Playwright

Modern web applications often behave differently across browsers, and automating them reliably — for testing, scraping, or workflows — can be tricky. Playwright solves this by providing a single, high‑level JavaScript API to automate Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit — all major browser engines — with consistent behavior across platforms.

Unlike simple HTTP clients or browser drivers, Playwright runs real browser instances (headless or with UI), supports multiple pages, handles auto‑waiting for elements, intercepts network traffic, emulates mobile devices, and even captures screenshots and videos of your test runs. It’s designed to be fast, reliable, and cross‑browser — perfect for end‑to‑end (E2E) testing, performance measurement, visual regression testing, and complex automation tasks.

Playwright also comes with a built‑in test runner (Playwright Test) that simplifies test configuration, parallel execution, reporter outputs, and CI/CD integration. Whether you’re building robust automated test suites or automating user workflows, Playwright gives you the tools and stability developers expect from modern browser automation.

⚙️ Steps to Install

📦 Installation (Node.js)

Install the main Playwright package along with browser binaries:

npm install playwright

This pulls in drivers and major browser engines (Chromium, WebKit, Firefox).

🛠 Optional Browser Install

After installation, you can manually install or update browser binaries if needed:

npx playwright install

This ensures your local environment has the latest supported browser versions.

🧪 Basic Usage Example

import playwright from 'playwright';

(async () => {
  const browser = await playwright.chromium.launch({ headless: true });
  const context = await browser.newContext();
  const page = await context.newPage();

  await page.goto('https://example.com');
  await page.screenshot({ path: 'example.png' });

  await browser.close();
})();

This script launches a headless Chromium browser, opens a page, takes a screenshot, and closes — ideal for automation or visual capture tasks.

🎯 Benefits (Why Use Playwright?)

✅ Cross‑Browser Automation
Automate Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit with a single API — no need for separate tools for each engine.

✅ Auto‑Waiting & Reliable Actions
Playwright automatically waits for elements to be ready before clicking or typing, reducing flaky tests.

✅ Built‑In Test Runner
The Playwright Test runner includes parallel execution, retries, reporting, and screenshots/videos.

✅ Network Interception & Mocking
Intercept and modify network requests—useful in testing or mocking APIs.

✅ Device Emulation
Simulate mobile browsers, geolocation, locales, and permissions for comprehensive testing.

👍 Pros & 👎 Cons

👍 Pros

• Runs real browser engines with consistent scripting APIs.

• Cross‑platform and cross‑browser: Chromium, Firefox, WebKit.

• Powerful automation — supports mobile emulation, network events, and headless/headful modes.

• Excellent tooling including trace viewer, inspector, and HTML reports.

👎 Cons

• Larger install size due to multiple browser binaries.

• Higher resource usage than basic HTTP clients or lightweight scripts.

• Can be overkill if you only need simple HTTP requests or API testing (no UI).

🔄 Alternatives