browserlist.json

browserlist.json is pbvm's project-level browser manifest file, located in the project root.

Purpose

Records which browsers a project uses and their configuration, so team members can share a consistent browser environment.

File structure

[
  {
    "platform": "mac_arm",
    "alias": "my-chrome",
    "browser": "chrome",
    "buildId": "134.0.6998.35"
  },
  {
    "platform": "mac_arm",
    "alias": "dev-firefox",
    "browser": "firefox",
    "buildId": "stable_136.0.0"
  }
]

Fields

Field	Type	Description
platform	string	Browser platform (mac_arm, linux_64, win_64, etc.)
alias	string	User-defined alias to simplify browser references in commands
browser	string	Browser name: chrome, chromium, firefox
buildId	string	Browser version

Read/write operations

Command	Read	Write
pbvm create	-	✅ Add record
pbvm ls	✅	-
pbvm open	✅	-
pbvm alias	✅	✅ Update alias
pbvm remove	-	✅ Remove record
pbvm restore	-	✅ Update record

File locking

Write operations on browserlist.json are protected by file locks to prevent data loss from concurrent writes by multiple processes. The lock timeout is 1 minute.

Recommendations

• Check browserlist.json into version control (git) so the team uses a consistent browser environment
• Have CI read this file to install the required browser versions