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Browser

A Browser is created via browser_type.launch(). An example of using a Browser to create a Page:

from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright, Playwright

def run(playwright: Playwright):
    firefox = playwright.firefox
    browser = firefox.launch()
    page = browser.new_page()
    page.goto("https://example.com")
    browser.close()

with sync_playwright() as playwright:
    run(playwright)

Methods​

close​

Added before v1.9 browser.close

In case this browser is obtained using browser_type.launch(), closes the browser and all of its pages (if any were opened).

In case this browser is connected to, clears all created contexts belonging to this browser and disconnects from the browser server.

note

This is similar to force-quitting the browser. To close pages gracefully and ensure you receive page close events, call browser_context.close() on any BrowserContext instances you explicitly created earlier using browser.new_context() before calling browser.close().

The Browser object itself is considered to be disposed and cannot be used anymore.

Usage

browser.close()
browser.close(**kwargs)

Arguments

  • reason str (optional) Added in: v1.40#

    The reason to be reported to the operations interrupted by the browser closure.

Returns

new_browser_cdp_session​

Added in: v1.11 browser.new_browser_cdp_session
note

CDP Sessions are only supported on Chromium-based browsers.

Returns the newly created browser session.

Usage

browser.new_browser_cdp_session()

Returns

new_context​

Added before v1.9 browser.new_context

Creates a new browser context. It won't share cookies/cache with other browser contexts.

note

If directly using this method to create BrowserContexts, it is best practice to explicitly close the returned context via browser_context.close() when your code is done with the BrowserContext, and before calling browser.close(). This will ensure the context is closed gracefully and any artifacts—like HARs and videos—are fully flushed and saved.

Usage

browser = playwright.firefox.launch() # or "chromium" or "webkit".
# create a new incognito browser context.
context = browser.new_context()
# create a new page in a pristine context.
page = context.new_page()
page.goto("https://example.com")

# gracefully close up everything
context.close()
browser.close()

Arguments

  • accept_downloads bool (optional)#

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

  • base_url str (optional)#

    When using page.goto(), page.route(), page.wait_for_url(), page.expect_request(), or page.expect_response() 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

  • bypass_csp bool (optional)#

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

  • client_certificates List[Dict] (optional) Added in: 1.46#

    • origin str

      Exact origin that the certificate is valid for. Origin includes https protocol, a hostname and optionally a port.

    • certPath Union[str, pathlib.Path] (optional)

      Path to the file with the certificate in PEM format.

    • cert bytes (optional)

      Direct value of the certificate in PEM format.

    • keyPath Union[str, pathlib.Path] (optional)

      Path to the file with the private key in PEM format.

    • key bytes (optional)

      Direct value of the private key in PEM format.

    • pfxPath Union[str, pathlib.Path] (optional)

      Path to the PFX or PKCS12 encoded private key and certificate chain.

    • pfx bytes (optional)

      Direct value of the PFX or PKCS12 encoded private key and certificate chain.

    • passphrase str (optional)

      Passphrase for the private key (PEM or PFX).

    TLS Client Authentication allows the server to request a client certificate and verify it.

    Details

    An array of client certificates to be used. Each certificate object must have either both certPath and keyPath, a single pfxPath, or their corresponding direct value equivalents (cert and key, or pfx). Optionally, passphrase property should be provided if the certificate is encrypted. The origin property should be provided with an exact match to the request origin that the certificate is valid for.

    note

    When using WebKit on macOS, accessing localhost will not pick up client certificates. You can make it work by replacing localhost with local.playwright.

  • color_scheme "light" | "dark" | "no-preference" | "null" (optional)#

    Emulates prefers-colors-scheme media feature, supported values are 'light' and 'dark'. See page.emulate_media() for more details. Passing 'null' resets emulation to system defaults. Defaults to 'light'.

  • contrast "no-preference" | "more" | "null" (optional)#

    Emulates 'prefers-contrast' media feature, supported values are 'no-preference', 'more'. See page.emulate_media() for more details. Passing 'null' resets emulation to system defaults. Defaults to 'no-preference'.

  • device_scale_factor float (optional)#

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

  • extra_http_headers Dict[str, str] (optional)#

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

  • forced_colors "active" | "none" | "null" (optional)#

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

  • geolocation Dict (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.

  • has_touch bool (optional)#

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

  • http_credentials Dict (optional)#

    • username str

    • password str

    • origin str (optional)

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

    • send "unauthorized" | "always" (optional)

      This option only applies to the requests sent from corresponding APIRequestContext and does not affect requests sent from the browser. 'always' - Authorization header with basic authentication credentials will be sent with the each API request. 'unauthorized - the credentials are only sent when 401 (Unauthorized) response with WWW-Authenticate header is received. Defaults to 'unauthorized'.

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

  • ignore_https_errors bool (optional)#

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

  • is_mobile 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.

