web-browser

Web Browser

Browse the internet to look up information, extract data, fill forms, and interact with web pages.

Modes

Mode	Command	When to use
Headless	playwright-cli open URL	Default — fast, no visible window
Headed	playwright-cli open URL --headed	See what's happening
Chrome extension	playwright-cli open --extension	Use your real Chrome with existing logins

How it works

1. Open a page — get a snapshot (accessibility tree with numbered refs like e1, e5)
2. Interact using refs: click e3, fill e5 "text", select e9 "value"
3. Each action returns a new snapshot

Core commands

playwright-cli open URL                        # open browser + navigate
playwright-cli goto URL                        # navigate current tab
playwright-cli snapshot                        # get current page state
playwright-cli click e3                        # click element by ref
playwright-cli fill e5 "text"                  # fill input field
playwright-cli type "text"                     # type into focused element
playwright-cli press Enter                     # press key
playwright-cli select e9 "option"              # select dropdown
playwright-cli eval "document.title"           # run JS
playwright-cli eval "el => el.textContent" e5  # extract from element
playwright-cli screenshot --filename=page.png  # capture page
playwright-cli pdf --filename=page.pdf         # save as PDF
playwright-cli close                           # close browser

Use cases

Look up information

playwright-cli open https://example.com
# read the snapshot that comes back
playwright-cli close

Extract structured data from a page

Detailed patterns

playwright-cli eval "JSON.stringify([...document.querySelectorAll('.item')].map(el => ({
  title: el.querySelector('h2')?.textContent,
  price: el.querySelector('.price')?.textContent
})))"

Fill forms and submit

Detailed patterns

playwright-cli fill e1 "[email protected]"
playwright-cli fill e2 "password"
playwright-cli click e3

Browse authenticated sites

Detailed patterns

playwright-cli open --extension
playwright-cli goto https://authenticated-site.com

Save screenshots and PDFs

Detailed patterns

Monitor network / API calls

Detailed patterns

Work across multiple tabs

Detailed patterns

References

• Extracting data
• Filling forms
• Authenticated browsing
• Screenshots and PDFs
• Network monitoring
• Multi-tab workflows
• Session management
• Storage state
• Running custom code