Playwright
- Open roles
- 0
- Founded
- 2020
- Employees
- 11-50
- Offices
- 1
About Playwright
Playwright is an open-source browser automation library and end-to-end testing framework developed and maintained by Microsoft. Publicly launched in January 2020, it operates as a software project and engineering team within Microsoft rather than an independently incorporated company. Its tools support developers and quality assurance teams testing modern web applications.
The framework provides a unified API for Chromium, Firefox and WebKit, covering browser engines used by Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Safari and Firefox. Tests can run with a visible browser or in headless mode. Language bindings support JavaScript and TypeScript, Python, .NET and Java, allowing teams to integrate browser automation into different development environments.
Browser testing capabilities
Playwright supports isolated browser contexts, multiple pages and sessions spanning different origins. Network interception, request routing and API mocking help teams control application dependencies during testing. Device and viewport emulation extends coverage to mobile browser scenarios, including Chrome for Android and Mobile Safari.
Its auto-waiting system checks whether page elements are ready for interaction before performing actions. This reduces reliance on manually chosen delays and helps address unstable tests in dynamic applications. Accessibility tree snapshots and visual regression testing provide additional ways to inspect application behavior and presentation.
Development and execution tools
The ecosystem includes Playwright Test, with fixtures, retries, parallel execution and HTML reporting. Trace Viewer and Inspector help developers examine test runs and debug interactions, while Codegen records browser actions and generates executable test scripts. Together, these tools support test creation, execution and investigation within a shared browser automation ecosystem.
Microsoft also offers managed cloud execution through Microsoft Playwright Testing and Playwright Workspaces on Azure, supporting large parallel browser test workloads. The Playwright MCP server extends browser interaction to AI agents, enabling them to navigate, inspect and interact with live web applications.
More about Playwright
Origins and engineering background
The report identifies Andrey Lushnikov, Pavel Feldman and Yury Semikhatsky among the engineers who created Playwright at Microsoft. Their earlier work included the Chrome DevTools Protocol and Puppeteer at Google; this historical attribution does not establish their current executive roles.
Architecture and distribution
Playwright communicates directly with browser engines through low-level debugging protocols rather than relying on an external WebDriver intermediary. The software is distributed under the Apache License 2.0.
Community support
Technical and community questions are handled through GitHub issues and the community Discord.
Notable credits
10 creditsOffices
Where Playwright is based
- One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052, USARedmond, Washington, United States
Redmond office
HeadquartersPrimary operational base of Playwright engineering leadership at Microsoft's corporate headquarters campus.
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