Discover / Marketing

Lighthouse

by GoogleChromeJavaScript

Automated auditing for performance, accessibility and SEO. The baseline for technical SEO checks.

Toolstable

Maturity: stable because 10y old, v13.4.1 released 14d ago. Derived from release and commit history, not a rating.

Stars
31k
Forks
9.7k
Downloads / mo
15.5M
Last commit
2026-08-02
License
Apache-2.0
Open issues
443

Market and trust evidence

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In practice

Written by AI from this repository’s README · high confidence

Identifies performance bottlenecks and provides actionable insights to improve web page quality.

Use it when

Use to analyze and optimize web apps for performance, accessibility, and SEO.

Not the right pick when

Not a continuous monitoring solution out of the box.

Capabilities

  • Performance metrics collection
  • Best practices auditing
  • Chrome DevTools integration
  • Node CLI and module support

Requirements

  • Node 22 (LTS) or later

Cost: Free and open source

Install

Derived from the published package name in the repository, not from a model.

Video walkthroughs

Third-party YouTube uploads matched to this tool by title, channel and repository name on 2026-08-03. Not made, reviewed or endorsed by SkillPilot. View counts and publish months are as of the match date and the month is approximate. Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play.

What the repository ships

Has docsCI configured

Detected from the actual files in the repository root.

Latest release v13.4.1

Published 2026-07-20

Full Changelog

We expect this release to ship in the DevTools of Chrome 152, and to PageSpeed Insights within 2 weeks.

Core

  • baseline: Dynamic Baseline High calculation and feature summary improvements (#17107, #17112, #17132)
  • webmcp: Refined WebMCP gatherers to check document.modelContext and removed snapshot mode (#17128, #17129)
  • docs: Added documentation links for agentic audits (#17108)
  • network: Detailed error messages when fetching robots.txt or llms.txt fails (#17083)

Clients

  • viewer: Enabled Agentic Browsing category via PSI API (#17090)
  • extension: Version bump (#17094)

Deps

Tests & Build

  • build: Minified Lightrider bundle (#17117)
  • tests: Added bundle size check and updated Puppeteer API tests (#17088, #17096)
  • devtools: Synced e2e tests from devtools-frontend (#17121)

Infrastructure & Workflow

Tags

README

Lighthouse GitHub Actions Status Badge GitHub Actions Status Badge GitHub Actions Status Badge Coverage Status Build tracker for Lighthouse NPM lighthouse package

Lighthouse analyzes web apps and web pages, collecting modern performance metrics and insights on developer best practices.

  • Using Lighthouse
  • Using Lighthouse in Chrome DevTools
  • Using the Chrome extension
  • Using the Node CLI
  • CLI options
  • Using the Node module
  • Viewing a report
  • Online Viewer
  • Docs & Recipes
  • Developing Lighthouse
  • Setup
  • Run
  • Tests
  • Docs
  • Associated Products and Projects
  • Lighthouse Integrations in Web Perf services
  • Lighthouse Integrations in non-Web Perf services
  • Plugins
  • Related projects
  • FAQ
  • How does Lighthouse work?
  • Can I configure the lighthouse run?
  • How does Lighthouse use network throttling, and how can I make it better?
  • Are results sent to a remote server?
  • How do I get localized Lighthouse results?
  • How do I author custom audits to extend Lighthouse?
  • How do I contribute?

Using Lighthouse in Chrome DevTools

Lighthouse is integrated directly into the Chrome DevTools, under the "Lighthouse" panel.

Installation: install Chrome.

Run it: open Chrome DevTools, select the Lighthouse panel, and hit "Generate report".

<img width="550" alt="Lighthouse integration in Chrome DevTools." src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/2766281/204185043-9c49abe5-baee-4b26-b5ce-ece410661213.png">

Using the Chrome extension

The Chrome extension was available prior to Lighthouse being available in Chrome Developer Tools, and offers similar functionality.

Installation: install the extension from the Chrome Web Store.

Run it: follow the extension quick-start guide.

Using the Node CLI

The Node CLI provides the most flexibility in how Lighthouse runs can be configured and reported. Users who want more advanced usage, or want to run Lighthouse in an automated fashion should use the Node CLI.

[!NOTE]

Lighthouse requires Node 22 (LTS) or later.

