22 KiB
id | title |
---|---|
browsers | Browsers |
Each version of Playwright needs specific versions of browser binaries to operate. Depending on the language you use, Playwright will either download these browsers at package install time for you, or you will need to use Playwright CLI to install these browsers.
With every release, Playwright updates the versions of the browsers it supports, so that the latest Playwright would support the latest browsers at any moment. It means that every time you update playwright, you might need to re-run the install
CLI command.
Chromium
For Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and other Chromium-based browsers, by default, Playwright uses open source Chromium builds. Since Chromium project is ahead of the branded browsers, when the world is on Google Chrome N, Playwright already supports Chromium N+1 that will be released in Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge in a few weeks.
There is also a way to opt into using Google Chrome's or Microsoft Edge's branded builds for testing. For details on when to opt into stable channels, refer to the Google Chrome & Microsoft Edge section below.
Firefox
Playwright's Firefox version matches the recent Firefox Stable build.
WebKit
Playwright's WebKit version matches the recent WebKit trunk build, before it is used in Apple Safari and other WebKit-based browsers. This gives a lot of lead time to react on the potential browser update issues.
Google Chrome & Microsoft Edge
While Playwright can download and use the recent Chromium build, it can operate against the stock Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers available on the machine (note that Playwright doesn't install them by default). In particular, current Playwright version will support Stable and Beta channels of these browsers. Here is how you can opt into using the stock browser:
// @ts-check
const { defineConfig } = require('@playwright/test');
module.exports = defineConfig({
use: {
channel: 'chrome',
},
});
import { defineConfig } from '@playwright/test';
export default defineConfig({
use: {
channel: 'chrome',
},
});
const { chromium } = require('playwright');
const browser = await chromium.launch({
channel: 'chrome' // or 'msedge', 'chrome-beta', 'msedge-beta', 'msedge-dev', etc.
});
import com.microsoft.playwright.*;
public class Example {
public static void main(String[] args) {
try (Playwright playwright = Playwright.create()) {
BrowserType chromium = playwright.chromium();
// Can be "msedge", "chrome-beta", "msedge-beta", "msedge-dev", etc.
Browser browser = chromium.launch(new BrowserType.LaunchOptions().setChannel("chrome"));
}
}
}
# Can be "msedge", "chrome-beta", "msedge-beta", "msedge-dev", etc.
browser = await playwright.chromium.launch(channel="chrome")
# Can be "msedge", "chrome-beta", "msedge-beta", "msedge-dev", etc.
browser = playwright.chromium.launch(channel="chrome")
using Microsoft.Playwright;
using var playwright = await Playwright.CreateAsync();
var chromium = playwright.Chromium;
// Can be "msedge", "chrome-beta", "msedge-beta", "msedge-dev", etc.
var browser = await chromium.LaunchAsync(new BrowserTypeLaunchOptions { Channel = "chrome" });
Installing Google Chrome & Microsoft Edge
If stock Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge is not available on your machine, you can install them using Playwright command line tool:
npx playwright install msedge
playwright install msedge
pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install msedge
mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI -D exec.args="install msedge"
Run with --help
option to see full list of the browsers that can be installed this way.
:::warning Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge installations will not be isolated. They will be installed at the default global location that depends on your operating system. :::
When to use Google Chrome & Microsoft Edge and when not to?
Defaults
Using default Playwright configuration with the latest Chromium is a good idea most of the time. Since Playwright is ahead of Stable channels for the browsers, it gives peace of mind that the upcoming Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge releases won't break your site. You catch breakage early and have a lot of time to fix it before the official Chrome update.
Regression testing
Having said that, testing policies often require regression testing to be performed against
the current publicly available browsers. In this case, you can opt into one of the stable channels,
"chrome"
or "msedge"
.
Media codecs
Another reason for testing using official binaries is to test functionality related to media codecs. Chromium does not have all the codecs that Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge are bundling due to various licensing considerations and agreements. If your site relies on this kind of codecs (which is rarely the case), you also want to use official channel.
Enterprise policy
Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge respect enterprise policies, which include limitations to the capabilities, network proxy, mandatory extensions that stand in the way of testing. So if you are a part of the organization that uses such policies, it is the easiest to use bundled Chromium for your local testing, you can still opt into stable channels on the bots that are typically free of such restrictions.
Installing browsers
- langs: csharp
To invoke Playwright CLI commands, you need to invoke a PowerShell script:
pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 --help
Playwright can install supported browsers by means of the CLI tool.
