# playwright-cli changelog

> playwright-cli release notes.

- Vendor: playwright-cli
- Category: Developer Tools
- Official site: https://playwright.dev/
- Tracked by: What's New (https://whatsnew.fyi/product/playwright-cli)
- Harvested from: GitHub (microsoft/playwright-cli)
- Entries below: 10 (newest first)

What's New is an index, not a publisher: every entry below links to the vendor's own release notes, which are the authoritative source. Entries are labelled where they are hand-curated sample data, pre-releases, or drawn from a secondary source such as a developer blog.

## Releases

### v0.1.17

- Date: 2026-07-09
- Version: v0.1.17
- Original notes: https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/releases/tag/v0.1.17
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/playwright-cli/releases/v0.1.17

##### Fixes

- **`goto` no longer crashes the browser session on privileged pages** ([#433](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/issues/433)) — navigating to pages like `chrome://extensions/` or `chrome://settings/` used to throw `TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'url')` and take down the whole session. ([microsoft/playwright#41675](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41675))
- `fix(mcp): await init page before screenshot` — screenshots taken right after open no longer race the page init. ([microsoft/playwright#41646](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41646))
- `fix(mcp): preserve directory for additional tab videos` — videos for extra tabs are saved to the configured output directory. ([microsoft/playwright#41680](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41680))
- `feat(mcp): always pass noDefaults for CDP connections` — attaching over CDP no longer applies unwanted default context options. ([microsoft/playwright#41676](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41676))

### v0.1.16

- Date: 2026-07-09
- Version: v0.1.16
- Original notes: https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/releases/tag/v0.1.16
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/playwright-cli/releases/v0.1.16

##### Highlights

- **Search a large snapshot instead of capturing the whole thing** — the new `find` command searches the page snapshot for text or a regexp and returns just the matching nodes with surrounding context (like `grep -C`), keeping big pages out of the model context. ([microsoft/playwright#41605](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41605), [microsoft/playwright#41654](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41654))
- **Mobile emulation** — `open --mobile` emulates a generic mobile device (Pixel for Chromium, iPhone for WebKit) and `--device="iPhone 15"` targets a specific one; mobile pages are usually lighter, so snapshots are smaller and cheaper. ([microsoft/playwright#41657](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41657))
- **Leaner snapshots** — AI snapshots are distilled to be less verbose, cutting token cost on every command that returns page state. ([microsoft/playwright#41604](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41604))
- **Local invocation via `npx playwright cli`** — the CLI is now exposed as `playwright cli` (and `playwright mcp`), so a locally installed Playwright can drive it without a separate global install. ([microsoft/playwright#41577](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41577))

##### Fixes

- `feat(mcp): surface non-2xx navigation status` — navigation now reports the HTTP status instead of silently succeeding on error responses. ([microsoft/playwright#41589](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41589))
- `fix(mcp): enable the chromium sandbox for the default browser` — the default Chromium browser now runs sandboxed. ([microsoft/playwright#41652](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41652))
- `fix(routing): normalize literal glob components through new URL()` — `route` patterns with literal glob characters now match reliably. ([microsoft/playwright#41682](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41682))
- `fix(mcp): close isolated HTTP client context on disconnect` — isolated sessions release their context cleanly on disconnect. ([microsoft/playwright#41560](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41560))

### v0.1.15

- Date: 2026-06-30
- Version: v0.1.15
- Original notes: https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/releases/tag/v0.1.15
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/playwright-cli/releases/v0.1.15

##### Highlights

- **High resolution screenshots** ([#376](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/issues/376)) — `playwright-cli screenshot --hires` captures at the device's full pixel ratio instead of downscaling to CSS pixels. ([microsoft/playwright#41465](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41465))
- **Secrets filtered from console logs** ([#41509](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/issues/41509)) — configured secret values are now redacted in captured console log artifacts. ([microsoft/playwright#41515](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41515))

##### Heads up

- **The CLI now checks for updates** — on startup it notifies you when a newer `@playwright/cli` is available on npm. ([#426](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/pull/426))
- **The CLI now warns when your installed skill is out of date** — if the bundled Playwright skill is newer than the one installed in your workspace, you'll be prompted to reinstall it. Re-run `playwright-cli install --skills` to update. ([#427](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/pull/427))

