Implementation:Puppeteer Puppeteer Chrome Browser Data

Property	Value
sources	packages/browsers/src/browser-data/chrome.ts
domains	Browser Management, Download Resolution, Platform Detection
last_updated	2026-02-12 00:00 GMT

Overview

Description

The Chrome Browser Data module provides platform-specific resolution logic for Chrome browser downloads, executable paths, system installation locations, and user data directories. It is a core component of the @puppeteer/browsers package that enables Puppeteer to locate, download, and launch Chrome across all supported operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux) and release channels (Stable, Beta, Dev, Canary).

The module resolves Chrome for Testing download URLs from Google's official infrastructure, determines the correct executable path within extracted archives for each platform, and can locate system-installed Chrome binaries including WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) environments. It also resolves build IDs from channel names, milestone numbers, or build prefixes by querying Google's version metadata APIs.

Usage

This module is used internally by the @puppeteer/browsers package to:

• Construct download URLs for Chrome for Testing binaries
• Determine relative executable paths within extracted browser archives
• Locate system-installed Chrome browsers by release channel
• Resolve default user data directories for each platform and channel
• Convert channel names, milestones, or build prefixes into concrete version strings
• Compare Chrome version strings using semver

Code Reference

Source Location

packages/browsers/src/browser-data/chrome.ts

Signature

export function resolveDownloadUrl(
  platform: BrowserPlatform,
  buildId: string,
  baseUrl?: string,
): string;

export function resolveDownloadPath(
  platform: BrowserPlatform,
  buildId: string,
): string[];

export function relativeExecutablePath(
  platform: BrowserPlatform,
  _buildId: string,
): string;

export async function getLastKnownGoodReleaseForChannel(
  channel: ChromeReleaseChannel,
): Promise<{version: string; revision: string}>;

export async function getLastKnownGoodReleaseForMilestone(
  milestone: string,
): Promise<{version: string; revision: string} | undefined>;

export async function getLastKnownGoodReleaseForBuild(
  buildPrefix: string,
): Promise<{version: string; revision: string} | undefined>;

export async function resolveBuildId(
  channel: ChromeReleaseChannel | string,
): Promise<string | undefined>;

export function resolveSystemExecutablePaths(
  platform: BrowserPlatform,
  channel: ChromeReleaseChannel,
): [string, ...string[]];

export function resolveDefaultUserDataDir(
  platform: BrowserPlatform,
  channel: ChromeReleaseChannel,
): string;

export function compareVersions(a: string, b: string): number;

Import

import {
  resolveDownloadUrl,
  resolveDownloadPath,
  relativeExecutablePath,
  resolveBuildId,
  resolveSystemExecutablePaths,
  resolveDefaultUserDataDir,
  compareVersions,
} from './browser-data/chrome.js';

I/O Contract

Inputs

Parameter	Type	Description
platform	BrowserPlatform	Target platform (LINUX, LINUX_ARM, MAC, MAC_ARM, WIN32, WIN64)
buildId	string	Chrome version/build identifier (e.g., "131.0.6778.109")
baseUrl	string (optional)	Custom base URL for downloads, defaults to Google's Chrome for Testing storage
channel	ChromeReleaseChannel or string	Release channel (stable, beta, dev, canary) or milestone/build prefix
milestone	string	Chrome milestone number (e.g., "131")
buildPrefix	string	Chrome build prefix without patch (e.g., "112.0.23")

Outputs

Function	Return Type	Description
resolveDownloadUrl	string	Full download URL for Chrome for Testing archive
resolveDownloadPath	string[]	Path segments for the download URL
relativeExecutablePath	string	Relative path to the Chrome executable within extracted archive
resolveBuildId	undefined>	Resolved version string from channel/milestone/build prefix
resolveSystemExecutablePaths	[string, ...string[]]	Array of possible system-installed Chrome executable paths
resolveDefaultUserDataDir	string	Default user data directory path for Chrome
compareVersions	number	-1, 0, or 1 for version comparison

Usage Examples

import {BrowserPlatform, ChromeReleaseChannel} from './browser-data/types.js';

// Resolve a download URL for Chrome
const url = resolveDownloadUrl(
  BrowserPlatform.LINUX,
  '131.0.6778.109'
);
// => 'https://storage.googleapis.com/chrome-for-testing-public/131.0.6778.109/linux64/chrome-linux64.zip'

// Get the executable path within the extracted archive
const execPath = relativeExecutablePath(BrowserPlatform.MAC, '131.0.6778.109');
// => 'chrome-mac-x64/Google Chrome for Testing.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome for Testing'

// Resolve a build ID from the stable channel
const buildId = await resolveBuildId('stable');
// => '131.0.6778.109'

// Resolve a build ID from a milestone
const milestoneVersion = await resolveBuildId('131');
// => '131.0.6778.109'

// Find system-installed Chrome
const paths = resolveSystemExecutablePaths(
  BrowserPlatform.LINUX,
  ChromeReleaseChannel.STABLE
);
// => ['/opt/google/chrome/chrome']

// Get default user data directory
const dataDir = resolveDefaultUserDataDir(
  BrowserPlatform.MAC,
  ChromeReleaseChannel.STABLE
);
// => '/Users/<user>/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome'

Related Pages

• Environment:Puppeteer_Puppeteer_Node_18_Runtime