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Puppeteer `lastLaunchedBrowser`: Get the Last Launched Browser

Read Puppeteer’s lastLaunchedBrowser as a property to identify the type of browser last launched, and distinguish it from the default browser selection.
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Use puppeteer.lastLaunchedBrowser to read the browser type Puppeteer most recently launched. It is a property, not a method: do not add parentheses. It is different from defaultBrowser, which identifies the browser Puppeteer will launch by default.

Read the last launched browser

Access the property on the Puppeteer Node API object:

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import puppeteer from 'puppeteer';

console.log(puppeteer.lastLaunchedBrowser);

The API describes the value as the name of the browser last launched, and the type declaration defines the getter as returning SupportedBrowser. It reports a browser type, not a Browser instance, page, or connection.

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For CommonJS projects, the equivalent access is:

const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');

console.log(puppeteer.lastLaunchedBrowser);

See the Puppeteer API reference for lastLaunchedBrowser and the PuppeteerNode type declaration.

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How it differs from defaultBrowser and product

API What it describes Use it for
lastLaunchedBrowser The browser type last launched by Puppeteer. Checking the most recently launched browser type.
defaultBrowser The browser type selected for a default launch. Checking what Puppeteer will launch by default.
product A deprecated legacy getter that does not account for multiple browser types. Do not use in new code; choose defaultBrowser or lastLaunchedBrowser according to the question.

The distinction matters when code can launch different supported browsers: a default selection describes what a default launch will choose, while the last-launched property describes a previous launch. Consult the PuppeteerNode API reference for the current property documentation.

Launch and connect are different lifecycle paths

puppeteer.launch() starts a new browser instance and resolves to a Promise<Browser>. With puppeteer-core, provide an executable path or channel in the launch options. By contrast, puppeteer.connect() attaches Puppeteer to a browser that is already running. The property documentation does not specify what lastLaunchedBrowser contains before the first launch, how it changes after multiple launches, or what it reports after a connection to an externally started browser. Do not rely on those cases without checking the version and behavior of the package in your application.

Puppeteer also distinguishes ending a launched process from ending a connection: browser.close() shuts down the browser, whereas browser.disconnect() disconnects Puppeteer while leaving the browser and its pages running. See the browser management guide.

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Capture a page without managing a local browser

If your goal is simply to capture a website screenshot rather than manage Puppeteer browser state, ScreenshotNeo is a website screenshot API and MCP server for developers.

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Troubleshooting

  • Unexpected method error: lastLaunchedBrowser() calls the property as a function. Remove the parentheses and read puppeteer.lastLaunchedBrowser.
  • Value does not match the planned launch: You may be comparing the last launched type with the default selection. Check defaultBrowser for the latter.
  • Legacy API warning: Replace deprecated product with defaultBrowser or lastLaunchedBrowser, depending on whether you need the default choice or last-launch state.
  • Value is absent or surprising before a launch, after successive launches, or following connect(): The reviewed reference does not define those lifecycle cases. Verify behavior against the installed Puppeteer version rather than assuming a value.
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Version and runtime considerations

This is a Puppeteer Node API property. Confirm the installed package and its matching API documentation if your code depends on the returned value or lifecycle behavior; the reference does not establish initialization or repeated-launch semantics. In particular, do not infer that connecting to a running browser updates a property documented in terms of browsers Puppeteer launched.

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