How to add Playwright MCP Server to Cursor

Microsoft's official browser-automation MCP using Playwright's accessibility tree (no vision model). Paste the config into ~/.cursor/mcp.json and restart Cursor.

Last updated June 15, 2026 · 24k★ · stdio · no auth · official

Cursor config for Playwright MCP Server

npx -y @playwright/mcp@latest

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@playwright/mcp@latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Setup steps

1Open Cursor → Settings → MCP → Add new MCP server (or edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json directly).
2Paste the Playwright MCP Server config below into the "mcpServers" object.
3Fill in placeholder secrets, then save.
4Cursor reloads MCP servers automatically — check Settings → MCP for a green status dot.
5Ask Cursor to use one of Playwright MCP Server's tools to confirm it's connected.

Before you start

Node.js 18 or newer
An MCP-capable client (VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Goose, LM Studio, Codex, Gemini CLI, and many more)
Playwright browsers are downloaded on demand; for containerized use, the mcr.microsoft.com/playwright/mcp Docker image runs headless Chromium
No credential or auth required for the server itself

What Playwright MCP Server can do in Cursor

browser_navigate

Navigate to a URL (with browser_navigate_back to go back).

browser_snapshot

Capture the page's accessibility tree snapshot used for deterministic, vision-free interaction.

browser_click

Click an element identified from the snapshot (plus browser_hover for hover).

browser_type

Type text into a focused element; browser_press_key sends individual keys.

browser_fill_form

Fill multiple form fields in one call (with browser_select_option for dropdowns).

browser_take_screenshot

Capture a screenshot of the page or an element.

browser_evaluate

Run JavaScript in the page context and return the result.

browser_tabs

List, create, select, and close browser tabs.

Security

The server can drive a real browser to any URL and submit forms, so it can reach internal sites and act with whatever session state the browser has; run it against trusted targets and consider an isolated browser profile.

Playwright MCP Server + Cursor FAQ

Where is the Cursor config file?

Cursor reads MCP servers from ~/.cursor/mcp.json. Paste the Playwright MCP Server config there under the "mcpServers" key and restart the client.

Is Playwright MCP Server safe to use with Cursor?

Does it use screenshots and a vision model?

No, by default it drives the browser from the page's accessibility tree (browser_snapshot), which is faster and deterministic. Coordinate/vision tools exist but are opt-in via --caps=vision.

Headed or headless by default?

Headed (a visible browser window) by default; pass --headless to run without a window, which is required for the Docker image.

How are logins/sessions handled?

By default a persistent profile stores login state between sessions; use --isolated for in-memory profiles or --user-data-dir to control the location.

View repo Full Playwright MCP Server page