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BrowserType

BrowserType provides methods to launch a specific browser instance or connect to an existing one. The following is a typical example of using Playwright to drive automation:

using Microsoft.Playwright;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

class BrowserTypeExamples
{
    public static async Task Run()
    {
        using var playwright = await Playwright.CreateAsync();
        var chromium = playwright.Chromium;
        var browser = await chromium.LaunchAsync();
        var page = await browser.NewPageAsync();
        await page.GotoAsync("https://www.bing.com");
        // other actions
        await browser.CloseAsync();
    }
}

Methods​

ConnectAsync​

Added in: v1.8 browserType.ConnectAsync

This method attaches Playwright to an existing browser instance. When connecting to another browser launched via BrowserType.launchServer in Node.js, the major and minor version needs to match the client version (1.2.3 → is compatible with 1.2.x).

Usage

await BrowserType.ConnectAsync(wsEndpoint, options);

Arguments

  • wsEndpoint string Added in: v1.10#

    A browser websocket endpoint to connect to.

  • options BrowserTypeConnectOptions? (optional)

    • ExposeNetwork string? (optional) Added in: v1.37#

      This option exposes network available on the connecting client to the browser being connected to. Consists of a list of rules separated by comma.

      Available rules:

      1. Hostname pattern, for example: example.com, *.org:99, x.*.y.com, *foo.org.
      2. IP literal, for example: 127.0.0.1, 0.0.0.0:99, [::1], [0:0::1]:99.
      3. <loopback> that matches local loopback interfaces: localhost, *.localhost, 127.0.0.1, [::1].

      Some common examples:

      1. "*" to expose all network.
      2. "<loopback>" to expose localhost network.
      3. "*.test.internal-domain,*.staging.internal-domain,<loopback>" to expose test/staging deployments and localhost.

    • Headers IDictionary?<string, string> (optional) Added in: v1.11#

      Additional HTTP headers to be sent with web socket connect request. Optional.

    • SlowMo [float]? (optional) Added in: v1.10#

      Slows down Playwright operations by the specified amount of milliseconds. Useful so that you can see what is going on. Defaults to 0.

    • Timeout [float]? (optional) Added in: v1.10#

      Maximum time in milliseconds to wait for the connection to be established. Defaults to 0 (no timeout).

Returns

ConnectOverCDPAsync​

Added in: v1.9 browserType.ConnectOverCDPAsync

This method attaches Playwright to an existing browser instance using the Chrome DevTools Protocol.

The default browser context is accessible via Browser.Contexts.

note

Connecting over the Chrome DevTools Protocol is only supported for Chromium-based browsers.

Usage

var browser = await playwright.Chromium.ConnectOverCDPAsync("http://localhost:9222");
var defaultContext = browser.Contexts[0];
var page = defaultContext.Pages[0];

Arguments

  • endpointURL string Added in: v1.11#

    A CDP websocket endpoint or http url to connect to. For example http://localhost:9222/ or ws://127.0.0.1:9222/devtools/browser/387adf4c-243f-4051-a181-46798f4a46f4.

  • options BrowserTypeConnectOverCDPOptions? (optional)

    • Headers IDictionary?<string, string> (optional) Added in: v1.11#

      Additional HTTP headers to be sent with connect request. Optional.

    • SlowMo [float]? (optional) Added in: v1.11#

      Slows down Playwright operations by the specified amount of milliseconds. Useful so that you can see what is going on. Defaults to 0.

    • Timeout [float]? (optional) Added in: v1.11#

      Maximum time in milliseconds to wait for the connection to be established. Defaults to 30000 (30 seconds). Pass 0 to disable timeout.

Returns

ExecutablePath​

Added in: v1.8 browserType.ExecutablePath

A path where Playwright expects to find a bundled browser executable.

Usage

BrowserType.ExecutablePath

Returns

LaunchAsync​

Added in: v1.8 browserType.LaunchAsync

Returns the browser instance.

Usage

You can use ignoreDefaultArgs to filter out --mute-audio from default arguments:

var browser = await playwright.Chromium.LaunchAsync(new() {
    IgnoreDefaultArgs = new[] { "--mute-audio" }
});

Chromium-only Playwright can also be used to control the Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge browsers, but it works best with the version of Chromium it is bundled with. There is no guarantee it will work with any other version. Use executablePath option with extreme caution.

If Google Chrome (rather than Chromium) is preferred, a Chrome Canary or Dev Channel build is suggested.

Stock browsers like Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge are suitable for tests that require proprietary media codecs for video playback. See this article for other differences between Chromium and Chrome. This article describes some differences for Linux users.

Arguments

  • options BrowserTypeLaunchOptions? (optional)

    • Args IEnumerable?<string> (optional)#

      warning

      Use custom browser args at your own risk, as some of them may break Playwright functionality.

