Playwright

Skill: playwright

When to Use

Use this skill for browser automation tasks: visual testing, page interaction, form filling, screenshot comparison, and debugging rendered pages. Invoke with /playwright [URL] to navigate to a specific page, or /playwright to start without a URL.

Use $ARGUMENTS as the URL to navigate to. If empty, ask the user what page to work with.

Do NOT use this skill for writing test files or test code. This is for live browser interaction via MCP tools.

Snapshot First, Screenshot Second

The Playwright MCP provides two ways to see page state. Use the right one:

• browser_snapshot - Returns the accessibility tree. Use this for planning actions, finding interactive elements, and understanding page structure. Fast, deterministic, token-efficient. Always start here.
• browser_take_screenshot - Returns a visual image. Use this for visual verification, layout debugging, comparing against Figma designs, and documentation. You cannot perform actions based on screenshots alone. Use browser_snapshot for that.

Default workflow:

1. browser_snapshot to understand what's on the page
2. Perform actions (browser_click, browser_type, browser_fill_form, etc.)
3. browser_snapshot again to verify the action worked
4. browser_take_screenshot only when visual verification is needed

Visual Verification with Figma

When comparing implementation against Figma designs:

1. Call get_screenshot from the Figma MCP for the design reference
2. Navigate to the implementation with browser_navigate
3. Match viewport dimensions to the Figma frame with browser_resize
4. Call browser_take_screenshot to capture the current state
5. Compare the two images. If they don't match, identify the specific deltas and fix them
6. Repeat until visual parity is achieved

Don't declare "looks good" after a single screenshot. Compare carefully. If you can't tell, use browser_evaluate to measure computed styles and compare against the Figma spec values.

Be Specific with Actions

Vague instructions lead to wrong element clicks. When interacting with elements:

• Reference elements by their accessibility role and name from browser_snapshot output (e.g., "Submit button in the login form", not just "the button")
• If multiple elements share the same label, provide context: parent container, position, or surrounding text
• After every action, take a snapshot to confirm the expected state change happened. Don't assume it worked.

Form Interactions

• Use browser_fill_form to populate multiple fields at once instead of individual browser_type calls when possible
• For dropdowns, use browser_select_option rather than clicking and typing
• After form submission, use browser_wait_for to confirm the expected result (success message, redirect, etc.)
• Check browser_console_messages if something fails silently

Debugging

When something goes wrong:

1. browser_console_messages - Check for JavaScript errors
2. browser_network_requests - Look for failed API calls (4xx, 5xx)
3. browser_evaluate - Inspect DOM state, computed styles, or run diagnostic JS
4. browser_take_screenshot - See what the user would actually see

Don't guess at the problem. Use these tools to gather evidence first.

Token Efficiency

Large DOM trees consume significant tokens per browser_snapshot. Keep context manageable:

• Target specific sections of a page rather than full-page snapshots when possible
• For very large pages, use browser_evaluate to query specific elements instead of snapshotting the entire tree
• Close tabs and pages you're done with using browser_close

Authentication

The Playwright MCP browser is visible. For authenticated pages:

• Navigate to the login page and let the user log in manually with their own credentials
• Cookies persist for the session duration, so you only need to do this once
• Don't attempt to script login with hardcoded credentials