[Bug]: Browser Install Timeout regardless of env timeout. 1.63.0 regression

[AjelmarMedina]

Version

1.63.0

Steps to reproduce

1. npm i playwright@1.63.0 or npm init playwright
2. Install browsers with Playwright setup
3. (Possible ISP related issues, cannot confirm at this time)

Expected behavior

Browsers are installed successfully and tests be run smoothly.

Actual behavior

Options already mixed and matched:

$ NODE_OPTIONS="--dns-result-order=ipv4first" DEBUG=pw:install HTTPS_PROXY=https://192.0.2.1 PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT=120000 npx playwright install
  pw:install downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) - attempt #1 +0ms
Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip
  pw:install running download: +30ms
  pw:install -- from url: https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip +0ms
  pw:install -- to location: C:\Users\ajelm\AppData\Local\Temp\playwright-download-In1rGm\playwright-download-chromium-win64-1243.zip +1ms
Error: connect ETIMEDOUT 192.0.2.1:443
    at TCPConnectWrap.afterConnect [as oncomplete] (node:net:1706:16) {
  errno: -4039,
  code: 'ETIMEDOUT',
  syscall: 'connect',
  address: '192.0.2.1',
  port: 443
}
  pw:install attempt #1 - ERROR: Download failure, code=1 +21s
  pw:install downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) - attempt #2 +0ms
Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip
  pw:install running download: +28ms
  pw:install -- from url: https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip +1ms
  pw:install -- to location: C:\Users\ajelm\AppData\Local\Temp\playwright-download-In1rGm\playwright-download-chromium-win64-1243.zip +0ms
Error: connect ETIMEDOUT 192.0.2.1:443
    at TCPConnectWrap.afterConnect [as oncomplete] (node:net:1706:16) {
  errno: -4039,
  code: 'ETIMEDOUT',
  syscall: 'connect',
  address: '192.0.2.1',
  port: 443
}
  pw:install attempt #2 - ERROR: Download failure, code=1 +21s
  pw:install downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) - attempt #3 +1ms
Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip
  pw:install running download: +14ms
  pw:install -- from url: https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip +1ms
  pw:install -- to location: C:\Users\ajelm\AppData\Local\Temp\playwright-download-In1rGm\playwright-download-chromium-win64-1243.zip +0ms
Error: connect ETIMEDOUT 192.0.2.1:443
    at TCPConnectWrap.afterConnect [as oncomplete] (node:net:1706:16) {
  errno: -4039,
  code: 'ETIMEDOUT',
  syscall: 'connect',
  address: '192.0.2.1',
  port: 443
}
  pw:install attempt #3 - ERROR: Download failure, code=1 +21s
  pw:install downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) - attempt #4 +0ms
Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip
  pw:install running download: +14ms
  pw:install -- from url: https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip +0ms
  pw:install -- to location: C:\Users\ajelm\AppData\Local\Temp\playwright-download-In1rGm\playwright-download-chromium-win64-1243.zip +0ms
Error: connect ETIMEDOUT 192.0.2.1:443
    at TCPConnectWrap.afterConnect [as oncomplete] (node:net:1706:16) {
  errno: -4039,
  code: 'ETIMEDOUT',
  syscall: 'connect',
  address: '192.0.2.1',
  port: 443
}
  pw:install attempt #4 - ERROR: Download failure, code=1 +21s
  pw:install downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) - attempt #5 +0ms
Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip
  pw:install running download: +20ms
  pw:install -- from url: https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip +0ms
  pw:install -- to location: C:\Users\ajelm\AppData\Local\Temp\playwright-download-In1rGm\playwright-download-chromium-win64-1243.zip +0ms
Error: connect ETIMEDOUT 192.0.2.1:443
    at TCPConnectWrap.afterConnect [as oncomplete] (node:net:1706:16) {
  errno: -4039,
  code: 'ETIMEDOUT',
  syscall: 'connect',
  address: '192.0.2.1',
  port: 443
}
  pw:install attempt #5 - ERROR: Download failure, code=1 +21s
  pw:install FAILED installation Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) with error: Error: Download failure, code=1 +1ms
Failed to install browsers
Error: Failed to download Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243), caused by
Error: Download failure, code=1
    at ChildProcess.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ajelm\Documents\_Work\CVSU-CEMDS\cvsu-cemds\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\coreBundle.js:32428:32)
    at ChildProcess.emit (node:events:509:28)
    at ChildProcess._handle.onexit (node:internal/child_process:295:12)

