# launchpad > You can launch browsers! From NodeJS! Local ones! Remote ones! Browserstack ones! Latest version **0.8.1** (published 2023-01-25) · 0 weekly downloads ## Install ```sh npm install launchpad pnpm add launchpad yarn add launchpad bun add launchpad ``` ## Health **Score 18/100 (F)** — status: abandoned. Positive: has types package; no vulnerabilities. Warnings: low downloads; no esm support; pre 1.0. Negative: abandoned; low maintenance score. ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Version | 0.8.1 | | Published | 2023-01-25 | | First published | 2012-11-21 | | Weekly downloads | 0 | | TypeScript types | separate (@types/launchpad) | | Module format | CommonJS | | Node | >= 4 | | Dependencies | 8 | | Unpacked size | 59.3 KB | | Known vulnerabilities | 0 | | Install scripts | no | | GitHub stars | 48 | | Maintainers | phillipskevin, daffl, ekryski, matthewp, bmomberger-bitovi, cherif_b | | Keywords | browsers, launcher, chrome, ie, firefox, opera, phantomjs, browserstack | ## Links - npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/launchpad - Repository: https://github.com/bitovi/launchpad - Issues: https://github.com/bitovi/launchpad/issues - npm.io page: https://npm.io/package/launchpad ## Dependencies (8) - [q](https://npm.io/package/q.md) ^1.4.1 - [async](https://npm.io/package/async.md) ^2.0.1 - [debug](https://npm.io/package/debug.md) ^2.2.0 - [plist](https://npm.io/package/plist.md) ^3.0.5 - [mkdirp](https://npm.io/package/mkdirp.md) ^1.0.4 - [rimraf](https://npm.io/package/rimraf.md) ^3.0.0 - [underscore](https://npm.io/package/underscore.md) ^1.8.3 - [browserstack](https://npm.io/package/browserstack.md) ^1.2.0 ## Alternatives - [launchdarkly-js-client-sdk](https://npm.io/package/launchdarkly-js-client-sdk.md) — 2.5M weekly downloads - [@elastic/elasticsearch](https://npm.io/package/@elastic/elasticsearch.md) — 2.1M weekly downloads - [@c8y/client](https://npm.io/package/@c8y/client.md) — 15.3K weekly downloads - [@signaldb/maverickjs](https://npm.io/package/@signaldb/maverickjs.md) — 1.7K weekly downloads - [@bbc/http-transport-cache](https://npm.io/package/@bbc/http-transport-cache.md) — 1.2K weekly downloads ## Recent versions - 0.8.1 (latest) — 2023-01-25 - 0.8.0 — 2022-06-06 - 0.7.5 — 2020-01-23 - 0.7.4 — 2019-12-12 - 0.7.3 — 2019-10-04 - 0.7.2 — 2019-03-20 - 0.7.1 — 2019-02-18 - 0.7.0 — 2017-05-26 - 0.6.0 — 2017-04-27 - 0.5.4 — 2016-09-14 - 0.5.3 — 2016-06-14 - 0.5.2 — 2016-06-09 - 0.5.1 — 2016-01-26 - 0.5.0 — 2015-11-19 - 0.4.9 — 2015-10-16 - … 13 more at https://npm.io/package/launchpad/versions ## README # Launchpad [![Greenkeeper badge](https://badges.greenkeeper.io/bitovi/launchpad.svg)](https://greenkeeper.io/) [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/bitovi/launchpad.svg)](https://travis-ci.org/bitovi/launchpad) You can launch browsers! With NodeJS! * __Local browsers__ for MacOS, Windows and Linux (like) operating systems * __[BrowserStack](http://browserstack.com)__ browsers using the BrowserStack API ## API The general API for any launcher (``) looks like this: ```js var launch = require('launchpad'); launch.(configuration, function(error, launcher) { launcher.browsers(function(error, browsers) { // -> List of available browsers with version }); launcher(url, configuration, function(error, instance) { instance // -> A browser instance instance.id // -> unique instance id instance.stop(callback) // -> Stop the instance instance.status(callback) // -> Get status information about the instance }); launcher.(url, function(error, instance) { // Same as above }); }); ``` ## Local launchers Local launchers look up all currently installed browsers (unless limited by LAUNCHPAD_BROWSERS - see below for details) and allow you to start new browser processes. ```js // Launch a local browser launch.local(function(err, local) { local.browsers(function(error, browsers) { // -> List of all browsers found locally with version }); local.firefox('http://url', function(err, instance) { // An instance is an event emitter instance.on('stop', function() { console.log('Terminated local firefox'); }); }); }); ``` ### Environment variables impacting local browsers detection By default Launchpad looks up all installed browsers. To speed-up this process you can define the following env variables: * `LAUNCHPAD_BROWSERS` - comma delimited list of browsers you want to use, e.g. `LAUNCHPAD_BROWSERS=chrome,firefox,opera`. Other browsers will not be detected even if they are installed. * `LAUNCHPAD_` - specifies where given browser is installed so that Launchpad does not need to look for it, e.g. `LAUNCHPAD_CHROME=/usr/bin/chromium` The following browser names are recognized: `chrome`, `firefox`, `safari`, `ie`, `edge`, `opera`, `canary`, `aurora`, `electron`, `phantom`, `nodeWebKit`. Not all platforms support all browsers - see [platform](lib/local/platform) for details. ## Browserstack BrowserStack is a great cross-browser testing tool and offers API access to any account that is on a monthly plan. Launchpad allows you to start BrowserStack workers through its API like this: ```js launch.browserstack({ username : 'user', password : 'password' }, function(err, browserstack) { browserstack.browsers(function(error, browsers) { // -> List of all Browserstack browsers }); browserstack.ie('http://url', function(err, instance) { // Shut the instance down after 5 seconds setTimeout(function() { instance.stop(function (err) { if(err) { console.log(err); } console.log('Browser instance has stopped'); }); }, 5000); }); }); ``` Behind the scenes we have the [node-browserstack](https://github.com/scottgonzalez/node-browserstack) module do all the work (API calls) for us. --- _Source: https://npm.io/package/launchpad · Machine-readable twin of the npm.io package page. Health data is recomputed on every publish._