@puppeteer/browsers

@puppeteer/browsers

Manage and launch browsers/drivers from a CLI or programmatically.

System requirements

• A compatible Node version (see engines in package.json).
• For Firefox downloads:
  • Linux builds: xz and bzip2 utilities are required to unpack .tar.gz and .tar.bz2 archives.
  • MacOS builds: hdiutil is required to unpack .dmg archives.
• For Chrome downloads:
  • On Linux/MacOS: unzip.
  • On Windows: tar.exe.

CLI

Use npx to run the CLI:

# This will install and run the @puppeteer/browsers package.
# If it is already installed in the current directory, the installed
# version will be used.
npx @puppeteer/browsers --help

Built-in per-command help will provide all documentation you need to use the CLI.

npx @puppeteer/browsers --help # help for all commands
npx @puppeteer/browsers install --help # help for the install command
npx @puppeteer/browsers launch --help # help for the launch command
npx @puppeteer/browsers clear --help # help for the clear command
npx @puppeteer/browsers list --help # help for the list command

You can specify the version of the @puppeteer/browsers when using npx:

# Always install and use the latest version from the registry.
npx @puppeteer/browsers@latest --help
# Always use a specifc version.
npx @puppeteer/browsers@2.4.1 --help
# Always install the latest version and automatically confirm the installation.
npx --yes @puppeteer/browsers@latest --help

To clear all installed browsers, use the clear command:

npx @puppeteer/browsers clear

To list all installed browsers, use the list command:

npx @puppeteer/browsers list

Some example to give an idea of what the CLI looks like (use the --help command for more examples):

# Download the latest available Chrome for Testing binary corresponding to the Stable channel.
npx @puppeteer/browsers install chrome@stable

# Download a specific Chrome for Testing version.
npx @puppeteer/browsers install chrome@116.0.5793.0

# Download the latest Chrome for Testing version for the given milestone.
npx @puppeteer/browsers install chrome@117

# Download the latest available ChromeDriver version corresponding to the Canary channel.
npx @puppeteer/browsers install chromedriver@canary

# Download a specific ChromeDriver version.
npx @puppeteer/browsers install chromedriver@116.0.5793.0

# On Ubuntu/Debian and only for Chrome, install the browser and required system dependencies.
# If the browser version has already been installed, the command
# will still attempt to install system dependencies.
# Requires root privileges.
npx puppeteer browsers install chrome --install-deps

Known limitations

• Launching the system browsers is only possible for Chrome/Chromium.

Proxies

The library and CLI respect HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY and NO_PROXY environment variables. For them to work, you must have the proxy-agent package installed:

npm install proxy-agent

Debugging

To enable verbose logging for @puppeteer/browsers operations (like download progress, installation steps, and launching parameters), use Node.js's built-in NODE_DEBUG environment variable.

env NODE_DEBUG="puppeteer:browsers:*" npx @puppeteer/browsers install chrome@stable

The following debug channels are available:

• puppeteer:browsers:cache: Caching operations.
• puppeteer:browsers:fileUtil: Decompressing and other file utility operations.
• puppeteer:browsers:install: Download and install progress.
• puppeteer:browsers:launcher: Browser launching parameters and process state.

Custom Providers

You can implement custom browser providers to download from alternative sources like corporate mirrors, private repositories, or specialized browser builds.

import {
  BrowserProvider,
  DownloadOptions,
  Browser,
  BrowserPlatform,
} from '@puppeteer/browsers';

class SimpleMirrorProvider implements BrowserProvider {
  constructor(private mirrorUrl: string) {}

  supports(options: DownloadOptions): boolean {
    return options.browser === Browser.CHROME;
  }

  getDownloadUrl(options: DownloadOptions): URL | null {
    const {buildId, platform} = options;
    const filenameMap = {
      [BrowserPlatform.LINUX]: 'chrome-linux64.zip',
      [BrowserPlatform.MAC]: 'chrome-mac-x64.zip',
      [BrowserPlatform.MAC_ARM]: 'chrome-mac-arm64.zip',
      [BrowserPlatform.WIN32]: 'chrome-win32.zip',
      [BrowserPlatform.WIN64]: 'chrome-win64.zip',
    };
    const filename = filenameMap[platform];
    if (!filename) return null;
    return new URL(`${this.mirrorUrl}/chrome/${buildId}/${filename}`);
  }

  getExecutablePath(options: DownloadOptions): string {
    const {platform} = options;
    if (
      platform === BrowserPlatform.MAC ||
      platform === BrowserPlatform.MAC_ARM
    ) {
      return 'chrome-mac/Chromium.app/Contents/MacOS/Chromium';
    } else if (platform === BrowserPlatform.LINUX) {
      return 'chrome-linux64/chrome';
    } else if (platform.includes('win')) {
      return 'chrome-win64/chrome.exe';
    }
    throw new Error(`Unsupported platform: ${platform}`);
  }
}

Use with the install API:

import {install} from '@puppeteer/browsers';

const customProvider = new SimpleMirrorProvider('https://internal.company.com');

await install({
  browser: Browser.CHROME,
  buildId: '120.0.6099.109',
  platform: BrowserPlatform.LINUX,
  cacheDir: '/tmp/puppeteer-cache',
  providers: [customProvider],
});

Multiple providers can be chained - they're tried in order until one succeeds, with a default provider such as Chrome for Testing, as an automatic fallback.

:::caution Custom providers are NOT officially supported by Puppeteer. You accept full responsibility for binary compatibility, testing, and maintenance. :::

API

The programmatic API allows installing and launching browsers from your code. See the test folder for examples on how to use the install, canInstall, launch, computeExecutablePath, computeSystemExecutablePath, and other methods.

Similar packages

Other packages similar to @puppeteer/browsers

puppeteer

Puppeteer is a Node library which provides a high-level API to control Chrome or Chromium over the DevTools Protocol. While @puppeteer/browsers focuses on managing browser binaries, Puppeteer itself is used for browser automation tasks such as web scraping and automated testing.

playwright

Playwright is a Node library to automate Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit with a single API. It provides similar functionalities to Puppeteer but supports more browsers. Playwright also includes tools for managing browser binaries, making it a comprehensive alternative to @puppeteer/browsers.

selenium-webdriver

Selenium WebDriver is a tool for automating web application testing, and it supports multiple browsers. Selenium WebDriver can manage browser binaries through WebDriverManager, which provides similar functionalities to @puppeteer/browsers.