Additional context

Reviewed Related issues: #34686, #37666, #42578, #40998

---

Workaround:

Installed playwright 1.62.1, browser installs success

Here is my packet loss:

Ping statistics for 1.1.1.1:
    Packets: Sent = 100, Received = 99, Lost = 1 (1% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 3ms, Maximum = 42ms, Average = 7ms

Environment

System:
    OS: Windows 10 10.0.19045
    CPU: (8) x64 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz
    Memory: 2.10 GB / 15.75 GB
  Binaries:
    Node: 24.18.0 - C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.EXE    npm: 11.16.0 - C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.CMD
    pnpm: 11.12.0 - C:\Program Files\nodejs\pnpm.CMD  IDEs:
    VSCode: 1.136.1 - C:\Users\ajelm\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\bin\code.CMD
    Cursor: 2.2.44 - c:\Users\ajelm\AppData\Local\Programs\cursor\resources\app\bin\cursor.CMD
  Languages:
    Bash: 5.1.16 - C:\windows\system32\bash.EXE
  npmPackages:
    @playwright/test: ^1.63.0 => 1.63.0 
    playwright: ^1.62.1 => 1.62.1

[alkaz-nodemaven]

Three things here look separable, and I don't think any of them is a 1.63.0
regression.

1. The proxy address cannot route. HTTPS_PROXY=https://192.0.2.1 -
192.0.2.0/24 is TEST-NET-1 from RFC 5737, reserved for documentation and not
routable anywhere, so connect ETIMEDOUT 192.0.2.1:443 is the expected outcome
on any version. It is the placeholder Playwright's own docs use, which is correct
practice for docs; it just isn't a value to run literally. The scheme is worth a
second look too: https:// on the proxy URL means TLS to the proxy itself, which
is rarely what a corporate proxy expects - http:// is the usual value even when
the target URL is https.

2. PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT cannot affect this failure. The
code says so in as many words, in
packages/playwright-core/src/server/registry/index.ts:

// PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT is a misnomer, it actually controls the socket's
// max idle timeout. Unfortunately, we cannot rename it without breaking existing user workflows.

It is applied as request.setTimeout(...) in packages/utils/network.ts, and in
Node that timer is handed to the socket only once the socket is connected. I
checked the phase rather than assume it, on Node 24 with request.setTimeout(600)
and four arms: a loopback server that accepts and then sends nothing times out at
620 ms, a loopback server that answers at once does not (so it is not a
total-request cap), a request whose DNS lookup never calls back does not time out
in 2500 ms, and a request whose agent never yields a socket never even gets a
socket event, so there is nothing for the timer to be attached to. The last one
is the shape your case is in: with a proxy configured Playwright sets
options.agent = new HttpsProxyAgent(...), and a proxy agent hands the request a
socket only after its own connect has succeeded.

That is also what your log shows independently of any of this: five attempts
ending at +21s each, none of them anywhere near the 120000 you set, with
syscall: 'connect' and errno: -4039 in the stack. A constant that does not
move when you change the Playwright setting is somebody else's timer - 21 s is
what a Windows SYN retransmission sequence sums to at the defaults, though I have
not verified that on your box. So "regardless of env timeout" is expected here,
not a broken option.

This is the same confusion as #28619, which was closed as a documentation problem
with an invitation to send a docs fix - and the sentence in
docs/src/browsers.md still reads "you can increase the connection timeout". I
have sent that fix as #42601.

3. The version attribution is ambiguous. The environment block reports both
packages in the same tree:

@playwright/test: ^1.63.0 => 1.63.0
playwright: ^1.62.1 => 1.62.1

Both declare bin: { "playwright": "cli.js" }, so which CLI npx playwright install resolved isn't determined by the version you have in mind. And on
"installed playwright 1.62.1, browser installs success" - was that run with the
same HTTPS_PROXY=https://192.0.2.1 in the environment? If the successful run
had no proxy set, that difference explains the whole thing on its own and the
version is a coincidence.

