fetch-playwright

Drive a real Chromium browser from the runtime AI via Microsoft's official @playwright/mcp server. Use this when fetch-jina (cheapest) and fetch-crawl4ai (depth + basic JS) still cannot reach the content — typically because the page requires clicking, typing, scrolling, waiting for an event, or capturing a screenshot.

Architecture (why there is no Python file in this skill)

This skill is documentation-only. The runtime AI calls playwright-mcp tools directly through its MCP client — autosearch does not wrap them. The skill exists so the runtime AI knows:

1. When to reach for Playwright (vs. fetch-jina / fetch-crawl4ai).
2. How to install @playwright/mcp.
3. Which MCP tools to call for common web-research patterns.

Install

Register with your MCP client. For Claude Code, prefer claude mcp add (writes to ~/.claude.json); for project-scoped config use <project>/.mcp.json. Cursor reads ~/.cursor/mcp.json; Zed reads <project>/.zed/mcp.json. Schema for any of them:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@playwright/mcp@latest"]
    }
  }
}

On first run, npx will download @playwright/mcp and Playwright will install a Chromium bundle. No API keys. Works offline for local pages.

Common Tool Calls (as used by the runtime AI)

Tool names below come from @playwright/mcp. Exact schemas are served by the MCP server itself; the runtime AI enumerates them via the MCP client.

• browser_navigate(url) — go to a URL.
• browser_snapshot() — accessibility tree of the current page (cheap text form, no screenshot).
• browser_click(ref) / browser_type(ref, text) / browser_press_key(key) — interact with elements from the snapshot.
• browser_wait_for(text | time | element) — wait for an event or selector.
• browser_take_screenshot() — capture the current page as an image.
• browser_evaluate(script) — run custom JS (use sparingly).
• browser_network_requests() / browser_console_messages() — inspection.
• browser_tabs(...) — open, list, select, close tabs.
• browser_close() — release the browser.

When to Use

• Page requires clicking a "Show more" / "Accept cookies" before content renders.
• Login-gated content where the user has supplied a session (via storage state).
• Infinite-scroll feed where lazy-load fires on scroll.
• Verifying a production flow where screenshots are the deliverable.
• Debugging network / console errors on a third-party page.

When NOT to Use

• Static article, documentation, blog post → fetch-jina is cheaper.
• Lightly JS-rendered page that works with plain crawl → fetch-crawl4ai.
• Paid, hardened anti-bot site → fetch-firecrawl (paid) may still succeed where an ordinary Chromium cannot.

Limits

• @playwright/mcp requires Node.js >= 18 and writes a Playwright browser bundle to the user's cache on first run (~200 MB).
• Long sessions consume memory; the runtime AI should call browser_close() when a task ends.
• Headful mode requires a desktop; CI / headless servers must use the default headless mode.
• Cookie / profile / storage state setup is the caller's responsibility (see @playwright/mcp docs for storageState).

Downgrade / Upgrade Chain

• Below: fetch-crawl4ai (Playwright, same browser engine but no interactive control) → fetch-jina (HTTP Markdown only).
• Above: fetch-firecrawl (paid, stronger anti-bot and managed infra).

This tool does not produce a summary. The runtime AI processes the tool outputs directly; autosearch provides only the routing guidance in this SKILL.md.

Quality Bar

• Evidence items have non-empty title and url.
• No crash on empty or malformed API response.
• Source channel field matches the channel name.