Puppeteer
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JavaScript library that drives Chrome or Firefox over the DevTools Protocol or WebDriver BiDi. It serves as the browser-control layer that several higher-level agent automation tools are built on top of.
Included as the browser-control layer itself rather than as an agent product: `playwright-mcp`, `browser-use` and `steel-browser` all sit on this class of library, and a map that scores the adapters without the thing they adapt reads as though it appeared from nowhere.
Openness
5 high confidence- license
- Apache-2.0(OSI)
- source
- public(the library and its browser management)
- self-host
- yes(npm install, runs a local browser)
- core features withheld
- no — nothing withheld from the published tree
Apache-2.0 over the whole library, with no hosted tier and nothing withheld.
- https://api.github.com/repos/puppeteer/puppeteer recorded 2026-09-17
Repository metadata: spdx_id Apache-2.0, 95,583 stars, not archived, not a fork, last pushed 2026-09-17, description "JavaScript API for Chrome and Firefox".
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/main/LICENSE recorded 2026-09-17
The LICENSE body: the verbatim Apache License 2.0 text.
Adoption
5 high confidenceAdoption is measured by npm downloads of `puppeteer`, the package that is the product itself rather than a client for it.
- https://api.npmjs.org/downloads/point/last-month/puppeteer recorded 2026-09-17
npm downloads point API: 44,469,009 downloads for `puppeteer` over 2026-08-13 to 2026-09-11.
Capability
3 high confidencePuppeteer offers a curated surface over one browser, with the caller supplying everything: installation is `npm i puppeteer`, which downloads a compatible browser that then runs on the caller's own machine with no authentication at all. That places it level with Playwright MCP and the rest of the browser-driving group.
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/main/README.md recorded 2026-09-17
The README: "Puppeteer is a JavaScript library which provides a high-level API to control Chrome or Firefox over the DevTools Protocol or WebDriver BiDi." Installation is `npm i puppeteer`, which "Downloads compatible Chrome during installation". No authentication, token or credential appears anywhere in it.
Verified 2026-09-17