For what it's worth the download path itself is unchanged between the two tags:
registry/browserFetcher.ts and registry/oopDownloadBrowserMain.ts are
byte-identical at v1.62.1 and v1.63.0. packages/utils/network.ts did
change - the custom happy-eyeballs agents were replaced with Node's native
autoSelectFamily - but for an https: URL with a proxy configured,
options.agent = new HttpsProxyAgent(...) owns the socket and the
lookup/autoSelectFamily request options aren't consulted; in 1.62.1 the
options.agent ??= assignment had the same effect, since the proxy agent was
already set. So the proxied-HTTPS path is the same in both. That also makes
--dns-result-order=ipv4first a no-op on this path, and moot regardless, since a
literal IP is never looked up.

If the install does fail against your real proxy, the useful things to post would
be that proxy's scheme and host, the output of npm ls playwright @playwright/test,
and DEBUG=pw:install from a tree with a single Playwright version installed.

[AjelmarMedina]

If the install does fail against your real proxy, the useful things to post would
be that proxy's scheme and host, the output of npm ls playwright @playwright/test,
and DEBUG=pw:install from a tree with a single Playwright version installed.

Here is a fresh folder I spun up, following documentation:

From Empty folder

ajelm@Ajel-Laptop MINGW64 ~/Documents/_Work/test
$ npm init
This utility will walk you through creating a package.json file.
It only covers the most common items, and tries to guess sensible defaults.

See `npm help init` for definitive documentation on these fields and exactly wha
t they do.

Use `npm install <pkg>` afterwards to install a package and save it as a depende
ncy in the package.json file.

Press ^C at any time to quit.
package name: (test)

> test@1.0.0 npx
> create-playwright

Getting started with writing end-to-end tests with Playwright:
Initializing project in '.'
√ Do you want to use TypeScript or JavaScript? · TypeScript
√ Where to put your end-to-end tests? · tests
√ Add a GitHub Actions workflow? (Y/n) · true
√ Install Playwright browsers (can be done manually via 'npx playwright install')? (Y/n) · true

Installing Playwright Test (npm install --save-dev @playwright/test)…

added 3 packages, and audited 4 packages in 6s

found 0 vulnerabilities
Installing Types (npm install --save-dev @types/node)…

added 2 packages, and audited 6 packages in 2s

found 0 vulnerabilities
Writing playwright.config.ts.
Writing .github\workflows\playwright.yml.
Writing tests\example.spec.ts.
Writing package.json.
Downloading browsers (npx playwright install)…
Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip
Error: Request to https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip timed out after 30000ms
    at ClientRequest.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ajelm\Documents\_Work\test\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\coreBundle.js:8793:15)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at ClientRequest.emit (node:events:509:28)
    at TLSSocket.emitRequestTimeout (node:_http_client:948:9)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at TLSSocket.emit (node:events:521:24)
    at Socket._onTimeout (node:net:611:8)
    at listOnTimeout (node:internal/timers:605:17)
    at process.processTimers (node:internal/timers:541:7)
Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip
Error: Request to https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip timed out after 30000ms
    at ClientRequest.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ajelm\Documents\_Work\test\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\coreBundle.js:8793:15)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at ClientRequest.emit (node:events:509:28)
    at TLSSocket.emitRequestTimeout (node:_http_client:948:9)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at TLSSocket.emit (node:events:521:24)
    at Socket._onTimeout (node:net:611:8)
    at listOnTimeout (node:internal/timers:605:17)
    at process.processTimers (node:internal/timers:541:7)
Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip
Error: Request to https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip timed out after 30000ms
    at ClientRequest.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ajelm\Documents\_Work\test\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\coreBundle.js:8793:15)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at ClientRequest.emit (node:events:509:28)
    at TLSSocket.emitRequestTimeout (node:_http_client:948:9)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at TLSSocket.emit (node:events:521:24)
    at Socket._onTimeout (node:net:611:8)
    at listOnTimeout (node:internal/timers:605:17)
    at process.processTimers (node:internal/timers:541:7)
Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip
Error: Request to https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip timed out after 30000ms
    at ClientRequest.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ajelm\Documents\_Work\test\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\coreBundle.js:8793:15)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at ClientRequest.emit (node:events:509:28)
    at TLSSocket.emitRequestTimeout (node:_http_client:948:9)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at TLSSocket.emit (node:events:521:24)
    at Socket._onTimeout (node:net:611:8)
    at listOnTimeout (node:internal/timers:605:17)
    at process.processTimers (node:internal/timers:541:7)
Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip
Error: Request to https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip timed out after 30000ms
    at ClientRequest.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ajelm\Documents\_Work\test\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\coreBundle.js:8793:15)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at ClientRequest.emit (node:events:509:28)
    at TLSSocket.emitRequestTimeout (node:_http_client:948:9)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at TLSSocket.emit (node:events:521:24)
    at Socket._onTimeout (node:net:611:8)
    at listOnTimeout (node:internal/timers:605:17)
    at process.processTimers (node:internal/timers:541:7)
Failed to install browsers
Error: Failed to download Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243), caused by
Error: Download failure, code=1
    at ChildProcess.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ajelm\Documents\_Work\test\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\coreBundle.js:32428:32)
    at ChildProcess.emit (node:events:509:28)
    at ChildProcess._handle.onexit (node:internal/child_process:295:12)
Error: Command failed: npx playwright install
    at genericNodeError (node:internal/errors:985:15)
    at wrappedFn (node:internal/errors:539:14)
    at checkExecSyncError (node:child_process:925:11)
    at execSync (node:child_process:997:15)
    at executeCommands (C:\Users\ajelm\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_npx\486fe028cf2e825e\node_modules\create-playwright\lib\index.js:8272:39)
    at Generator.run (C:\Users\ajelm\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_npx\486fe028cf2e825e\node_modules\create-playwright\lib\index.js:8356:5)
    at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:104:5)
    at async _Command.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ajelm\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_npx\486fe028cf2e825e\node_modules\create-playwright\lib\index.js:8661:3)
    at async _Command.parseAsync (C:\Users\ajelm\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_npx\486fe028cf2e825e\node_modules\create-playwright\lib\index.js:2148:9) {
  status: 1,
  signal: null,
  output: [ null, null, null ],
  pid: 23388,
  stdout: null,
  stderr: null
}
npm error code 1
npm error path C:\Users\ajelm\Documents\_Work\test
npm error command failed
npm error command C:\windows\system32\cmd.exe /d /s /c create-playwright
npm error A complete log of this run can be found in: C:\Users\ajelm\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_logs\2026-09-07T13_27_24_362Z-debug-0.log

