Getting Started

Install the module, provision a browser, run your first script.

Getting Started

Install the module, download a browser and run a first script. Requires BoxLang 1.17+ and Java 21+.

Install

install-bx-module bx-playwright
bxplaywright install              # driver + Node.js + Chromium
bxplaywright doctor               # check everything

• More browsers: bxplaywright install firefox webkit.
• On Linux CI, add --with-deps to also install the system libraries browsers need.
• Everything is stored in ~/.boxlang/playwright. Change it with the home setting or BX_PLAYWRIGHT_HOME.
• bx-playwright-full bundles Node.js for every platform, so install skips the Node.js download. Browsers are still downloaded unless they are already installed.

Browser download problems

• Browsers download from Playwright's CDN (https://cdn.playwright.dev). Behind a proxy, set HTTPS_PROXY before running bxplaywright install.
• On a slow network, raise PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT (milliseconds, 120000 by default), see Configuration.
• To skip the Chromium download, use an installed Google Chrome with the chrome profile: playwright( "chrome" ).
• Run bxplaywright doctor to see what is installed and how to fix what is missing.

First script

// hello.bxs
playwright().browse( ( page ) => {
	page.visit( "https://boxlang.io" )
	println( page.title() )
	page.screenshot( "boxlang.png" )
} )

boxlang hello.bxs

playwright() returns a manager and starts nothing until you use it. browse() opens a fresh page, runs your code and closes everything, even when the code throws.

Clean up

Prefer browse() and the one-shot helpers (screenshot(), pdf(), content(), render()): they close the browser for you. When you manage pages yourself, close them:

pw   = playwright()
page = pw.newPage()
try {
	page.visit( "https://boxlang.io" ).assertSee( "BoxLang" )
} finally {
	pw.close()
}

• page.close() closes the page and its context; the manager stays open.
• page.quit() or pw.close() closes everything: pages, contexts, browser and driver.
• A manager is not thread safe: use it from the thread that created it.

Next

• Browsing: selectors, actions and locators.
• Assertions: checks that wait for the page.
• TestBox Browser Testing: browser specs with @browser.
• Automation Scripts: turn a script into a recorded, scheduled job.