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Microsoft

Playwright MCP Server

Automate browser interactions for testing, scraping, and web development with Microsoft Playwright.

No auth required

Last reviewed Mar 2, 2026

Install

claude mcp add playwright --transport stdio -- npx -y @playwright/mcp@latest
Scope: project

Available tools

ToolDescription
browser_navigateNavigate the browser to a specified URL
browser_screenshotTake a screenshot of the current page or element
browser_clickClick on an element identified by selector or text
browser_typeType text into an input field
browser_evaluateExecute JavaScript in the browser context
browser_snapshotCapture an accessibility snapshot of the page

What it does

The Playwright MCP Server from Microsoft brings full browser automation capabilities to your AI coding assistant. It launches and controls a Chromium browser instance, enabling the assistant to navigate web pages, interact with elements, take screenshots, and execute JavaScript -- all from within your editor.

This server is particularly powerful for end-to-end testing workflows, visual regression checks, and web scraping tasks. The assistant can navigate your application, fill forms, click buttons, and verify that the UI renders correctly, then report back with screenshots and accessibility snapshots.

Use cases

  • Write and debug end-to-end tests by having the assistant interact with your running application
  • Take screenshots of your web app to verify visual changes and catch regressions
  • Scrape and extract data from web pages during development research
  • Test form submissions, navigation flows, and interactive UI components
  • Generate accessibility snapshots to audit your application for a11y compliance
  • Debug client-side JavaScript by executing code in the browser context

Getting started

  1. Install the server using the command above. Playwright will automatically download the Chromium browser on first run if not already installed.
  2. No API keys or tokens are needed -- the browser runs locally on your machine.
  3. Start your development server before using browser tools so the assistant can navigate to localhost URLs.
  4. The server runs in headed mode by default, so you can watch the browser interactions. Add --headless to the args if you prefer background execution.