microsoft/playwright · error · Error

An active lockfile is found at

Error message

An active lockfile is found at:

  ${lockfilePath}

Either:
- wait a few minutes if other Playwright is installing browsers in parallel
- remove lock manually with:

    ${rmCommand} ${lockfilePath}

<3 Playwright Team

What it means

Thrown from the catch block of Registry.install when the lock acquisition fails with error code ELOCKED — the proper-lockfile library exhausted all 20 retries over ~10 minutes without obtaining the lock. The boxed message tells the user another Playwright process holds the lock and gives the manual removal command for the platform.

Solutions

Run the rm command printed in the message ('rm -rf <path>' on macOS/Linux, 'rm -R <path>' on Windows) then re-run the install.
Wait and retry if another install is legitimately running.
Isolate installs with a unique PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH per concurrent job.
Add a lock-cleanup step at the start of CI: remove the __dirlock file before installing.

Defensive patterns

Strategy: retry

Validate before calling

import { existsSync, rmSync } from 'fs';
import { join } from 'path';

// Remove a stale lock before installing
const lock = join(process.env.PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH || '', 'ms-playwright', '__dirlock');
if (existsSync(lock)) rmSync(lock, { recursive: true, force: true });

Try / catch

try {
  await registry.install(executables);
} catch (e) {
  if (e.code === 'ELOCKED' || /active lockfile is found/.test(e.message)) {
    // wait briefly, remove stale lock, retry once
    rmSync(lockfilePath, { recursive: true, force: true });
    await registry.install(executables);
  } else throw e;
}

Prevention

Remove the __dirlock at the start of CI steps where a prior install may have been killed.
Use a unique PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH per concurrent job to avoid contention.
Do not run two 'playwright install' commands against the same registry directory in parallel.

When it happens

Trigger: A prior 'playwright install' crashed without releasing the __dirlock, or a long-running concurrent install still holds it; subsequent installs retry for 10 minutes then surface this error.

Common situations: CI job that was killed mid-install leaving a stale lock; multiple pipeline stages installing browsers into the same PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH simultaneously; local dev interrupted an install with Ctrl-C.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of microsoft/playwright@500c9c822c (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d56bb1b124128eed. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at packages/playwright-core/src/server/registry/index.ts:994

            `requires *removal* of a current installation first.`,
            ``,
            `To *uninstall* current version and re-install latest "${executable.name}":`,
            ``,
            `- Close all running instances of "${executable.name}", if any`,
            `- Use "--force" to install browser:`,
            ``,
            `    ${command}`,
            ``,
            `<3 Playwright Team`,
          ].join('\n'), 1) + '\n\n');
          return;
        }
        await executable._install(!!options?.force);
      }
    } catch (e) {
      if (e.code === 'ELOCKED') {
        const rmCommand = process.platform === 'win32' ? 'rm -R' : 'rm -rf';
        throw new Error('\n' + wrapInASCIIBox([
          `An active lockfile is found at:`,
          ``,
          `  ${lockfilePath}`,
          ``,
          `Either:`,
          `- wait a few minutes if other Playwright is installing browsers in parallel`,
          `- remove lock manually with:`,
          ``,
          `    ${rmCommand} ${lockfilePath}`,
          ``,
          `<3 Playwright Team`,
        ].join('\n'), 1));
      } else {
        throw e;
      }
    } finally {
      if (releaseLock)
        await releaseLock();

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