Installation:


npm install -g lighthouse
# or use yarn:
# yarn global add lighthouse

Run it: lighthouse https://airhorner.com/

By default, Lighthouse writes the report to an HTML file. You can control the output format by passing flags.

CLI options

<!-- To update the help output:

node cli --help | pbcopy

-->


$ lighthouse --help

lighthouse <url> <options>

Logging:
  --verbose  Displays verbose logging  [boolean] [default: false]
  --quiet    Displays no progress, debug logs, or errors  [boolean] [default: false]

Configuration:
  --save-assets                  Save the trace contents & devtools logs to disk  [boolean] [default: false]
  --list-all-audits              Prints a list of all available audits and exits  [boolean] [default: false]
  --list-trace-categories        Prints a list of all required trace categories and exits  [boolean] [default: false]
  --additional-trace-categories  Additional categories to capture with the trace (comma-delimited).  [string]
  --config-path                  The path to the config JSON.
                                 An example config file: core/config/lr-desktop-config.js  [string]
  --preset                       Use a built-in configuration.
                                 WARNING: If the --config-path flag is provided, this preset will be ignored.  [string] [choices: "perf", "experimental", "desktop"]
  --chrome-flags                 Custom flags to pass to Chrome (space-delimited). For a full list of flags, see https://bit.ly/chrome-flags
                                 Additionally, use the CHROME_PATH environment variable to use a specific Chrome binary. Requires Chromium version 66.0 or later. If omitted, any detected Chrome Canary or Chrome stable will be used.  [string] [default: ""]
  --port                         The port to use for the debugging protocol. Use 0 for a random port  [number] [default: 0]
  --hostname                     The hostname to use for the debugging protocol.  [string] [default: "localhost"]
  --form-factor                  Determines how performance metrics are scored and if mobile-only audits are skipped. For desktop, use --preset=desktop instead.  [string] [choices: "mobile", "desktop"]
  --screenEmulation              Sets screen emulation parameters. See also --preset. Use --screenEmulation.disabled to disable. Otherwise set these 4 parameters individually: --screenEmulation.mobile --screenEmulation.width=360 --screenEmulation.height=640 --screenEmulation.deviceScaleFactor=2
  --emulatedUserAgent            Sets useragent emulation  [string]
  --max-wait-for-load            The timeout (in milliseconds) to wait before the page is considered done loading and the run should continue. WARNING: Very high values can lead to large traces and instability  [number]
  --enable-error-reporting       Enables error reporting, overriding any saved preference. --no-enable-error-reporting will do the opposite. More: https://github.com/GoogleChrome/lighthouse/blob/main/docs/error-reporting.md  [boolean]
  --gather-mode, -G              Collect artifacts from a connected browser and save to disk. (Artifacts folder path may optionally be provided). If audit-mode is not also enabled, the run will quit early.
  --audit-mode, -A               Process saved artifacts from disk. (Artifacts folder path may be provided, otherwise defaults to ./latest-run/)
  --only-audits                  Only run the specified audits  [array]
  --only-categories              Only run the specified categories. Available categories: accessibility, best-practices, performance, seo  [array]
  --skip-audits                  Run everything except these audits  [array]
  --disable-full-page-screenshot Disables collection of the full page screenshot, which can be quite large  [boolean]

Output:
  --output       Reporter for the results, supports multiple values. choices: "json", "html", "csv"  [array] [default: ["html"]]
  --output-path  The file path to output the results. Use 'stdout' to write to stdout.
                   If using JSON output, default is stdout.
                   If using HTML or CSV output, default is a file in the working directory with a name based on the test URL and date.
                   If using multiple outputs, --output-path is appended with the standard extension for each output type. "reports/my-run" -> "reports/my-run.report.html", "reports/my-run.report.json", etc.
                   Example: --output-path=./lighthouse-results.html  [string]
  --view         Open HTML report in your browser  [boolean] [default: false]