      Additional arguments to pass to the browser instance. The list of Chromium flags can be found here.

    • Channel string? (optional)#

      Browser distribution channel. Supported values are "chrome", "chrome-beta", "chrome-dev", "chrome-canary", "msedge", "msedge-beta", "msedge-dev", "msedge-canary". Read more about using Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.

    • ChromiumSandbox bool? (optional)#

      Enable Chromium sandboxing. Defaults to false.

    • Devtools bool? (optional)#

      Deprecated

      Use debugging tools instead.

      Chromium-only Whether to auto-open a Developer Tools panel for each tab. If this option is true, the headless option will be set false.

    • DownloadsPath string? (optional)#

      If specified, accepted downloads are downloaded into this directory. Otherwise, temporary directory is created and is deleted when browser is closed. In either case, the downloads are deleted when the browser context they were created in is closed.

    • Env IDictionary?<string, string> (optional)#

      Specify environment variables that will be visible to the browser. Defaults to process.env.

    • ExecutablePath string? (optional)#

      Path to a browser executable to run instead of the bundled one. If executablePath is a relative path, then it is resolved relative to the current working directory. Note that Playwright only works with the bundled Chromium, Firefox or WebKit, use at your own risk.

    • FirefoxUserPrefs IDictionary?<string, [object]> (optional)#

      Firefox user preferences. Learn more about the Firefox user preferences at about:config.

    • HandleSIGHUP bool? (optional)#

      Close the browser process on SIGHUP. Defaults to true.

    • HandleSIGINT bool? (optional)#

      Close the browser process on Ctrl-C. Defaults to true.

    • HandleSIGTERM bool? (optional)#

      Close the browser process on SIGTERM. Defaults to true.

    • Headless bool? (optional)#

      Whether to run browser in headless mode. More details for Chromium and Firefox. Defaults to true unless the devtools option is true.

    • IgnoreAllDefaultArgs bool? (optional) Added in: v1.9#

      If true, Playwright does not pass its own configurations args and only uses the ones from args. Dangerous option; use with care. Defaults to false.

    • IgnoreDefaultArgs IEnumerable?<string> (optional)#

      If true, Playwright does not pass its own configurations args and only uses the ones from args. Dangerous option; use with care.

    • Proxy Proxy? (optional)#

      • Server string

        Proxy to be used for all requests. HTTP and SOCKS proxies are supported, for example http://myproxy.com:3128 or socks5://myproxy.com:3128. Short form myproxy.com:3128 is considered an HTTP proxy.

      • Bypass string? (optional)

        Optional comma-separated domains to bypass proxy, for example ".com, chromium.org, .domain.com".

      • Username string? (optional)

        Optional username to use if HTTP proxy requires authentication.

      • Password string? (optional)

        Optional password to use if HTTP proxy requires authentication.

      Network proxy settings.

    • SlowMo [float]? (optional)#

      Slows down Playwright operations by the specified amount of milliseconds. Useful so that you can see what is going on.

    • Timeout [float]? (optional)#

      Maximum time in milliseconds to wait for the browser instance to start. Defaults to 30000 (30 seconds). Pass 0 to disable timeout.

    • TracesDir string? (optional)#

      If specified, traces are saved into this directory.

Returns

LaunchPersistentContextAsync​

Added in: v1.8 browserType.LaunchPersistentContextAsync

Returns the persistent browser context instance.

Launches browser that uses persistent storage located at userDataDir and returns the only context. Closing this context will automatically close the browser.

Usage

await BrowserType.LaunchPersistentContextAsync(userDataDir, options);

Arguments

  • userDataDir string#

    Path to a User Data Directory, which stores browser session data like cookies and local storage. More details for Chromium and Firefox. Note that Chromium's user data directory is the parent directory of the "Profile Path" seen at chrome://version. Pass an empty string to use a temporary directory instead.

  • options BrowserTypeLaunchPersistentContextOptions? (optional)

    • AcceptDownloads bool? (optional)#

      Whether to automatically download all the attachments. Defaults to true where all the downloads are accepted.

    • Args IEnumerable?<string> (optional)#

      warning

      Use custom browser args at your own risk, as some of them may break Playwright functionality.

      Additional arguments to pass to the browser instance. The list of Chromium flags can be found here.

    • BaseURL string? (optional)#

      When using Page.GotoAsync(), Page.RouteAsync(), Page.WaitForURLAsync(), Page.RunAndWaitForRequestAsync(), or Page.RunAndWaitForResponseAsync() it takes the base URL in consideration by using the URL() constructor for building the corresponding URL. Unset by default. Examples:

      • baseURL: http://localhost:3000 and navigating to /bar.html results in http://localhost:3000/bar.html
      • baseURL: http://localhost:3000/foo/ and navigating to ./bar.html results in http://localhost:3000/foo/bar.html
      • baseURL: http://localhost:3000/foo (without trailing slash) and navigating to ./bar.html results in http://localhost:3000/bar.html

    • BypassCSP bool? (optional)#

      Toggles bypassing page's Content-Security-Policy. Defaults to false.