##### Fixes

- `fix(mcp): pass action timeout to browser_wait_for waitFor calls` — `wait_for` now honors the configured action timeout instead of waiting indefinitely. ([microsoft/playwright#41270](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41270))
- `fix(mcp): wait for next pause or context closure in browser_resume` — resuming a paused session settles reliably. ([microsoft/playwright#41293](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41293))
- `fix(mcp): assign caps as array for legacy --vision flag` — the legacy `--vision` flag works again. ([microsoft/playwright#41253](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41253))
- `fix(mcp): never include data: URL payloads in snapshot or network output` — large `data:` URLs no longer flood snapshot and network output. ([microsoft/playwright#41450](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41450))
- `fix(mcp): list a failed network request only once` — failed requests are no longer duplicated in network output. ([microsoft/playwright#41481](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41481))
- `fix(mcp): check tracing state before stopping in browser_stop_tracing` — stopping tracing when it is not running no longer errors. ([microsoft/playwright#41040](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41040))
- `fix(mcp): add missing .catch() on sessionLog write queue` — a failed session-log write no longer crashes the session. ([microsoft/playwright#41234](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41234))
([microsoft/playwright#41382](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41382))

### v0.1.14

- Date: 2026-06-10
- Version: v0.1.14
- Original notes: https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/releases/tag/v0.1.14
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/playwright-cli/releases/v0.1.14

##### Highlights

- **Annotate actions in recorded videos** — new `video-show-actions` / `video-hide-actions` commands draw a callout naming each action and highlighting its target in the recording. ([microsoft/playwright#40914](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40914))
- **`exposeNetwork` and other connect options for remote browsers** — `remoteEndpoint` now accepts a full `ConnectOptions` object, so settings like `exposeNetwork` and headers apply to remote connections. ([microsoft/playwright#40964](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40964))
- **Bounded output size** — `--output-max-size` caps captured output and evicts to disk after the response, keeping large sessions manageable. ([microsoft/playwright#41031](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41031))

##### Fixes

- `fix(cli): support attaching to a Playwright browser server endpoint` ([microsoft/playwright#41154](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/issues/41154)) — `playwright-cli attach --endpoint=<ws-url>` connects to a running browser server instead of erroring out. ([microsoft/playwright#41203](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41203))
- `fix(mcp): support moz-firefox BiDi channels via --browser` — connect to Firefox over BiDi using `--browser`. ([microsoft/playwright#41126](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41126))
- `fix(mcp): keep remoteHeaders working for remote browser endpoint` — custom headers are sent again when connecting to a remote endpoint. ([microsoft/playwright#41156](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41156), [#40828](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40828))
- `fix(cli): persist traces when CLI attaches to existing CDP browser` — traces are now saved when attaching over CDP. ([microsoft/playwright#40810](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40810))
- `fix(cli): accept single --modifiers value for click and dblclick` — `--modifiers=Shift` works without requiring a list. ([microsoft/playwright#40784](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40784))
- `fix(cli): trim overlong session names to fit unix socket path limit` — long session names no longer break the daemon socket. ([microsoft/playwright#40898](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40898))
- `fix(cli): do not pass PLAYWRIGHT_CLI_SESSION as daemon --endpoint` — fixes spurious endpoint resolution from the session env var. ([microsoft/playwright#41019](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41019))
- `fix(mcp): report missing ffmpeg distinctly from missing browser` — clearer error when video recording fails due to a missing ffmpeg. ([microsoft/playwright#40867](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40867))
- `fix(mcp): report invalid tool arguments` — invalid arguments now produce a readable error instead of failing silently. ([microsoft/playwright#40979](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40979))
- `fix(mcp): use writable cache dir for MCP user data, not browsers path` — avoids permission errors on read-only browser installs. ([microsoft/playwright#40961](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40961))
- `fix(mcp): use waitUntil commit for navigate back/forward` — back/forward navigation resolves more reliably. ([microsoft/playwright#41153](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/41153))
- `fix(mcp): tear down dashboard server on cli show --kill` — `cli show --kill` fully stops the dashboard. ([microsoft/playwright#40968](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40968))
- `fix(tracing): mkdir tracesDir before live .stacks writes` — fixes a crash when the traces directory does not yet exist. ([microsoft/playwright#40730](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40730))
- `docs(cli): document & URL escaping on Windows` — guidance on escaping `&` in URLs on cmd.exe and PowerShell. ([microsoft/playwright#40742](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40742))

##### Upgrading

```bash
npm install -g @playwright/cli@0.1.14
```

### v0.1.13

- Date: 2026-05-07
- Version: v0.1.13
- Original notes: https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/releases/tag/v0.1.13
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/playwright-cli/releases/v0.1.13

##### Fixes

- `fix(mcp): forward browser-level CDP commands in extension mode` — `cookie-list`, `state-save`, and other browser-scoped commands now work when attached via the Chrome extension. ([microsoft/playwright#40706](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40706))

### v0.1.12

- Date: 2026-05-06
- Version: v0.1.12
- Original notes: https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/releases/tag/v0.1.12
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/playwright-cli/releases/v0.1.12

##### Highlights

- **Chrome extension now supports multiple tabs** ([#373](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/issues/373) — `tab-new`, `tab-list`, etc. work in `attach --extension` sessions.

