Installation

import { Tabs, TabItem, Aside } from ‘@astrojs/starlight/components’;

Requirements

Requirement	Version
Node.js	≥ 20
Package manager	npm, pnpm, or yarn — any that can run `npx`/an equivalent
OS	Anything Playwright’s Chromium build supports (Linux, macOS, Windows)

frontend-qa has no peer dependencies to install yourself — Playwright is a regular dependency, so npm install pulls it in automatically. Playwright still needs its own browser binary, installed once per machine (below).

Run it without installing

The CLI is designed to be run with npx, no install step required:

npx frontend-qa scan --url http://localhost:5173

The first run downloads the package; nothing is added to your project.

Install as a dev dependency

If you want frontend-qa available as a repeatable project script (e.g. in CI or a package.json script), install it instead:

```bash npm install --save-dev frontend-qa ``` ```bash pnpm add -D frontend-qa ``` ```bash yarn add -D frontend-qa ```

Install the MCP server

The MCP server ships as its own binary, frontend-qa-mcp. Most AI clients run it via npx from an MCP config rather than a manual install — see MCP Server for the exact config. No separate install step is required beyond what npx does on first launch.

Playwright’s browser binary

Playwright doesn’t bundle Chromium in the npm package itself — install it once per machine (or CI image):

npx playwright install chromium

Skipping this step is the single most common installation failure — see Troubleshooting.

What happens after install

Install — frontend-qa (and transitively, Playwright) lands in node_modules.
Run npx playwright install chromium once, so Playwright has a browser to drive.
Run frontend-qa scan from the root of the project you want to check — it auto-detects Vite/Next.js and either reuses a running dev server or launches one.
Read the summary printed to your terminal, and the full report at .local/frontend-qa/runs/<runId>/report.json.

Continue to Quick Start for a full walkthrough.