Playwright "browserType.launch: Executable doesn't exist"

Playwright tried to launch a browser whose binary is not on disk. Installing the npm package does not download the browsers - you must run npx playwright install (or use the official image).

What this error means

Tests fail before running with "browserType.launch: Executable doesn't exist at .../chromium-XXXX/chrome-linux/chrome." The message even suggests the install command. Every test errors identically because no browser is present.

Playwright output

browserType.launch: Executable doesn't exist at
/home/runner/.cache/ms-playwright/chromium-1124/chrome-linux/chrome

╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ Looks like Playwright Test or Playwright was just installed ║
║ or updated. Please run the following command to download    ║
║ new browsers:    npx playwright install                     ║
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Common causes

Browsers never downloaded

npm ci installs the @playwright/test package but not the browser binaries. Without an explicit playwright install step, the executable is missing.

Version drift between package and cache

After a Playwright upgrade, the new version expects a newer browser build than what is cached, so the path it looks for does not exist.

How to fix it

Install the browsers (with OS deps)

Run the install step after npm ci. --with-deps also installs the system libraries the browsers need on Linux.

Terminal

npm ci
npx playwright install --with-deps
npx playwright test

Or use the official Playwright image

The mcr.microsoft.com/playwright image ships the matching browsers and deps preinstalled.

.github/workflows/ci.yml

# in CI
container: mcr.microsoft.com/playwright:v1.49.0-jammy

How to prevent it

Always run npx playwright install --with-deps after dependency install in CI.
Pin the Playwright version and cache ~/.cache/ms-playwright keyed on it.
Prefer the official Playwright Docker image for a matched toolchain.