On Runtime, it takes one sandbox and three commands. Every sandbox is a
Firecracker microVM running Ubuntu 24.04 with Node.js 24 and sudo. Playwright's
own installer therefore works unchanged. Build it into an image once, and every
later sandbox starts with Chromium ready. Playwright 1.64.1 was the current
release on 25 October 2026.
Take a screenshot
TypeScriptimport { writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";import { Sandbox } from "withruntime";const script = `import { chromium } from "playwright";const browser = await chromium.launch();const page = await browser.newPage();await page.goto(process.argv[2]);await page.screenshot({ path: "shot.png", fullPage: true });console.log(await page.title());await browser.close();`;await using sbx = await Sandbox.create({ diskMiB: 8192, timeoutSeconds: 900 });const slow = { check: true, timeoutMs: 600_000 } as const;await sbx.exec("npm install --no-fund --no-audit playwright@1.64.1", slow);await sbx.exec("sudo npx playwright install-deps chromium", slow);await sbx.exec("npx playwright install chromium", slow);await sbx.files.write("/workspace/shot.mjs", script);const run = await sbx.exec(["node", "shot.mjs", "https://example.com"], { check: true });console.log(run.stdout); // the page's titleawait writeFile("shot.png", await sbx.files.read("/workspace/shot.png"));- Disk: ask for 8 GiB. The default 4 GiB sandbox has about 2.5 GiB free. Chromium and its system libraries take a large share of that.
- Timeouts: installs take longer than the 60-second default for a command.
Set
timeoutMsfor them. - Without credit, a sandbox reaches ports 80 and 443. That is all Playwright's installer and most sites need. Paid sandboxes reach any port.
Install once, start ready
Put Chromium in a custom image, and every sandbox made from it skips the install. Building an image is free. A stored image is charged by its size. An account without credit stores its first three images free.
TypeScriptimport { Runtime } from "withruntime";const runtime = new Runtime();await runtime.images.build({ name: "playwright", recipe: { env: { PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH: "/opt/ms-playwright" }, commands: [ "npm init -y && npm install --no-fund --no-audit playwright@1.64.1", "npx playwright install --with-deps chromium", ], },});await using sbx = await runtime.sandboxes.create({ image: "playwright" });await sbx.exec("node -e \"require('playwright').chromium.launch().then(b => b.close())\"", { check: true,});Recipe commands run as root in /workspace. PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH puts the
browser where the sandbox's own user can find it.
Run your test suite
For @playwright/test, upload the project and run it as you would locally:
TypeScriptimport { Sandbox } from "withruntime";await using sbx = await Sandbox.create({ image: "playwright", timeoutSeconds: 1800 });await sbx.files.upload("./e2e", "/workspace/e2e");const run = await sbx.exec("cd e2e && npm ci && npx playwright test --reporter=line", { timeoutMs: 1_200_000, onStdout: (text) => process.stdout.write(text),});await sbx.files.download("/workspace/e2e/playwright-report", "./playwright-report");process.exitCode = run.exitCode ?? 1;Output streams as the tests run. The report comes back as a folder in one call.
Test an app running in the same sandbox
Start your server in the background, and point Playwright at localhost:
TypeScriptimport { Sandbox } from "withruntime";await using sbx = await Sandbox.create({ image: "playwright" });await sbx.files.upload("./app", "/workspace/app");await sbx.spawn("cd app && npm ci && npm start");await sbx.exec("npx wait-on http://localhost:3000", { check: true, timeoutMs: 180_000 });await sbx.exec("cd app && npx playwright test", { check: true, timeoutMs: 600_000 });To watch the app yourself, share the port as a private HTTPS preview.
Let an agent drive the browser
An agent that needs to click through a site can use the sandbox's desktop. The desktop takes clicks and keys and returns screenshots. The agent can also run the Playwright MCP server inside the sandbox (MCP servers in a sandbox).
For a full agent loop of screenshots, clicks and typing, see a browser automation agent.
Many browsers at once
Each sandbox is its own machine, so parallel runs never share a browser profile, cookies or downloads. A paid account runs 100 sandboxes at the same time. A 2 vCPU, 4 GiB sandbox costs $0.08 an hour with both CPUs busy, and $0.03125 an hour while it waits on a page. Runtime bills the CPU your code uses (pricing).
For end-to-end tests of apps an agent builds, see preview agent-built apps. To keep untrusted pages away from your network, see run untrusted LLM code.
A new account gets 100 free hours of a 1 GB machine in its first 30 days, with no card:
Terminalnpx withruntime sandboxes run -- node --versionFacts on this page were checked on 25 October 2026.