better-playwright-mcp

A better Playwright MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that uses a client-server architecture for browser automation.

Why Better?

Traditional browser automation tools send entire page HTML to AI assistants, which quickly exhausts token limits and makes complex web interactions impractical. better-playwright-mcp solves this with an innovative semantic snapshot algorithm that reduces page content by up to 90% while preserving all meaningful elements.

The Problem

• Full page HTML often exceeds 100K+ tokens
• Most HTML is noise: inline styles, tracking scripts, invisible elements
• AI assistants have limited context windows (even with 200K limits)
• Complex web automation becomes impossible after just a few page loads

Our Solution: Semantic Snapshots

Our core innovation is a multi-stage pruning algorithm that:

1. Identifies meaningful elements - Interactive elements (buttons, inputs), semantic HTML5 tags, and text-containing elements
2. Generates unique identifiers - Each element gets a hash-based xp attribute derived from its XPath for precise targeting
3. Removes invisible content - Elements with display:none, zero dimensions, or hidden parents are marked and removed
4. Unwraps useless wrappers - Eliminates divs and spans that only wrap other elements
5. Strips unnecessary attributes - Keeps only essential attributes like href, value, placeholder

Result: A clean, semantic representation that typically uses only 10% of the original tokens while maintaining full functionality.

Architecture

This project implements a unique two-tier architecture:

1. MCP Server - Communicates with AI assistants via Model Context Protocol
2. HTTP Server - Runs in the background to control the actual browser instances

AI Assistant <--[MCP Protocol]--> MCP Server <--[HTTP]--> HTTP Server <---> Browser

This design allows the MCP server to remain lightweight while delegating browser control to a dedicated HTTP service.

Features

• 🎯 90% token reduction through semantic HTML snapshots
• 🎭 Full Playwright browser automation via MCP
• 🏗️ Client-server architecture for better separation of concerns
• 🛡️ Stealth mode to avoid detection
• 📍 Hash-based element identifiers for precise targeting
• 💾 Persistent browser profiles
• 🚀 Optimized for long-running automation tasks
• 📊 Token-aware output with automatic truncation

Installation

npm install -g better-playwright-mcp

Usage

Default Mode (MCP)

The MCP server requires an HTTP server to be running. You need to start both:

Step 1: Start the HTTP server

npx better-playwright-mcp server

Step 2: In another terminal, start the MCP server

npx better-playwright-mcp

The MCP server will:

1. Start listening on stdio for MCP protocol messages
2. Connect to the HTTP server on port 3102
3. Route browser automation commands through the HTTP server

Options:

• --snapshot-dir <path> - Directory to save snapshots

Standalone HTTP Server Mode

You can also run the HTTP server independently (useful for debugging or custom integrations):

npx better-playwright-mcp server

Options:

• -p, --port <number> - Server port (default: 3102)
• --host <string> - Server host (default: localhost)
• --headless - Run browser in headless mode
• --chromium - Use Chromium instead of Chrome
• --no-user-profile - Do not use persistent user profile
• --user-data-dir <path> - User data directory
• --snapshot-dir <path> - Directory to save snapshots

MCP Tools

When used with AI assistants, the following tools are available:

Page Management

• createPage - Create a new browser page with name and description
• activatePage - Activate a specific page by ID
• closePage - Close a specific page
• listPages - List all managed pages with titles and URLs
• closeAllPages - Close all managed pages
• listPagesWithoutId - List unmanaged browser pages
• closePagesWithoutId - Close all unmanaged pages
• closePageByIndex - Close page by index

Browser Actions

• browserClick - Click an element using its xp identifier
• browserType - Type text into an element
• browserHover - Hover over an element
• browserSelectOption - Select options in a dropdown
• browserPressKey - Press keyboard keys
• browserFileUpload - Upload files to file input
• browserHandleDialog - Handle browser dialogs (alert, confirm, prompt)
• browserNavigate - Navigate to a URL
• browserNavigateBack - Go back to previous page
• browserNavigateForward - Go forward to next page
• scrollToBottom - Scroll to bottom of page/element
• scrollToTop - Scroll to top of page/element
• waitForTimeout - Wait for specified milliseconds
• waitForSelector - Wait for element to appear

