Browser Automation with playwright-cli

Quick start

# open new browser
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 open
# navigate to a page
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 goto https://playwright.dev
# interact with the page using refs from the snapshot
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 click e15
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 type "page.click"
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 press Enter
# take a screenshot (rarely used, as snapshot is more common)
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 screenshot
# close the browser
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 close

Commands

Core

bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 open
# open and navigate right away
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 open https://example.com/
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 goto https://playwright.dev
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 type "search query"
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 click e3
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 dblclick e7
# --submit presses Enter after filling the element
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 fill e5 "user@example.com"  --submit
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 drag e2 e8
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 hover e4
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 select e9 "option-value"
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 upload ./document.pdf
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 check e12
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 uncheck e12
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 snapshot
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 eval "document.title"
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 eval "el => el.textContent" e5
# get element id, class, or any attribute not visible in the snapshot
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 eval "el => el.id" e5
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 eval "el => el.getAttribute('data-testid')" e5
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 dialog-accept
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 dialog-accept "confirmation text"
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 dialog-dismiss
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 resize 1920 1080
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 close

Navigation

bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 go-back
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 go-forward
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 reload

Keyboard

bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 press Enter
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 press ArrowDown
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 keydown Shift
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 keyup Shift

Mouse

bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 mousemove 150 300
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 mousedown
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 mousedown right
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 mouseup
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 mouseup right
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 mousewheel 0 100

Save as

bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 screenshot
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 screenshot e5
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 screenshot --filename=page.png
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 pdf --filename=page.pdf

Tabs

bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 tab-list
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 tab-new
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 tab-new https://example.com/page
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 tab-close
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 tab-close 2
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 tab-select 0

Storage

bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 state-save
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 state-save auth.json
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 state-load auth.json

# Cookies
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 cookie-list
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 cookie-list --domain=example.com
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 cookie-get session_id
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 cookie-set session_id abc123
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 cookie-set session_id abc123 --domain=example.com --httpOnly --secure
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 cookie-delete session_id
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 cookie-clear

# LocalStorage
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 localstorage-list
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 localstorage-get theme
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 localstorage-set theme dark
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 localstorage-delete theme
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 localstorage-clear

# SessionStorage
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 sessionstorage-list
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 sessionstorage-get step
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 sessionstorage-set step 3
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 sessionstorage-delete step
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 sessionstorage-clear

Network

bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 route "**/*.jpg" --status=404
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 route "https://api.example.com/**" --body='{"mock": true}'
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 route-list
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 unroute "**/*.jpg"
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 unroute

DevTools

bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 console
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 console warning
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 network
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 run-code "async page => await page.context().grantPermissions(['geolocation'])"
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 run-code --filename=script.js
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 tracing-start
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 tracing-stop
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 video-start video.webm
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 video-chapter "Chapter Title" --description="Details" --duration=2000
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 video-stop

Raw output

The global --raw option strips page status, generated code, and snapshot sections from the output, returning only the result value. Use it to pipe command output into other tools. Commands that don't produce output return nothing.

bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 --raw eval "JSON.stringify(performance.timing)" | jq '.loadEventEnd - .navigationStart'
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 --raw eval "JSON.stringify([...document.querySelectorAll('a')].map(a => a.href))" > links.json
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 --raw snapshot > before.yml
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 click e5
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 --raw snapshot > after.yml
diff before.yml after.yml
TOKEN=$(bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 --raw cookie-get session_id)
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 --raw localstorage-get theme

Open parameters

# Use specific browser when creating session
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 open --browser=chrome
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 open --browser=firefox
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 open --browser=webkit
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 open --browser=msedge

# Use persistent profile (by default profile is in-memory)
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 open --persistent
# Use persistent profile with custom directory
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 open --profile=/path/to/profile

# Connect to browser via extension
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 attach --extension

# Connect to a running Chrome or Edge by channel name
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 attach --cdp=chrome
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 attach --cdp=msedge

# Connect to a running browser via CDP endpoint
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 attach --cdp=http://localhost:9222

# Start with config file
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 open --config=my-config.json

# Close the browser
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 close
# Delete user data for the default session
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 delete-data

Snapshots

After each command, playwright-cli provides a snapshot of the current browser state.

> bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 goto https://example.com
### Page
- Page URL: https://example.com/
- Page Title: Example Domain
### Snapshot
[Snapshot](.playwright-cli/page-2026-02-14T19-22-42-679Z.yml)

You can also take a snapshot on demand using playwright-cli snapshot command. All the options below can be combined as needed.

# default - save to a file with timestamp-based name
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 snapshot

# save to file, use when snapshot is a part of the workflow result
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 snapshot --filename=after-click.yaml

# snapshot an element instead of the whole page
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 snapshot "#main"

# limit snapshot depth for efficiency, take a partial snapshot afterwards
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 snapshot --depth=4
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 snapshot e34

Targeting elements

By default, use refs from the snapshot to interact with page elements.

# get snapshot with refs
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 snapshot

# interact using a ref
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 click e15

You can also use css selectors or Playwright locators.

# css selector
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 click "#main > button.submit"

# role locator
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 click "getByRole('button', { name: 'Submit' })"

# test id
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 click "getByTestId('submit-button')"

Browser Sessions

# create new browser session named "mysession" with persistent profile
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 -s=mysession open example.com --persistent
# same with manually specified profile directory (use when requested explicitly)
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 -s=mysession open example.com --profile=/path/to/profile
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 -s=mysession click e6
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 -s=mysession close  # stop a named browser
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 -s=mysession delete-data  # delete user data for persistent session

bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 list
# Close all browsers
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 close-all
# Forcefully kill all browser processes
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 kill-all

Example: Form submission

bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 open https://example.com/form
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 snapshot

bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 fill e1 "user@example.com"
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 fill e2 "password123"
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 click e3
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 snapshot
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 close

Example: Multi-tab workflow

bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 open https://example.com
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 tab-new https://example.com/other
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 tab-list
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 tab-select 0
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 snapshot
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 close

Example: Debugging with DevTools

bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 open https://example.com
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 click e4
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 fill e7 "test"
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 console
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 network
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 close

bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 open https://example.com
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 tracing-start
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 click e4
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 fill e7 "test"
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 tracing-stop
bunx @playwright/cli@0.1.8 close

Specific tasks

Running and Debugging Playwright tests references/playwright-tests.md
Request mocking references/request-mocking.md
Running Playwright code references/running-code.md
Browser session management references/session-management.md
Storage state (cookies, localStorage) references/storage-state.md
Test generation references/test-generation.md
Tracing references/tracing.md
Video recording references/video-recording.md
Inspecting element attributes references/element-attributes.md

playwright-cli