Playwright

Playwright Browser Automation Skill

Automate browsers with Playwright — Microsoft's modern browser automation framework. Faster and more reliable than Selenium, with built-in auto-wait and network control.

Installation

pip install playwright
playwright install chromium  # or: playwright install  (all browsers)

Core Patterns

Open a page and navigate

from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright

with sync_playwright() as p:
    browser = p.chromium.launch(headless=False)  # headless=True for no UI
    page = browser.new_page()
    page.goto("https://example.com")
    print(page.title())
    browser.close()

Async version

import asyncio
from playwright.async_api import async_playwright

async def main():
    async with async_playwright() as p:
        browser = await p.chromium.launch()
        page = await browser.new_page()
        await page.goto("https://example.com")
        print(await page.title())
        await browser.close()

asyncio.run(main())

Click, fill, select

page.click("button.submit")                        # Click a button
page.fill("#username", "my_user")                   # Fill an input
page.fill("#password", "my_pass")
page.select_option("select#country", "US")          # Select dropdown
page.check("input#agree")                           # Check a checkbox
page.press("#search", "Enter")                      # Press a key

Wait for elements

page.wait_for_selector(".results", timeout=10000)   # Wait up to 10s
page.wait_for_load_state("networkidle")              # Wait for network quiet
page.wait_for_url("**/dashboard")                    # Wait for navigation

Extract data

text = page.text_content("h1")                      # Single element text
href = page.get_attribute("a.link", "href")          # Attribute value
items = page.query_selector_all(".product")          # Multiple elements
for item in items:
    name = item.text_content()
    price = item.query_selector(".price").text_content()

Screenshots

page.screenshot(path="page.png")                     # Viewport screenshot
page.screenshot(path="full.png", full_page=True)     # Full page
element = page.query_selector(".chart")
element.screenshot(path="chart.png")                 # Element only

PDF generation

page.pdf(path="report.pdf", format="A4", print_background=True)

Network interception

# Block images to speed up loading
def handle_route(route):
    if route.request.resource_type == "image":
        route.abort()
    else:
        route.continue_()

page.route("**/*", handle_route)
page.goto("https://example.com")

# Intercept and modify a request
def modify_request(route):
    headers = {**route.request.headers, "X-Custom": "value"}
    route.continue_(headers=headers)

page.route("**/api/**", modify_request)

Multiple browser contexts (isolated sessions)

context1 = browser.new_context()
context2 = browser.new_context()
page1 = context1.new_page()  # Separate cookies, storage
page2 = context2.new_page()  # Completely isolated

Set viewport and emulate devices

page.set_viewport_size({"width": 1920, "height": 1080})

# Or emulate a device
iphone = p.devices["iPhone 13"]
context = browser.new_context(**iphone)

Multi-browser support

browser = p.chromium.launch()    # Chrome/Edge
browser = p.firefox.launch()     # Firefox
browser = p.webkit.launch()      # Safari

Common errors

Error	Fix
"Browser not installed"	Run playwright install chromium
"Timeout waiting for selector"	Increase timeout or check selector
"Navigation failed"	Page might require JavaScript; use wait_for_load_state
"Element not visible"	Use force=True or wait for visibility

Important notes

• Playwright auto-waits for elements before interacting — usually no need for time.sleep()
• Use headless=False for debugging, headless=True (default) for production
• Each browser.new_context() creates an isolated session (separate cookies, localStorage)
• page.goto() waits for load event by default; use wait_until="networkidle" for SPAs