# Running without arguments will install all browsers
pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install
You can also install specific browsers by providing an argument:
# Install WebKit
pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install webkit
See all supported browsers:
pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install --help
Install browsers via API
- langs: csharp
It's possible to run Command line tools commands via the .NET API:
var exitCode = Microsoft.Playwright.Program.Main(new[] {"install"});
if (exitCode != 0)
{
throw new Exception($"Playwright exited with code {exitCode}");
}
Managing browser binaries
Playwright downloads Chromium, WebKit and Firefox browsers into the OS-specific cache folders:
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\ms-playwright
on Windows~/Library/Caches/ms-playwright
on MacOS~/.cache/ms-playwright
on Linux
These browsers will take a few hundred megabytes of disk space when installed:
du -hs ~/Library/Caches/ms-playwright/*
281M chromium-XXXXXX
187M firefox-XXXX
180M webkit-XXXX
You can override default behavior using environment variables. When installing Playwright, ask it to download browsers into a specific location:
PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=$HOME/pw-browsers npx playwright install
set PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=%USERPROFILE%\pw-browsers
npx playwright install
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH="$env:USERPROFILE\pw-browsers"
npx playwright install
pip install playwright
PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=$HOME/pw-browsers python -m playwright install
set PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=%USERPROFILE%\pw-browsers
pip install playwright
playwright install
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH="$env:USERPROFILE\pw-browsers"
pip install playwright
playwright install
PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=$HOME/pw-browsers mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI -D exec.args="install"
set PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=%USERPROFILE%\pw-browsers
mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI -D exec.args="install"
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH="$env:USERPROFILE\pw-browsers"
mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI -D exec.args="install"
PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=$HOME/pw-browsers
pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install
set PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=%USERPROFILE%\pw-browsers
pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH="$env:USERPROFILE\pw-browsers"
pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install
When running Playwright scripts, ask it to search for browsers in a shared location.
PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=$HOME/pw-browsers npx playwright test
set PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=%USERPROFILE%\pw-browsers
npx playwright test
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH="$env:USERPROFILE\pw-browsers"
npx playwright test
# Linux/macOS
PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=$HOME/pw-browsers python playwright_script.py
set PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=%USERPROFILE%\pw-browsers
python playwright_script.py
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH="$env:USERPROFILE\pw-browsers"
python playwright_script.py
PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=$HOME/pw-browsers mvn test
set PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=%USERPROFILE%\pw-browsers
mvn test
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH="$env:USERPROFILE\pw-browsers"
mvn test
PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=$HOME/pw-browsers dotnet test
set PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=%USERPROFILE%\pw-browsers
dotnet test
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH="$env:USERPROFILE\pw-browsers"
dotnet test
Playwright keeps track of packages that need those browsers and will garbage collect them as you update Playwright to the newer versions.
:::note
Developers can opt-in in this mode via exporting PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=$HOME/pw-browsers
in their .bashrc
.
:::
Hermetic install
- langs: js
You can opt into the hermetic install and place binaries in the local folder:
# Places binaries to node_modules/playwright-core/.local-browsers
PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=0 npx playwright install
# Places binaries to node_modules\playwright-core\.local-browsers
set PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=0
npx playwright install
# Places binaries to node_modules\playwright-core\.local-browsers
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=0
npx playwright install
:::note
PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH
does not change installation path for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.
:::
Install behind a firewall or a proxy
By default, Playwright downloads browsers from Microsoft CDN.
Sometimes companies maintain an internal proxy that blocks direct access to the public resources. In this case, Playwright can be configured to download browsers via a proxy server.
# For Playwright Test
HTTPS_PROXY=https://192.0.2.1 npx playwright install
# For Playwright Library
HTTPS_PROXY=https://192.0.2.1 npm install playwright
# For Playwright Test
set HTTPS_PROXY=https://192.0.2.1
npx playwright install
# For Playwright Library
set HTTPS_PROXY=https://192.0.2.1
npm install playwright
# For Playwright Test
$env:HTTPS_PROXY="https://192.0.2.1"
npx playwright install
# For Playwright Library
$env:HTTPS_PROXY="https://192.0.2.1"
npm install playwright
pip install playwright
HTTPS_PROXY=https://192.0.2.1 playwright install
set HTTPS_PROXY=https://192.0.2.1
pip install playwright
playwright install
$env:HTTPS_PROXY="https://192.0.2.1"
pip install playwright
playwright install
HTTPS_PROXY=https://192.0.2.1 mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI -D exec.args="install"
set HTTPS_PROXY=https://192.0.2.1
mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI -D exec.args="install"
$env:HTTPS_PROXY="https://192.0.2.1"
mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI -D exec.args="install"
HTTPS_PROXY=https://192.0.2.1 pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install
set HTTPS_PROXY=https://192.0.2.1
pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install
$env:HTTPS_PROXY="https://192.0.2.1"
pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install
If the requests of the proxy get intercepted with a custom untrusted certificate authority (CA) and it yields to Error: self signed certificate in certificate chain
while downloading the browsers, you must set your custom root certificates via the NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS
environment variable before installing the browsers:
export NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS="/path/to/cert.pem"
set NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS="C:\certs\root.crt"
$env:NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS="C:\certs\root.crt"
If your network is slow to connect to Playwright browser archive, you can increase the connection timeout in milliseconds with PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT
environment variable:
PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT=120000 npx playwright install
set PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT=120000
npx playwright install
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT="120000"
npx playwright install
pip install playwright
PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT=120000 playwright install
set PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT=120000
pip install playwright
playwright install
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT="120000"
pip install playwright
playwright install
PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT=120000 mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI -D exec.args="install"
set PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT=120000
mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI -D exec.args="install"
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT="120000"
mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI -D exec.args="install"
PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT=120000 pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install
set PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT=120000
pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT="120000"
pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install
Download from artifact repository
By default, Playwright downloads browsers from Microsoft CDN.