ajelm@Ajel-Laptop MINGW64 ~/Documents/_Work/test

With Timeout

ajelm@Ajel-Laptop MINGW64 ~/Documents/_Work/test
$ PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT=120000 npx playwright install
Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip
Error: Request to https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip timed out after 120000ms
    at ClientRequest.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ajelm\Documents\_Work\test\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\coreBundle.js:8793:15)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at ClientRequest.emit (node:events:509:28)
    at TLSSocket.emitRequestTimeout (node:_http_client:948:9)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at TLSSocket.emit (node:events:521:24)
    at Socket._onTimeout (node:net:611:8)
    at listOnTimeout (node:internal/timers:605:17)
    at process.processTimers (node:internal/timers:541:7)
Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip
Error: Request to https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip timed out after 120000ms
    at ClientRequest.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ajelm\Documents\_Work\test\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\coreBundle.js:8793:15)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at ClientRequest.emit (node:events:509:28)
    at TLSSocket.emitRequestTimeout (node:_http_client:948:9)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at TLSSocket.emit (node:events:521:24)
    at Socket._onTimeout (node:net:611:8)
    at listOnTimeout (node:internal/timers:605:17)
    at process.processTimers (node:internal/timers:541:7)
Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip
Error: Request to https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip timed out after 120000ms
    at ClientRequest.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ajelm\Documents\_Work\test\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\coreBundle.js:8793:15)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at ClientRequest.emit (node:events:509:28)
    at TLSSocket.emitRequestTimeout (node:_http_client:948:9)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at TLSSocket.emit (node:events:521:24)
    at Socket._onTimeout (node:net:611:8)
    at listOnTimeout (node:internal/timers:605:17)
    at process.processTimers (node:internal/timers:541:7)
Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip
Error: Request to https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip timed out after 120000ms
    at ClientRequest.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ajelm\Documents\_Work\test\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\coreBundle.js:8793:15)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at ClientRequest.emit (node:events:509:28)
    at TLSSocket.emitRequestTimeout (node:_http_client:948:9)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at TLSSocket.emit (node:events:521:24)
    at Socket._onTimeout (node:net:611:8)
    at listOnTimeout (node:internal/timers:605:17)
    at process.processTimers (node:internal/timers:541:7)
Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip
Error: Request to https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip timed out after 120000ms
    at ClientRequest.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ajelm\Documents\_Work\test\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\coreBundle.js:8793:15)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at ClientRequest.emit (node:events:509:28)
    at TLSSocket.emitRequestTimeout (node:_http_client:948:9)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at TLSSocket.emit (node:events:521:24)
    at Socket._onTimeout (node:net:611:8)
    at listOnTimeout (node:internal/timers:605:17)
    at process.processTimers (node:internal/timers:541:7)
Failed to install browsers
Error: Failed to download Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243), caused by
Error: Download failure, code=1
    at ChildProcess.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ajelm\Documents\_Work\test\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\coreBundle.js:32428:32)
    at ChildProcess.emit (node:events:509:28)
    at ChildProcess._handle.onexit (node:internal/child_process:295:12)

