browsers (command)

Discover, probe, and configure Playwright launch browsers for gform auth create and headed gform run (headless still uses Playwright Chromium by default).

For host-specific setup notes (WSL, Linux .deb, status meanings), see browsers.md.

list launch targets

gform browsers list
gform browsers ls                     # short alias
gform br list
gform br ls
gform browsers list --json

Shows each browser id with path, status, and default marker (★).

status	meaning
ready	likely launchable from this host
found	executable path exists but may not launch (WSL → Windows .exe usually fails)
missing	not on this host

Ids: chrome · brave · msedge · chromium · playwright (bundled).

smoke test

gform browsers check
gform browsers chk chrome          # short alias
gform browsers check chrome

Headless launch + close. Confirms Playwright can control the browser. Exit code 1 on failure.

Run this after setup or when auth create fails to launch.

default browser

gform browsers default                # show current (no picker — intentional)
gform browsers def chrome             # alias for default
gform browsers default chrome         # set
gform browsers default --pick         # TTY picker to set
gform browsers default --clear        # back to auto-discovery

No-arg default shows the saved default (or tips how to set). Picker is opt-in via --pick or by omitting the id when setting (same as --pick).

Saved to $GFORM_HOME/browsers/default.json. gform auth create uses this automatically (override per-create with --open <id>).

setup

gform browsers setup                  # catalog for this host
gform browsers set chrome             # alias for setup
gform browsers setup chrome           # plan + optional install
gform browsers setup chrome --yes     # non-interactive install
gform browsers setup chrome --print-only
gform browsers setup chrome --force   # reinstall when already ready

Host-aware: on WSL with Windows Chrome detected, setup installs Linux Chrome (Playwright cannot drive /mnt/c/… .exe).

• ready → noop (tip to set default); use --force to reinstall
• manual browsers (brave, msedge) → guided notes
• confirm with y/N on TTY; non-TTY needs --yes

WSL: found vs ready

A found Windows Chrome path is visible but usually not controllable from WSL. Prefer:

gform browsers setup chrome --yes
gform browsers check chrome
gform browsers default chrome

See browsers.md for the full WSL story.

typical workflow

gform browsers list
gform browsers setup chrome --yes
gform browsers check chrome
gform browsers default chrome
gform auth create work

gotchas

• playwright is always available (bundled) but Google may reject sign-in — use system Chrome for auth.
• browsers check and gform doctor --browser use the same probe.
• No browsers add — discovery re-scans paths every list / setup / launch.
• Preference file is under $GFORM_HOME/browsers/.

related

• browsers.md — setup deep dive
• auth.md — auth create --open
• doctor.md — --browser probe
• run.md — headed runs