    • Channel string? (optional)#

      Browser distribution channel. Supported values are "chrome", "chrome-beta", "chrome-dev", "chrome-canary", "msedge", "msedge-beta", "msedge-dev", "msedge-canary". Read more about using Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.

    • ChromiumSandbox bool? (optional)#

      Enable Chromium sandboxing. Defaults to false.

    • ColorScheme enum ColorScheme { Light, Dark, NoPreference, Null }? (optional)#

      Emulates 'prefers-colors-scheme' media feature, supported values are 'light', 'dark', 'no-preference'. See Page.EmulateMediaAsync() for more details. Passing 'null' resets emulation to system defaults. Defaults to 'light'.

    • DeviceScaleFactor [float]? (optional)#

      Specify device scale factor (can be thought of as dpr). Defaults to 1. Learn more about emulating devices with device scale factor.

    • Devtools bool? (optional)#

      Deprecated

      Use debugging tools instead.

      Chromium-only Whether to auto-open a Developer Tools panel for each tab. If this option is true, the headless option will be set false.

    • DownloadsPath string? (optional)#

      If specified, accepted downloads are downloaded into this directory. Otherwise, temporary directory is created and is deleted when browser is closed. In either case, the downloads are deleted when the browser context they were created in is closed.

    • Env IDictionary?<string, string> (optional)#

      Specify environment variables that will be visible to the browser. Defaults to process.env.

    • ExecutablePath string? (optional)#

      Path to a browser executable to run instead of the bundled one. If executablePath is a relative path, then it is resolved relative to the current working directory. Note that Playwright only works with the bundled Chromium, Firefox or WebKit, use at your own risk.

    • ExtraHTTPHeaders IDictionary?<string, string> (optional)#

      An object containing additional HTTP headers to be sent with every request. Defaults to none.

    • FirefoxUserPrefs IDictionary?<string, [object]> (optional) Added in: v1.40#

      Firefox user preferences. Learn more about the Firefox user preferences at about:config.

    • ForcedColors enum ForcedColors { Active, None, Null }? (optional)#

      Emulates 'forced-colors' media feature, supported values are 'active', 'none'. See Page.EmulateMediaAsync() for more details. Passing 'null' resets emulation to system defaults. Defaults to 'none'.

    • Geolocation Geolocation? (optional)#

      • Latitude [float]

        Latitude between -90 and 90.

      • Longitude [float]

        Longitude between -180 and 180.

      • Accuracy [float]? (optional)

        Non-negative accuracy value. Defaults to 0.

    • HandleSIGHUP bool? (optional)#

      Close the browser process on SIGHUP. Defaults to true.

    • HandleSIGINT bool? (optional)#

      Close the browser process on Ctrl-C. Defaults to true.

    • HandleSIGTERM bool? (optional)#

      Close the browser process on SIGTERM. Defaults to true.

    • HasTouch bool? (optional)#

      Specifies if viewport supports touch events. Defaults to false. Learn more about mobile emulation.

    • Headless bool? (optional)#

      Whether to run browser in headless mode. More details for Chromium and Firefox. Defaults to true unless the devtools option is true.

    • HttpCredentials HttpCredentials? (optional)#

      • Username string

      • Password string

      • Origin string? (optional)

        Restrain sending http credentials on specific origin (scheme://host:port).

      Credentials for HTTP authentication. If no origin is specified, the username and password are sent to any servers upon unauthorized responses.

    • IgnoreAllDefaultArgs bool? (optional) Added in: v1.9#

      If true, Playwright does not pass its own configurations args and only uses the ones from args. Dangerous option; use with care. Defaults to false.

    • IgnoreDefaultArgs IEnumerable?<string> (optional)#

      If true, Playwright does not pass its own configurations args and only uses the ones from args. Dangerous option; use with care.

    • IgnoreHTTPSErrors bool? (optional)#

      Whether to ignore HTTPS errors when sending network requests. Defaults to false.

    • IsMobile bool? (optional)#

      Whether the meta viewport tag is taken into account and touch events are enabled. isMobile is a part of device, so you don't actually need to set it manually. Defaults to false and is not supported in Firefox. Learn more about mobile emulation.

    • JavaScriptEnabled bool? (optional)#

      Whether or not to enable JavaScript in the context. Defaults to true. Learn more about disabling JavaScript.

    • Locale string? (optional)#

      Specify user locale, for example en-GB, de-DE, etc. Locale will affect navigator.language value, Accept-Language request header value as well as number and date formatting rules. Defaults to the system default locale. Learn more about emulation in our emulation guide.

