Implementation:Puppeteer Puppeteer PuppeteerNode Launch

Knowledge Sources	Puppeteer Puppeteer API
Domains	Browser_Automation, Node_JS
Last Updated	2026-02-11 23:00 GMT

Overview

Concrete tool for launching browser processes and returning connected Browser instances, provided by the puppeteer-core library.

Description

The PuppeteerNode.launch() method is the primary entry point for starting browser automation. It accepts a LaunchOptions configuration object and dispatches to the appropriate browser-specific launcher (ChromeLauncher or FirefoxLauncher). The launcher resolves the executable path, constructs CLI arguments, spawns the browser process, and establishes a protocol connection (CDP or WebDriver BiDi).

The method is defined on the PuppeteerNode class, which extends the base Puppeteer class with Node.js-specific capabilities (process spawning, file system access).

Usage

Import and call this method at the start of any Puppeteer automation script. Use it when you need to start a new browser process. For connecting to an already-running browser, use puppeteer.connect() instead.

Code Reference

Source Location

Repository: puppeteer
File: packages/puppeteer-core/src/node/PuppeteerNode.ts
Lines: 150-164

Signature

class PuppeteerNode {
  launch(options: LaunchOptions = {}): Promise<Browser>
}

Import

import puppeteer from 'puppeteer';
// or for puppeteer-core:
import puppeteer from 'puppeteer-core';

I/O Contract

Inputs

Name	Type	Required	Description
options	LaunchOptions	No	Configuration object for browser launch
options.headless	'shell'	No	Run browser in headless mode (default: true)
options.args	string[]	No	Additional CLI arguments for the browser process
options.executablePath	string	No	Path to a custom browser executable
options.browser	'firefox'	No	Which browser to launch (default: 'chrome')
options.protocol	'webDriverBiDi'	No	Communication protocol (Chrome defaults to CDP, Firefox defaults to BiDi)
options.userDataDir	string	No	Path to a user data directory for persistent state
options.dumpio	boolean	No	Pipe browser process stdout and stderr to Node.js process
options.timeout	number	No	Maximum time in ms to wait for browser to start (default: 30000)

Outputs

Name	Type	Description
return	Promise<Browser>	A Browser instance connected to the launched browser process

Usage Examples

Basic Headless Launch

const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');

const browser = await puppeteer.launch();
// Browser is now running in headless mode
const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto('https://example.com');
await browser.close();

Launch With Custom Options

const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');

const browser = await puppeteer.launch({
  headless: false,          // Show browser window
  args: ['--window-size=1920,1080'],
  dumpio: true,             // See browser console output
});

Launch Firefox With WebDriver BiDi

const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');

const browser = await puppeteer.launch({
  browser: 'firefox',
  protocol: 'webDriverBiDi',
});
const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto('https://example.com');
await browser.close();

Related Pages

Implements Principle

Principle:Puppeteer_Puppeteer_Browser_Launching

Requires Environment

Uses Heuristic

Page Connections

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Principle

Implementation

Heuristic

Environment