Playwright CLI records browser sessions on demand
Introduced 2026-01-31 · score 0.96
HOW TO USE IT
When debugging or reviewing a web application, start a video recording, perform the browser flow, then stop the recording to save the video. In Playwright MCP, enable the capability with `--caps=devtools` and use the video tools.
playwright-cli open playwright.dev
playwright-cli video-start
# Perform the browser flow
playwright-cli video-stopplaywright-cli video-start <filename>.webm
# Perform the browser flow
playwright-cli video-stop# Start the MCP server with the devtools capability enabled: --caps=devtools
browser_start_video {}
# Perform the browser flow
browser_stop_video {}WHY THIS HELPS
Record a browser flow while debugging or reviewing a web application.
REQUIREMENTS AND LIMITATIONS
- Version: v0.0.62
- video-start [filename]: Optional output video filename.
- --caps=devtools: Enables the MCP developer tools, including session video recording.
- browser_start_video.filename: Video output filename; when omitted, saves as `video-{timestamp}.webm` in the output directory.
- browser_start_video.size: Video size object.
- Prerequisite: Playwright CLI requires Node.js 18 or newer; install with `npm install -g @playwright/cli@latest`.
- Prerequisite: For MCP video tools, start Playwright MCP with `--caps=devtools`.
FIRST-PARTY EVIDENCE
- https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-mcp/releases/tag/v0.0.62
- https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/blob/main/skills/playwright-cli/references/video-recording.md
- https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-mcp/blob/main/README.md
- https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli
Check the installed version and the source before using it. Entry JSON