fix: keep playwright mcp preflight local

Author: konard

docs/case-studies/issue-1901/README.md

@@ -216,6 +216,27 @@ The test also feeds an interactive `system.init` event with:
 The expected comment now states that Playwright MCP tools are unavailable and
 warns that no `mcp__playwright__*` tools were exposed.
 
+## Follow-up Review Notes
+
+The PR #1907 follow-up review asked whether `--skip-tool-connection-check` and
+the deployment gist's `--no-tool-check` overrides should affect Playwright MCP.
+They should not. Those flags only skip paid AI-tool connection probes; the
+`solve` Playwright MCP preflight is local/free and still runs when Playwright
+support is enabled. Dry-run mode remains the only broad solve path that skips
+that preflight.
+
+Telegram `/version` uses the same `formatVersionMessage()` path as CLI version
+reporting, so pending or otherwise unavailable Playwright MCP rows render as
+`not connected` there as well.
+
+The checked deployment gist already re-applies Claude and Codex Playwright MCP
+registration after host-mounted `/home/box/.claude*` and `/home/box/.codex`
+configuration can shadow image-baked defaults. No required gist change is
+needed to remove `--no-tool-check` after this fix. A useful future hardening is
+to align the gist's status parsing with Hive Mind's shared unavailable-row
+patterns and keep explicit `playwright --version` plus
+`npx --no-install @playwright/mcp --help` probes.
+
 ## Limitations
 
 This Hive Mind fix does not force a running Claude Code process to reconnect a

src/solve.mjs

@@ -249,13 +249,14 @@ await cascadePlaywrightMcpDisable(argv, log);
 if (!(await performSystemChecks(argv.minDiskSpace || 2048, skipToolConnectionCheck, argv.model, argv))) {
   await safeExit(1, 'System checks failed');
 }
-if (!skipToolConnectionCheck) {
+// Playwright MCP preflight is local/free and stays independent from paid tool connection checks.
+if (!argv.dryRun && argv.playwrightMcp !== false) {
   const playwrightMcpPreflight = await ensureSolvePlaywrightMcpReady({ argv, log });
   if (!playwrightMcpPreflight.ok) {
     await safeExit(1, 'Playwright MCP preflight failed');
   }
-} else if (argv.playwrightMcp !== false) {
-  await log('⏩ Skipping Playwright MCP preflight (dry-run mode or skip-tool-connection-check enabled)', { verbose: true });
+} else if (argv.dryRun && argv.playwrightMcp !== false) {
+  await log('⏩ Skipping Playwright MCP preflight (dry-run mode)', { verbose: true });
 }
 // URL validation debug logging
 if (argv.verbose) {

tests/test-issue-1901-playwright-mcp-pending.mjs

@@ -189,6 +189,14 @@ await asyncTest('Issue #1901: solve runs Playwright MCP preflight before startin
   assert.ok(solveSource.includes("await safeExit(1, 'Playwright MCP preflight failed')"), 'solve.mjs should fail immediately when Playwright MCP preflight fails');
 });
 
+await asyncTest('Issue #1901: skip-tool-connection-check does not skip local Playwright MCP preflight', async () => {
+  const solveSource = await read('src/solve.mjs');
+
+  assert.doesNotMatch(solveSource, /if\s*\(!skipToolConnectionCheck\)\s*{\s*const playwrightMcpPreflight = await ensureSolvePlaywrightMcpReady/s);
+  assert.match(solveSource, /if\s*\(!argv\.dryRun && argv\.playwrightMcp !== false\)\s*{\s*const playwrightMcpPreflight = await ensureSolvePlaywrightMcpReady/s);
+  assert.ok(!solveSource.includes('skip-tool-connection-check enabled'), 'Playwright MCP preflight skip message should not mention skip-tool-connection-check');
+});
+
 await asyncTest('Issue #1901: Docker image verification rejects unavailable Playwright MCP rows', async () => {
   const verifyScript = await read('scripts/verify-docker-image.sh');
   assert.match(verifyScript, /PLAYWRIGHT_MCP_UNAVAILABLE_RE=/);