latest --config path/to/config.json

The configuration file can include browser settings, server configuration, capabilities, network settings, and more.

Standalone MCP Server

For running a headed browser on systems without display or from worker processes:

npx @playwright/mcp@latest --port 8931

Then in the MCP client config, set the URL to the SSE endpoint:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "url": "http://localhost:8931/sse"
    }
  }
}

Using the Tools

The server provides tools in two modes:

Snapshot Mode (Default)

Uses accessibility snapshots for better performance and reliability.

Vision Mode

Uses screenshots for visual-based interactions. Enable with the --vision flag:

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

Available Tool Categories

Interaction Tools

browser_snapshot: Capture accessibility snapshot of the current page
browser_click: Perform click on a web page
browser_drag: Perform drag and drop between elements
browser_hover: Hover over element on page
browser_type: Type text into editable element
browser_select_option: Select an option in a dropdown
browser_press_key: Press a key on the keyboard
browser_wait_for: Wait for text to appear/disappear

Navigation Tools

browser_navigate: Navigate to a URL
browser_navigate_back: Go back to the previous page
browser_navigate_forward: Go forward to the next page

Resource Tools

browser_take_screenshot: Take a screenshot of the current page
browser_pdf_save: Save page as PDF
browser_network_requests: List all network requests
browser_console_messages: Get console messages

Utility Tools

browser_install: Install the browser specified in the config
browser_close: Close the page
browser_resize: Resize the browser window

Tab Management

browser_tab_list: List browser tabs
browser_tab_new: Open a new tab
browser_tab_select: Select a tab by index
browser_tab_close: Close a tab

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "playwright" '{"command":"npx","args":["@playwright/mcp@latest"]}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

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

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

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

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect