Playwright Core

Playwright Core is the foundational JavaScript library for automating web browsers, providing a high-level API to control Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit through a single interface. It is designed for robust end-to-end testing, web scraping, and general browser automation tasks. As of version 1.59.1, the project maintains a rapid release cadence, typically monthly, delivering new features and browser updates. Recent additions include the `page.screencast` API for comprehensive recording capabilities and the introduction of a new CLI mode (`playwright-cli`) for AI agent-friendly, token-efficient operations. Key differentiators of Playwright Core include its auto-waiting functionality, resilient element interaction APIs, and native mobile emulation. While this package provides the raw browser automation API, it commonly serves as the underlying engine for the broader `playwright` package, which integrates a full test runner and pre-built browser binaries. It requires Node.js version 18 or higher to operate.