[Bug]: Browser Download Fails with 400 GatewayExceptionResponse

[BeejeeDS]

Version

1.59.1

Steps to reproduce

Description

When running npx playwright install, the browser download fails with a 400 error and "GatewayExceptionResponse" from the Azure CDN endpoint.

Error Message

Downloading Chrome for Testing 147.0.7727.15 (playwright chromium v1217) from https://playwright.azureedge.net/builds/cft/147.0.7727.15/win64/chrome-win64.zip
Error: Download failed: server returned code 400 body 'GatewayExceptionResponse'. URL: https://playwright.azureedge.net/builds/cft/147.0.7727.15/win64/chrome-win64.zip
    at IncomingMessage.handleError (C:\Projects\Mijn Fluvius\applications\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\server\registry\oopDownloadBrowserMain.js:58:23)
    at IncomingMessage.emit (node:events:520:35)
    at endReadableNT (node:internal/streams/readable:1701:12)
    at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:89:21)

The download is attempted 5 times and fails each time, ultimately resulting in:

Failed to install browsers
Error: Failed to download Chrome for Testing 147.0.7727.15 (playwright chromium v1217), caused by
Error: Download failure, code=1

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install @playwright/test@1.59.1 in a project
2. Run npx playwright install
3. Observe the download failure with 400 GatewayExceptionResponse

Expected behavior

The Chrome for Testing browser should download successfully from the Azure CDN.

Actual behavior

The download fails with a 400 HTTP status code and "GatewayExceptionResponse" body from the Azure CDN endpoint.

Additional context

No response

Environment

- **Playwright Version**: `@playwright/test@1.59.1`
- **Operating System**: Windows 11 (or Windows version from system)
- **Node.js Version**: `v24.13.0`
- **npm Version**: `11.6.2`
- **Browser Being Downloaded**: Chrome for Testing 147.0.7727.15 (playwright chromium v1217)

[BeejeeDS]

When I roll back to version 1.58.2, I don't have any problems and the 'npx playwright install' command works just fine.

[pavelfeldman]

Could you share the full log? https://playwright.azureedge.net is a fallback solution after trying another cdn:

[BeejeeDS]

I experienced the same issue last month, so perhaps the configuration changes I made at that time are one of the causes. I only see the same source, and I know I made some changes to it last month.
Here is the full log:

PS C:\Projects\MyMonoRepo\applications> npx playwright install                                               
npm warn Unknown project config "always-auth". This will stop working in the next major version of npm.
npm warn Unknown user config "always-auth". This will stop working in the next major version of npm.
Downloading Chrome for Testing 147.0.7727.15 (playwright chromium v1217) from https://playwright.azureedge.net/builds/cft/147.0.7727.15/win64/chrome-win64.zip
Error: Download failed: server returned code 400 body 'GatewayExceptionResponse'. URL: https://playwright.azureedge.net/builds/cft/147.0.7727.15/win64/chrome-win64.zip
	at IncomingMessage.handleError (C:\Projects\MyMonoRepo\applications\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\server\registry\oopDownloadBrowserMain.js:58:23)
	at IncomingMessage.emit (node:events:520:35)
	at endReadableNT (node:internal/streams/readable:1701:12)
	at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:89:21)
Downloading Chrome for Testing 147.0.7727.15 (playwright chromium v1217) from https://playwright.azureedge.net/builds/cft/147.0.7727.15/win64/chrome-win64.zip
Error: Download failed: server returned code 400 body 'GatewayExceptionResponse'. URL: https://playwright.azureedge.net/builds/cft/147.0.7727.15/win64/chrome-win64.zip
	at IncomingMessage.handleError (C:\Projects\MyMonoRepo\applications\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\server\registry\oopDownloadBrowserMain.js:58:23)
	at IncomingMessage.emit (node:events:520:35)
	at endReadableNT (node:internal/streams/readable:1701:12)
	at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:89:21)
Downloading Chrome for Testing 147.0.7727.15 (playwright chromium v1217) from https://playwright.azureedge.net/builds/cft/147.0.7727.15/win64/chrome-win64.zip
Error: Download failed: server returned code 400 body 'GatewayExceptionResponse'. URL: https://playwright.azureedge.net/builds/cft/147.0.7727.15/win64/chrome-win64.zip
	at IncomingMessage.handleError (C:\Projects\MyMonoRepo\applications\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\server\registry\oopDownloadBrowserMain.js:58:23)
	at IncomingMessage.emit (node:events:520:35)
	at endReadableNT (node:internal/streams/readable:1701:12)
	at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:89:21)
Downloading Chrome for Testing 147.0.7727.15 (playwright chromium v1217) from https://playwright.azureedge.net/builds/cft/147.0.7727.15/win64/chrome-win64.zip
Error: Download failed: server returned code 400 body 'GatewayExceptionResponse'. URL: https://playwright.azureedge.net/builds/cft/147.0.7727.15/win64/chrome-win64.zip
	at IncomingMessage.handleError (C:\Projects\MyMonoRepo\applications\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\server\registry\oopDownloadBrowserMain.js:58:23)
	at IncomingMessage.emit (node:events:520:35)
	at endReadableNT (node:internal/streams/readable:1701:12)
	at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:89:21)
Downloading Chrome for Testing 147.0.7727.15 (playwright chromium v1217) from https://playwright.azureedge.net/builds/cft/147.0.7727.15/win64/chrome-win64.zip
Error: Download failed: server returned code 400 body 'GatewayExceptionResponse'. URL: https://playwright.azureedge.net/builds/cft/147.0.7727.15/win64/chrome-win64.zip
	at IncomingMessage.handleError (C:\Projects\MyMonoRepo\applications\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\server\registry\oopDownloadBrowserMain.js:58:23)
	at IncomingMessage.emit (node:events:520:35)
	at endReadableNT (node:internal/streams/readable:1701:12)
	at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:89:21)
Failed to install browsers
Error: Failed to download Chrome for Testing 147.0.7727.15 (playwright chromium v1217), caused by
Error: Download failure, code=1
	at ChildProcess.<anonymous> (C:\Projects\MyMonoRepo\applications\node_modules\playwright-core\lib\server\registry\browserFetcher.js:96:32)
	at ChildProcess.emit (node:events:508:28)
	at ChildProcess._handle.onexit (node:internal/child_process:294:12)

[BeejeeDS]

K after running Remove-Item Env:\PLAYWRIGHT_DOWNLOAD_HOST things work again because https://cdn.playwright.dev/builds/cft/147.0.7727.15/win64/chrome-win64.zip is used