ajelm@Ajel-Laptop MINGW64 ~/Documents/_Work/test
$

With Debug

ajelm@Ajel-Laptop MINGW64 ~/Documents/_Work/test
$ DEBUG=pw:install PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT=120000 npx playwright install
  pw:install downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) - attempt #1 +0ms
Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip
  pw:install running download: +12ms
  pw:install -- from url: https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip +0ms
  pw:install -- to location: C:\Users\ajelm\AppData\Local\Temp\playwright-download-g3CoxG\playwright-download-chromium-win64-1243.zip +0ms
Error: Request to https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip timed out after 120000ms
    at ClientRequest.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ajelm\Documents\_Work\test\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\coreBundle.js:8793:15)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at ClientRequest.emit (node:events:509:28)
    at TLSSocket.emitRequestTimeout (node:_http_client:948:9)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at TLSSocket.emit (node:events:521:24)
    at Socket._onTimeout (node:net:611:8)
    at listOnTimeout (node:internal/timers:605:17)
    at process.processTimers (node:internal/timers:541:7)
  pw:install attempt #1 - ERROR: Download failure, code=1 +5s
  pw:install downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) - attempt #2 +0ms
Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip
  pw:install running download: +8ms
  pw:install -- from url: https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip +0ms
  pw:install -- to location: C:\Users\ajelm\AppData\Local\Temp\playwright-download-g3CoxG\playwright-download-chromium-win64-1243.zip +0ms
Error: Request to https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip timed out after 120000ms
    at ClientRequest.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ajelm\Documents\_Work\test\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\coreBundle.js:8793:15)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at ClientRequest.emit (node:events:509:28)
    at TLSSocket.emitRequestTimeout (node:_http_client:948:9)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at TLSSocket.emit (node:events:521:24)
    at Socket._onTimeout (node:net:611:8)
    at listOnTimeout (node:internal/timers:605:17)
    at process.processTimers (node:internal/timers:541:7)
  pw:install attempt #2 - ERROR: Download failure, code=1 +5s
  pw:install downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) - attempt #3 +1ms
Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip
  pw:install running download: +8ms
  pw:install -- from url: https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip +0ms
  pw:install -- to location: C:\Users\ajelm\AppData\Local\Temp\playwright-download-g3CoxG\playwright-download-chromium-win64-1243.zip +0ms
Error: Request to https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip timed out after 120000ms
    at ClientRequest.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ajelm\Documents\_Work\test\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\coreBundle.js:8793:15)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at ClientRequest.emit (node:events:509:28)
    at TLSSocket.emitRequestTimeout (node:_http_client:948:9)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at TLSSocket.emit (node:events:521:24)
    at Socket._onTimeout (node:net:611:8)
    at listOnTimeout (node:internal/timers:605:17)
    at process.processTimers (node:internal/timers:541:7)
  pw:install attempt #3 - ERROR: Download failure, code=1 +5s
  pw:install downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) - attempt #4 +0ms
Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip
  pw:install running download: +8ms
  pw:install -- from url: https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip +0ms
  pw:install -- to location: C:\Users\ajelm\AppData\Local\Temp\playwright-download-g3CoxG\playwright-download-chromium-win64-1243.zip +0ms
Error: Request to https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip timed out after 120000ms
    at ClientRequest.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ajelm\Documents\_Work\test\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\coreBundle.js:8793:15)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at ClientRequest.emit (node:events:509:28)
    at TLSSocket.emitRequestTimeout (node:_http_client:948:9)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at TLSSocket.emit (node:events:521:24)
    at Socket._onTimeout (node:net:611:8)
    at listOnTimeout (node:internal/timers:605:17)
    at process.processTimers (node:internal/timers:541:7)
  pw:install attempt #4 - ERROR: Download failure, code=1 +5s
  pw:install downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) - attempt #5 +1ms
Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip
  pw:install running download: +8ms
  pw:install -- from url: https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip +0ms
  pw:install -- to location: C:\Users\ajelm\AppData\Local\Temp\playwright-download-g3CoxG\playwright-download-chromium-win64-1243.zip +0ms
Error: Request to https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip timed out after 120000ms
    at ClientRequest.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ajelm\Documents\_Work\test\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\coreBundle.js:8793:15)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at ClientRequest.emit (node:events:509:28)
    at TLSSocket.emitRequestTimeout (node:_http_client:948:9)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:630:28)
    at TLSSocket.emit (node:events:521:24)
    at Socket._onTimeout (node:net:611:8)
    at listOnTimeout (node:internal/timers:605:17)
    at process.processTimers (node:internal/timers:541:7)
  pw:install attempt #5 - ERROR: Download failure, code=1 +5s
  pw:install FAILED installation Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) with error: Error: Download failure, code=1 +1ms
Failed to install browsers
Error: Failed to download Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243), caused by
Error: Download failure, code=1
    at ChildProcess.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ajelm\Documents\_Work\test\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\coreBundle.js:32428:32)
    at ChildProcess.emit (node:events:509:28)
    at ChildProcess._handle.onexit (node:internal/child_process:295:12)

