Playwright

BrowserGen sessions expose a standard Chrome DevTools Protocol endpoint, so Playwright attaches with its built-in connectOverCDP. No plugin, no custom launcher.

Connect

playwright.ts
import { chromium } from "playwright";

const BROWSERGEN_KEY = process.env.BROWSERGEN_KEY!;

// 1. Create a session over REST.
const session = await fetch("https://api.browsergen.com/v8/web/sessions", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${BROWSERGEN_KEY}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({ timeout: 1800, country: "us" }),
}).then((r) => r.json());

// 2. Attach Playwright to the running browser.
const browser = await chromium.connectOverCDP(session.connectUrl);

// 3. Reuse the browser's existing context and page.
const context = browser.contexts()[0];
const page = context.pages()[0] ?? (await context.newPage());

await page.goto("https://example.com");
await page.screenshot({ path: "example.png" });

// 4. Disconnect. The session ends ~2 minutes later, or stop it via DELETE.
await browser.close();

Three details worth knowing:

  • Use the existing context. The browser is already running with one context and one page. Reusing them keeps your script attached to what the live view shows.
  • browser.close() disconnects, it does not stop. The session stays alive for a 2-minute grace period after the last client disconnects, then ends on its own. Send DELETE /web/sessions/:id when you want the slot back immediately.
  • Multiple clients are fine. Several Playwright processes can attach to the same session concurrently, and the live view stays available throughout.

Viewports and devices

viewport.ts
// The session runs at a fixed screen size (that is what the live view
// streams). Emulate a different viewport per page over CDP if you need one:
const cdp = await context.newCDPSession(page);
await cdp.send("Emulation.setDeviceMetricsOverride", {
  width: 390,
  height: 844,
  deviceScaleFactor: 3,
  mobile: true,
});

Python

The same flow with playwright-python:

playwright.py
from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright
import os, requests

session = requests.post(
    "https://api.browsergen.com/v8/web/sessions",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['BROWSERGEN_KEY']}"},
    json={"country": "de"},
).json()

with sync_playwright() as p:
    browser = p.chromium.connect_over_cdp(session["connectUrl"])
    page = browser.contexts[0].pages[0]
    page.goto("https://example.com")
    print(page.title())
    browser.close()

Related

REST API referenceSession parameters: timeout, country, proxy, url.Puppeteer guideThe same session over browserWSEndpoint.