Overview

MCP Server Playwright provides browser automation capabilities for large language models through the Model Context Protocol. It allows AI assistants to interact with web pages, take screenshots, and execute JavaScript in a real browser environment.

Installation

Installing via Smithery

The easiest way to install MCP Server Playwright for Claude Desktop is via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @automatalabs/mcp-server-playwright --client claude

Alternative Installation Methods

You can also install using npx directly:

npx @automatalabs/mcp-server-playwright install

Or using mcp-get:

npx @michaellatman/mcp-get@latest install @automatalabs/mcp-server-playwright

The installation process will:

1. Check your operating system compatibility (Windows/macOS)
2. Create or update the Claude configuration file
3. Configure the Playwright server integration

The configuration file will be automatically created/updated at:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Configuration

The installation process automatically adds the following configuration to your Claude config file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@automatalabs/mcp-server-playwright"]
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

browser_navigate

Navigate to any URL in the browser.

{
  "url": "https://example.com"
}

browser_screenshot

Capture screenshots of the entire page or specific elements.

{
  "name": "screenshot-name",     // required
  "selector": "#element-id",     // optional
  "fullPage": true              // optional, default: false
}

browser_click

Click elements on the page using CSS selector.

{
  "selector": "#button-id"
}

browser_click_text

Click elements on the page by their text content.

{
  "text": "Click me"
}

browser_hover

Hover over elements on the page.

{
  "selector": "#element-id"
}

browser_type

Type text into input fields.

{
  "selector": "#input-field",
  "text": "Hello world"
}

browser_get_text

Extract text content from elements.

{
  "selector": "#content"
}

browser_get_html

Get the HTML content of elements.

{
  "selector": "#content"
}

browser_execute_javascript

Execute JavaScript in the browser context.

{
  "code": "return document.title;"
}

browser_wait_for_navigation

Wait for page navigation to complete.

{
  "timeout": 30000  // optional, default: 30000 (30 seconds)
}

browser_wait_for_selector

Wait for an element to appear on the page.

{
  "selector": "#element-id",
  "timeout": 30000  // optional, default: 30000 (30 seconds)
}

browser_get_console_logs

Retrieve console logs from the browser.

{}

Use Cases

• Web scraping and data extraction
• Automated form filling and submission
• Web application testing
• Screenshot capture for visual analysis
• Interactive web browsing through AI assistants
• Executing JavaScript to manipulate web pages

Limitations

• The browser session is maintained only for the duration of the conversation
• Some websites may have anti-bot measures that could block automated access
• Performance may vary depending on the complexity of the web pages being accessed