Find an element on the page by its text content. Returns the selector that can be used with click or type tools.
AI agents call browser_find_element_by_text to retrieve information from Playwright MCP Server without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool retrieves information (element selectors) from the DOM without altering state or triggering external operations. It is foundational for web scraping and inspection tasks. The returned selector may be used by downstream Execute or Write tools (browser_click, browser_type), but the tool itself performs only data retrieval.
From the tool's definition Tool description states it 'Find[s] an element on the page by its text content' and 'Returns the selector' — purely a query/search operation with no side effects. No modification, deletion, code execution, or financial transaction occurs.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Find an element on the page by its text content. Returns the selector that can be used with click or type tools. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Playwright MCP Server MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Playwright MCP Server MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for browser_find_element_by_text: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches Playwright MCP Server. Nothing to install.
browser_find_element_by_text is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the browser_find_element_by_text rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for browser_find_element_by_text. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
browser_find_element_by_text is provided by the Playwright MCP Server MCP server (leviathangk/playwrightmcpforcrawler). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Every MCP server has a record like this.
Type a name, get the same breakdown: verified identity, auth posture, risk grade, capabilities, recommended policy.
Teams ship this data inside their own products. See what a licence covers →