microsoft/playwright · error · Error

Invalid geolocation format, should be "lat,long". For exampl

Error message

Invalid geolocation format, should be "lat,long". For example --geolocation="37.819722,-122.478611"

What it means

Thrown by the `--geolocation` CLI option handler when parsing the value as `latitude,longitude` fails. The handler splits on `,`, trims, and `parseFloat`s both parts inside a try; any failure (including NaN results from non-numeric input) is rethrown as the format error.

Source

Thrown at packages/playwright-core/src/cli/browserActions.ts:123

      if (isNaN(width) || isNaN(height))
        throw new Error('bad values');
      contextOptions.viewport = { width, height };
    } catch (e) {
      throw new Error('Invalid viewport size format: use "width,height", for example --viewport-size="800,600"');
    }
  }

  // Geolocation

  if (options.geolocation) {
    try {
      const [latitude, longitude] = options.geolocation.split(',').map(n => parseFloat(n.trim()));
      contextOptions.geolocation = {
        latitude,
        longitude
      };
    } catch (e) {
      throw new Error('Invalid geolocation format, should be "lat,long". For example --geolocation="37.819722,-122.478611"');
    }
    contextOptions.permissions = ['geolocation'];
  }

  // User agent

  if (options.userAgent)
    contextOptions.userAgent = options.userAgent;

  // Lang

  if (options.lang)
    contextOptions.locale = options.lang;

  // Color scheme

  if (options.colorScheme)
    contextOptions.colorScheme = options.colorScheme as 'dark' | 'light';

View on GitHub (pinned to c8fc3bf8d3)

Solutions

1. Provide decimal `lat,long`, e.g. `--geolocation="37.819722,-122.478611"`.
2. Convert DMS to decimal degrees before passing.
3. Quote the value to protect the comma from the shell.

Example fix

# before
npx playwright open --geolocation=37.819722 https://example.com

# after
npx playwright open --geolocation="37.819722,-122.478611" https://example.com

function parseGeolocation(raw: string): { latitude: number; longitude: number } {
  const parts = (raw ?? '').split(',');
  if (parts.length !== 2) throw new Error('Use "lat,long"');
  const [lat, lng] = parts.map(s => parseFloat(s.trim()));
  if (!Number.isFinite(lat) || !Number.isFinite(lng) || Math.abs(lat) > 90 || Math.abs(lng) > 180)
    throw new Error('lat must be [-90,90], long must be [-180,180]');
  return { latitude: lat, longitude: lng };
}

function isGeolocationString(v: string): boolean {
  const m = v.match(/^(-?\d+(?:\.\d+)?),(-?\d+(?:\.\d+)?)$/);
  if (!m) return false;
  const [, lat, lng] = m;
  return Math.abs(+lat) <= 90 && Math.abs(+lng) <= 180;
}

try {
  return parseGeolocation(raw);
} catch (e) {
  if (/Invalid geolocation format/.test(e.message)) {
    throw new Error(`Expected decimal "lat,long", got ${JSON.stringify(raw)}`);
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `playwright open --geolocation=...` with a malformed value: `--geolocation=37.8` (missing longitude), `--geolocation=abc,def`, `--geolocation=37,-122,0` (extra component depends on parse path).

Common situations: Typo dropping the comma; using DMS coordinates instead of decimal degrees; copy-paste of a maps URL that includes extra fields; locale separator confusion.

Related errors

• Invalid viewport size format: use "width,height", for exampl
• Device descriptor not found: '${options.device}', available
• Error while parsing selector `${selector}` - selector cannot
• PDF creation is only working with Chromium
• Invalid color scheme, should be one of "light", "dark"

AI-assisted analysis of microsoft/playwright@c8fc3bf8d3 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b3334f06e7ed9634. Report an issue: GitHub.