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".
Lighthouse integration in Chrome DevTools
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.
Lighthouse requires Node 14 LTS (14.x) or later.
Installation:
npm install -g lighthouse
# or use yarn:
# yarn global add lighthouse
Run it: lighthouse https://airhorner.com/
Reference Blog
Test Website Speed Page Speed And Performance
By default, Lighthouse writes the report to an HTML file. You can control the output format by passing flags.
CLI options
$ 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]
--print-config Print the normalized config for the given config and options, then exit. [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: lighthouse-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, --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://git.io/vFFTO [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, pwa, seo [array]
--skip-audits Run everything except these audits [array]
--budget-path The path to the budget.json file for LightWallet. [string]
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,pwa Only run the specified categories. Available categories: accessibility, best-practices, performance, pwa, seo
Top comments (1)
Lighthouse is a really useful tool can't get enough of it.