microsoft/playwright · error · Error

PDF creation is only working with Chromium

Error message

PDF creation is only working with Chromium

What it means

Thrown by the `pdf` CLI sub-command when `options.browser` is not 'chromium'. Chromium is the only browser engine with PDF printing support, so the command refuses to proceed for firefox/webkit before launching a context.

Source

Thrown at packages/playwright-core/src/cli/browserActions.ts:329

    console.log(`Waiting for timeout ${captureOptions.waitForTimeout}...`);
    await page.waitForTimeout(parseInt(captureOptions.waitForTimeout, 10));
  }
}

export async function screenshot(options: Options, captureOptions: CaptureOptions, url: string, path: string) {
  const { context } = await launchContext(options, { headless: true });
  console.log('Navigating to ' + url);
  const page = await openPage(context, url);
  await waitForPage(page, captureOptions);
  console.log('Capturing screenshot into ' + path);
  await page.screenshot({ path, fullPage: !!captureOptions.fullPage });
  // launchContext takes care of closing the browser.
  await page.close();
}

export async function pdf(options: Options, captureOptions: CaptureOptions, url: string, path: string) {
  if (options.browser !== 'chromium')
    throw new Error('PDF creation is only working with Chromium');
  const { context } = await launchContext({ ...options, browser: 'chromium' }, { headless: true });
  console.log('Navigating to ' + url);
  const page = await openPage(context, url);
  await waitForPage(page, captureOptions);
  console.log('Saving as pdf into ' + path);
  await page.pdf!({ path, format: captureOptions.paperFormat });
  // launchContext takes care of closing the browser.
  await page.close();
}

function lookupBrowserType(options: Options): BrowserType {
  let name = options.browser;
  if (options.device) {
    const device = playwright.devices[options.device];
    name = device.defaultBrowserType;
  }
  let browserType: any;
  switch (name) {

View on GitHub (pinned to c8fc3bf8d3)

Solutions

1. Force chromium for the pdf command: `playwright pdf --browser=chromium <url>`.
2. Drop the `--browser` flag if no non-chromium default is set.
3. Branch in scripts to skip pdf when the engine is not chromium.

Example fix

# before
npx playwright pdf --browser=firefox page.html out.pdf

# after
npx playwright pdf --browser=chromium page.html out.pdf

function assertChromiumForPdf(browser?: string) {
  if (browser && browser !== 'chromium')
    throw new Error(`PDF requires chromium; got ${browser}`);
}

function supportsPdf(browser: string): boolean {
  return browser === 'chromium';
}

try {
  await pdf(options, capture, url, path);
} catch (e) {
  if (/PDF creation is only working with Chromium/.test(e.message)) {
    options.browser = 'chromium';
    return pdf(options, capture, url, path);
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `playwright pdf --browser=firefox <url>` or `--browser=webkit`, or omitting `--browser` while a default/config sets firefox/webkit. The check `if (options.browser !== 'chromium') throw` runs at the top of the pdf function.

Common situations: Forgetting the engine restriction; global config defaulting to firefox/webkit; scripted invocation that passes through a user-chosen browser without filtering pdf.

Related errors

• Invalid viewport size format: use "width,height", for exampl
• Invalid geolocation format, should be "lat,long". For exampl
• Device descriptor not found: '${options.device}', available
• Invalid color scheme, should be one of "light", "dark"
• Unknown permission: ${permission}

AI-assisted analysis of microsoft/playwright@c8fc3bf8d3 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/51ab46050690d41b. Report an issue: GitHub.