{
  "slug": "playwright-mcp-restricts-browser-urls-and-file-access-by-default-42b3dbe4fd4c",
  "title": "playwright-mcp restricts browser URLs and file access by default",
  "tools": [
    "playwright-mcp"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "agent"
  ],
  "introduced_at": "2026-01-09T22:18:22.000Z",
  "announced_at": "2026-01-09T22:18:22.000Z",
  "effective_at": null,
  "date_basis": "source-publication",
  "status": "unknown",
  "how": {
    "incantation": "When browsing or uploading with Playwright MCP v0.0.55, keep URLs to `http:`, `https:`, `about:`, or `data:` and upload from workspace roots (or `cwd` if none are configured). If the task requires `file://` or files outside those roots, enable `--allow-unrestricted-file-access` or set `allowUnrestrictedFileAccess: true`.",
    "examples": [
      "npx @playwright/mcp@0.0.55 --allow-unrestricted-file-access",
      "{\"allowUnrestrictedFileAccess\": true}"
    ],
    "gotchas": [
      "Version: v0.0.55",
      "--allow-unrestricted-file-access: Allows access to files outside workspace roots and unrestricted `file://` URLs; otherwise file access is restricted to roots (or `cwd` if none are configured), and `file://` navigation is blocked.",
      "allowUnrestrictedFileAccess: Boolean config key to opt out of file access restrictions when set to `true`.",
      "Prerequisite: Playwright MCP requires Node.js 18 or newer.",
      "File uploads through `setInputFiles`, file choosers, and MCP file tools are restricted to workspace root directories, or `cwd` if no roots are configured.",
      "Browser navigation and API requests are limited to `http:`, `https:`, `about:`, and `data:` URLs; `file://` is blocked unless unrestricted file access is enabled."
    ]
  },
  "why_it_matters": "Browse pages and upload files while automating a repository with Playwright MCP.",
  "sources": [
    "https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-mcp/releases/tag/v0.0.55",
    "https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-mcp/blob/v0.0.55/README.md"
  ],
  "rank": 0.92059,
  "judge": {
    "publish": true,
    "judge_model": "codex-cli/gpt-6-luna+typesafe/jev-1.13.0",
    "prompt_version": "extract-v7+enrich-v1+judge-v2x3+jev-publish-v1"
  },
  "review_state": "approved",
  "provenance": {
    "run_id": "backfill-20261007",
    "verdict_id": "backfill-20261007:backfill-20261007-d839ee87ae37931a-0:gate",
    "evidence_hash": "75f1c44b1cc37a2e47093bbaceb6a0348857cb42438e50bcaac6ba4e72784825"
  },
  "review": {
    "draft_hash": "71693bba11f85c2b7b89c7d4a7ffb7c9e9a783c776aad4315e1c7ceb863ad2b4",
    "reviewer": "publication-gate",
    "reviewed_at": "2026-10-07T00:00:00.000Z",
    "decision": "backfill-20261007:gate",
    "reason": "2 of 3 judge runs approved with p_yes >= 0.9 (mean 0.92 >= 0.9; 2 needed) and Jev gave 0.79 (>= 0.6 needed)."
  }
}