Bridgewright
Use your local browser from Playwright running in Codespaces.
Bridgewright is a VS Code extension that exposes your Windows Microsoft Edge profile to code running inside your Codespace as a plain Chrome DevTools Protocol endpoint:
import { chromium } from "playwright";
await chromium.connectOverCDP("http://127.0.0.1:37373");
No custom Playwright fixture. No test-code package. No agent-specific API. If code can use Playwright CDP, it can use Bridgewright.
Named CDP profiles are available by adding a profile path to the endpoint:
await chromium.connectOverCDP("http://127.0.0.1:37373/profiles/kash-work");
default uses the durable Edge user data directory. Any other valid profile name is session-scoped, stored under ~\.bridgewright\profiles\<name>\edge-user-data, and removed when Bridgewright starts, stops, receives a profile close/remove request, or the final profile-scoped CDP connection disconnects.
Quickstart
Open this repo in VS Code Desktop connected to a GitHub Codespace.
Click the Bridgewright status bar item, or run:
Bridgewright: Start Local Browser Bridge
Wait for the status bar to show:
Bridgewright: 37373
In the Codespace, connect Playwright. Edge launches lazily on the first real CDP connection:
import { chromium } from "playwright";
const browser = await chromium.connectOverCDP("http://127.0.0.1:37373");
Use a named profile when a tool such as kash needs isolated browser state:
const browser = await chromium.connectOverCDP("http://127.0.0.1:37373/profiles/kash-work");
Agents can check readiness with:
node .claude/skills/bridgewright/scripts/check-endpoint.js
Run the full live smoke from the Codespace after the status bar shows Bridgewright: 37373:
node .claude/skills/bridgewright/scripts/check-endpoint.js --timeout-ms 5000
node .claude/skills/bridgewright/scripts/check-endpoint.js --timeout-ms 20000 --playwright
node .claude/skills/bridgewright/scripts/check-endpoint.js --timeout-ms 20000 --diagnose
curl -fsSL http://127.0.0.1:37373/bridgewright/check-endpoint.js | node - --diagnose --timeout-ms 20000
--diagnose is repo-independent. If Playwright is not installed in the current repo, the checker still returns ok: true when HTTP/CDP health is green and marks the Playwright snapshot as skipped. Use --playwright when Playwright attach must be a required gate.
The repo test suite also includes a local browser/profile e2e that does not require installing the extension in VS Code:
npm test
To run only that e2e:
npm run e2e:local
The local e2e starts the embedded helper on random localhost ports, drives the real Bridgewright connector code, verifies locked default-profile discovery fails promptly instead of hanging, verifies default-profile navigation and close behavior, rejects default profile close through the management API, verifies default can reopen, verifies named profiles navigate independently, verifies final CDP disconnect cleanup, verifies one client disconnect does not close a profile while another client remains connected, verifies remove stops and deletes named profiles, and finally verifies default still works after named-profile cleanup. This does not cover VS Code activation, status bar commands, or vscode.env.asExternalUri.
Commands
Bridgewright: Start Local Browser BridgeBridgewright: Stop Local Browser BridgeBridgewright: Show StatusBridgewright: Copy CDP EndpointBridgewright: Show Logs
State
Windows-side Bridgewright files are stored under:
~\.bridgewright\logs
~\.bridgewright\profiles\<name>\edge-user-data
~\.bridgewright\state.json
Only non-default profiles live under ~\.bridgewright\profiles. Bridgewright deletes that directory on every start and stop so disposable Codespaces cannot leave host-side browser data behind forever. The default Edge profile path is never deleted by Bridgewright.
Codespace-side status files are written to:
~/.bridgewright/endpoint.json
~/.bridgewright/status.json
Per-run helper files are written under the remote user home and cleaned on Bridgewright start and stop:
~/.bridgewright/runtime/launch-<run>.sh
~/.bridgewright/runtime/helper-<run>.log
~/.bridgewright/runtime/ready-<run>.json
Requirements
- Windows desktop VS Code
- Microsoft Edge
- An open VS Code remote window connected to the target Codespace
Status bar
$(debug-start) Bridgewright — stopped. Click to start.$(sync~spin) Bridgewright — arming the Codespace helper.$(debug-stop) Bridgewright: 37373 — armed and waiting for CDP connections. Click to stop.$(warning) Bridgewright — error. Click to retry after checking logs.
Troubleshooting
Open Bridgewright: Show Logs first. If startup fails before the status bar reaches running, inspect the latest ~/.bridgewright/runtime/helper-<run>.log in the Codespace. A healthy helper log includes BRIDGEWRIGHT_READY.
If the helper is ready but Playwright cannot connect, run:
curl --max-time 5 http://127.0.0.1:37373/json/version
curl --max-time 5 http://127.0.0.1:37373/json/list
node .claude/skills/bridgewright/scripts/check-endpoint.js --playwright --timeout-ms 20000
node .claude/skills/bridgewright/scripts/check-endpoint.js --diagnose --timeout-ms 20000
curl -fsSL http://127.0.0.1:37373/bridgewright/check-endpoint.js | node - --diagnose --timeout-ms 20000
Profile management endpoints:
curl http://127.0.0.1:37373/profiles
curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:37373/profiles/kash-work/close
curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:37373/profiles/kash-work/remove
Profile names must match [a-zA-Z0-9_][a-zA-Z0-9_.-]{0,63}. close and remove are idempotent for named profiles and reject default. The default browser window closes automatically after the last root CDP connection disconnects, while its profile data remains durable. Named profiles also close automatically after the last profile-scoped CDP connection disconnects and their profile data is removed. Set bridgewright.closeDefaultProfileOnDisconnect or bridgewright.closeNamedProfilesOnDisconnect to false to keep profile windows alive after CDP disconnect.
How it works
Bridgewright starts a small helper inside the Codespace that listens on 127.0.0.1:37373. Start arms the bridge. Your Playwright code connects to that endpoint, and the first CDP bytes trigger local Edge startup. The local VS Code extension connects back through VS Code-forwarded WebSocket tunnels and pipes CDP bytes to Edge.
By default Bridgewright uses a dedicated durable default automation profile at %USERPROFILE%\.bridgewright\default-edge-user-data. Override bridgewright.edgeUserDataDir if you want a different default automation profile. Set bridgewright.useSystemEdgeUserDataDirByDefault to true only if you need the old behavior that points the default profile at %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Edge\User Data; that profile can be locked by an already-running Edge instance. Named profiles always use Bridgewright-owned ephemeral storage and are cleaned on Bridgewright start, stop, explicit close/remove, or final CDP disconnect.
If the Edge window is closed, Bridgewright closes that CDP socket, keeps the status bar bridge running, and waits for the next incoming connection. If the CDP client disconnects first, Bridgewright closes the browser window and keeps the bridge armed for the next connection.
CDP traffic uses sockets. It is never proxied over VS Code command RPC.