ajelm@Ajel-Laptop MINGW64 ~/Documents/_Work/test
$

I'd agree that this wouldn't be a regression considering it's been a while since this was out. I would blame my ISP for any other reason. As mentioned playwright@1.62.1 still works for me

[AjelmarMedina]

Installing on 1.62.1 (Hermetic since I've already installed the binaries on the machine)

ajelm@Ajel-Laptop MINGW64 ~/Documents/_Work/test
$ npm i playwright@1.62.1 @playwright/test@1.62.1

changed 3 packages, and audited 6 packages in 3s

found 0 vulnerabilities

ajelm@Ajel-Laptop MINGW64 ~/Documents/_Work/test
$ npx playwright install

ajelm@Ajel-Laptop MINGW64 ~/Documents/_Work/test
$ PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=0 npx playwright install
Downloading Chrome for Testing 151.0.7922.34 (playwright chromium v1234) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/151.0.7922.34/win64/chrome-win64.zip
191.8 MiB [                    ] 2% 139.6s

ajelm@Ajel-Laptop MINGW64 ~/Documents/_Work/test
$

Cancelled this install

---

The version attribution is ambiguous

Yes. I generated it after I realized playwright@1.62.1 worked, forgetting about @playwright/test. I hope my new folder approach lessens the blur from my initial issue

[pavelfeldman]

Looks like too many agents are talking to each other. What is the issue?

[mmoss]

Pavel Feldman (@pavelfeldman) no agents needed for this. The install chromium command just times out and fails when used.

Edit: I'm reproducing this consistently os MacOS 26.6

$ npx playwright@latest install chromium

Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/mac-arm64/chrome-mac-arm64.zip
Error: Request to https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/mac-arm64/chrome-mac-arm64.zip timed out after 30000ms
    at ClientRequest.<anonymous> (/Users/.../node_modules/playwright-core/lib/coreBundle.js:8793:15)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:633:28)
    at ClientRequest.emit (node:events:519:28)
    at TLSSocket.emitRequestTimeout (node:_http_client:927:9)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:633:28)
    at TLSSocket.emit (node:events:531:35)
    at Socket._onTimeout (node:net:604:8)
    at listOnTimeout (node:internal/timers:585:17)
    at process.processTimers (node:internal/timers:521:7)

When running cURL on the same CDN URL:

$ curl -v https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/mac-arm64/chrome-mac-arm64.zip -o NUL
  % Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
                                 Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed
  0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:--     0* Host cdn.playwright.dev:443 was resolved.
* IPv6: 2603:1061:14:49::1
* IPv4: 150.171.109.72
*   Trying 150.171.109.72:443...
* Connected to cdn.playwright.dev (150.171.109.72) port 443
* ALPN: curl offers h2,http/1.1
* (304) (OUT), TLS handshake, Client hello (1):
} [323 bytes data]
*  CAfile: /etc/ssl/cert.pem
*  CApath: none
* (304) (IN), TLS handshake, Server hello (2):
{ [88 bytes data]
* (304) (OUT), TLS handshake, Client hello (1):
} [356 bytes data]
* (304) (IN), TLS handshake, Server hello (2):
{ [155 bytes data]
* (304) (IN), TLS handshake, Unknown (8):
{ [19 bytes data]
* (304) (IN), TLS handshake, Certificate (11):
{ [3684 bytes data]
* (304) (IN), TLS handshake, CERT verify (15):
{ [264 bytes data]
* (304) (IN), TLS handshake, Finished (20):
{ [52 bytes data]
* (304) (OUT), TLS handshake, Finished (20):
} [52 bytes data]
* SSL connection using TLSv1.3 / AEAD-AES256-GCM-SHA384 / [blank] / UNDEF
* ALPN: server accepted h2
* Server certificate:
*  subject: CN=cdn.playwright.dev
*  start date: May 23 00:00:00 2026 GMT
*  expire date: Nov 23 23:59:59 2026 GMT
*  subjectAltName: host "cdn.playwright.dev" matched cert's "cdn.playwright.dev"
*  issuer: C=US; O=DigiCert Inc; OU=www.digicert.com; CN=GeoTrust TLS RSA CA G1
*  SSL certificate verify ok.
* using HTTP/2
  0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:--     0* [HTTP/2] [1] OPENED stream for https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/mac-arm64/chrome-mac-arm64.zip
* [HTTP/2] [1] [:method: GET]
* [HTTP/2] [1] [:scheme: https]
* [HTTP/2] [1] [:authority: cdn.playwright.dev]
* [HTTP/2] [1] [:path: /builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/mac-arm64/chrome-mac-arm64.zip]
* [HTTP/2] [1] [user-agent: curl/8.7.1]
* [HTTP/2] [1] [accept: */*]
> GET /builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/mac-arm64/chrome-mac-arm64.zip HTTP/2
> Host: cdn.playwright.dev
> User-Agent: curl/8.7.1
> Accept: */*
> 
* Request completely sent off
< HTTP/2 307 
< date: Tue, 08 Sep 2026 16:49:06 GMT
< content-type: text/html
< content-length: 0
< location: https://storage.googleapis.com/chrome-for-testing-public/153.0.8010.12/mac-arm64/chrome-mac-arm64.zip
< x-azure-ref: 20260908T164906Z-17755b89dc7gltkwhC1IADa5hn000000031g0000000007su
< x-cache: CONFIG_NOCACHE
< 
{ [0 bytes data]
  0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:--     0
* Connection #0 to host cdn.playwright.dev left intact

[github-actions]

Triaged on Windows (windows-latest runner, Node 24, tip-of-tree 1.64.0-alpha-2026-09-08).

Status: cannot reproduce a Playwright bug — this is a connectivity stall to the CDN, plus a misnamed env var. No 1.63.0 regression demonstrated. PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT is working exactly as designed, which is the part that reads as broken.

What I ran

• npx playwright install chromium on tip-of-tree in a clean temp dir on Windows: succeeds, browser downloads from cdn.playwright.dev and validates. So there's no code defect that fails the install universally — on a healthy network it just works.
• A direct check of the timeout mechanism on Windows, since everything hinges on what PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT actually does. It maps to request.setTimeout(...) in packages/utils/network.ts, which is a socket idle timeout, not a total-request or connect cap:
  • server that accepts the connection and then sends nothing → fires at ~5000ms (the value I set).
  • server that dribbles one byte per second → completes at ~9s and never fires, because every byte resets the timer.

Reading the logs

Your own follow-up already shows the option is honored: the default run stops at timed out after 30000ms, and with the var set it stops at timed out after 120000ms. That's the idle timeout doing its job. Because it's an idle timeout, hitting it at exactly 30s/120s means no bytes arrived at all for that whole window — the connection to the CDN never delivered data. That's a network stall between you and cdn.playwright.dev, not a cap Playwright is imposing on a slow-but-progressing download. Consistent with this, your 1.62.1 run did start delivering (2% 139.6s) — same download code, a moment when the pipe was flowing.