Snapshot & Utilities

• getPageSnapshot - Get semantic HTML snapshot with xp identifiers
• getScreenshot - Take a screenshot (PNG/JPEG)
• getPDFSnapshot - Generate PDF of the page
• getElementHTML - Get HTML of specific element
• downloadImage - Download image from URL
• captureSnapshot - Capture full page with automatic scrolling

How It Works

Semantic Snapshots in Action

Before (original HTML):

<div class="wrapper" style="padding: 20px; margin: 10px;">
  <div class="container">
    <div class="inner">
      <button class="btn btn-primary" onclick="handleClick()" 
              style="background: blue; color: white;">
        Click me
      </button>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

After (semantic snapshot):

button xp=3fa2b8c1 Click me

The algorithm:

• Removes unnecessary wrapper divs
• Strips inline styles and event handlers
• Adds unique identifier (xp attribute) - a hash of the element's XPath
• Preserves only meaningful content

Diff-Based Optimization

To reduce data transfer and token usage:

• First snapshot is always complete
• Subsequent snapshots only include changes (diffs)
• Automatic caching for performance

Stealth Features

Browser instances are configured with:

• Custom user agent strings
• Disabled automation indicators
• WebGL vendor spoofing
• Canvas fingerprint protection

Examples

Creating and Navigating Pages

// MCP Tool Usage
{
  "tool": "createPage",
  "arguments": {
    "name": "shopping",
    "description": "Amazon shopping page",
    "url": "https://amazon.com"
  }
}

// Returns: { pageId: "uuid", snapshot: "..." }

Interacting with Elements

// Click on element using its xp identifier
{
  "tool": "browserClick",
  "arguments": {
    "pageId": "uuid",
    "ref": "3fa2b8c1"  // The xp attribute value from snapshot
  }
}

// Type text into input field
{
  "tool": "browserType",
  "arguments": {
    "pageId": "uuid",
    "ref": "xp456",
    "text": "search query",
    "submit": true  // Press Enter after typing
  }
}

Capturing Page State

// Get semantic snapshot
{
  "tool": "getPageSnapshot",
  "arguments": {
    "pageId": "uuid"
  }
}

// Take screenshot
{
  "tool": "getScreenshot",
  "arguments": {
    "pageId": "uuid",
    "fullPage": true,
    "type": "png"
  }
}

Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 18.0.0
• TypeScript
• Chrome or Chromium browser

Building from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/better-playwright-mcp.git
cd better-playwright-mcp

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the project
npm run build

# Run in development mode
npm run dev

Project Structure

better-playwright-mcp/
├── src/
│   ├── index.ts                 # MCP mode entry point
│   ├── server.ts                # HTTP server mode entry point
│   ├── playwright-mcp.ts        # MCP server implementation
│   ├── client/
│   │   └── playwright-client.ts # HTTP client for MCP→HTTP communication
│   ├── server/
│   │   └── playwright-server.ts # HTTP server controlling browsers
│   ├── extractor/
│   │   ├── parse2.ts           # HTML parsing with xp identifier generation
│   │   ├── simplify-html.ts    # HTML simplification
│   │   └── utils.ts            # Extraction utilities
│   └── utils/
│       └── token-limiter.ts    # Token counting and limiting
├── bin/
│   └── cli.js                  # CLI entry point
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
├── CLAUDE.md                   # Instructions for AI assistants
└── README.md

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. MCP server not connecting

   • Ensure the HTTP server is accessible on port 3102
   • Check firewall settings
   • Try running with DEBUG=* npx better-playwright-mcp

2. Browser not launching

   • Ensure Chrome or Chromium is installed
   • Try using --chromium flag
   • Check system resources

3. Token limit exceeded

   • Snapshots are automatically truncated to 20,000 tokens
   • Use targeted selectors to reduce snapshot size
   • Consider using screenshot instead of snapshot for visual inspection

Debug Mode

Enable detailed logging:

DEBUG=* npx better-playwright-mcp

Logs and Records

Operation records are saved to:

• macOS/Linux: /tmp/playwright-records/
• Windows: %TEMP%\playwright-records\

Each page has its own directory with timestamped operation logs.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

MIT