Playwright vs Notte Controls

Understanding the difference between direct Playwright control and Notte’s AI-enabled SDK

When working with Notte sessions, you have two ways to interact with the browser: using Playwright directly via CDP, or using Notte’s AI-enabled SDK methods. Both approaches work with the same session, and you can even mix them in your automation.

Direct Playwright Control

When you access session.page, you get a Playwright-compatible page object that connects directly to the browser via Chrome DevTools Protocol:

page = session.page
page.goto("https://example.com")
page.fill("input[name='email']", "[e-mail]")
page.click("button[type='submit']")

This gives you the full Playwright API - everything you can do with Playwright works here. You control the browser directly through WebSocket connections with low latency.

Notte SDK Methods

Notte provides high-level methods designed for AI agents and structured automation:

session.execute(type="goto", url="https://example.com")
obs = session.observe(instructions="Fill the email input")
action = obs.space.first()  # AI finds the right element
session.execute(action.with_value("[e-mail]"))
data = session.scrape(instructions="Extract all product names")

These methods use Notte’s backend to execute actions, with built-in AI capabilities, observability, and error handling.

Key Differences

Feature	Playwright (session.page)	Notte SDK (execute/observe/scrape)
API Surface	Full Playwright API	Streamlined action-based API
Dependencies	Requires playwright package	Just notte-sdk
Element Selection	Manual CSS/XPath selectors	AI-powered natural language + selectors
Page Understanding	Manual interpretation	AI describes page with observe()
Data Extraction	Manual parsing	Structured LLM-powered scrape()
Observability	Manual logging	Session replay, action recording, live viewer
Error Handling	Manual try/except	Automatic retries and validation
Network Control	✅ Intercept, modify requests	❌ Not available
Latency	Lower (WebSocket)	Higher (HTTP API)
Action Coverage	Everything	Everything via extensive action library

Why Use Playwright?

Choose session.page when you need:

• Network control - Intercept, block, or modify requests and responses
• Event monitoring - Listen to console logs, network events, page errors
• Lowest latency - Direct WebSocket communication for high-speed operations
• Standard patterns - Use familiar Playwright code and examples
• Fine-grained control - Access to every Playwright feature

Python

from notte_sdk import NotteClient
from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright

client = NotteClient()

with client.Session() as session:
    page = session.page

    # Block images for faster loading
    page.route("**/*.{png,jpg,jpeg}", lambda route: route.abort())

    # Listen to network requests
    page.on("request", lambda req: print(f"→ {req.url}"))
    page.on("response", lambda res: print(f"← {res.url} ({res.status})"))

    page.goto("https://example.com")

Why Use Notte SDK?

Choose session.execute(), observe(), and scrape() when you need:

• AI-powered automation - Let AI find elements and understand pages
• Structured data extraction - Extract data into Pydantic models automatically
• Built-in observability - Session replays, trajectory tracking, live viewer
• Simpler API - Smaller learning curve, no Playwright knowledge required
• Production reliability - Automatic retries, error handling, validation
• Agent workflows - Designed for AI agents with semantic action spaces

Python

from notte_sdk import NotteClient
from pydantic import BaseModel

client = NotteClient()

class Product(BaseModel):
    name: str
    price: float

with client.Session() as session:
    session.execute(type="goto", url="https://example.com/products")

    # AI understands the page
    obs = session.observe(instructions="Find the search box")
    action = obs.space.first()  # AI picks the right element
    session.execute(action.with_value("laptops"))

    # Structured extraction with LLM
    products = session.scrape(
        response_format=list[Product],
        instructions="Extract all products with names and prices"
    )

    # Every action is recorded
    replay = session.replay()
    replay.save("automation.mp4")

Mix Both Approaches

You can combine both methods in the same session:

Python

from notte_sdk import NotteClient

client = NotteClient()

with client.Session() as session:
    # Use Notte for high-level navigation
    session.execute(type="goto", url="https://example.com")

    # Switch to Playwright for network control
    page = session.page
    page.route("**/api/*", lambda route: route.continue_(headers={
        **route.request.headers,
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {token}"
    }))

    # Back to Notte for AI-powered scraping
    data = session.scrape(instructions="Extract all article titles")

When to Choose What

Use Playwright if:

• You need network interception or request modification
• You’re integrating existing Playwright scripts
• Performance is critical (milliseconds matter)
• You need to listen to browser events

Use Notte SDK if:

• Building AI agents that understand web pages
• You want structured data extraction
• You need session replay and debugging features
• You prefer simpler, action-based API
• Building production systems with error handling

Use Both if:

• You need network control AND AI features
• Complex workflows with different requirements
• You want the flexibility of both approaches

Next Steps

Connect with Playwright

Learn how to use Playwright with Notte sessions

Session Configuration

Configure sessions with advanced options

Actions Reference

Explore all available Notte actions

Recordings

Debug with session replays