The very first log is a different failure again. HTTPS_PROXY=https://192.0.2.1 points at TEST-NET-1 (RFC 5737), which is unroutable by design, so connect ETIMEDOUT 192.0.2.1:443 is expected on every version. The flat +21s per attempt is the OS SYN-retransmission timeout, not Playwright's — with a proxy configured the request never gets a connected socket, so the idle timer has nothing to attach to and the env var genuinely can't influence it. That's why it looked like the timeout was ignored "regardless of env timeout." Also worth noting: https:// on a proxy URL means TLS to the proxy, which is rarely what a proxy expects — http:// is the usual scheme even for https targets.

Verdict

• Not a regression I can reproduce: tip-of-tree installs cleanly on Windows, and the download path is unchanged between 1.62.1 and 1.63.0.
• PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT behaves correctly; it's an idle timeout, and the name is a known misnomer.
• The remaining failure is connectivity to cdn.playwright.dev stalling on your network (you noted packet loss, and 1.62.1 was crawling at ~28 KB/s before you cancelled). Raising the value only helps if data eventually flows; on a link that delivers nothing for the whole window it will still trip.

If it keeps failing, the useful next steps are a plain curl -v https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/win64/chrome-win64.zip -o NUL from the same box to see whether the raw download stalls too, trying with the proxy removed entirely, and — if you're behind a corporate proxy — HTTPS_PROXY=http://<host>:<port> with the http:// scheme.

_{Triaged on Windows by the Playwright bot - agent run}

[createthis]

Seeing the same thing on Windows 11 Business. I'm not a bot. I can download the links that fail in Chrome manually, oddly enough, but curl doesn't work.

UPDATE: turning off my corporate VPN allowed it to install.

[pavelfeldman]

mmoss (@mmoss) is this something new? things work for me just fine, figuring out is this is a CDN outage or something else

[mmoss]

Pavel Feldman (@pavelfeldman) yep, this is new. I'm not encountering this with other versions/releases, and pinning to 1.62.1 works. I've also confirmed that this is related to Corporate VPN being enabled.

[pavelfeldman]

We might need your help with this one. There is no difference between those, for some reason your Corp VPN does not like the last one, while likes the old ones. Any debugging information you can provide (including getting in touch with the vpn maintainers) would be helpful.

[CreatedBySeb]

I started encountering this issue on macOS (26.6.2 Tahoe) today after updating to @playwright/test@1.63.0 and trying to download the new browsers via pnpm exec playwright install. If I downgrade back to 1.62.1 and try to reinstall the browsers again (after removing ~/Library/Caches/ms-playwright), then the download works fine. Attempting the upgrade back to 1.63.0 again causes the issue to return.

Similar to what was mentioned before, if I copy the failing URL (https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/mac-arm64/chrome-mac-arm64.zip) into Firefox, then it downloads the zip completely fine, and in my case it does so within 10 seconds, which is under the 30000ms timeout mentioned in the errors.

Note that I am just on a residential internet connection, not a corporate VPN of any description, and I am using my personal laptop which has no VPN installed. My internet connection is provided by a typical supplier in Ireland, but it is mobile broadband based (5G, ~500Mb connection). I have a Linux device which I could test this on tomorrow as well.

The full error I am seeing is:

Downloading Chrome for Testing 153.0.8010.12 (playwright chromium v1243) from https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/mac-arm64/chrome-mac-arm64.zip
Error: Request to https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/153.0.8010.12/mac-arm64/chrome-mac-arm64.zip timed out after 30000ms
    at ClientRequest.<anonymous> (/Users/seb/Documents/Programming/createdbyseb/website/node_modules/.pnpm/playwright-core@1.63.0/node_modules/playwright-core/lib/coreBundle.js:8793:15)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:622:28)
    at ClientRequest.emit (node:events:508:28)
    at TLSSocket.emitRequestTimeout (node:_http_client:927:9)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:622:28)
    at TLSSocket.emit (node:events:520:35)
    at Socket._onTimeout (node:net:604:8)
    at listOnTimeout (node:internal/timers:605:17)
    at process.processTimers (node:internal/timers:541:7)

[ljohnson22]

I am also getting the same error message when upgrading to @playwright/test@1.63.0 but sticking to 1.62.1 has no issues.
We are using AWS ec2 instances.

[CreatedBySeb]

Tested on my Linux machine (Pop!_OS 24.04) today and did not encounter this issue, I was able to install the browsers fine. I then re-tested on my Mac today and also had no issue, so I'm not sure if this was potentially CDN-side and has been resolved?

Edit: To be clear, this is all still on the same network as before (home internet) with no changes in network configuration (e.g. still no VPNs)