<objective> Automate browser interactions through the Playwright MCP server via mcporter CLI. Navigate to URLs, click elements, fill forms, take screenshots, and read page content — all headless by default. Use this when you need to interact with web pages, verify UI, scrape content, or test web flows. </objective> <process>

Call Syntax

bash

# Colon-delimited
mcporter call playwright.TOOL_NAME key:value --output json

# Function-call style
mcporter call 'playwright.TOOL_NAME(key: "value")' --output json

Tool Reference

Navigation

Tool	Parameters	Description
`browser_navigate`	`url`	Navigate to a URL
`browser_navigate_back`	—	Go back to previous page
`browser_close`	—	Close the current page

Observation

Tool	Parameters	Description
`browser_snapshot`	—	Accessibility snapshot of the page (primary observation tool)
`browser_take_screenshot`	—	Capture a PNG screenshot
`browser_console_messages`	—	Get browser console output
`browser_network_requests`	—	List network requests made by the page

Interaction

Tool	Parameters	Description
`browser_click`	`element`, `ref`	Click an element (use ref from snapshot)
`browser_type`	`element`, `ref`, `text`	Type text into an input
`browser_select_option`	`element`, `ref`, `values`	Select dropdown options
`browser_hover`	`element`, `ref`	Hover over an element
`browser_drag`	`startElement`, `startRef`, `endElement`, `endRef`	Drag and drop
`browser_press_key`	`key`	Press a keyboard key

Forms

Tool	Parameters	Description
`browser_fill_form`	`fields`	Fill multiple form fields at once

JavaScript

Tool	Parameters	Description
`browser_evaluate`	`expression`	Run a JavaScript expression in the page
`browser_run_code`	`code`	Run a Playwright code snippet

Tabs

Tool	Parameters	Description
`browser_tabs`	—	List open tabs

Waiting & Dialogs

Tool	Parameters	Description
`browser_wait_for`	`text` or `timeout`	Wait for text to appear or a timeout
`browser_handle_dialog`	`accept`	Accept or dismiss a dialog
`browser_file_upload`	`paths`	Upload files to a file input

Setup

Tool	Parameters	Description
`browser_install`	—	Install the browser binary if missing

Common Workflows

bash

# Navigate to a page and get its content
mcporter call 'playwright.browser_navigate(url: "https://example.com")' --output json
mcporter call playwright.browser_snapshot --output json

# Take a screenshot
mcporter call 'playwright.browser_navigate(url: "https://example.com")' --output json
mcporter call playwright.browser_take_screenshot --output json

# Fill a form (use refs from snapshot)
mcporter call 'playwright.browser_navigate(url: "https://example.com/login")' --output json
mcporter call playwright.browser_snapshot --output json
mcporter call 'playwright.browser_click(element: "Username field", ref: "e3")' --output json
mcporter call 'playwright.browser_type(element: "Username field", ref: "e3", text: "user@example.com")' --output json

# Run JavaScript on the page
mcporter call 'playwright.browser_evaluate(expression: "document.title")' --output json

# Check console messages for errors
mcporter call playwright.browser_console_messages --output json

Discovering All Available Tools

bash

mcporter list playwright --all-parameters

</process> <tips> - **Headless by default**: The server runs `--headless` since Claude operates in a terminal. No display server needed. - **First call is slower**: npx downloads `@playwright/mcp` on the first invocation. Subsequent calls reuse the cached package. - **Use `browser_snapshot` as your primary observation tool** — it returns an accessibility tree with element refs that you use for `browser_click`, `browser_type`, etc. - **Element refs**: After a `browser_snapshot`, use the `ref` values (e.g., `"e3"`) to target elements in interaction tools. - **No authentication required** — this server runs locally via npx. - **Install browser if needed**: If Playwright browsers aren't installed, call `browser_install` first. - **Extended capabilities**: Pass `--caps` flags when configuring the server for vision mode, PDF generation, or testing features. - Use `--output json` for machine-readable results. </tips>