---
id: cli
title: "Command Line Interface"
---
Playwright comes with the command line tools that run via `npx` or as a part of the `npm` scripts.
## Usage
```sh js
$ npx playwright --help
```
```sh python
$ python -m playwright
```
```json js
# Running from `package.json` script
{
"scripts": {
"help": "playwright --help"
}
}
```
## Generate code
```sh js
$ npx playwright codegen wikipedia.org
```
```sh python
$ python -m playwright codegen wikipedia.org
```
Run `codegen` and perform actions in the browser. Playwright CLI will generate JavaScript code for the user interactions. `codegen` will attempt to generate resilient text-based selectors.
### Preserve authenticated state
Run `codegen` with `--save-storage` to save [cookies](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Cookies) and [localStorage](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Window/localStorage) at the end. This is useful to separately record authentication step and reuse it later.
```sh js
$ npx playwright --save-storage=auth.json codegen
# Perform authentication and exit.
# auth.json will contain the storage state.
```
```sh python
$ python -m playwright --save-storage=auth.json codegen
# Perform authentication and exit.
# auth.json will contain the storage state.
```
Run with `--load-storage` to consume previously loaded storage. This way, all [cookies](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Cookies) and [localStorage](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Window/localStorage) will be restored, bringing most web apps to the authenticated state.
```sh js
$ npx playwright --load-storage=auth.json open my.web.app
$ npx playwright --load-storage=auth.json codegen my.web.app
# Perform actions in authenticated state.
```
```sh python
$ python -m playwright --load-storage=auth.json open my.web.app
$ python -m playwright --load-storage=auth.json codegen my.web.app
# Perform actions in authenticated state.
```
### Codegen with custom setup
If you would like to use codegen in some non-standard setup (for example, use [`method: BrowserContext.route`]), it is possible to call [`method: Page.pause`] that will open a separate window with codegen controls.
```js
const { chromium } = require('playwright');
(async () => {
// Make sure to run headed.
const browser = await chromium.launch({ headless: false });
// Setup context however you like.
const context = await browser.newContext({ /* pass any options */ });
await context.route('**/*', route => route.continue());
// Pause the page, and start recording manually.
const page = await context.newPage();
await page.pause();
})();
```
```python async
import asyncio
from playwright.async_api import async_playwright
async def main():
async with async_playwright() as p:
# Make sure to run headed.
browser = await p.chromium.launch(headless=False)
# Setup context however you like.
context = await browser.new_context() # Pass any options
await context.route('**/*', lambda route: route.continue_())
# Pause the page, and start recording manually.
page = await context.new_page()
await page.pause()
asyncio.run(main())
```
```python async
from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright
with sync_playwright() as p:
# Make sure to run headed.
browser = p.chromium.launch(headless=False)
# Setup context however you like.
context = browser.new_context() # Pass any options
context.route('**/*', lambda route: route.continue_())
# Pause the page, and start recording manually.
page = context.new_page()
page.pause()
```
## Open pages
With `open`, you can use Playwright bundled browsers to browse web pages. Playwright provides cross-platform WebKit builds that can be used to reproduce Safari rendering across Windows, Linux and macOS.
```sh js
# Open page in Chromium
$ npx playwright open example.com
```
```sh python
# Open page in Chromium
$ python -m playwright open example.com
```
```sh js
# Open page in WebKit
$ npx playwright wk example.com
```
```sh python
# Open page in WebKit
$ python -m playwright wk example.com
```
### Emulate devices
`open` can emulate mobile and tablet devices from the [`playwright.devices`](https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-playwright#playwrightdevices) list.
```sh js
# Emulate iPhone 11.
$ npx playwright --device="iPhone 11" open wikipedia.org
```
```sh python
# Emulate iPhone 11.
$ python -m playwright --device="iPhone 11" open wikipedia.org
```
### Emulate color scheme and viewport size
```sh js
# Emulate screen size and color scheme.
$ npx playwright --viewport-size=800,600 --color-scheme=dark open twitter.com
```
```sh python
# Emulate screen size and color scheme.
$ python -m playwright --viewport-size=800,600 --color-scheme=dark open twitter.com
```
### Emulate geolocation, language and timezone
```sh js
# Emulate timezone, language & location
# Once page opens, click the "my location" button to see geolocation in action
$ npx playwright --timezone="Europe/Rome" --geolocation="41.890221,12.492348" --lang="it-IT" open maps.google.com
```
```sh python
# Emulate timezone, language & location
# Once page opens, click the "my location" button to see geolocation in action
$ python -m playwright --timezone="Europe/Rome" --geolocation="41.890221,12.492348" --lang="it-IT" open maps.google.com
```
## Inspect selectors
During `open` or `codegen`, you can use following API inside the developer tools console of any browser.
#### playwright.$(selector)
Query Playwright selector, using the actual Playwright query engine, for example:
```js
> playwright.$('.auth-form >> text=Log in');
```
#### playwright.$$(selector)
Same as `playwright.$`, but returns all matching elements.
```js
> playwright.$$('li >> text=John')
> [
,
,
,
]
```
#### playwright.inspect(selector)
Reveal element in the Elements panel (if DevTools of the respective browser supports it).
```js
> playwright.inspect('text=Log in')
```
#### playwright.selector(element)
Generates selector for the given element.