- **Multi-screenshot UI Review in the dashboard** — collect, annotate, and submit several screenshots in one dashboard session, with a sidebar of frames and per-comment highlight.

##### Fixes

- `fix(mcp): recover from page renderer crash` — the current tab is reopened automatically when its renderer crashes. ([microsoft/playwright#40617](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40617))
- `fix(mcp): auto-recover when remote browser disconnects mid-session` — the next tool call transparently reconnects. ([microsoft/playwright#40652](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40652))
- `fix(mcp): anchor aria-ref regex in target resolution` — locators with `e\d+` substrings are no longer misclassified. ([microsoft/playwright#40610](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40610))
- `fix(mcp): skip base64 image when filename is provided` — explicit-filename screenshots no longer also embed the image in the response. ([microsoft/playwright#40577](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40577))

### v0.1.11

- Date: 2026-05-01
- Version: v0.1.11
- Original notes: https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/releases/tag/v0.1.11
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/playwright-cli/releases/v0.1.11

##### Fixes

- **`fix(dashboard): handle null viewport in annotate screenshot`** — `playwright-cli annotate` against a headed browser launched with `viewport: null` produced an empty annotated screenshot; the dashboard now falls back to `window.innerWidth/innerHeight`. ([microsoft/playwright#40569](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40569))

### v0.1.10

- Date: 2026-04-30
- Version: v0.1.10
- Original notes: https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/releases/tag/v0.1.10
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/playwright-cli/releases/v0.1.10

##### Highlights

- **Network inspection split into numbered commands** ([#377](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/issues/377)) — `network` is replaced with:
  - `requests` — numbered list of requests with stable indexes
  - `request <num>` — full details for one request
  - `request-headers <num>`, `request-body <num>`, `response-headers <num>`, `response-body <num>` — pipe-friendly part extractors

  Bodies are no longer inlined; pass `--filename` on any part-command to save the result to a file. ([microsoft/playwright#40447](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40447), [microsoft/playwright#40454](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40454))

- **Spec-driven testing skill** — a new `references/spec-driven-testing.md` reference guides agents through a plan / generate / heal workflow for driving Playwright tests from a written spec. ([microsoft/playwright#40460](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40460))

##### Behavior changes

- Read-only data-fetching commands (`cookie-list`, `cookie-get`, `localstorage-list`, `localstorage-get`, `sessionstorage-list`, `sessionstorage-get`, `route-list`, `request-headers`, `request-body`, `response-headers`, `response-body`) now emit raw output by default — no more `### Result` wrapper, no `--raw` needed. ([microsoft/playwright#40473](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40473))
- Extension mode now ignores the `browser` section of any loaded config file (both `userDataDir` and `executablePath`); only the browser/channel from `--browser` or `PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_BROWSER` applies. ([microsoft/playwright#40475](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40475))
- `requests` now appends a hint when static requests are filtered out, telling the user to pass `--static` to see them. ([microsoft/playwright#40454](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40454))

##### Fixes

- `fix(cli): resolve initPage/initScript paths and surface load errors` ([#290](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/issues/290)) — relative `initPage` / `initScript` paths from `--config` files now resolve against the config dir (matching Vite/Vitest/ESLint), and CLI-flag / env-var entries resolve against `cwd`. Load errors are no longer silently swallowed. ([microsoft/playwright#40451](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40451))
- `fix(mcp): detect extension in non-default Chrome profiles` — the `--extension` preflight now scans every `Profile *` subdirectory under the user data dir, not just `Default`. ([microsoft/playwright#40471](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40471))
- `fix(mcp): surface unhandled rejections instead of crashing the server` — async errors from user-installed callbacks (e.g. a `page.route` handler) are now reported on the next tool response instead of tearing down the MCP transport. ([microsoft/playwright#40452](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40452))

### v0.1.9

- Date: 2026-04-25
- Version: v0.1.9
- Original notes: https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/releases/tag/v0.1.9
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/playwright-cli/releases/v0.1.9

##### Highlights

- **`show --annotate`** — provide agent with visual and structural feedback while developing or testing. ([microsoft/playwright#40262](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40262), [microsoft/playwright#40238](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40238))

