Browser Automation with Playwright MCP
Control websites with plain English. Add the official @playwright/mcp server once and your local Contenox workflow can drive a real browser: navigate, click, type, take snapshots, read structured accessibility trees, and extract data — all without sending page pixels to a vision model (unless you explicitly use screenshot-related tools). Use it for scraping, testing, form filling, or research workflows.
Prerequisites
contenox initin your project and a configured backend (see the Quickstart).- Node.js with
npxavailable (the MCP server runs vianpx).
One-command setup
Register the Playwright MCP server (stored in Contenox’s SQLite DB — survives reboots):
contenox mcp add playwright --transport stdio \
--command npx --args "-y,@playwright/mcp@latest"Expose tools to an agent
A chain or agent whose tools allowlist includes "*" (or "playwright" by name) picks up the registered server automatically.
If you want tighter control, scope a chain’s tools to only the tools you want.
Tip: Tool names exposed to the model are prefixed with the server name, e.g.
playwright.<tool_name>.
For tighter control before sensitive actions, use explicit tools_policies in your chain’s HITL policy. Approval is on by default; only relax it for trusted, unattended runs.
What you can ask it to do
- “Go to https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-mcp and summarize the latest release.”
- “Open https://x.ai, find the latest Grok announcement, and list the key points.”
- “Search Google for ‘contenox github’, open the first result, and report the current star count.”
Advanced mcp add options
Append extra flags to the Playwright MCP package via comma-separated --args (each segment becomes one argument):
| Goal | Example |
|---|---|
| Headless | --args "-y,@playwright/mcp@latest,--headless" |
| Specific browser | --args "-y,@playwright/mcp@latest,--browser,firefox" |
| Unrestricted file access | --args "-y,@playwright/mcp@latest,--allow-unrestricted-file-access" |
| Persistent profile (logins/cookies between runs) | --args "-y,@playwright/mcp@latest,--user-data-dir,$HOME/.playwright-mcp" |
See the package README on npm for the full CLI surface.
How it works
- Registration —
contenox mcp addstores the server in SQLite; a worker keeps a session so tools stay responsive across steps. - Tools — The model receives Playwright MCP tools (namespaced with the server name). Prefer accessibility snapshots and DOM-driven actions; screenshot tools are available when you need them.
- Local execution — The browser runs on your machine; no cloud browser farm is required.
- Safety — Treat this like any automation with network and filesystem access: use trusted sites, review chains, and keep HITL enabled unless you’ve deliberately authored a policy for unattended runs.