> **playwright-triage** — skill 3 of 3 in [microsoft/playwright-cli](https://skillsdocs.com/microsoft/playwright-cli).
>
> Book (all skills, one file): https://skillsdocs.com/microsoft/playwright-cli.md
> Machine manifest: https://skillsdocs.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json
> Origin: credited — this skill is installed into this repository and in use here, not published from it, so there is no install command.
> Upstream: https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/blob/main/.claude/skills/playwright-triage/SKILL.md @ `main`
> Raw bytes, no header: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/main/.claude/skills/playwright-triage/SKILL.md
> Base for relative paths: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/main/.claude/skills/playwright-triage/
> Licence: Apache-2.0 — https://spdx.org/licenses/Apache-2.0.html
>
> Content © its authors, served unmodified. Takedown: https://github.com/DreambaseAI/skillsdocs/issues/new?labels=takedown&title=Takedown+request

<!-- Verbatim upstream SKILL.md follows, YAML frontmatter included. -->

---
name: playwright-triage
description: Triage and fix one microsoft/playwright-cli issue, or do a maintainer's task, unattended inside the Issue triage GitHub Actions workflow (.github/workflows/triage.yml), which a needs-triage, needs-triage-mac or needs-triage-win label starts, or a maintainer starts by hand with an issue, a task or both. Reproduces the issue on the runner, then leaves a verified fix proposal for the workflow to open as a draft PR, in this repo or in microsoft/playwright where the source of the CLI is, or an investigation note for it to post on the issue. Only for that workflow.
---

# Playwright CLI Issue Triage

You run unattended in the [Issue triage](../../../.github/workflows/triage.yml) workflow of
`microsoft/playwright-cli`. First read the shared guide, `$AGENT_GUIDES_DIR/triage.md`, a copy of
[microsoft/playwright/.github/actions/run-agent/guides/triage.md](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/blob/main/.github/actions/run-agent/guides/triage.md),
and then [CLAUDE.md](../../../CLAUDE.md), both in full. The guide says how to triage an issue in any
Playwright repo. CLAUDE.md says how to build, test and lint this one. This file covers what neither
has: where the code is, the checkouts, how to run a published version, and the outcome that this
repo adds, a fix in `microsoft/playwright`.

## Where the code is

This repo is the npm package `@playwright/cli`: `playwright-cli.js` with its update check,
`skillCheck.js`, the README, the skill in `skills/playwright-cli/` and some tests of the packaged
CLI. `package.json` pins the alpha of `playwright` and `playwright-core` that the package runs. The
CLI is in `microsoft/playwright`, in `packages/playwright-core/src/tools/`: `cli-client/` has the
commands and their options, `cli-daemon/` has the daemon that keeps the browser open between
commands, and `backend/` has the tools that the commands run. Most bugs and most feature requests
are fixed there.

Fix a bug here only when the cause is in a file that this repo owns. `skills/playwright-cli/` is a
copy of `packages/playwright-core/src/tools/skills/playwright-cli/`, which `scripts/update.js`
refreshes on a roll, so its fix is upstream too.

## The checkouts

`$REPO_DIR` is the checkout of `microsoft/playwright-cli` that the guide describes. `npm ci` ran in
it, and the browsers of the pinned version are installed. The CLI uses Google Chrome from the
runner image by default. When it is missing, install it with `npx playwright install chrome`. The
clone is shallow: run `git fetch --unshallow --tags origin` in it
before you need its history.

`$PLAYWRIGHT_DIR` is a clone of `microsoft/playwright` at the tip of `main`, next to `$REPO_DIR`.
`npm ci` and `npm run build` ran in it, and Chromium, Firefox and WebKit are installed. It is
tip-of-tree for this repo: reproduce there, as a test in its `tests/mcp/cli-*.spec.ts`, with the
`cli` fixture of `tests/mcp/cli-fixtures.ts`. `npm run test-playwright-cli` runs those tests. Read
its `AGENTS.md` in full before you write the test. It says how to build, test and lint it. The
clone has the full history, without file contents until git needs them, so `git log` and
`git tag --contains` work there.

