feat: add chrome BrowserType for PlaywrightCrawler to use the Chrome browser (#1487)

### Description

- add `chrome` `BrowserType` for `PlaywrightCrawler` to use the Chrome
browser

### Issues

- Closes: #1071

Author: Mantisus

docs/examples/code_examples/using_browser_profiles_chrome.py

@@ -27,15 +27,13 @@ async def main() -> None:
 
         crawler = PlaywrightCrawler(
             headless=False,
-            # Use chromium for Chrome compatibility
-            browser_type='chromium',
+            # Use the installed Chrome browser
+            browser_type='chrome',
             # Disable fingerprints to preserve profile identity
             fingerprint_generator=None,
             # Set user data directory to temp folder
             user_data_dir=tmp_profile_dir,
             browser_launch_options={
-                # Use installed Chrome browser
-                'channel': 'chrome',
                 # Slow down actions to mimic human behavior
                 'slow_mo': 200,
                 'args': [

docs/examples/using_browser_profile.mdx

@@ -18,8 +18,6 @@ Using browser profiles allows you to leverage existing login sessions, saved pas
 
 To run <ApiLink to="class/PlaywrightCrawler">`PlaywrightCrawler`</ApiLink> with your Chrome profile, you need to know the path to your profile files. You can find this information by entering `chrome://version/` as a URL in your Chrome browser. If you have multiple profiles, pay attention to the profile name - if you only have one profile, it's always `Default`.
 
-You also need to use the [`channel`](https://playwright.dev/python/docs/api/class-browsertype#browser-type-launch-option-channel) parameter in `browser_launch_options` to use the Chrome browser installed on your system instead of Playwright's Chromium.
-
 :::warning Profile access limitation
 Due to [Chrome's security policies](https://developer.chrome.com/blog/remote-debugging-port), automation cannot use your main browsing profile directly. The example copies your profile to a temporary location as a workaround.
 :::

src/crawlee/browsers/_browser_pool.py

@@ -118,7 +118,10 @@ def with_default_plugin(
         """Initialize a new instance with a single `PlaywrightBrowserPlugin` configured with the provided options.
 
         Args:
-            browser_type: The type of browser to launch ('chromium', 'firefox', or 'webkit').
+            browser_type: The type of browser to launch:
+                - 'chromium', 'firefox', 'webkit': Use Playwright-managed browsers
+                - 'chrome': Use your locally installed Google Chrome browser. Requires Google Chrome to be installed on
+                    the system.
             user_data_dir: Path to a user data directory, which stores browser session data like cookies
                 and local storage.
             browser_launch_options: Keyword arguments to pass to the browser launch method. These options are provided

src/crawlee/browsers/_playwright_browser_plugin.py

@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ class PlaywrightBrowserPlugin(BrowserPlugin):
 
     It is a plugin designed to manage browser instances using the Playwright automation library. It acts as a factory
     for creating new browser instances and provides a unified interface for interacting with different browser types
-    (chromium, firefox, and webkit). This class integrates configuration options for browser launches (headless mode,
-    executable paths, sandboxing, ...). It also manages browser contexts and the number of pages open within each
+    (chromium, firefox, webkit and chrome). This class integrates configuration options for browser launches (headless
+    mode, executable paths, sandboxing, ...). It also manages browser contexts and the number of pages open within each
     browser instance, ensuring that resource limits are respected.
     """
 
@@ -55,7 +55,10 @@ def __init__(
         """Initialize a new instance.
 
         Args:
-            browser_type: The type of browser to launch ('chromium', 'firefox', or 'webkit').
+            browser_type: The type of browser to launch:
+                - 'chromium', 'firefox', 'webkit': Use Playwright-managed browsers
+                - 'chrome': Use your locally installed Google Chrome browser. Requires Google Chrome to be installed on
+                    the system.
             user_data_dir: Path to a User Data Directory, which stores browser session data like cookies and local
                 storage.
             browser_launch_options: Keyword arguments to pass to the browser launch method. These options are provided
@@ -80,6 +83,17 @@ def __init__(
             'chromium_sandbox': not config.disable_browser_sandbox,
         }
 
