From 1e9fecaf60fb8c50f37d5c0fb26e45d1d9fafa88 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "Tommy D. Rossi" <beats.by.morse@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2026 17:26:21 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] add --profile-directory=Default to Chrome restart commands

Prevents Chrome from hanging on the profile picker when agents restart it
programmatically. Applied to:

- getChromeRestartCommand() in screen-recording.ts (used for recording setup)
- All Chrome startup examples in skill.md (basic + recording flags)
- Both macOS, Linux, and Windows variants
---
 playwriter/src/screen-recording.ts |  5 +++--
 playwriter/src/skill.md            | 14 +++++++-------
 2 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/playwriter/src/screen-recording.ts b/playwriter/src/screen-recording.ts
index e5f35c0..3a3da2f 100644
--- a/playwriter/src/screen-recording.ts
+++ b/playwriter/src/screen-recording.ts
@@ -27,8 +27,9 @@ import { EXTENSION_IDS } from './utils.js'
  */
 export function getChromeRestartCommand(): string {
   const platform = os.platform()
-  const flags =
-    EXTENSION_IDS.map((id) => `--allowlisted-extension-id=${id}`).join(' ') + ' --auto-accept-this-tab-capture'
+  const extensionFlags = EXTENSION_IDS.map((id) => `--allowlisted-extension-id=${id}`).join(' ')
+  // --profile-directory=Default skips the profile picker on startup, preventing Chrome from hanging
+  const flags = `${extensionFlags} --auto-accept-this-tab-capture --profile-directory=Default`
 
   if (platform === 'darwin') {
     return `osascript -e 'quit app "Google Chrome"' && sleep 1 && open -a "Google Chrome" --args ${flags}`
diff --git a/playwriter/src/skill.md b/playwriter/src/skill.md
index 39fa017..6a61437 100644
--- a/playwriter/src/skill.md
+++ b/playwriter/src/skill.md
@@ -126,29 +126,29 @@ Control user's Chrome browser via playwright code snippets. Prefer single-line c
 
 ```bash
 # macOS
-open -a "Google Chrome"
+open -a "Google Chrome" --args --profile-directory=Default
 
 # Linux
-google-chrome &
+google-chrome --profile-directory=Default &
 
 # Windows (cmd)
-start chrome.exe
+start chrome.exe --profile-directory=Default
 
 # Windows (PowerShell)
-Start-Process chrome.exe
+Start-Process chrome.exe -ArgumentList '--profile-directory=Default'
 ```
 
 To also enable automatic tab capture for screen recording (no manual extension click needed), add the `--allowlisted-extension-id` and `--auto-accept-this-tab-capture` flags:
 
 ```bash
 # macOS
-open -a "Google Chrome" --args --allowlisted-extension-id=jfeammnjpkecdekppnclgkkffahnhfhe --auto-accept-this-tab-capture
+open -a "Google Chrome" --args --profile-directory=Default --allowlisted-extension-id=jfeammnjpkecdekppnclgkkffahnhfhe --auto-accept-this-tab-capture
 
 # Linux
-google-chrome --allowlisted-extension-id=jfeammnjpkecdekppnclgkkffahnhfhe --auto-accept-this-tab-capture &
+google-chrome --profile-directory=Default --allowlisted-extension-id=jfeammnjpkecdekppnclgkkffahnhfhe --auto-accept-this-tab-capture &
 
 # Windows
-start chrome.exe --allowlisted-extension-id=jfeammnjpkecdekppnclgkkffahnhfhe --auto-accept-this-tab-capture
+start chrome.exe --profile-directory=Default --allowlisted-extension-id=jfeammnjpkecdekppnclgkkffahnhfhe --auto-accept-this-tab-capture
 ```
 
 You can collaborate with the user - they can help with captchas, difficult elements, or reproducing bugs.