The pinned version is older than tip-of-tree. `npm view playwright-core@<alpha> gitHead` prints the
upstream commit that an alpha was built from.

## Fix in microsoft/playwright

When the fix is in `$PLAYWRIGHT_DIR`, follow the Fix section of the guide there, in place of
`$REPO_DIR`: create the branch `fix-<n>` from `main` in `$PLAYWRIGHT_DIR`, put the regression test
in its `tests/mcp/cli-*.spec.ts`, build and lint as its `AGENTS.md` says, and commit in its
convention, for example `fix(cli): ...`. Then leave the proposal in
`$OUTPUT_DIR/upstream-fix/` in place of `$OUTPUT_DIR/fix/`:

- `fix.patch`: the output of `git diff --binary main HEAD` in `$PLAYWRIGHT_DIR`.
- `pr-body.md`: as the guide says. The `Fixes` line has the full URL of the issue,
  `Fixes https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/issues/<n>`, so that the PR closes the issue in
  this repo.

Add the `pull-request` call for `microsoft/playwright` last, as the guide says:

```json
{
  "call": "pull-request",
  "repo": "microsoft/playwright",
  "branch": "triage/playwright-cli-<issue>/<run id>-<run attempt>",
  "title": "fix(cli): description",
  "patch": "upstream-fix/fix.patch",
  "bodyFile": "upstream-fix/pr-body.md",
  "commitBody": "Fixes: https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-cli/issues/<n>"
}
```

The publish job checks out `microsoft/playwright` at the commit of `$PLAYWRIGHT_DIR` and opens the
draft PR there. The revision workflow of that repo addresses the review. Make one `pull-request`
call: in this repo or in `microsoft/playwright`, not both. Do not change
`package.json` here to pick up the fix. It reaches `@playwright/cli` with the next roll.

**Check the linked PRs in both repos.** A PR in `microsoft/playwright` links this issue with its
full URL or as `microsoft/playwright-cli#<n>`. Search there too:
`repo:microsoft/playwright is:pr "playwright-cli/issues/<n>"` and
`repo:microsoft/playwright is:pr "playwright-cli#<n>"`. A PR there from the team or from
`microsoft-playwright-automation` is a team PR. Verify a PR there in `$PLAYWRIGHT_DIR`.

**Already fixed** means that tip-of-tree passes and the pinned version fails. The fix reaches users
with the next roll. Find the upstream PR with
`git -C $PLAYWRIGHT_DIR log <gitHead of the pinned alpha>..main -- packages/playwright-core/src/tools`,
and name it in the note.

## Published versions

To run a published version, for example the version of the reporter or to bisect, create
`$SCRATCH_DIR/playwright-cli-<n>/<version>/` and run there:

```bash
npm init -y
npm i @playwright/cli@<version>
npx playwright-cli --help
```

The fixtures of the repo are not available there. Run the condensed repro as `npx playwright-cli`
commands, or as a script that spawns them, in that directory. Serve the page from a `data:` URL or
from `http.createServer()` in the script. Run `npx playwright-cli close-all` when you are done, so
that no daemon stays open.

`npm view @playwright/cli@<version> dependencies.playwright-core` prints the alpha of a release.
Match a regression to upstream commits with
`git -C $PLAYWRIGHT_DIR log <good gitHead>..<bad gitHead> -- packages/playwright-core/src/tools`.

## PRs from third parties

Do not run a PR in this repo that changes `package.json`, `package-lock.json`, `scripts/`,
`.github/`, `.azure-pipelines/` or `.claude/`. For a PR in `microsoft/playwright`, the list in
`$PLAYWRIGHT_DIR/.claude/skills/playwright-triage/SKILL.md` applies.