diff --git a/playwriter/src/cli.ts b/playwriter/src/cli.ts
index c6dc2e4..acf9fcd 100644
--- a/playwriter/src/cli.ts
+++ b/playwriter/src/cli.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import { cac } from '@xmorse/cac'
 import { VERSION, LOG_FILE_PATH } from './utils.js'
 import { ensureRelayServer, RELAY_PORT } from './relay-client.js'
 
+const cliRelayEnv = { PLAYWRITER_AUTO_ENABLE: '1' }
+
 const cli = cac('playwriter')
 
 cli
@@ -54,7 +56,7 @@ async function executeCode(options: {
 
   // Ensure relay server is running (only for local)
   if (!host && !process.env.PLAYWRITER_HOST) {
-    await ensureRelayServer({ logger: console })
+    await ensureRelayServer({ logger: console, env: cliRelayEnv })
   }
 
   // Session is required
@@ -122,7 +124,7 @@ cli
     const serverUrl = await getServerUrl(options.host)
 
     if (!options.host && !process.env.PLAYWRITER_HOST) {
-      await ensureRelayServer({ logger: console })
+      await ensureRelayServer({ logger: console, env: cliRelayEnv })
     }
 
     try {
@@ -142,7 +144,7 @@ cli
     const serverUrl = await getServerUrl(options.host)
 
     if (!options.host && !process.env.PLAYWRITER_HOST) {
-      await ensureRelayServer({ logger: console })
+      await ensureRelayServer({ logger: console, env: cliRelayEnv })
     }
 
     try {
@@ -186,7 +188,7 @@ cli
     const serverUrl = await getServerUrl(options.host)
 
     if (!options.host && !process.env.PLAYWRITER_HOST) {
-      await ensureRelayServer({ logger: console })
+      await ensureRelayServer({ logger: console, env: cliRelayEnv })
     }
 
     try {
diff --git a/playwriter/src/relay-client.ts b/playwriter/src/relay-client.ts
index c345ece..4df310f 100644
--- a/playwriter/src/relay-client.ts
+++ b/playwriter/src/relay-client.ts
@@ -58,12 +58,11 @@ function compareVersions(v1: string, v2: string): number {
 }
 
 export interface EnsureRelayServerOptions {
-  /** Optional logger for status messages */
-  logger?: {
-    log: (...args: any[]) => void
-  }
+  logger?: { log: (...args: any[]) => void }
   /** If true, will kill and restart server on version mismatch. Default: true */
   restartOnVersionMismatch?: boolean
+  /** Pass additional environment variables to the relay server process */
+  env?: Record<string, string>
 }
 
 /**
@@ -71,7 +70,7 @@ export interface EnsureRelayServerOptions {
  * Optionally restarts on version mismatch.
  */
 export async function ensureRelayServer(options: EnsureRelayServerOptions = {}): Promise<void> {
-  const { logger, restartOnVersionMismatch = true } = options
+  const { logger, restartOnVersionMismatch = true, env: additionalEnv } = options
   const serverVersion = await getRelayServerVersion(RELAY_PORT)
 
   if (serverVersion === VERSION) {
@@ -104,7 +103,7 @@ export async function ensureRelayServer(options: EnsureRelayServerOptions = {}):
   const serverProcess = spawn(dev ? 'tsx' : process.execPath, [scriptPath], {
     detached: true,
     stdio: 'ignore',
-    env: { ...process.env },
+    env: { ...process.env, ...additionalEnv },
   })
 
   serverProcess.unref()