init-playwright

Init Playwright CLI

Verify that playwright-cli, Chrome, and the Playwright MCP Bridge extension are ready before any browser automation is attempted.

When to Use This Skill

• Any task that requires browser automation via playwright-cli
• playwright-cli may not be installed or Chrome may be missing
• The MCP Bridge extension may not be active

Your Roles in This Skill

• SysOps Engineer: Install and validate playwright-cli and Chrome
• QA Engineer: Confirm the browser extension bridge is active end-to-end

Role Communication

As an expert in your assigned roles, you must announce your actions before performing them using the following format:

As a {Role, and Role-XYZ if you have more roles}, I will {action description}

Other Agent Skills Required

• keys-safe-guard
• playwright-cli

Workflow Usage Requirement

When this skill is used in a workflow agent node:

• Output result as plain text. If the user asked to save it to a file, write it there.
• Include concise context in the output (what was checked, what is ready, and any blocking issue) so downstream agents can safely continue.

Instructions

Step 1: Check if playwright-cli is installed

playwright-cli --version

If the command is not found:

pnpm install -g @playwright/cli@latest
playwright-cli --version

Step 2: Test browser + extension bridge

playwright-cli open --extension --headed

Treat this as an initialization flow, not a blocking foreground command:

• Start it in a background process.
• Do not wait for the command to sit there until timeout.
• This init command is only for extension setup. Once setup is complete, normal browser automation should use direct commands such as playwright-cli open --extension --headed.

Interpret the result as follows:

• If it returns quickly with Browser \default` opened with pid ...`, the browser bridge is ready.
• If it returns within about 10 seconds with Extension connection timeout. Make sure the "Playwright MCP Bridge" extension is installed., go to Step 3 and instruct the user to install the Chrome extension.
• If it stays open for more than about 10 seconds with no return, assume the browser is waiting for permission and is showing the extension token page. Go to Step 3 and instruct the user to copy-paste the PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_EXTENSION_TOKEN value.
• If you get an error that Chrome is not installed, then go to Step 3 to install Google Chrome.