@warnyin/n8n-nodes-code-playwright

n8n community node for browser automation using Playwright.

Package: @warnyin/n8n-nodes-code-playwright

Table of Contents

• About
• Key Features
• Installation
• Usage
• Operations
• Examples
• Notes & Limitations
• Development
• License

About

This n8n community node provides browser automation capabilities using Playwright. It allows you to automate web browsers (Chromium, Firefox, WebKit) directly within your n8n workflows.

Key Features

• Multi-browser support: Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit
• Headless or headful mode: Run browsers visibly or in the background
• Screenshot capture: Take full-page or element screenshots
• Form automation: Fill forms and click elements
• Text extraction: Get text content from web pages
• JavaScript evaluation: Execute custom JS code in page context
• Wait for elements: Wait for selectors before proceeding

Installation

Option 1: Community Nodes (Recommended)

1. Open n8n and go to Settings → Community Nodes
2. Click Install
3. Enter: @warnyin/n8n-nodes-code-playwright
4. Accept the risks and install

Option 2: Manual Installation

cd ~/.n8n/nodes
npm install @warnyin/n8n-nodes-code-playwright
# Restart n8n

Option 3: Docker Installation

For Docker environments, ensure your n8n container has Chrome installed:

# Add this to your n8n Dockerfile
FROM node:18-alpine
RUN apk add --no-cache chromium
ENV PUPPETEER_SKIP_CHROMIUM_DOWNLOAD=true \
    PUPPETEER_EXECUTABLE_PATH=/usr/bin/chromium-browser

Or use the official n8n image with Chrome:

FROM n8nio/n8n
USER root
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    google-chrome-stable \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
USER node

Then install the node:

docker exec -it <n8n-container> npm install @warnyin/n8n-nodes-code-playwright

Option 4: Local Development & Linking

# Clone, install, and build
git clone https://github.com/warnyin/n8n-nodes-code-playwright.git
cd n8n-nodes-code-playwright
pnpm install
pnpm build

# Link to n8n
npm link
cd ~/.n8n
npm link @warnyin/n8n-nodes-code-playwright
# Restart n8n

Usage

Basic Parameters

| Parameter | Description | |-----------|-------------| | Operation | The browser action to perform | | URL | The webpage URL to navigate to | | Browser | Browser engine: Chromium, Firefox, or WebKit | | Browser Options | Headless mode, slow motion settings |

Operations

Navigate

Navigate to a URL and return the page content.

Take Screenshot

Capture a screenshot of the webpage.

• Full Page: Capture entire scrollable page
• Property Name: Binary property name for the screenshot

Get Text

Extract text content from an element using CSS selector.

Click Element

Click on an element specified by CSS selector.

Fill Form

Fill a form field with a specified value.

Wait for Selector

Wait for an element to appear on the page.

Examples

Example 1: Take a Screenshot

{
  "operation": "takeScreenshot",
  "url": "https://example.com",
  "browser": "chromium",
  "screenshotOptions": {
    "fullPage": true
  },
  "dataPropertyName": "screenshot"
}

Example 2: Fill and Submit a Form

{
  "operation": "fillForm",
  "url": "https://example.com/login",
  "selector": "#username",
  "value": "myuser",
  "browser": "chromium"
}

Example 3: Extract Text

{
  "operation": "getText",
  "url": "https://example.com",
  "selector": "h1",
  "browser": "chromium"
}

Notes & Limitations

• Browser Installation: Browsers are automatically installed during package installation
• Docker Support: For Linux/Docker environments, the node will automatically fallback to system Chrome if Playwright Chromium fails
• Resource Usage: Running browsers consumes significant memory
• Headless Recommended: Use headless mode in production environments
• Timeout: Default timeout for operations is 30 seconds
• Network: Requires network access for navigation

Troubleshooting

Browser not found error

If you encounter "Browser not found" errors, try running the setup script manually:

cd ~/.n8n/nodes/node_modules/@warnyin/n8n-nodes-code-playwright
npm run setup

Linux/Docker GTK/GLib errors

If you see errors like Error relocating chrome: g_object_notify: symbol not found, this means Playwright Chromium requires system dependencies. The node will automatically:

1. Try to detect and use system Chrome/Chromium
2. Fall back to Playwright Chromium with alternative arguments
3. If all fails, you need to install Chrome in your Docker container:

# For Debian/Ubuntu based images
apt-get update && apt-get install -y google-chrome-stable

# For Alpine images  
apk add --no-cache chromium

Permission issues on Linux

On Linux systems, you may need to install additional dependencies:

npx playwright install-deps

Memory issues

If n8n crashes due to memory issues when using Playwright:

1. Ensure headless: true is enabled
2. Close browser contexts properly
3. Consider increasing n8n's memory allocation

Development

# Install dependencies
pnpm install

# Build
pnpm build

# Watch mode
pnpm dev

# Setup browsers manually
pnpm setup

# Lint code
pnpm lint

# Fix lint issues
pnpm lintfix

# Format code
pnpm format

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for release notes.

License

MIT License — see LICENSE.md.

Author

warnyin - GitHub

References

• Playwright Documentation
• n8n Community Nodes
• @warnyin/n8n-nodes-code-plus
• @warnyin/n8n-nodes-swagger-api

Made with ❤️ for the n8n community