Browser Recording Skill

Record browser sessions using Playwright to create video captures of web UI interactions for tutorials and documentation.

When To Use

• Recording browser sessions with Playwright
• Creating web application demo recordings

When NOT To Use

• Terminal-only workflows - use scry:vhs-recording instead
• Static screenshots - use standard screenshot tools

Overview

This skill uses Playwright's built-in video recording to capture browser interactions. The workflow:

1. Validate Playwright installation
2. Execute a Playwright spec with video recording enabled
3. Retrieve the recorded video (WebM format)
4. Convert to GIF using the gif-generation skill

💡 Note: Claude Code 2.0.72+ includes native Chrome integration for interactive browser control. This skill (Playwright) is designed for automated recording workflows, CI/CD, and cross-browser support. For interactive debugging and live testing, consider using native Chrome integration. Both approaches complement each other - develop interactively with Chrome, then automate with Playwright specs.

Required TodoWrite Items

When invoking this skill, create todos for:

- [ ] Validate Playwright is installed and configured
- [ ] Check spec file exists at specified path
- [ ] Execute Playwright spec with video recording
- [ ] Locate and verify video output
- [ ] Convert video to GIF using gif-generation skill

Verification: Run the command with --help flag to verify availability.

Process

Step 1: Validate Playwright Installation

Check that Playwright is available:

npx playwright --version

Verification: Run the command with --help flag to verify availability.

If not installed, the user should run:

npm install -D @playwright/test
npx playwright install chromium

Verification: Run pytest -v to verify tests pass.

Step 2: Check Spec File

Verify the Playwright spec file exists. Spec files should:

• Be located in a specs/ or tests/ directory
• Have .spec.ts or .spec.js extension
• Include video configuration (see spec-execution module)

Step 3: Execute Recording

Run the spec with video enabled:

npx playwright test <spec-file> --config=playwright.config.ts

Verification: Run pytest -v to verify tests pass.

The config must enable video recording. See the spec-execution module for configuration details.

Step 4: Convert to GIF

After recording completes, use the gif-generation skill to convert the WebM video to an optimized GIF:

**Verification:** Run the command with `--help` flag to verify availability.
Invoke scry:gif-generation with:
- input: <path-to-webm>
- output: <desired-gif-path>
- fps: 10 (recommended for tutorials)
- width: 800 (adjust based on content)

Verification: Run the command with --help flag to verify availability.

Example Playwright Spec

import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';

test('demo workflow', async ({ page }) => {
  // Navigate to the application
  await page.goto('http://localhost:3000');

  // Wait for page to be ready
  await page.waitForLoadState('networkidle');

  // Perform demo actions
  await page.click('button[data-testid="start"]');
  await page.waitForTimeout(500); // Allow animation to complete

  await page.fill('input[name="query"]', 'example search');
  await page.waitForTimeout(300);

  await page.click('button[type="submit"]');
  await page.waitForSelector('.results');

  // Final pause to show results
  await page.waitForTimeout(1000);
});

Verification: Run pytest -v to verify tests pass.

Playwright Configuration

Create or update playwright.config.ts:

import { defineConfig } from '@playwright/test';

export default defineConfig({
  use: {
    video: {
      mode: 'on',
      size: { width: 1280, height: 720 }
    },
    viewport: { width: 1280, height: 720 },
    launchOptions: {
      slowMo: 100 // Slow down actions for visibility
    }
  },
  outputDir: './test-results',
});

Verification: Run pytest -v to verify tests pass.

Exit Criteria

• Playwright spec executed successfully (exit code 0)
• Video file exists in output directory
• Video has non-zero file size
• GIF conversion completed (if requested)

Error Handling

Error	Resolution
Playwright not installed	Run npm install -D @playwright/test
Browser not installed	Run npx playwright install chromium
Spec file not found	Verify path and file extension
Video not created	Check Playwright config has video enabled
Empty video file	validate spec actions complete before test ends

Output Locations

Default output paths:

• Videos: ./test-results/<test-name>/video.webm
• Screenshots: ./test-results/<test-name>/screenshot.png

Module Reference

• See modules/spec-execution.md for detailed Playwright execution options
• See modules/video-capture.md for video format and quality settings

See Also

• scry:gif-generation: Convert video to optimized GIF