# playwright-start [![Latest version](https://badgen.net/npm/v/playwright-start)](https://npm.im/playwright-start) [![Monthly downloads](https://badgen.net/npm/dm/playwright-start)](https://npm.im/playwright-start)

Start a long-running [Playwright](https://playwright.dev) browser server via CLI.

<sub>If you like this project, please star it & [follow me](https://github.com/privatenumber) to see what other cool projects I'm working on! ❤️</sub>

## 🙋‍♂️ Why?
When developing browser automation scripts, there's a lot of overhead in browser start up every time you test a change.

Start a long-running browser server in a separate window and connect to it from your script to iterate faster! The CLI also comes with a [REPL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Read%E2%80%93eval%E2%80%93print_loop) to help you quickly test code.

## 🚀 Install
```sh
npm i -D playwright-start
```

## 🚦 Quick Setup
1. Start a browser server from a separate terminal session:
	```sh
	npx playwright-start
	```

2. Connect from your code:
	```ts
	import {
	    ChromiumBrowser,
	    devices,
	} from 'playwright'
	import connect from 'playwright-start'

	(async () => {
	    const browser = await connect<ChromiumBrowser>()

	    const context = await browser.newContext({
	        // Emulate Pixel 2 XL
	        ...devices['Pixel 2 XL']
	    })

	    const page = await context.newPage()

	    // ...
	})()
	```

## 👨‍🏫 Examples

### Starting a non-headless Chromium server

```sh
npx playwright-start --headless=false
```

### Starting a Firefox or Webkit server

Firefox:
```sh
npx playwright-start firefox
```

Webkit:
```sh
npx playwright-start webkit
```