Options:
  --version                            Show version number  [boolean]
  --help                               Show help  [boolean]
  --cli-flags-path                     The path to a JSON file that contains the desired CLI flags to apply. Flags specified at the command line will still override the file-based ones.
  --locale                             The locale/language the report should be formatted in
  --blocked-url-patterns               Block any network requests to the specified URL patterns  [array]
  --disable-storage-reset              Disable clearing the browser cache and other storage APIs before a run  [boolean]
  --throttling-method                  Controls throttling method  [string] [choices: "devtools", "provided", "simulate"]
  --throttling
  --throttling.rttMs                   Controls simulated network RTT (TCP layer)
  --throttling.throughputKbps          Controls simulated network download throughput
  --throttling.requestLatencyMs        Controls emulated network RTT (HTTP layer)
  --throttling.downloadThroughputKbps  Controls emulated network download throughput
  --throttling.uploadThroughputKbps    Controls emulated network upload throughput
  --throttling.cpuSlowdownMultiplier   Controls simulated + emulated CPU throttling
  --extra-headers                      Set extra HTTP Headers to pass with request
  --precomputed-lantern-data-path      Path to the file where lantern simulation data should be read from, overwriting the lantern observed estimates for RTT and server latency.  [string]
  --lantern-data-output-path           Path to the file where lantern simulation data should be written to, can be used in a future run with the `precomputed-lantern-data-path` flag.  [string]
  --plugins                            Run the specified plugins  [array]
  --channel  [string] [default: "cli"]
  --chrome-ignore-default-flags  [boolean] [default: false]

Examples:
  lighthouse <url> --view                                                                          Opens the HTML report in a browser after the run completes
  lighthouse <url> --config-path=./myconfig.js                                                     Runs Lighthouse with your own configuration: custom audits, report generation, etc.
  lighthouse <url> --output=json --output-path=./report.json --save-assets                         Save trace, screenshots, and named JSON report.
  lighthouse <url> --screenEmulation.disabled --throttling-method=provided --no-emulatedUserAgent  Disable device emulation and all throttling
  lighthouse <url> --chrome-flags="--window-size=412,660"                                          Launch Chrome with a specific window size
  lighthouse <url> --quiet --chrome-flags="--headless"                                             Launch Headless Chrome, turn off logging
  lighthouse <url> --extra-headers "{\"Cookie\":\"monster=blue\", \"x-men\":\"wolverine\"}"        Stringify'd JSON HTTP Header key/value pairs to send in requests
  lighthouse <url> --extra-headers=./path/to/file.json                                             Path to JSON file of HTTP Header key/value pairs to send in requests
  lighthouse <url> --only-categories=performance,seo                                               Only run the specified categories. Available categories: accessibility, best-practices, performance, seo

For more information on Lighthouse, see https://developers.google.com/web/tools/lighthouse/.
Output Examples

lighthouse
# saves `./<HOST>_<DATE>.report.html`

lighthouse --output json
# json output sent to stdout

lighthouse --output html --output-path ./report.html
# saves `./report.html`

# NOTE: specifying an output path with multiple formats ignores your specified extension for *ALL* formats
lighthouse --output json --output html --output-path ./myfile.json
# saves `./myfile.report.json` and `./myfile.report.html`

lighthouse --output json --output html
# saves `./<HOST>_<DATE>.report.json` and `./<HOST>_<DATE>.report.html`

lighthouse --output-path=~/mydir/foo.out --save-assets
# saves `~/mydir/foo.report.html`
# saves `~/mydir/foo-0.trace.json` and `~/mydir/foo-0.devtoolslog.json`

lighthouse --output-path=./report.json --output json
# saves `./report.json`
Lifecycle Examples

You can run a subset of Lighthouse's lifecycle if desired via the --gather-mode (-G) and --audit-mode (-A) CLI flags.


lighthouse http://example.com -G
# launches browser, collects artifacts, saves them to disk (in `./latest-run/`) and quits

lighthouse http://example.com -A
# skips browser interaction, loads artifacts from disk (in `./latest-run/`), runs audits on them, generates report

lighthouse http://example.com -GA
# Normal gather + audit run, but also saves collected artifacts to disk for subsequent -A runs.


# You can optionally provide a custom folder destination to -G/-A/-GA. Without a value, the default will be `$PWD/latest-run`.
lighthouse -GA=./gmailartifacts https://gmail.com
Notes on Error Reporting

The first time you run the CLI you will be prompted with a message asking you if Lighthouse can anonymously report runtime exceptions. The Lighthouse team uses this information to detect new bugs and avoid regressions. Opting out will not affect your ability to use Lighthouse in any way. Learn more.

Using the Node module

You can also use Lighthouse programmatically with the Node module.

Read Using Lighthouse programmatically for help getting started.\

Read [Lighthouse Co

Truncated. Read the full README on GitHub ↗

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