    • Offline bool? (optional)#

      Whether to emulate network being offline. Defaults to false. Learn more about network emulation.

    • Permissions IEnumerable?<string> (optional)#

      A list of permissions to grant to all pages in this context. See BrowserContext.GrantPermissionsAsync() for more details. Defaults to none.

    • Proxy Proxy? (optional)#

      • Server string

        Proxy to be used for all requests. HTTP and SOCKS proxies are supported, for example http://myproxy.com:3128 or socks5://myproxy.com:3128. Short form myproxy.com:3128 is considered an HTTP proxy.

      • Bypass string? (optional)

        Optional comma-separated domains to bypass proxy, for example ".com, chromium.org, .domain.com".

      • Username string? (optional)

        Optional username to use if HTTP proxy requires authentication.

      • Password string? (optional)

        Optional password to use if HTTP proxy requires authentication.

      Network proxy settings.

    • RecordHarContent enum HarContentPolicy { Omit, Embed, Attach }? (optional)#

      Optional setting to control resource content management. If omit is specified, content is not persisted. If attach is specified, resources are persisted as separate files and all of these files are archived along with the HAR file. Defaults to embed, which stores content inline the HAR file as per HAR specification.

    • RecordHarMode enum HarMode { Full, Minimal }? (optional)#

      When set to minimal, only record information necessary for routing from HAR. This omits sizes, timing, page, cookies, security and other types of HAR information that are not used when replaying from HAR. Defaults to full.

    • RecordHarOmitContent bool? (optional)#

      Optional setting to control whether to omit request content from the HAR. Defaults to false.

    • RecordHarPath string? (optional)#

      Enables HAR recording for all pages into the specified HAR file on the filesystem. If not specified, the HAR is not recorded. Make sure to call BrowserContext.CloseAsync() for the HAR to be saved.

    • RecordHarUrlFilter|RecordHarUrlFilterRegex string?|Regex? (optional)#

    • RecordVideoDir string? (optional)#

      Enables video recording for all pages into the specified directory. If not specified videos are not recorded. Make sure to call BrowserContext.CloseAsync() for videos to be saved.

    • RecordVideoSize RecordVideoSize? (optional)#

      • Width int

        Video frame width.

      • Height int

        Video frame height.

      Dimensions of the recorded videos. If not specified the size will be equal to viewport scaled down to fit into 800x800. If viewport is not configured explicitly the video size defaults to 800x450. Actual picture of each page will be scaled down if necessary to fit the specified size.

    • ReducedMotion enum ReducedMotion { Reduce, NoPreference, Null }? (optional)#

      Emulates 'prefers-reduced-motion' media feature, supported values are 'reduce', 'no-preference'. See Page.EmulateMediaAsync() for more details. Passing 'null' resets emulation to system defaults. Defaults to 'no-preference'.

    • ScreenSize ScreenSize? (optional)#

      • Width int

        page width in pixels.

      • Height int

        page height in pixels.

      Emulates consistent window screen size available inside web page via window.screen. Is only used when the viewport is set.

    • ServiceWorkers enum ServiceWorkerPolicy { Allow, Block }? (optional)#

      Whether to allow sites to register Service workers. Defaults to 'allow'.

      • 'allow': Service Workers can be registered.
      • 'block': Playwright will block all registration of Service Workers.

    • SlowMo [float]? (optional)#

      Slows down Playwright operations by the specified amount of milliseconds. Useful so that you can see what is going on.

    • StrictSelectors bool? (optional)#

      If set to true, enables strict selectors mode for this context. In the strict selectors mode all operations on selectors that imply single target DOM element will throw when more than one element matches the selector. This option does not affect any Locator APIs (Locators are always strict). Defaults to false. See Locator to learn more about the strict mode.

    • Timeout [float]? (optional)#

      Maximum time in milliseconds to wait for the browser instance to start. Defaults to 30000 (30 seconds). Pass 0 to disable timeout.

    • TimezoneId string? (optional)#

      Changes the timezone of the context. See ICU's metaZones.txt for a list of supported timezone IDs. Defaults to the system timezone.

    • TracesDir string? (optional)#

      If specified, traces are saved into this directory.

    • UserAgent string? (optional)#

      Specific user agent to use in this context.

    • ViewportSize ViewportSize? (optional)#

      • Width int

        page width in pixels.

      • Height int

        page height in pixels.

      Emulates consistent viewport for each page. Defaults to an 1280x720 viewport. Use ViewportSize.NoViewport to disable the consistent viewport emulation. Learn more about viewport emulation.

      note

      The ViewportSize.NoViewport value opts out from the default presets, makes viewport depend on the host window size defined by the operating system. It makes the execution of the tests non-deterministic.

Returns

Name​

Added in: v1.8 browserType.Name

Returns browser name. For example: 'chromium', 'webkit' or 'firefox'.

Usage

BrowserType.Name

Returns