Playwright
Browser interaction layer for navigating pages, clicking elements, filling forms, and taking screenshots. Runs headless Chromium with configurable viewport and user agent.
“The reference browser automation MCP. Headless by default, sandboxed, and reliable for multi-step navigation workflows. Pair with a dedicated browser profile for isolation.”
INSTALL THIS SERVER
{
"mcpServers": {
"playwright": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["@anthropic/mcp-playwright"]
}
}
}
{
"mcpServers": {
"playwright": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@anthropic/mcp-playwright"]
}
}
}
11 TOOLS AVAILABLE
OUR ASSESSMENT
- Official Anthropic reference implementation
- Headless Chromium with configurable viewport
- Multi-step navigation with state persistence
- Screenshot capture for visual verification
- Chromium download required on first run (~200MB)
- Heavy for simple URL fetching (use Firecrawl for read-only scraping)
Runs a local headless browser. Sandboxed by default. Use a dedicated browser profile to isolate agent sessions from your personal browsing data.
Agents that need to interact with web pages, fill forms, or capture screenshots
TECHNICAL DETAILS
ADOPTION METRICS
// Reading thisHigh star count benefits from the Anthropic quickstarts repo visibility. The server itself is actively maintained.
// Reading thisBrowser automation is a core agent workflow. Downloads spike when new Playwright versions ship with improved headless mode.
// Reading this#2 in Dev Tools (behind GitHub). Globally #4 reflects the universal demand for browser automation.
SOURCES & VERIFICATION
We don't take any single directory's word for it. Before scoring, we cross-reference 3 public MCP sources, install the server ourselves against the clients we cover, and record when we last re-verified.
The same server, 3 different lenses. We reconcile these signals into our editorial score, which is why our number sometimes diverges from a directory-aggregate star count.
| Source | Their rating | Their star count | Their downloads | Last synced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AutomationSwitch This page | 4editorial | 5,400 | 32.6K / wk | APR 22, 2026 |
| Official MCP Registry | — unrated | 2,400 | unavailable | APR 12, 2026 |
| PulseMCP | 4.4 community | 2,380 | 28.3K / wk | APR 21, 2026 |
| Smithery | 4.5 installs | 2,400 | 31.7K installs | APR 20, 2026 |
// Counts are directory-reported; we don't adjust them. Discrepancies usually come from different snapshot times or star-caching.
OTHER DEV TOOLS MCP SERVERS
GitHub
Codebase awareness layer for accessing repositories, pull requests, issues, code search, and GitHub Actions. Fine-grained PAT scopes keep access minimal.
OpenSpec
The leading spec-driven development workflow for AI agents. Implements the /opsx:propose → /opsx:apply → /opsx:archive cycle that scaffolds proposals, specs, design docs, and task checklists, then applies them and archives once shipped.
Chrome DevTools for Agents
Vendor-official Chrome DevTools MCP server from the Chrome DevTools team at Google. Lets agents control and inspect a live Chrome browser for automation, debugging, and performance analysis.
Terraform MCP Server
Vendor-official Terraform MCP server from HashiCorp. Integrates with the public Terraform Registry (providers, modules, policies) and HCP Terraform / Terraform Enterprise (workspace management, organisation listing, run management, private registry access).
Browserbase MCP Server
Vendor-built Browserbase MCP server combining cloud browser automation (Browserbase) with natural-language-to-action mapping (Stagehand). 6 tools: start, end, navigate, act, observe, extract. Available as a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.browserbase.com/mcp (LLM costs covered for Gemini) or self-hostable via @browserbasehq/mcp.
AWS Infrastructure as Code MCP Server
AWS Labs server for Infrastructure as Code lifecycle. Validates CloudFormation templates with cfn-lint, checks compliance via cfn-guard against AWS Guard Rules and Control Tower controls, troubleshoots failed deployments with pattern-matched analysis, searches CloudFormation and CDK documentation.
DISCUSS YOUR
MCP REQUIREMENTS.
Evaluating a server, scoping an internal deployment, or working out whether MCP is the right fit at all. Start the conversation and we will point you at the right piece of the ecosystem.