Playwright MCP

Microsoft's browser automation server: the agent drives a real browser through the page's accessibility tree.

🧭 Browser automation★ 38,104Updated 2026-10-08Auth: noneGitHub ↗

Best for browser automation · provisional · tested 2026-10-14

Opened our test page, clicked 'Reveal code' and read back the code in both Claude Code and Cursor, with 4 browser calls in each. Chrome DevTools tied on every measure (passed both, 4 calls each); Playwright gets the nod for its smaller tool list (25 vs 30). ByteDance's agent-infra browser also passed both (11 calls); Browser Use failed both (Claude Code read the code only from a screenshot, and its browser didn't start under Cursor). On Oct 14 Playwright, Chrome DevTools and agent-infra also passed in Claude Desktop and ChatGPT (Codex); Browser Use failed in both (its Chrome didn't start).

Test results

Last passed 2026-10-14

Claude CodePassed2026-10-13 · install, connect, tools, agent task

CursorPassed2026-10-13 · install, connect, tools, agent task

Claude DesktopPassed2026-10-14 · install, connect, tools, agent task

ChatGPT (Codex)Passed2026-10-14 · install, connect, tools, agent task

Protocol: starts, 25 tools listed · 2026-10-13

Install

claude mcp add playwright -- npx -y @playwright/mcp@latest --headless --isolated

Run in your terminal. This exact command is what our harness runs in Claude Code; see the results above.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@playwright/mcp@latest",
        "--headless",
        "--isolated"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Save as .cursor/mcp.json. This exact config is what our harness runs in Cursor; see the results above.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@playwright/mcp@latest",
        "--headless",
        "--isolated"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Add to claude_desktop_config.json and restart Claude Desktop. Tested on the Linux beta; see the results above.

[mcp_servers.playwright]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@playwright/mcp@latest", "--headless", "--isolated"]

Add to ~/.codex/config.toml (shared by the ChatGPT (Codex) CLI and the ChatGPT desktop app; Codex runs inside the ChatGPT desktop app). Tested with the ChatGPT (Codex) CLI bundled in the ChatGPT desktop app; see the results above.

Not connecting? Troubleshooting: Claude Code · Cursor · Claude Desktop · ChatGPT (Codex)

Test history

Date	Check	Result	Version
2026-10-13	Protocol (direct stdio)	Protocol: starts, 25 tools listed	1.64.0-alpha-1790635538000
2026-10-13	Claude Code	Passed install, connect, tools, agent task	2.1.296 (Claude Code)
2026-10-13	Cursor	Passed install, connect, tools, agent task	2026.10.12-d47ca18
2026-10-14	Claude Desktop	Passed install, connect, tools, agent task	Claude Desktop 2.37337.1 (Linu
2026-10-14	ChatGPT (Codex)	Passed install, connect, tools, agent task	codex-cli 0.162.0-alpha.17.2

Tools seen by our harness (25)

browser_closebrowser_resizebrowser_console_messagesbrowser_handle_dialogbrowser_emulate_mediabrowser_evaluatebrowser_file_uploadbrowser_dropbrowser_findbrowser_fill_formbrowser_press_keybrowser_typebrowser_navigatebrowser_navigate_backbrowser_network_requestsbrowser_network_requestbrowser_run_code_unsafebrowser_take_screenshotbrowser_snapshotbrowser_clickbrowser_dragbrowser_hoverbrowser_select_optionbrowser_tabsbrowser_wait_for