browser_navigate fails in headless mode with "Browser window not found" error

[takatea]

Problem Summary

When running Playwright MCP in headless mode, the server initializes successfully, but the browser_navigate command fails with a "Browser window not found" error, preventing browser automation.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Configure Playwright MCP with the following settings:

{
  "playwright": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["@playwright/mcp@latest", "--headless"]
  }
}

2. The server starts successfully (confirmed in logs)
3. When executing browser_navigate, the operation fails with an error

Error Message

Error: browserType.launchPersistentContext: Protocol error (Browser.getWindowForTarget): Browser window not found

Expected Behavior

• The browser_navigate command should work successfully in headless mode, allowing navigation to URLs

Actual Behavior

• The browser_navigate command fails with a "Browser window not found" error, making it impossible to navigate to URLs

Environment Information

• OS: macOS 14.4.1
• Node.js version: v18.16.1
• @playwright/mcp version: 0.0.4
• Playwright version: v1.51.1

Log

2025-03-27T08:51:27.026Z [playwright] [info] Message from client: {"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"browser_navigate","arguments":{"url":"https://www.google.com/search?q=platwrite+mcp"}},"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":10}
2025-03-27T08:51:27.950Z [playwright] [info] Message from server: {"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":10,"result":{"content":[{"type":"text","text":"Error: browserType.launchPersistentContext: Protocol error (Browser.getWindowForTarget): Browser window not found\nCall log:\n  - <launching> /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome --disable-field-trial-config --disable-background-networking --disable-background-timer-throttling --disable-backgrounding-occluded-windows --disable-back-forward-cache --disable-breakpad --disable-client-side-phishing-detection --disable-component-extensions-with-background-pages --disable-component-update --no-default-browser-check --disable-default-apps --disable-dev-shm-usage --disable-extensions --disable-features=AcceptCHFrame,AutoExpandDetailsElement,AvoidUnnecessaryBeforeUnloadCheckSync,CertificateTransparencyComponentUpdater,DeferRendererTasksAfterInput,DestroyProfileOnBrowserClose,DialMediaRouteProvider,ExtensionManifestV2Disabled,GlobalMediaControls,HttpsUpgrades,ImprovedCookieControls,LazyFrameLoading,LensOverlay,MediaRouter,PaintHolding,ThirdPartyStoragePartitioning,Translate --allow-pre-commit-input --disable-hang-monitor --disable-ipc-flooding-protection --disable-popup-blocking --disable-prompt-on-repost --disable-renderer-backgrounding --force-color-profile=srgb --metrics-recording-only --no-first-run --enable-automation --password-store=basic --use-mock-keychain --no-service-autorun --export-tagged-pdf --disable-search-engine-choice-screen --unsafely-disable-devtools-self-xss-warnings --enable-use-zoom-for-dsf=false --headless --hide-scrollbars --mute-audio --blink-settings=primaryHoverType=2,availableHoverTypes=2,primaryPointerType=4,availablePointerTypes=4 --no-sandbox --user-data-dir=/Users/takatea/Library/Caches/ms-playwright/mcp-chrome-profile --remote-debugging-pipe about:blank\n  - <launched> pid=83786\n"}],"isError":true}}

[pavelfeldman]

Works for me (same config as yours). What is your Chrome version?

[takatea]

@pavelfeldman My Chrome version is 134.0.6998.166.

[Skn0tt]

I've seen this in the past, I think it's related to multiple tabs being opened.

[takatea]

@Skn0tt Hi,
I tried without opening multiple tabs, but the issue persists.
I also attempted to run the command line that appears in the logs:

Command

/Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome --disable-field-trial-config --disable-background-networking --disable-background-timer-throttling --disable-backgrounding-occluded-windows --disable-back-forward-cache --disable-breakpad --disable-client-side-phishing-detection --disable-component-extensions-with-background-pages --disable-component-update --no-default-browser-check --disable-default-apps --disable-dev-shm-usage --disable-extensions --disable-features=AcceptCHFrame,AutoExpandDetailsElement,AvoidUnnecessaryBeforeUnloadCheckSync,CertificateTransparencyComponentUpdater,DeferRendererTasksAfterInput,DestroyProfileOnBrowserClose,DialMediaRouteProvider,ExtensionManifestV2Disabled,GlobalMediaControls,HttpsUpgrades,ImprovedCookieControls,LazyFrameLoading,LensOverlay,MediaRouter,PaintHolding,ThirdPartyStoragePartitioning,Translate --allow-pre-commit-input --disable-hang-monitor --disable-ipc-flooding-protection --disable-popup-blocking --disable-prompt-on-repost --disable-renderer-backgrounding --force-color-profile=srgb --metrics-recording-only --no-first-run --enable-automation --password-store=basic --use-mock-keychain --no-service-autorun --export-tagged-pdf --disable-search-engine-choice-screen --unsafely-disable-devtools-self-xss-warnings --enable-use-zoom-for-dsf=false --headless --hide-scrollbars --mute-audio --blink-settings=primaryHoverType=2,availableHoverTypes=2,primaryPointerType=4,availablePointerTypes=4 --no-sandbox --user-data-dir=/Users/takatea/Library/Caches/ms-playwright/mcp-chrome-profile --remote-debugging-pipe

And received this error:

[0401/135126.005324:ERROR:chrome_main_delegate.cc(1090)] Remote debugging pipe file descriptors are not open.

Could this error be related to the issue? The debug pipe seems to be a problem.
If there's anything else I can do to help troubleshoot this issue, please let me know.