    <center>
      <img width="584" height="486" alt="Screenshot from 2026-04-24 17-58-53" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/cb00fe36-ffd8-4c47-ba98-7e707e483bdb" />
    </center>

- **`drop` command for files and clipboard-like data** — drop files or typed data (`text/plain`, `text/html`, etc.) onto an element from outside the page. Useful for file-upload widgets and drag-from-desktop scenarios where `upload` doesn't fit. ([microsoft/playwright#40367](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40367), [microsoft/playwright#40283](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40283))
- **`highlight` command for visual confirmation** — show a persistent highlight overlay on an element (with optional custom CSS via `--style`), and hide one or all overlays with `--hide`. Lets coding agents visually confirm what they're about to act on. ([microsoft/playwright#40213](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40213), [microsoft/playwright#40215](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40215), [microsoft/playwright#40219](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40219))
- **`generate-locator` command** — produce a stable Playwright locator expression for an element ref. Pair with `--raw` to feed locators straight into test assertions. ([microsoft/playwright#40313](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40313))
- **`--json` global flag** — wrap every reply as structured JSON for machine parsing. ([microsoft/playwright#40284](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40284))

  ```bash
  > playwright-cli eval --json "document.body.childNodes.length"
  {
    "result": "4"
  }
  ```

- **`snapshot --boxes`** — include each element's bounding box as `[box=x,y,width,height]` in aria snapshots, making it easy to drive coordinate-based tools off of a snapshot. ([microsoft/playwright#40389](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40389))
  
    ```yaml
  - paragraph [ref=e35] [box=86,381,700,99]:
      - text: One API to drive Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit — in your tests, your scripts...
      - link "TypeScript" [ref=e36] [cursor=pointer] [box=535,417,98,27]:
        - /url: https://playwright.dev/docs/intro
      - text: ","
      - link "Python" [ref=e37] [cursor=pointer] [box=644,417,66,27]:
        - /url: https://playwright.dev/python/docs/intro
      - text: ","
      - link ".NET" [ref=e38] [cursor=pointer] [box=721,417,42,27]:
        - /url: https://playwright.dev/dotnet/docs/intro
      - text: ", and"
      - link "Java" [ref=e39] [cursor=pointer] [box=127,450,38,27]:
        - /url: https://playwright.dev/java/docs/intro
    ```

- **Discover attachable system browsers with `list --all`** — surfaces Chrome/Edge instances running with remote debugging so `attach --cdp=<channel>` has something to connect to. ([microsoft/playwright#40253](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40253), [microsoft/playwright#40342](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40342))
- **`detach` command and channel-named attach sessions** — attach sessions now use the channel name (e.g. `chrome`, `msedge`) and can be cleanly detached without closing the underlying browser. ([microsoft/playwright#40408](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40408))
- **Skill discoverable from `--help`** — `playwright-cli --help` now prints the path to the installed agent skill, so coding agents can find it without being told. ([microsoft/playwright#40274](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40274))
- **`run-code` accepts a file** — `playwright-cli run-code --filename=./script.js` runs a Playwright snippet from disk instead of the command line. ([microsoft/playwright-cli#337](https:

_[Truncated at 4000 characters — full notes: https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/releases/tag/v0.1.9]_

### v0.1.8

- Date: 2026-04-14
- Version: v0.1.8
- Original notes: https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/releases/tag/v0.1.8
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/playwright-cli/releases/v0.1.8

##### Highlights

- **Remote debugging mode against your local Chrome** ([#358](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/issues/358)) — you can now drive the Chrome you already have open, with its existing logins, instead of a sandboxed copy. `playwright-cli attach --cdp=chrome` (also `msedge`, `chrome-canary`, etc.) resolves the channel and connects via `chrome://inspect/#remote-debugging`. Supports Chrome / Chrome Beta / Dev / Canary and Edge / Edge Beta / Dev / Canary on Linux, macOS, and Windows. ([microsoft/playwright#40177](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40177))
- **Heavy CPU/memory and orphaned Chrome processes** ([#360](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/issues/360)) — no more manually killing leftover Chrome processes after long CLI/agent sessions. ([microsoft/playwright#40190](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40190))

##### Fixes

- `fix(mcp): no tombstones on the server registry level` — defaults `browserToken` to `'chrome'` when none is specified (no more `undefined` in userDataDir paths); simplifies stale-entry cleanup in the server registry; passes `force` to session stop during `delete-data`. ([#40179](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/pull/40179))

##### Upgrading

```bash
npm install -g @playwright/cli@0.1.8
```