Sometimes companies maintain an internal artifact repository to host browser
binaries. In this case, Playwright can be configured to download from a custom
location using the PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST
env variable.
# For Playwright Test
PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST=192.0.2.1 npx playwright install
# For Playwright Library
PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST=192.0.2.1 npm install playwright
# For Playwright Test
set PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST=192.0.2.1
npx playwright install
# For Playwright Library
set PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST=192.0.2.1
npm install playwright
# For Playwright Test
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST="192.0.2.1"
npx playwright install
# For Playwright Library
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST="192.0.2.1"
npm install playwright
pip install playwright
PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST=192.0.2.1 playwright install
set PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST=192.0.2.1
pip install playwright
playwright install
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST="192.0.2.1"
pip install playwright
playwright install
PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST=192.0.2.1 mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI -D exec.args="install"
set PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST=192.0.2.1
mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI -D exec.args="install"
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST="192.0.2.1"
mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI -D exec.args="install"
PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST=192.0.2.1 pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install
set PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST=192.0.2.1
pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST="192.0.2.1"
pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install
It is also possible to use a per-browser download hosts using PLAYWRIGHT_CHROMIUM_DOWNLOAD_HOST
, PLAYWRIGHT_FIREFOX_DOWNLOAD_HOST
and PLAYWRIGHT_WEBKIT_DOWNLOAD_HOST
env variables that
take precedence over PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST
.
# For Playwright Test
PLAYWRIGHT_FIREFOX_DOWNLOAD_HOST=203.0.113.3 PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST=192.0.2.1 npx playwright install
# For Playwright Library
PLAYWRIGHT_FIREFOX_DOWNLOAD_HOST=203.0.113.3 PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST=192.0.2.1 npm install playwright
# For Playwright Test
set PLAYWRIGHT_FIREFOX_DOWNLOAD_HOST=203.0.113.3
set PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST=192.0.2.1
npx playwright install
# For Playwright Library
set PLAYWRIGHT_FIREFOX_DOWNLOAD_HOST=203.0.113.3
set PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST=192.0.2.1
npm install playwright
# For Playwright Test
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_FIREFOX_DOWNLOAD_HOST="203.0.113.3"
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST="192.0.2.1"
npx playwright install
# For Playwright Library
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_FIREFOX_DOWNLOAD_HOST="203.0.113.3"
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST="192.0.2.1"
npm install playwright
pip install playwright
PLAYWRIGHT_FIREFOX_DOWNLOAD_HOST=203.0.113.3 PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST=192.0.2.1 playwright install
set PLAYWRIGHT_FIREFOX_DOWNLOAD_HOST=203.0.113.3
set PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST=192.0.2.1
pip install playwright
playwright install
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_FIREFOX_DOWNLOAD_HOST="203.0.113.3"
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST="192.0.2.1"
pip install playwright
playwright install
PLAYWRIGHT_FIREFOX_DOWNLOAD_HOST=203.0.113.3 PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST=192.0.2.1 mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI -D exec.args="install"
set PLAYWRIGHT_FIREFOX_DOWNLOAD_HOST=203.0.113.3
set PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST=192.0.2.1
mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI -D exec.args="install"
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_FIREFOX_DOWNLOAD_HOST="203.0.113.3"
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST="192.0.2.1"
mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI -D exec.args="install"
PLAYWRIGHT_FIREFOX_DOWNLOAD_HOST=203.0.113.3 PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST=192.0.2.1 pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install
set PLAYWRIGHT_FIREFOX_DOWNLOAD_HOST=203.0.113.3
set PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST=192.0.2.1
pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST="192.0.2.1"
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_FIREFOX_DOWNLOAD_HOST="203.0.113.3"
pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install
Skip browser downloads
In certain cases, it is desired to avoid browser downloads altogether because browser binaries are managed separately.
This can be done by setting PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD
variable before installation.
pip install playwright
PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD=1 python -m playwright install
set PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD=1
pip install playwright
playwright install
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD=1
pip install playwright
playwright install
PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD=1 mvn test
set PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD=1
mvn test
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD=1
mvn test
PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD=1 pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install
set PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD=1
pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install
$env:PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD=1
pwsh bin/Debug/netX/playwright.ps1 install
Download single browser binary
- langs: python
Playwright downloads Chromium, Firefox and WebKit browsers by default. To install a specific browser, pass it as an argument during installation.
pip install playwright
playwright install firefox
Stale browser removal
Playwright keeps track of the clients that use its browsers. When there are no more clients that require particular version of the browser, that version is deleted from the system. That way you can safely use Playwright instances of different versions and at the same time, you don't waste disk space for the browsers that are no longer in use.
To opt-out from the unused browser removal, you can set the PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_GC=1
environment variable.