Playwright CLI

Terminal-based browser automation using npx playwright. This skill covers the CLI surface: running tests, generating test code via codegen, taking screenshots/PDFs, and CI sharding flags.

Scope boundary

For data scraping / SPA flows where you need to programmatically navigate, click "Load More", extract DOM, and save JSON: write a tests/*.spec.ts and run npx playwright test. See playwright-test skill for the test-authoring patterns.

Quick Reference

# Interactive codegen (generates test code from browser actions)
npx playwright codegen https://example.com

# Run all tests
npx playwright test

# Run specific file
npx playwright test tests/login.spec.ts

# Run specific test by title
npx playwright test -g "should login"

# Debug mode (opens Playwright Inspector)
npx playwright test --debug

# UI mode (visual test runner with time-travel)
npx playwright test --ui

# Headed mode (see the browser)
npx playwright test --headed

# Specific browser
npx playwright test --project=chromium

# Generate trace
npx playwright test --trace on

# View report
npx playwright show-report

# Install browsers
npx playwright install
npx playwright install chromium --with-deps  # CI-optimized

Sharding for CI

npx playwright test --shard=1/3
npx playwright test --shard=2/3
npx playwright test --shard=3/3

Screenshot / PDF

# Screenshot from CLI
npx playwright screenshot --browser=chromium https://example.com screenshot.png

# PDF (Chromium only)
npx playwright pdf https://example.com page.pdf