```js
> playwright.selector($0)
"div[id="glow-ingress-block"] >> text=/.*Hello.*/"
```
## Take screenshot
```sh js
# See command help
$ npx playwright screenshot --help
```
```sh python
# See command help
$ python -m playwright screenshot --help
```
```sh js
# Wait 3 seconds before capturing a screenshot after page loads ('load' event fires)
$ npx playwright \
--device="iPhone 11" \
--color-scheme=dark \
screenshot \
--wait-for-timeout=3000 \
twitter.com twitter-iphone.png
```
```sh python
# Wait 3 seconds before capturing a screenshot after page loads ('load' event fires)
$ python -m playwright \
--device="iPhone 11" \
--color-scheme=dark \
screenshot \
--wait-for-timeout=3000 \
twitter.com twitter-iphone.png
```
```sh js
# Capture a full page screenshot
$ npx playwright screenshot --full-page en.wikipedia.org wiki-full.png
```
```sh python
# Capture a full page screenshot
$ python -m playwright screenshot --full-page en.wikipedia.org wiki-full.png
```
## Generate PDF
PDF generation only works in Headless Chromium.
```sh js
# See command help
$ npx playwright pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDF wiki.pdf
```
```sh python
# See command help
$ python -m playwright pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDF wiki.pdf
```
## Known limitations
Opening WebKit Web Inspector will disconnect Playwright from the browser. In such cases, code generation will stop.
### Preserve authenticated state
Run `codegen` with `--save-storage` to save [cookies](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Cookies) and [localStorage](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Window/localStorage) at the end. This is useful to separately record authentication step and reuse it later.
```sh js
$ npx playwright --save-storage=auth.json codegen
# Perform authentication and exit.
# auth.json will contain the storage state.
```
```sh python
$ python -m playwright --save-storage=auth.json codegen
# Perform authentication and exit.
# auth.json will contain the storage state.
```
Run with `--load-storage` to consume previously loaded storage. This way, all [cookies](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Cookies) and [localStorage](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Window/localStorage) will be restored, bringing most web apps to the authenticated state.
```sh js
$ npx playwright --load-storage=auth.json open my.web.app
$ npx playwright --load-storage=auth.json codegen my.web.app
# Perform actions in authenticated state.
```
```sh python
$ python -m playwright --load-storage=auth.json open my.web.app
$ python -m playwright --load-storage=auth.json codegen my.web.app
# Perform actions in authenticated state.
```
### Codegen with custom setup
If you would like to use codegen in some non-standard setup (for example, use [`method: BrowserContext.route`]), it is possible to call [`method: Page.pause`] that will open a separate window with codegen controls.
```js
const { chromium } = require('playwright');
(async () => {
// Make sure to run headed.
const browser = await chromium.launch({ headless: false });
// Setup context however you like.
const context = await browser.newContext({ /* pass any options */ });
await context.route('**/*', route => route.continue());
// Pause the page, and start recording manually.
const page = await context.newPage();
await page.pause();
})();
```
```python async
import asyncio
from playwright.async_api import async_playwright
async def main():
async with async_playwright() as p:
# Make sure to run headed.
browser = await p.chromium.launch(headless=False)
# Setup context however you like.
context = await browser.new_context() # Pass any options
await context.route('**/*', lambda route: route.continue_())
# Pause the page, and start recording manually.
page = await context.new_page()
await page.pause()
asyncio.run(main())
```
```python async
from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright
with sync_playwright() as p:
# Make sure to run headed.
browser = p.chromium.launch(headless=False)
# Setup context however you like.
context = browser.new_context() # Pass any options
context.route('**/*', lambda route: route.continue_())
# Pause the page, and start recording manually.
page = context.new_page()
page.pause()
```
## Open pages
With `open`, you can use Playwright bundled browsers to browse web pages. Playwright provides cross-platform WebKit builds that can be used to reproduce Safari rendering across Windows, Linux and macOS.
```sh js
# Open page in Chromium
$ npx playwright open example.com
```
```sh python
# Open page in Chromium
$ python -m playwright open example.com
```
```sh js
# Open page in WebKit
$ npx playwright wk example.com
```
```sh python
# Open page in WebKit
$ python -m playwright wk example.com
```
### Emulate devices
`open` can emulate mobile and tablet devices from the [`playwright.devices`](https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-playwright#playwrightdevices) list.
```sh js
# Emulate iPhone 11.
$ npx playwright --device="iPhone 11" open wikipedia.org
```
```sh python
# Emulate iPhone 11.
$ python -m playwright --device="iPhone 11" open wikipedia.org
```
### Emulate color scheme and viewport size
```sh js
# Emulate screen size and color scheme.
$ npx playwright --viewport-size=800,600 --color-scheme=dark open twitter.com
```
```sh python
# Emulate screen size and color scheme.
$ python -m playwright --viewport-size=800,600 --color-scheme=dark open twitter.com
```
### Emulate geolocation, language and timezone
```sh js
# Emulate timezone, language & location
# Once page opens, click the "my location" button to see geolocation in action
$ npx playwright --timezone="Europe/Rome" --geolocation="41.890221,12.492348" --lang="it-IT" open maps.google.com
```
```sh python
# Emulate timezone, language & location
# Once page opens, click the "my location" button to see geolocation in action
$ python -m playwright --timezone="Europe/Rome" --geolocation="41.890221,12.492348" --lang="it-IT" open maps.google.com
```
## Inspect selectors
During `open` or `codegen`, you can use following API inside the developer tools console of any browser.
#### playwright.$(selector)
Query Playwright selector, using the actual Playwright query engine, for example:
```js
> playwright.$('.auth-form >> text=Log in');
```
#### playwright.$$(selector)
Same as `playwright.$`, but returns all matching elements.
```js
> playwright.$$('li >> text=John')
> [