Storage & Authentication

Manage cookies, localStorage, sessionStorage, and save/restore full browser state for authentication persistence.

Storage state (cookies + localStorage)

Save and restore the full browser state (cookies + localStorage) in a single file. This is the primary way to persist authentication across sessions.

playwright-cli state-save [filename]    # save to file (default: auto-named)
playwright-cli state-load <filename>    # restore from file

Workflow: save login, skip it next time

# Login once
playwright-cli open https://app.example.com/login
playwright-cli fill e3 "user@example.com"
playwright-cli fill e5 "password123"
playwright-cli click e7

# Save authenticated state
playwright-cli state-save auth.json

# Later, skip login entirely
playwright-cli state-load auth.json
playwright-cli goto https://app.example.com/dashboard
# Already logged in!

Cookies

Command	Description
cookie-list [--domain] [--path]	List cookies (optionally filtered by domain or path)
cookie-get <name>	Get a specific cookie
cookie-set <name> <value> [options]	Set a cookie
cookie-delete <name>	Delete a cookie
cookie-clear	Clear all cookies

cookie-set options

Option	Description
--domain=<domain>	Cookie domain
--path=<path>	Cookie path (default: /)
--expires=<timestamp>	Expiration as Unix timestamp
--http-only	HTTP-only flag
--secure	Secure flag
--same-site=<value>	Strict, Lax, or None

$ playwright-cli cookie-list
# Name          Value       Domain            HttpOnly  Secure  Expires
# session_id    abc123      .example.com      true      true    2024-12-31
# theme         dark        .example.com      false     false   Session

$ playwright-cli cookie-list --domain=.github.com
$ playwright-cli cookie-get session_id
$ playwright-cli cookie-set theme light
$ playwright-cli cookie-set session abc123 --domain=.example.com --secure --http-only
$ playwright-cli cookie-delete session_id
$ playwright-cli cookie-clear

Workflow: test logout by clearing cookies

playwright-cli cookie-clear
playwright-cli reload
playwright-cli snapshot
# - heading "Sign in" [level=1]
# - textbox "Email" [ref=e3]

localStorage

Command	Description
localstorage-list	List all key-value pairs
localstorage-get <key>	Get a value by key
localstorage-set <key> <value>	Set a value
localstorage-delete <key>	Delete a key
localstorage-clear	Clear all

$ playwright-cli localstorage-list
# Key                Value
# user_preferences   {"theme":"dark","lang":"en"}
# onboarding_done    true

$ playwright-cli localstorage-get user_preferences
# {"theme":"dark","lang":"en"}

$ playwright-cli localstorage-set onboarding_done "false"
$ playwright-cli reload
# Onboarding wizard appears

sessionStorage

Same commands with sessionstorage- prefix. Data is cleared when the tab closes.

playwright-cli sessionstorage-list
playwright-cli sessionstorage-get <key>
playwright-cli sessionstorage-set <key> <value>
playwright-cli sessionstorage-delete <key>
playwright-cli sessionstorage-clear