Playwright CLI Skill
Drive a real browser from the terminal using playwright-cli. Prefer the bundled wrapper script so the CLI works even when it is not globally installed.
Treat this skill as CLI-first automation. Do not pivot to @playwright/test unless the user explicitly asks for test files.
Prerequisite check (required)
Before proposing commands, check whether npx is available (the wrapper depends on it):
command -v npx >/dev/null 2>&1
If it is not available, pause and ask the user to install Node.js/npm (which provides npx). Provide these steps verbatim:
# Verify Node/npm are installed
node --version
npm --version
# If missing, install Node.js/npm, then:
npm install -g @playwright/cli@latest
playwright-cli --help
Once npx is present, proceed with the wrapper script. A global install of playwright-cli is optional.
Skill path (set once)
export CODEX_HOME="${CODEX_HOME:-$HOME/.codex}"
export PWCLI="$CODEX_HOME/skills/playwright/scripts/playwright_cli.sh"
User-scoped skills install under $CODEX_HOME/skills (default: ~/.codex/skills).
Quick start
Use the wrapper script:
"$PWCLI" open https://playwright.dev --headed
"$PWCLI" snapshot
"$PWCLI" click e15
"$PWCLI" type "Playwright"
"$PWCLI" press Enter
"$PWCLI" screenshot
If the user prefers a global install, this is also valid:
npm install -g @playwright/cli@latest
playwright-cli --help
Core workflow
- Open the page.
- Snapshot to get stable element refs.
- Interact using refs from the latest snapshot.
- Re-snapshot after navigation or significant DOM changes.
- Capture artifacts (screenshot, pdf, traces) when useful.
Minimal loop:
"$PWCLI" open https://example.com
"$PWCLI" snapshot
"$PWCLI" click e3
"$PWCLI" snapshot
When to snapshot again
Snapshot again after:
- navigation
- clicking elements that change the UI substantially
- opening/closing modals or menus
- tab switches
Refs can go stale. When a command fails due to a missing ref, snapshot again.
Recommended patterns
Form fill and submit
"$PWCLI" open https://example.com/form
"$PWCLI" snapshot
"$PWCLI" fill e1 "user@example.com"
"$PWCLI" fill e2 "password123"
"$PWCLI" click e3
"$PWCLI" snapshot
Debug a UI flow with traces
"$PWCLI" open https://example.com --headed
"$PWCLI" tracing-start
# ...interactions...
"$PWCLI" tracing-stop
Multi-tab work
"$PWCLI" tab-new https://example.com
"$PWCLI" tab-list
"$PWCLI" tab-select 0
"$PWCLI" snapshot
Wrapper script
The wrapper script uses npx --package @playwright/cli playwright-cli so the CLI can run without a global install:
"$PWCLI" --help
Prefer the wrapper unless the repository already standardizes on a global install.
References
Open only what you need:
- CLI command reference:
references/cli.md
- Practical workflows and troubleshooting:
references/workflows.md
Guardrails
- Always snapshot before referencing element ids like
e12.
- Re-snapshot when refs seem stale.
- Prefer explicit commands over
eval and run-code unless needed.
- When you do not have a fresh snapshot, use placeholder refs like
eX and say why; do not bypass refs with run-code.
- Use
--headed when a visual check will help.
- When capturing artifacts in this repo, use
output/playwright/ and avoid introducing new top-level artifact folders.
- Default to CLI commands and workflows, not Playwright test specs.