# Playwright MCP Actor (Standby) (`rakame/playwright-mcp-actor`) Actor

Exposes an interactive, per-step Playwright browser automation MCP server. Runs in Standby mode so an AI agent (Make.com, n8n) can call navigate/click/fill/screenshot tools one at a time against a live browser session, instead of running one blind generated script.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/rakame/playwright-mcp-actor.md
- **Developed by:** [Rakame Monarka](https://apify.com/rakame) (community)
- **Categories:** AI, Automation, Agents
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per usage

This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-usage

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Playwright MCP Actor (Standby)

Runs a live, interactive browser (Playwright/Chromium) as an MCP server, so an AI agent (Make.com AI Agent, n8n AI Agent, Claude, etc.) can drive it **one step at a time** instead of generating one blind script upfront. This solves multi-step/wizard forms, unexpected popups, and syntax-error-prone generated `pageFunction` code.

### How it works

This Actor runs in [Standby mode](https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/standby): it stays alive as an HTTP server and is billed only while running.

Connect your MCP client to:

```
POST https://<actor-standby-hostname>/mcp
```

with header `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_TOKEN>`.

#### Session isolation

Every browsing task gets its own isolated Chromium `BrowserContext` (separate cookies, page, and video recording). Concurrent callers never share a page.

- **If your MCP client keeps one connection open for a whole task** (e.g. Make.com's MCP Tools module), you don't need to do anything — the Actor uses your MCP transport session automatically.
- **If your MCP client opens a new connection on every single tool call** (e.g. n8n's MCP Client Tool node), pass an explicit `session_key` argument (any string you choose, e.g. a UUID you generate once per task) on every tool call and reuse the same value throughout the task. Without it, each call would land on a fresh blank page with no memory of the last one.

Idle sessions (no calls for 60s) are closed automatically. To keep the container from running out of memory under heavy concurrent use, only a limited number of browser sessions run at once (default 5); a new session beyond that limit fails with a clear, retryable error instead of degrading everyone else's session.

### Tools

- `browser_navigate(url, session_key?)`
- `browser_snapshot(session_key?)` — returns visible interactive elements with stable refs (`e0`, `e1`, ...). Call after navigating or after any action that changes the page.
- `browser_fill(ref, value, session_key?)`
- `browser_click(ref, session_key?)`
- `browser_select_option(ref, value, session_key?)`
- `browser_press_key(key, session_key?)`
- `browser_wait_for({ text?, timeoutMs?, session_key? })`
- `browser_screenshot(session_key?)` — returns a base64 PNG and a public URL
- `browser_report_progress(message, webhook_url, channel_id, thread_ts?, session_key?)` — POSTs a live progress screenshot to a webhook of your choice (e.g. one that posts to Slack) mid-task
- `browser_close(session_key?)` — ends the session, returns a public URL to the recorded video

### Notes

- Browsers launch with `headless: false` under Xvfb (matches common anti-bot-fingerprint preferences).
- Never wired to click final submit/confirm/pay buttons automatically — that's left to the calling agent's own instructions/guardrails.

# Actor input Schema

## `dummy` (type: `string`):

This Actor is designed to run in Standby mode and does not use normal-mode input. This field exists only so the Actor has a valid input schema.

## Actor input object example

```json
{}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("rakame/playwright-mcp-actor").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("rakame/playwright-mcp-actor").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call rakame/playwright-mcp-actor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=rakame/playwright-mcp-actor",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/EhXan6OtRfxdao3pD/builds/IwuBdKh840mHy2BXH/openapi.json