Playwright CLI Automation: Setup, Usage & Best Practices

What This Skill Does

Drive real browsers from the terminal using playwright-cli. Automates navigation, form filling, snapshots, screenshots, and data extraction via CLI commands with a bundled wrapper script.

Getting Started

Prerequisites:

# Verify npx available
command -v npx

# Install Node.js/npm if missing
node --version
npm --version

Bundled Wrapper:

export CODEX_HOME="${CODEX_HOME:-$HOME/.codex}"
export PWCLI="$CODEX_HOME/skills/playwright/scripts/playwright_cli.sh"

Key Features

Core Workflow

Open page

Snapshot to get element refs

Interact using refs

Re-snapshot after nav/changes

Capture artifacts

Example:

"$PWCLI" open https://example.com
"$PWCLI" snapshot
"$PWCLI" click e3
"$PWCLI" screenshot

When to Re-Snapshot

After:

• Navigation


• Clicking elements that change UI


• Opening/closing modals


• Tab switches

Usage Examples

Form Automation

"$PWCLI" open https://example.com/form
"$PWCLI" snapshot
"$PWCLI" fill e1 "[email protected]"
"$PWCLI" fill e2 "password123"
"$PWCLI" click e3
"$PWCLI" snapshot

Multi-Tab Work

"$PWCLI" tab-new https://example.com
"$PWCLI" tab-list
"$PWCLI" tab-select 0
"$PWCLI" snapshot

Debug with Traces

"$PWCLI" open https://example.com --headed
"$PWCLI" tracing-start
# ...interactions...
"$PWCLI" tracing-stop

Best Practices

1. Always Snapshot Before Refs

Never reference e12 without a fresh snapshot.

2. Re-Snapshot When Stale

If command fails due to missing ref, snapshot again.

3. Use Headed Mode for Visual Checks

"$PWCLI" open https://example.com --headed

4. Prefer Explicit Commands

Use direct commands over eval and run-code.

5. Organize Artifacts

Save to output/playwright/ in repos.

When to Use

Use when:

• Automating browser interactions


• Testing web UIs


• Extracting data from websites


• Debugging UI flows


• Capturing screenshots/traces

Don't use when:

• Need Playwright test specs (use @playwright/test)


• Simple HTTP requests suffice


• Working with APIs only

Related Skills

• Screenshot Skill - For OS-level captures
• WebApp Testing Skill - For local app testing

Source

Organization: OpenAI
Skill Name: playwright
Description: Automate real browsers from terminal via playwright-cli or bundled wrapper script.