A Puppeteer InstalledBrowser is a record describing a browser that @puppeteer/browsers has installed; it is not the live browser session you control with Puppeteer. Use its executablePath to launch that browser, and use the returned Puppeteer Browser object to open pages and interact with them.
What an InstalledBrowser object represents
The install() function from @puppeteer/browsers downloads and unpacks a browser archive by default. In that default path, it resolves to a Promise<InstalledBrowser>. The result records the installed browser’s identity and filesystem locations; it is not a running process or a connection to one.
The API reference for Puppeteer version 25.12.0 marks the class constructor as internal. In application code, obtain an instance through the installation API rather than constructing one yourself.
Fields and methods
| Member | What it tells you |
|---|---|
browser |
The browser-family identifier. |
buildId |
The installed browser build identifier. |
platform |
The operating-system and architecture identifier used by the package. |
path |
The root directory of the browser installation. |
executablePath |
The location of the browser executable binary. |
readMetadata() and writeMetadata(metadata) |
Methods exposed by the class for reading and writing installation metadata. |
InstalledBrowser versus Puppeteer Browser
The names are similar, but the objects have different jobs. InstalledBrowser describes files on disk. A Puppeteer Browser is the live browser instance returned by puppeteer.launch() or obtained by connecting to an already-running process with puppeteer.connect().
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| Question | InstalledBrowser |
Puppeteer Browser |
|---|---|---|
| What is it? | An installation record. | A live browser session or connection. |
| How do you get it? | From @puppeteer/browsers install(), when unpacking is enabled. |
From Puppeteer launch() or connect(). |
| What do you use it for? | To identify the installation and locate its executable. | To create pages and control browser activity. |
Installation paths: path versus executablePath
path is the installation’s root directory; it is not necessarily the file you should pass to Puppeteer. For a self-managed browser launch, set the launch option executablePath to installed.executablePath, which points to the binary.
If you call install() with unpack: false, the archive is downloaded but not unpacked, and the promise resolves to a string containing the archive path—not an InstalledBrowser. An archive path is not the executable path for launching a browser.
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Install a browser and launch it with Puppeteer
This ESM example installs a Chrome build through @puppeteer/browsers, then passes the recorded executable path to Puppeteer. Replace the build ID with the browser build your project intends to manage. The package’s version-sensitive options should be checked against the version installed in your project.
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Install the packages:
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Save the following as
launch.mjsand run it withnode launch.mjs.
import {Browser as InstalledBrowserType, install} from '@puppeteer/browsers';
import puppeteer from 'puppeteer-core';
const installed = await install({
browser: InstalledBrowserType.CHROME,
buildId: '131.0.6778.204',
cacheDir: './.cache/puppeteer',
});
console.log('Installation root:', installed.path);
console.log('Executable:', installed.executablePath);
const browser = await puppeteer.launch({
executablePath: installed.executablePath,
headless: true,
});
try {
const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto('https://example.com', {waitUntil: 'domcontentloaded'});
console.log(await page.title());
} finally {
await browser.close();
}The example uses a specific build ID as an input, not as a claim that it is the best or latest build. Choose the build required by your application and verify that it is available for the platform where the code runs.
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Choosing puppeteer or puppeteer-core
The full puppeteer package downloads Chrome and drives it through puppeteer-core. puppeteer-core is intended for setups where you manage the browser yourself or connect to a remote browser; it does not download Chrome during installation. When launching with puppeteer-core, provide either executablePath or channel.
Puppeteer guarantees compatibility only with its bundled browser. A browser executable installed and managed separately can work, but compatibility with that executable is not covered by the same guarantee.
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curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://example.com -o shot.webpSee the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for options and response details. An MCP server exposes take_screenshot, get_page_info and capture_pdf for Claude, Cursor and other MCP clients. The free plan includes 1,000 screenshots per month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 screenshots. Sign up for free and get 1,000 screenshots a month with no card.
Troubleshooting installation and launch issues
Chrome could not be found
If a package manager blocks dependency installation scripts, Puppeteer’s automatic browser download may be skipped. Install a browser manually with npx puppeteer browsers install, then confirm that the executable path you provide to the launch API points to an installed browser binary.
Launch fails when using puppeteer-core
puppeteer-core does not download Chrome. Set executablePath to an installed executable, such as installed.executablePath, or configure a supported channel. Supplying the installation root in path instead of the executable location is a common path mix-up.
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The browser installs but does not behave as expected
Check which executable Puppeteer actually launches and whether it is the browser build your project expects. Puppeteer’s compatibility guarantee applies to its bundled browser, not to arbitrary separately managed executables; a version mismatch can therefore be a compatibility issue rather than a problem with the InstalledBrowser record.
Version and platform considerations
The official Puppeteer references underlying these API details identify version 25.12.0. The available browser build and platform are inputs to installation, so confirm the API shape, build availability, and launch behavior for the versions and operating system used by your project before relying on a version-specific setup.
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