Start your first Session with Playwright

Get started with a Playwright Node.js template

Clone this GitHub repo to start using Browserbase with Playwright in Node.

Get started with a Playwright Python template

Clone this GitHub repo to start using Browserbase with Playwright in Python.

1. Get your API Key

   Your API key and Project ID are displayed in the Overview Dashboard:

   

   Then copy your API Key directly from the input and update your .env by adding the BROWSERBASE_API_KEY entry

   Alternatively, you can temporarily set the environment variable for a single bash command by prefixing it with BROWSERBASE_API_KEY=<your_api_key> in your terminal.

2. Install Playwright

   Node.js

   npm i playwright-core @browserbasehq/sdk
   

   Bun does not currently support Playwright.

   Python

   pip install playwright browserbase
   
3. Update your code or clone a template

   Running your existing code with Browserbase only requires a few line changes:

   Node.js

   import { chromium } from "playwright-core";
   import Browserbase from "@browserbasehq/sdk";
   
   const bb = new Browserbase({
     apiKey: process.env.BROWSERBASE_API_KEY
   });
   
   (async () => {
     // Create a new session
     const session = await bb.sessions.create({
       projectId: process.env.BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID
     });
   
     // Connect to the session
     const browser = await chromium.connectOverCDP(session.connectUrl);
   
     // Getting the default context to ensure the sessions are recorded.
     const defaultContext = browser.contexts()[0];
     const page = defaultContext.pages()[0];
   
     await page.goto("https://news.ycombinator.com/");
     await page.close();
     await browser.close();
     console.log(`Session complete! View replay at https://browserbase.com/sessions/${session.id}`);
   })().catch((error) => console.error(error.message));
   

   Be sure to set your BROWSERBASE_API_KEY and BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID environment variables.

   Python

   from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright, Playwright
   from browserbase import Browserbase
   import os
   
   bb = Browserbase(api_key=os.environ["BROWSERBASE_API_KEY"])
   
   def run(playwright: Playwright):
       # Create a session on Browserbase
       session = bb.sessions.create(project_id=os.environ["BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID"])
   
       # Connect to the remote session
       chromium = playwright.chromium
       browser = chromium.connect_over_cdp(session.connect_url)
       context = browser.contexts[0]
       page = context.pages[0]
   
       try:
           page.goto("https://news.ycombinator.com/")
           print(page.title())
       finally:
           page.close()
           browser.close()
           print(f"Session complete! View replay at https://browserbase.com/sessions/{session.id}")
   
   with sync_playwright() as playwright:
       run(playwright)
   

   Be sure to set your BROWSERBASE_API_KEY and BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID environment variables.

   
   
4. Inspect the completed Session

   You can find all the recent sessions on the Overview Dashboard, along with essential metrics:

   

   Select your Session to inspect it with the Session Inspector.

Start building

Using Browser Sessions

Learn how to connect to and interact with browser sessions effectively.

Managing Sessions

Understand how to properly end sessions and manage their lifecycle.