  • java_script_enabled bool (optional)#

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

  • locale str (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.

  • no_viewport bool (optional)#

    Does not enforce fixed viewport, allows resizing window in the headed mode.

  • offline bool (optional)#

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

  • permissions List[str] (optional)#

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

  • proxy Dict (optional)#

    • server str

      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 str (optional)

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

    • username str (optional)

      Optional username to use if HTTP proxy requires authentication.

    • password str (optional)

      Optional password to use if HTTP proxy requires authentication.

    Network proxy settings to use with this context. Defaults to none.

  • record_har_content "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.

  • record_har_mode "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.

  • record_har_omit_content bool (optional)#

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

  • record_har_path Union[str, pathlib.Path] (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 browser_context.close() for the HAR to be saved.

  • record_har_url_filter str | Pattern (optional)#

  • record_video_dir Union[str, pathlib.Path] (optional)#

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

  • record_video_size Dict (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.

  • reduced_motion "reduce" | "no-preference" | "null" (optional)#

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

  • screen Dict (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.

  • service_workers "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.

  • storage_state Union[str, pathlib.Path] | Dict (optional)#

    • cookies List[Dict]

      • name str

      • value str

      • domain str

        Domain and path are required. For the cookie to apply to all subdomains as well, prefix domain with a dot, like this: ".example.com"

      • path str

        Domain and path are required

      • expires float

        Unix time in seconds.

      • httpOnly bool

      • secure bool

      • sameSite "Strict" | "Lax" | "None"

        sameSite flag

      Cookies to set for context

    • origins List[Dict]

      • origin str

      • localStorage List[Dict]

        localStorage to set for context

    Learn more about storage state and auth.

    Populates context with given storage state. This option can be used to initialize context with logged-in information obtained via browser_context.storage_state().

  • strict_selectors 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.

  • timezone_id str (optional)#

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

  • user_agent str (optional)#

    Specific user agent to use in this context.

  • viewport NoneType | Dict (optional)#

    • width int

      page width in pixels.

    • height int

      page height in pixels.

    Sets a consistent viewport for each page. Defaults to an 1280x720 viewport. no_viewport disables the fixed viewport. Learn more about viewport emulation.

Returns

new_page​

Added before v1.9 browser.new_page

Creates a new page in a new browser context. Closing this page will close the context as well.

This is a convenience API that should only be used for the single-page scenarios and short snippets. Production code and testing frameworks should explicitly create browser.new_context() followed by the browser_context.new_page() to control their exact life times.

Usage

browser.new_page()
browser.new_page(**kwargs)

Arguments

  • accept_downloads bool (optional)#

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

  • base_url str (optional)#

    When using page.goto(), page.route(), page.wait_for_url(), page.expect_request(), or page.expect_response() 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

  • bypass_csp bool (optional)#

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

  • client_certificates List[Dict] (optional) Added in: 1.46#

    • origin str

      Exact origin that the certificate is valid for. Origin includes https protocol, a hostname and optionally a port.

    • certPath Union[str, pathlib.Path] (optional)

      Path to the file with the certificate in PEM format.

    • cert bytes (optional)

      Direct value of the certificate in PEM format.

    • keyPath Union[str, pathlib.Path] (optional)

      Path to the file with the private key in PEM format.

    • key bytes (optional)

      Direct value of the private key in PEM format.

    • pfxPath Union[str, pathlib.Path] (optional)

      Path to the PFX or PKCS12 encoded private key and certificate chain.

    • pfx bytes (optional)

      Direct value of the PFX or PKCS12 encoded private key and certificate chain.

    • passphrase str (optional)

      Passphrase for the private key (PEM or PFX).

    TLS Client Authentication allows the server to request a client certificate and verify it.

    Details

    An array of client certificates to be used. Each certificate object must have either both certPath and keyPath, a single pfxPath, or their corresponding direct value equivalents (cert and key, or pfx). Optionally, passphrase property should be provided if the certificate is encrypted. The origin property should be provided with an exact match to the request origin that the certificate is valid for.

    note

    When using WebKit on macOS, accessing localhost will not pick up client certificates. You can make it work by replacing localhost with local.playwright.

  • color_scheme "light" | "dark" | "no-preference" | "null" (optional)#

    Emulates prefers-colors-scheme media feature, supported values are 'light' and 'dark'. See page.emulate_media() for more details. Passing 'null' resets emulation to system defaults. Defaults to 'light'.

  • contrast "no-preference" | "more" | "null" (optional)#

    Emulates 'prefers-contrast' media feature, supported values are 'no-preference', 'more'. See page.emulate_media() for more details. Passing 'null' resets emulation to system defaults. Defaults to 'no-preference'.

  • device_scale_factor float (optional)#

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

  • extra_http_headers Dict[str, str] (optional)#

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

  • forced_colors "active" | "none" | "null" (optional)#

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

  • geolocation Dict (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.

