Playwright MCP vs Claude-in-Chrome: Use Playwright MCP for headless/CI/server automation where no browser window exists. Use Claude-in-Chrome MCP tools for interactive browser sessions where the user has Chrome open with the extension.
Call Syntax
# Colon-delimited
mcporter call playwright.TOOL_NAME key:value --output json
# Function-call style
mcporter call 'playwright.TOOL_NAME(key: "value")' --output json
Tool Reference
Navigation
| Tool | Parameters | Description |
|---|
browser_navigate | url | Navigate to a URL |
browser_navigate_back | — | Go back to previous page |
browser_close | — | Close the current page |
Observation
| Tool | Parameters | Description |
|---|
browser_snapshot | — | Accessibility snapshot of the page (primary observation tool) |
browser_take_screenshot | — | Capture a PNG screenshot |
browser_console_messages | — | Get browser console output |
browser_network_requests | — | List network requests made by the page |
Interaction
| Tool | Parameters | Description |
|---|
browser_click | element, ref | Click an element (use ref from snapshot) |
browser_type | element, ref, text | Type text into an input |
browser_select_option | element, ref, values | Select dropdown options |
browser_hover | element, ref | Hover over an element |
browser_drag | startElement, startRef, endElement, endRef | Drag and drop |
browser_press_key | key | Press a keyboard key |
Forms
| Tool | Parameters | Description |
|---|
browser_fill_form | fields | Fill multiple form fields at once |
JavaScript
| Tool | Parameters | Description |
|---|
browser_evaluate | expression | Run a JavaScript expression in the page |
browser_run_code | code | Run a Playwright code snippet |
Tabs, Waiting & Dialogs
| Tool | Parameters | Description |
|---|
browser_tabs | — | List open tabs |
browser_wait_for | text or timeout | Wait for text to appear or a timeout |
browser_handle_dialog | accept | Accept or dismiss a dialog |
browser_file_upload | paths | Upload files to a file input |
Setup
| Tool | Parameters | Description |
|---|
browser_install | — | Install the browser binary if missing |
Common Workflows
Scrape Page Content
# Navigate and get accessibility tree
mcporter call 'playwright.browser_navigate(url: "https://example.com")' --output json
mcporter call playwright.browser_snapshot --output json
# Extract specific data via JavaScript
mcporter call 'playwright.browser_evaluate(expression: "document.querySelector(\"h1\").textContent")' --output json
Fill and Submit a Form
# Navigate and inspect
mcporter call 'playwright.browser_navigate(url: "https://example.com/login")' --output json
mcporter call playwright.browser_snapshot --output json
# Use refs from snapshot to interact
mcporter call 'playwright.browser_type(element: "Username field", ref: "e3", text: "user@example.com")' --output json
mcporter call 'playwright.browser_type(element: "Password field", ref: "e5", text: "password")' --output json
mcporter call 'playwright.browser_click(element: "Submit button", ref: "e7")' --output json
Take a Screenshot
mcporter call 'playwright.browser_navigate(url: "https://example.com")' --output json
mcporter call playwright.browser_take_screenshot --output json
Debug a Page
mcporter call 'playwright.browser_navigate(url: "https://example.com")' --output json
mcporter call playwright.browser_console_messages --output json
mcporter call playwright.browser_network_requests --output json
Discovering All Available Tools
mcporter list playwright --all-parameters
