browsing-with-playwright

Asmayaseen's avatarfrom Asmayaseen

Browser automation using Playwright MCP. Navigate websites, fill forms, click elements,take screenshots, and extract data. Use when tasks require web browsing, form submission,web scraping, UI testing, or any browser interaction. NOT when only fetching staticcontent (use curl/wget instead).

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[Web Automation]

When & Why to Use This Skill

This Claude skill enables advanced browser automation using Playwright MCP, allowing the agent to navigate websites, interact with complex UI elements, and extract dynamic data. It bridges the gap between static content fetching and interactive web workflows, supporting tasks like automated form filling, UI testing, and real-time data scraping from JavaScript-heavy sites.

Use Cases

  • Dynamic Web Scraping: Extracting information from modern websites that require JavaScript rendering and user interaction to reveal content.
  • Automated UI Testing: Verifying web application functionality by simulating end-to-end user journeys, clicking buttons, and validating page states.
  • Form Submission & Data Entry: Automating the process of filling out multi-step web forms and submitting data to external platforms or internal portals.
  • Visual Auditing & Monitoring: Capturing full-page screenshots and accessibility snapshots to monitor site changes, verify layouts, or perform SEO audits.
  • Complex Workflow Automation: Executing multi-step sequences such as logging into a dashboard, navigating through secure menus, and performing specific on-page actions.
namebrowsing-with-playwright
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Browser Automation

Automate browser interactions via Playwright MCP server.

Server Lifecycle

Start Server

# Using helper script (recommended)
bash scripts/start-server.sh

# Or manually
npx @playwright/mcp@latest --port 8808 --shared-browser-context &

Stop Server

# Using helper script (closes browser first)
bash scripts/stop-server.sh

# Or manually
python3 scripts/mcp-client.py call -u http://localhost:8808 -t browser_close -p '{}'
pkill -f "@playwright/mcp"

When to Stop

  • End of task: Stop when browser work is complete
  • Long sessions: Keep running if doing multiple browser tasks
  • Errors: Stop and restart if browser becomes unresponsive

Important: The --shared-browser-context flag is required to maintain browser state across multiple mcp-client.py calls. Without it, each call gets a fresh browser context.

Quick Reference

# Go to URL
python3 scripts/mcp-client.py call -u http://localhost:8808 -t browser_navigate \
  -p '{"url": "https://example.com"}'

# Go back
python3 scripts/mcp-client.py call -u http://localhost:8808 -t browser_navigate_back -p '{}'

Get Page State

# Accessibility snapshot (returns element refs for clicking/typing)
python3 scripts/mcp-client.py call -u http://localhost:8808 -t browser_snapshot -p '{}'

# Screenshot
python3 scripts/mcp-client.py call -u http://localhost:8808 -t browser_take_screenshot \
  -p '{"type": "png", "fullPage": true}'

Interact with Elements

Use ref from snapshot output to target elements:

# Click element
python3 scripts/mcp-client.py call -u http://localhost:8808 -t browser_click \
  -p '{"element": "Submit button", "ref": "e42"}'

# Type text
python3 scripts/mcp-client.py call -u http://localhost:8808 -t browser_type \
  -p '{"element": "Search input", "ref": "e15", "text": "hello world", "submit": true}'

# Fill form (multiple fields)
python3 scripts/mcp-client.py call -u http://localhost:8808 -t browser_fill_form \
  -p '{"fields": [{"ref": "e10", "value": "john@example.com"}, {"ref": "e12", "value": "password123"}]}'

# Select dropdown
python3 scripts/mcp-client.py call -u http://localhost:8808 -t browser_select_option \
  -p '{"element": "Country dropdown", "ref": "e20", "values": ["US"]}'

Wait for Conditions

# Wait for text to appear
python3 scripts/mcp-client.py call -u http://localhost:8808 -t browser_wait_for \
  -p '{"text": "Success"}'

# Wait for time (ms)
python3 scripts/mcp-client.py call -u http://localhost:8808 -t browser_wait_for \
  -p '{"time": 2000}'

Execute JavaScript

python3 scripts/mcp-client.py call -u http://localhost:8808 -t browser_evaluate \
  -p '{"function": "return document.title"}'

Multi-Step Playwright Code

For complex workflows, use browser_run_code to run multiple actions in one call:

python3 scripts/mcp-client.py call -u http://localhost:8808 -t browser_run_code \
  -p '{"code": "async (page) => { await page.goto(\"https://example.com\"); await page.click(\"text=Learn more\"); return await page.title(); }"}'

Tip: Use browser_run_code for complex multi-step operations that should be atomic (all-or-nothing).

Workflow: Form Submission

  1. Navigate to page
  2. Get snapshot to find element refs
  3. Fill form fields using refs
  4. Click submit
  5. Wait for confirmation
  6. Screenshot result

Workflow: Data Extraction

  1. Navigate to page
  2. Get snapshot (contains text content)
  3. Use browser_evaluate for complex extraction
  4. Process results

Verification

Run: python3 scripts/verify.py

Expected: ✓ Playwright MCP server running

If Verification Fails

  1. Run diagnostic: pgrep -f "@playwright/mcp"
  2. Check: Server process running on port 8808
  3. Try: bash scripts/start-server.sh
  4. Stop and report if still failing - do not proceed with downstream steps

Tool Reference

See references/playwright-tools.md for complete tool documentation.

Troubleshooting

Issue Solution
Element not found Run browser_snapshot first to get current refs
Click fails Try browser_hover first, then click
Form not submitting Use "submit": true with browser_type
Page not loading Increase wait time or use browser_wait_for
Server not responding Stop and restart: bash scripts/stop-server.sh && bash scripts/start-server.sh