Playwright MCP Initialization Fails on First Install Requiring Manual Restart

Bug Description
OMG I can't even get an official MCP working. I have to do a hack to make it work. Everything on this damn thing is broken. It's never easy, it never just works. It's always a nightmare and a problem with Claude. It should JUST work for MCP on the CLI, but no, it has to install another one outside of what is suggested, as it fails all the time. And then the new install outside of the recommendation WORKS.

This is so typical of this software. It's terrible, nothing works.

⏺ To test if the Playwright MCP is working properly, you need to restart Claude Code CLI completely first.

The MCP server shows as "Failed to connect" because it only activates when Claude tries to use it. After you restart Claude, the Playwright tools should be available as native tools.

Once restarted, I can test it by trying to navigate to your site or take screenshots using the Playwright MCP tools that should then be available.

Have you restarted Claude yet?

https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-mcp

Environment Info

• Platform: darwin
• Terminal: iTerm.app
• Version: 1.0.84
• Feedback ID: 33350773-ca38-41f1-9b78-9cae677245ea

Errors

[{"error":"RangeError [ERR_CHILD_PROCESS_STDIO_MAXBUFFER]: stdout maxBuffer length exceeded\n    at Socket.onChildStdout (node:child_process:482:14)\n    at Socket.emit (node:events:507:28)\n    at Socket.emit (node:domain:489:12)\n    at addChunk (node:internal/streams/readable:559:12)\n    at readableAddChunkPushByteMode (node:internal/streams/readable:510:3)\n    at Readable.push (node:internal/streams/readable:390:5)\n    at Pipe.onStreamRead (node:internal/stream_base_commons:189:23)","timestamp":"2025-08-19T01:57:22.265Z"},{"error":"Error: Request was aborted.\n    at aP.makeRequest (file:///Users/greg/.claude/local/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/cli.js:959:3840)\n    at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:105:5)","timestamp":"2025-08-19T03:01:22.554Z"},{"error":"Error: Language not supported while highlighting code, falling back to markdown: \n    at qX (file:///Users/greg/.claude/local/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/cli.js:1774:1184)\n    at file:///Users/greg/.claude/local/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/cli.js:1774:2172\n    at Array.map (<anonymous>)\n    at qX (file:///Users/greg/.claude/local/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/cli.js:1774:2143)\n    at file:///Users/greg/.claude/local/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/cli.js:1774:2059\n    at Array.map (<anonymous>)\n    at qX (file:///Users/greg/.claude/local/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/cli.js:1774:2048)\n    at file:///Users/greg/.claude/local/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/cli.js:1774:912\n    at Array.map (<anonymous>)\n    at QW (file:///Users/greg/.claude/local/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/cli.js:1774:903)","timestamp":"2025-08-19T04:38:10.769Z"},{"error":"Error: Request was aborted.\n    at aP.makeRequest (file:///Users/greg/.claude/local/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/cli.js:959:3840)\n    at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:105:5)","timestamp":"2025-08-19T06:15:18.695Z"},{"error":"Error: Request was aborted.\n    at vZ1._createMessage (file:///Users/greg/.claude/local/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/cli.js:950:7955)\n    at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:105:5)","timestamp":"2025-08-19T06:15:42.099Z"},{"error":"Error: Request was aborted.\n    at aP.makeRequest (file:///Users/greg/.claude/local/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/cli.js:959:3840)\n    at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:105:5)","timestamp":"2025-08-19T06:55:30.156Z"},{"error":"AbortError: The operation was aborted\n    at abortChildProcess (node:child_process:726:27)\n    at AbortSignal.onAbortListener (node:child_process:796:7)\n    at [nodejs.internal.kHybridDispatch] (node:internal/event_target:827:20)\n    at AbortSignal.dispatchEvent (node:internal/event_target:762:26)\n    at runAbort (node:internal/abort_controller:488:10)\n    at abortSignal (node:internal/abort_controller:459:3)\n    at AbortController.abort (node:internal/abort_controller:507:5)\n    at Timeout._onTimeout (file:///Users/greg/.claude/local/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/cli.js:744:75)\n    at listOnTimeout (node:internal/timers:608:17)\n    at process.processTimers (node:internal/timers:543:7)","timestamp":"2025-08-19T08:21:45.941Z"},{"error":"Error: socket hang up\n    at Yp.from (file:///Users/greg/.claude/local/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/cli.js:690:7205)\n    at WV.C1 (file:///Users/greg/.claude/local/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/cli.js:693:10122)\n    at WV.emit (node:events:507:28)\n    at WV.emit (node:domain:489:12)\n    at tp1.<computed> (file:///Users/greg/.claude/local/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/cli.js:64:1161)\n    at ClientRequest.emit (node:events:507:28)\n    at ClientRequest.emit (node:domain:489:12)\n    at emitErrorEvent (node:_http_client:104:11)\

Note: Error logs were truncated.

<img width="769" height="252" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/31e9bd56-11de-452d-a0ec-5c20f5f40030" />