Summary
`wheels browser install` is documented to download Playwright JARs into `lib/`, Chromium into the system cache (e.g. `~/Library/Caches/ms-playwright/` on macOS), and write `browser-manifest.json`. In practice it appears to invoke a generic dependency resolver that exits cleanly without doing any of that.
Repro
$ wheels new blog --no-open-browser && cd blog
$ wheels browser install
[INFO] Reading lucee.json...
[INFO] Resolving dependencies...
[INFO] No git or extension dependencies to install
$ ls lib/ 2>/dev/null
# nothing
$ ls ~/Library/Caches/ms-playwright 2>/dev/null
# nothing
$ ls browser-manifest.json 2>/dev/null
# nothing
The output is identical to `wheels packages install` — looks like the same dependency-resolver dispatch is wired in.
Expected (per the chapter-7 docs)
$ wheels browser install
Downloading Playwright JARs (7 files) -> lib/...
✓ playwright-1.52.0.jar
✓ driver-bundle-1.52.0.jar
...
Downloading Chromium (~140MB) -> ~/Library/Caches/ms-playwright/...
✓ Chromium 138.0.7180.0
Writing browser-manifest.json
Done.
Suggested fix
- Implement the Playwright fetch under `wheels browser install`. The framework already has `reference_playwright_java_two_jar` notes describing the JAR layout (7 JARs, PlatformClassLoader parent, etc.).
- Until the install command works, mark the chapter 7 "Browser spec" section as preview so users don't expect to run it.
Severity
Major. The entire browser-spec walkthrough in chapter 7 (full signup → post → comment) is unreachable without a working install.
Source
Fresh-VM onboarding journal, 2026-04-27, finding #6.
Summary
`wheels browser install` is documented to download Playwright JARs into `lib/`, Chromium into the system cache (e.g. `~/Library/Caches/ms-playwright/` on macOS), and write `browser-manifest.json`. In practice it appears to invoke a generic dependency resolver that exits cleanly without doing any of that.
Repro
The output is identical to `wheels packages install` — looks like the same dependency-resolver dispatch is wired in.
Expected (per the chapter-7 docs)
Suggested fix
Severity
Major. The entire browser-spec walkthrough in chapter 7 (full signup → post → comment) is unreachable without a working install.
Source
Fresh-VM onboarding journal, 2026-04-27, finding #6.