+        if browser_type == 'chrome' and default_launch_browser_options['executable_path']:
+            raise ValueError(
+                'Cannot use browser_type `chrome` with `Configuration.default_browser_path` or `executable_path` set.'
+            )
+
+        # Map 'chrome' to 'chromium' with the 'chrome' channel.
+        if browser_type == 'chrome':
+            browser_type = 'chromium'
+            # Chromium parameter 'channel' set to 'chrome' enables using installed Google Chrome.
+            default_launch_browser_options['channel'] = 'chrome'
+
         self._browser_type: BrowserType = browser_type
         self._browser_launch_options: dict[str, Any] = default_launch_browser_options | (browser_launch_options or {})
         self._browser_new_context_options = browser_new_context_options or {}

src/crawlee/browsers/_types.py

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from playwright.async_api import Page
 
-BrowserType = Literal['chromium', 'firefox', 'webkit']
+BrowserType = Literal['chromium', 'firefox', 'webkit', 'chrome']
 
 
 @dataclass

src/crawlee/crawlers/_playwright/_playwright_crawler.py

@@ -114,7 +114,10 @@ def __init__(
             browser_pool: A `BrowserPool` instance to be used for launching the browsers and getting pages.
             user_data_dir: Path to a user data directory, which stores browser session data like cookies
                 and local storage.
-            browser_type: The type of browser to launch ('chromium', 'firefox', or 'webkit').
+            browser_type: The type of browser to launch:
+                - 'chromium', 'firefox', 'webkit': Use Playwright-managed browsers
+                - 'chrome': Use your locally installed Google Chrome browser. Requires Google Chrome to be installed on
+                    the system.
                 This option should not be used if `browser_pool` is provided.
             browser_launch_options: Keyword arguments to pass to the browser launch method. These options are provided
                 directly to Playwright's `browser_type.launch` method. For more details, refer to the
@@ -153,7 +156,7 @@ def __init__(
             ):
                 raise ValueError(
                     'You cannot provide `headless`, `browser_type`, `browser_launch_options`, '
-                    '`browser_new_context_options`, `use_incognito_pages`, `user_data_dir`  or'
+                    '`browser_new_context_options`, `use_incognito_pages`, `user_data_dir` or '
                     '`fingerprint_generator` arguments when `browser_pool` is provided.'
                 )
 
@@ -496,7 +499,9 @@ class _PlaywrightCrawlerAdditionalOptions(TypedDict):
     """A `BrowserPool` instance to be used for launching the browsers and getting pages."""
 
     browser_type: NotRequired[BrowserType]
-    """The type of browser to launch ('chromium', 'firefox', or 'webkit').
+    """The type of browser to launch:
+    - 'chromium', 'firefox', 'webkit': Use Playwright-managed browsers
+    - 'chrome': Use your locally installed Google Chrome browser. Requires Google Chrome to be installed on the system.
     This option should not be used if `browser_pool` is provided."""
 
     browser_launch_options: NotRequired[Mapping[str, Any]]

src/crawlee/fingerprint_suite/_header_generator.py

@@ -11,9 +11,9 @@
 
 
 def fingerprint_browser_type_from_playwright_browser_type(
-    playwright_browser_type: Literal['chromium', 'firefox', 'webkit'],
+    playwright_browser_type: Literal['chromium', 'firefox', 'webkit', 'chrome'],
 ) -> SupportedBrowserType:
-    if playwright_browser_type == 'chromium':
+    if playwright_browser_type in {'chromium', 'chrome'}:
         return 'chrome'
     if playwright_browser_type == 'firefox':
         return 'firefox'

tests/unit/browsers/test_playwright_browser_plugin.py

@@ -69,3 +69,13 @@ async def test_methods_raise_error_when_not_active() -> None:
 
     async with plugin:
         assert plugin.active is True
+
+
+async def raise_error_if_chrome_and_executable_path() -> None:
+    with pytest.raises(
+        ValueError, match=r'Cannot use `use_chrome` with `Configuration.default_browser_path` or `executable_path` set.'
+    ):
+        PlaywrightBrowserPlugin(
+            browser_type='chrome',
+            browser_launch_options={'executable_path': '/path/to/chrome'},
+        )