Implementation:Microsoft Playwright NetworkDispatchers

Knowledge Sources	Microsoft_Playwright
Domains	Dispatcher, Network
Last Updated	2026-02-12 00:00 GMT

Overview

Concrete tool for exposing server-side network objects (Request, Response, Route, WebSocket, APIRequestContext) over the Playwright RPC protocol provided by the Playwright library.

Description

The `networkDispatchers` module defines multiple dispatcher classes for network-related objects. `RequestDispatcher` exposes `Request` objects with their URL, method, headers, post data, timing, and service worker information. `ResponseDispatcher` exposes `Response` objects with status, headers, and body retrieval. `RouteDispatcher` handles request interception with `fulfill`, `continue_`, and `abort` methods. `WebSocketDispatcher` exposes WebSocket connections with frame sent/received/close events. `APIRequestContextDispatcher` exposes the global API request context for `fetch`-style HTTP operations. Each dispatcher uses static factory methods for creation and reuse.

Usage

Use NetworkDispatchers when the protocol layer needs to expose network requests, responses, routes, and WebSocket connections to Playwright clients for network interception and monitoring.

Code Reference

Source Location

• Repository: Microsoft_Playwright
• File: packages/playwright-core/src/server/dispatchers/networkDispatchers.ts

Signature

export class RequestDispatcher extends Dispatcher<Request, channels.RequestChannel, BrowserContextDispatcher | PageDispatcher | FrameDispatcher> implements channels.RequestChannel {
  _type_Request: boolean;
  static from(scope: BrowserContextDispatcher, request: Request): RequestDispatcher;
  async response(params: channels.RequestResponseParams, progress: Progress): Promise<channels.RequestResponseResult>;
}

export class ResponseDispatcher extends Dispatcher<Response, channels.ResponseChannel, BrowserContextDispatcher | RequestDispatcher> implements channels.ResponseChannel {
  _type_Response: boolean;
  static from(scope: BrowserContextDispatcher, response: Response): ResponseDispatcher;
  async body(params: channels.ResponseBodyParams, progress: Progress): Promise<channels.ResponseBodyResult>;
}

export class RouteDispatcher extends Dispatcher<Route, channels.RouteChannel, BrowserContextDispatcher> implements channels.RouteChannel {
  _type_Route: boolean;
  async abort(params: channels.RouteAbortParams, progress: Progress): Promise<void>;
  async fulfill(params: channels.RouteFulfillParams, progress: Progress): Promise<void>;
  async continue_(params: channels.RouteContinueParams, progress: Progress): Promise<void>;
}

export class WebSocketDispatcher extends Dispatcher<WebSocket, channels.WebSocketChannel, PageDispatcher> implements channels.WebSocketChannel {}

export class APIRequestContextDispatcher extends Dispatcher<APIRequestContext, channels.APIRequestContextChannel, RootDispatcher | BrowserContextDispatcher> implements channels.APIRequestContextChannel {}

Import

import { RequestDispatcher, ResponseDispatcher, RouteDispatcher, WebSocketDispatcher, APIRequestContextDispatcher } from '../server/dispatchers/networkDispatchers';

I/O Contract

Inputs

Name	Type	Required	Description
scope	BrowserContextDispatcher	Yes	Parent dispatcher scope
request	Request	Yes	Server-side request object
response	Response	Yes	Server-side response object
route	Route	Yes	Server-side route for interception

Outputs

Name	Type	Description
response	ResponseDispatcher	Dispatcher for the request's response
body	Buffer	Response body content
(events)	frameSent, frameReceived, close	WebSocket events

Usage Examples

import { RequestDispatcher, RouteDispatcher } from '../server/dispatchers/networkDispatchers';

const requestDispatcher = RequestDispatcher.from(contextScope, request);
const { response } = await requestDispatcher.response({}, progress);

// Route interception
await routeDispatcher.fulfill({ status: 200, body: 'mocked', headers: [] }, progress);
await routeDispatcher.abort({ errorCode: 'blockedbyclient' }, progress);

Related Pages

• Environment:Microsoft_Playwright_Node_Runtime_Environment