name: "playwright" description: "Use when the task requires automating a real browser from the terminal in Cursor, including navigation, form filling, snapshots, screenshots, data extraction, and UI-flow debugging via playwright-cli or the bundled wrapper scripts."

Playwright CLI Skill

Drive a real browser from the terminal using playwright-cli. In Cursor, prefer the bundled wrapper scripts so the CLI can run even when it is not globally installed. Treat this skill as CLI-first automation. Do not pivot to @playwright/test unless the user explicitly asks for test files.

Prerequisite check

Before proposing commands, verify that node, npm, and npx are available.

PowerShell:

node --version
npm --version
npx --version

Bash:

node --version
npm --version
npx --version

If they are missing, pause and ask the user to install Node.js first. A global install of playwright-cli is optional; the bundled wrappers use npx.

Skill path in Cursor

When this skill is installed as a Cursor personal skill, it lives under ~/.cursor/skills/playwright/.

Windows PowerShell:

$PWCLI = Join-Path $env:USERPROFILE ".cursor\skills\playwright\scripts\playwright_cli.cmd"

Bash:

export PWCLI="$HOME/.cursor/skills/playwright/scripts/playwright_cli.sh"

Prefer the Windows .cmd wrapper on Windows and the .sh wrapper on bash-compatible shells.

Quick start

Windows PowerShell:

& $PWCLI open https://playwright.dev --headed
& $PWCLI snapshot
& $PWCLI click e15
& $PWCLI type "Playwright"
& $PWCLI press Enter
& $PWCLI screenshot

Bash:

"$PWCLI" open https://playwright.dev --headed
"$PWCLI" snapshot
"$PWCLI" click e15
"$PWCLI" type "Playwright"
"$PWCLI" press Enter
"$PWCLI" screenshot

If the user prefers a global install, this is also valid:

npm install -g @playwright/cli@latest
playwright-cli --help

Core workflow

1. Open the page.
2. Snapshot to get stable element refs.
3. Interact using refs from the latest snapshot.
4. Re-snapshot after navigation or significant DOM changes.
5. Capture artifacts such as screenshots, PDFs, or traces when useful.

Minimal loop:

& $PWCLI open https://example.com
& $PWCLI snapshot
& $PWCLI click e3
& $PWCLI snapshot

When to snapshot again

Snapshot again after:

• navigation
• clicking elements that change the UI substantially
• opening or closing modals or menus
• tab switches

Refs can go stale. When a command fails due to a missing ref, snapshot again.

Recommended patterns

Form fill and submit

& $PWCLI open https://example.com/form
& $PWCLI snapshot
& $PWCLI fill e1 "user@example.com"
& $PWCLI fill e2 "password123"
& $PWCLI click e3
& $PWCLI snapshot

Debug a UI flow with traces

& $PWCLI open https://example.com --headed
& $PWCLI tracing-start
# ...interactions...
& $PWCLI tracing-stop

Multi-tab work

& $PWCLI tab-new https://example.com
& $PWCLI tab-list
& $PWCLI tab-select 0
& $PWCLI snapshot

Wrapper scripts

The wrapper scripts use npx --package @playwright/cli playwright-cli so the CLI can run without a global install.

Windows PowerShell:

& $PWCLI --help

Bash:

"$PWCLI" --help

Prefer the bundled wrappers unless the repository already standardizes on a global install.

References

Open only what you need:

• CLI command reference: references/cli.md
• Practical workflows and troubleshooting: references/workflows.md

Guardrails

• Always snapshot before referencing element ids like e12.
• Re-snapshot when refs seem stale.
• Prefer explicit commands over eval and run-code unless needed.
• When you do not have a fresh snapshot, use placeholder refs like eX and say why; do not bypass refs with run-code.
• Use --headed when a visual check will help.
• When capturing artifacts in a repo, prefer output/playwright/ and avoid introducing new top-level artifact folders unless the project already uses a different convention.
• Default to CLI commands and workflows, not Playwright test specs.