Puppeteer browsers

Avrea caches Chrome for Testing archives downloaded by Puppeteer. Repeated downloads of the same version, platform, and archive use the packages cache.

On Avrea runners

When Package Manager Cache and Puppeteer Browser Cache are enabled, Avrea configures both download bases:

PUPPETEER_CHROME_DOWNLOAD_BASE_URL="https://cache.avrea.com:8443/puppeteer/chrome"
PUPPETEER_CHROME_HEADLESS_SHELL_DOWNLOAD_BASE_URL="https://cache.avrea.com:8443/puppeteer/chrome"

Use your normal Puppeteer installation. Its install script honors these browser-specific environment variables:

- run: npm ci

If your package manager blocks install scripts, install the browsers explicitly. In Puppeteer 25.10.0, the browser CLI requires --base-url to use the same mirror. Name each browser so its download base applies only to that browser:

- run: |
    npx puppeteer browsers install chrome --base-url="$PUPPETEER_CHROME_DOWNLOAD_BASE_URL"
    npx puppeteer browsers install chrome-headless-shell --base-url="$PUPPETEER_CHROME_HEADLESS_SHELL_DOWNLOAD_BASE_URL"

What is cached

Avrea caches download archives for Chrome and Chrome headless shell. Puppeteer extracts them on each fresh runner. Its npm dependencies use the npm cache.

Enable or disable

Puppeteer Browser Cache (cache.puppeteer-browsers.enabled) is enabled by default. Turn it on or off at organization or repository level under Settings in the Avrea console. Package Manager Cache (cache.packages.enabled) must also be enabled.

Disable it for a repository:

avr settings set cache.puppeteer-browsers.enabled false

Re-enable it:

avr settings set cache.puppeteer-browsers.enabled true

Reset to the inherited default:

avr settings reset cache.puppeteer-browsers.enabled

Repository overrides take precedence over organization settings. Resetting the repository setting restores inheritance. See Managing caches for listing current settings and definitions. Changes apply to new jobs.

Overrides

Puppeteer's download-base environment variables override its configuration-file values. Workflow and step environment variables can override the bases Avrea sets. To use Puppeteer's default download configuration for a step, clear both:

- run: npm rebuild puppeteer
  env:
    PUPPETEER_CHROME_DOWNLOAD_BASE_URL: ""
    PUPPETEER_CHROME_HEADLESS_SHELL_DOWNLOAD_BASE_URL: ""

See Puppeteer's configuration guide, Chrome settings, and headless-shell settings.