Playwright Browser Automation

General-purpose browser automation for testing pages, filling forms, taking screenshots, and any browser task.

Prerequisites

• •Node.js
• •Playwright (npm run setup in skill directory)

Instructions

Critical Workflow

1. •

   Auto-detect dev servers (for localhost testing):

   bash

   node -e "require('./lib/helpers').detectDevServers().then(s => console.log(JSON.stringify(s)))"
   

2. •

   Write scripts to /tmp - Never clutter project directories

3. •

   Use visible browser - headless: false by default

4. •

   Parameterize URLs - Make URLs configurable

Basic Pattern

const { chromium } = require('playwright');

const TARGET_URL = 'http://localhost:3001';

(async () => {
  const browser = await chromium.launch({ headless: false });
  const page = await browser.newPage();

  await page.goto(TARGET_URL);
  console.log('Page loaded:', await page.title());

  await page.screenshot({ path: '/tmp/screenshot.png', fullPage: true });
  await browser.close();
})();

Common Patterns

Test Login Flow:

await page.goto(`${TARGET_URL}/login`);
await page.fill('input[name="email"]', 'test@example.com');
await page.fill('input[name="password"]', 'password123');
await page.click('button[type="submit"]');
await page.waitForURL('**/dashboard');

Responsive Design Testing:

const viewports = [
  { name: 'Desktop', width: 1920, height: 1080 },
  { name: 'Tablet', width: 768, height: 1024 },
  { name: 'Mobile', width: 375, height: 667 },
];

for (const vp of viewports) {
  await page.setViewportSize({ width: vp.width, height: vp.height });
  await page.screenshot({ path: `/tmp/${vp.name.toLowerCase()}.png` });
}

Check Broken Links:

const links = await page.locator('a[href^="http"]').all();
for (const link of links) {
  const href = await link.getAttribute('href');
  const response = await page.request.head(href);
  console.log(href, response.ok() ? '✅' : '❌');
}

Helper Functions

• •detectDevServers() - Find running dev servers
• •safeClick(page, selector) - Click with retry
• •safeType(page, selector, text) - Type with clear
• •takeScreenshot(page, name) - Timestamped screenshot
• •handleCookieBanner(page) - Dismiss cookie popups

Guidelines

1. •Detect servers FIRST for localhost testing
2. •Write test files to /tmp/playwright-test-*.js
3. •Use headless: false unless explicitly requested
4. •Use waitForURL, waitForSelector instead of fixed timeouts
5. •Always use try-catch for robust automation

Notes

• •Custom code for any browser task
• •Auto-detects running dev servers
• •Test files auto-cleaned from /tmp

Source: lackeyjb/playwright-skill