  • has_touch bool (optional)#

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

  • http_credentials Dict (optional)#

    • username str

    • password str

    • origin str (optional)

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

    • send "unauthorized" | "always" (optional)

      This option only applies to the requests sent from corresponding APIRequestContext and does not affect requests sent from the browser. 'always' - Authorization header with basic authentication credentials will be sent with the each API request. 'unauthorized - the credentials are only sent when 401 (Unauthorized) response with WWW-Authenticate header is received. Defaults to 'unauthorized'.

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

  • ignore_https_errors bool (optional)#

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

  • is_mobile 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.

  • java_script_enabled bool (optional)#

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

  • locale str (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.

  • no_viewport bool (optional)#

    Does not enforce fixed viewport, allows resizing window in the headed mode.

  • offline bool (optional)#

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

  • permissions List[str] (optional)#

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

  • proxy Dict (optional)#

    • server str

      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 str (optional)

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

    • username str (optional)

      Optional username to use if HTTP proxy requires authentication.

    • password str (optional)

      Optional password to use if HTTP proxy requires authentication.

    Network proxy settings to use with this context. Defaults to none.

  • record_har_content "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.

  • record_har_mode "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.

  • record_har_omit_content bool (optional)#

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

  • record_har_path Union[str, pathlib.Path] (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 browser_context.close() for the HAR to be saved.

  • record_har_url_filter str | Pattern (optional)#

  • record_video_dir Union[str, pathlib.Path] (optional)#

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

  • record_video_size Dict (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.

  • reduced_motion "reduce" | "no-preference" | "null" (optional)#

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

  • screen Dict (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.

  • service_workers "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.

  • storage_state Union[str, pathlib.Path] | Dict (optional)#

    • cookies List[Dict]

      • name str

      • value str

      • domain str

        Domain and path are required. For the cookie to apply to all subdomains as well, prefix domain with a dot, like this: ".example.com"

      • path str

        Domain and path are required

      • expires float

        Unix time in seconds.

      • httpOnly bool

      • secure bool

      • sameSite "Strict" | "Lax" | "None"

        sameSite flag

      Cookies to set for context

    • origins List[Dict]

      • origin str

      • localStorage List[Dict]

        localStorage to set for context

    Learn more about storage state and auth.

    Populates context with given storage state. This option can be used to initialize context with logged-in information obtained via browser_context.storage_state().

  • strict_selectors 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.

  • timezone_id str (optional)#

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

  • user_agent str (optional)#

    Specific user agent to use in this context.

  • viewport NoneType | Dict (optional)#

    • width int

      page width in pixels.

    • height int

      page height in pixels.

    Sets a consistent viewport for each page. Defaults to an 1280x720 viewport. no_viewport disables the fixed viewport. Learn more about viewport emulation.

Returns

start_tracing​

Added in: v1.11 browser.start_tracing
note

This API controls Chromium Tracing which is a low-level chromium-specific debugging tool. API to control Playwright Tracing could be found here.

You can use browser.start_tracing() and browser.stop_tracing() to create a trace file that can be opened in Chrome DevTools performance panel.

Usage

browser.start_tracing(page, path="trace.json")
page.goto("https://www.google.com")
browser.stop_tracing()

Arguments

  • page Page (optional)#

    Optional, if specified, tracing includes screenshots of the given page.

  • categories List[str] (optional)#

    specify custom categories to use instead of default.

  • path Union[str, pathlib.Path] (optional)#

    A path to write the trace file to.

  • screenshots bool (optional)#

    captures screenshots in the trace.

Returns

stop_tracing​

Added in: v1.11 browser.stop_tracing
note

This API controls Chromium Tracing which is a low-level chromium-specific debugging tool. API to control Playwright Tracing could be found here.

Returns the buffer with trace data.

Usage

browser.stop_tracing()

Returns

Properties​

browser_type​

Added in: v1.23 browser.browser_type

Get the browser type (chromium, firefox or webkit) that the browser belongs to.

Usage

browser.browser_type

Returns

contexts​

Added before v1.9 browser.contexts

Returns an array of all open browser contexts. In a newly created browser, this will return zero browser contexts.

Usage

browser = pw.webkit.launch()
print(len(browser.contexts)) # prints `0`
context = browser.new_context()
print(len(browser.contexts)) # prints `1`

Returns

is_connected​

Added before v1.9 browser.is_connected

Indicates that the browser is connected.

Usage

browser.is_connected()

Returns

version​

Added before v1.9 browser.version

Returns the browser version.

Usage

browser.version

Returns

Events​

on("disconnected")​

Added before v1.9 browser.on("disconnected")

Emitted when Browser gets disconnected from the browser application. This might happen because of one of the following:

  • Browser application is closed or crashed.
  • The browser.close() method was called.

Usage

browser.on("disconnected", handler)

Event data