Interaction

Commands

Command	Description
click <target> [button]	Click an element (left, right, or middle)
dblclick <target> [button]	Double-click an element
fill <target> <text>	Clear and fill text into an input
type <text>	Type text into the focused element
select <target> <value>	Select a dropdown option
check <target> / uncheck <target>	Check or uncheck a checkbox or radio button
hover <target>	Hover over an element
drag <startTarget> <endTarget>	Drag and drop between two elements
drop <target>	Drop files or data onto an element from outside the page
upload <files...>	Upload one or more files
resize <width> <height>	Resize the browser window

Targeting elements

Refs from snapshots (recommended)

playwright-cli snapshot                 # get element refs
playwright-cli click e15                # click by ref
playwright-cli fill e3 "hello"          # fill by ref

On a large page, find locates an element without capturing the whole tree:

playwright-cli find "Add to cart"
# - button "Add to cart" [ref=e42]
playwright-cli click e42

CSS selectors

playwright-cli click "#main > button.submit"
playwright-cli click "[data-testid='submit']"
playwright-cli fill "#email" "test@example.com"

Playwright locators

playwright-cli click "getByRole('button', { name: 'Submit' })"
playwright-cli click "getByTestId('submit-button')"
playwright-cli click "getByText('Login')"
playwright-cli fill "getByLabel('Email')" "test@example.com"

Clicking

playwright-cli click e15                       # left click
playwright-cli click e15 right                 # right click (context menu)
playwright-cli click e15 middle                # middle click
playwright-cli dblclick e15                    # double click

# hold modifier keys: Alt, Control, ControlOrMeta, Meta, Shift
playwright-cli click e15 --modifiers=Shift
playwright-cli click e15 --modifiers=ControlOrMeta --modifiers=Shift

--modifiers is repeatable — pass it once per key.

Form interaction

# Fill a text field
playwright-cli fill e3 "test@example.com"

# Fill and submit (presses Enter afterwards)
playwright-cli fill e3 "search query" --submit

# Type into whatever is focused, optionally submitting
playwright-cli type "search query"
playwright-cli type "search query" --submit

# Select from dropdown
playwright-cli select e7 "United States"

# Checkboxes
playwright-cli check e10                # check
playwright-cli uncheck e10              # uncheck

# File upload through a file input or file chooser
playwright-cli upload /path/to/file.pdf
playwright-cli upload /path/to/a.pdf /path/to/b.pdf

# Resize browser window
playwright-cli resize 375 812           # mobile viewport
playwright-cli resize 1920 1080         # desktop

Drag and drop

drag moves one element in the page onto another. drop simulates a drop that originates outside the page — a file dragged from the desktop, or text dragged from another app.

# reorder items within the page
playwright-cli drag e2 e8

# drop files onto a dropzone
playwright-cli drop e4 --path=/abs/path/to/image.png
playwright-cli drop e4 --path=/abs/path/a.png --path=/abs/path/b.png

# drop typed data
playwright-cli drop e4 --data="text/plain=hello world"
playwright-cli drop e4 --data='application/json={"id":1}'

Both --path and --data are repeatable. Paths must be absolute; --data entries use mime/type=value format.

Workflow: login form

$ playwright-cli snapshot
# - textbox "Email" [ref=e3]
# - textbox "Password" [ref=e5]
# - checkbox "Remember me" [ref=e7]
# - button "Sign in" [ref=e9]

$ playwright-cli fill e3 "alice@example.com"
$ playwright-cli fill e5 "s3cureP@ss!"
$ playwright-cli check e7
$ playwright-cli click e9

$ playwright-cli snapshot
# - heading "Welcome back, Alice!" [level=1]