#3636th of 86 in MCP servers for developers
playwriter
Lets agents drive your running Chrome via Playwright, CLI or MCP
Documentation ↗
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- Stars
- 4k
- License
- MIT
- Last commit
- Oct 2026
- Last release
- Oct 2026
- Language
- TypeScript
3,294 on 10 Apr 20264,048 on 30 Oct 2026
From GitHub's daily star counts.
Checked on GitHub.
Overview
Playwriter attaches to your already-running Chrome through an extension and exposes the full Playwright API via a CLI and an MCP server with a single `execute` tool. Agents reuse your logins, cookies and extensions instead of launching a fresh browser. A local WebSocket relay on port 19988 bridges the extension and the client, with optional remote control and tunnel access.
Who it is for: Developers giving coding agents control of their own logged-in Chrome
Strengths
- Uses your real Chrome profile: logins, cookies and extensions, no relaunch or debug flags
- One `execute` tool exposes full Playwright API plus raw CDP, debugger and live code editing
- Sessions keep persistent `state` between calls and can use named Chrome tab groups
- Remote control and `serve --token` let another machine or agent drive the browser
Weaknesses
- Requires the Chrome extension and a click on each tab to grant control
- Remote control is not a sandbox; the agent gets full access to shared tabs
- Sends anonymous usage telemetry to Strada by default; opt out via env var
- Agent code runs in your real logged-in sessions, so mistakes affect real accounts
What it needs
- no GPU
- Needs Chrome or Chromium, Playwriter Chrome extension, Node.js, ffmpeg (video recording)
- port 19988
Quick answers
Is playwriter open source?
Yes. Its code is on GitHub under the MIT license.
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