Run Lighthouse audits locally via CLI or Node API, parse and interpret reports, and set performance budgets. Use when measuring site performance, understanding Lighthouse scores, setting up budgets, or integrating audits into CI. Triggers on: lighthouse, run lighthouse, lighthouse score, performance audit, performance budget. Do NOT use for fixing specific performance issues (use perf-web-optimization or core-web-vitals) or Astro-specific optimization (use perf-astro).
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# Install
npm install -g lighthouse
# Basic audit
lighthouse https://example.com
# Mobile performance only (faster)
lighthouse https://example.com --preset=perf --form-factor=mobile
# Output JSON for parsing
lighthouse https://example.com --output=json --output-path=./report.json
# Output HTML report
lighthouse https://example.com --output=html --output-path=./report.html--preset=perf # Performance only (skip accessibility, SEO, etc.)
--form-factor=mobile # Mobile device emulation (default)
--form-factor=desktop # Desktop
--throttling-method=devtools # More accurate throttling
--only-categories=performance,accessibility # Specific categories
--chrome-flags="--headless" # Headless ChromeCreate budget.json:
[
{
"resourceSizes": [
{ "resourceType": "script", "budget": 200 },
{ "resourceType": "image", "budget": 300 },
{ "resourceType": "stylesheet", "budget": 50 },
{ "resourceType": "total", "budget": 500 }
],
"resourceCounts": [{ "resourceType": "third-party", "budget": 5 }],
"timings": [
{ "metric": "interactive", "budget": 3000 },
{ "metric": "first-contentful-paint", "budget": 1500 },
{ "metric": "largest-contentful-paint", "budget": 2500 }
]
}
]Run with budget:
lighthouse https://example.com --budget-path=./budget.jsonimport lighthouse from 'lighthouse'
import * as chromeLauncher from 'chrome-launcher'
async function runAudit(url) {
const chrome = await chromeLauncher.launch({ chromeFlags: ['--headless'] })
const result = await lighthouse(url, {
port: chrome.port,
onlyCategories: ['performance'],
formFactor: 'mobile',
throttling: {
cpuSlowdownMultiplier: 4,
},
})
await chrome.kill()
const { performance } = result.lhr.categories
const { 'largest-contentful-paint': lcp } = result.lhr.audits
return {
score: Math.round(performance.score * 100),
lcp: lcp.numericValue,
}
}# .github/workflows/lighthouse.yml
name: Lighthouse
on:
pull_request:
push:
branches: [main]
jobs:
lighthouse:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Build site
run: npm ci && npm run build
- name: Run Lighthouse
uses: treosh/lighthouse-ci-action@v11
with:
urls: |
http://localhost:3000
http://localhost:3000/about
budgetPath: ./budget.json
uploadArtifacts: true
temporaryPublicStorage: true
env:
LHCI_GITHUB_APP_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.LHCI_GITHUB_APP_TOKEN }}For full CI integration with historical tracking:
# Install
npm install -g @lhci/cli
# Initialize config
lhci wizardCreates lighthouserc.js:
module.exports = {
ci: {
collect: {
url: ['http://localhost:3000/', 'http://localhost:3000/about'],
startServerCommand: 'npm run start',
numberOfRuns: 3,
},
assert: {
assertions: {
'categories:performance': ['error', { minScore: 0.9 }],
'categories:accessibility': ['warn', { minScore: 0.9 }],
'first-contentful-paint': ['error', { maxNumericValue: 1500 }],
'largest-contentful-paint': ['error', { maxNumericValue: 2500 }],
'cumulative-layout-shift': ['error', { maxNumericValue: 0.1 }],
},
},
upload: {
target: 'temporary-public-storage', // or 'lhci' for self-hosted
},
},
}Run:
lhci autorunimport fs from 'fs'
const report = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('./report.json'))
// Overall scores (0-1, multiply by 100 for percentage)
const scores = {
performance: report.categories.performance.score,
accessibility: report.categories.accessibility.score,
seo: report.categories.seo.score,
}
// Core Web Vitals
const vitals = {
lcp: report.audits['largest-contentful-paint'].numericValue,
cls: report.audits['cumulative-layout-shift'].numericValue,
fcp: report.audits['first-contentful-paint'].numericValue,
tbt: report.audits['total-blocking-time'].numericValue,
}
// Failed audits
const failed = Object.values(report.audits)
.filter((a) => a.score !== null && a.score < 0.9)
.map((a) => ({ id: a.id, score: a.score, title: a.title }))# Save baseline
lighthouse https://prod.example.com --output=json --output-path=baseline.json
# Run on PR
lighthouse https://preview.example.com --output=json --output-path=pr.json
# Compare (custom script)
node compare-reports.js baseline.json pr.jsonSimple comparison script:
const baseline = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(process.argv[2]))
const pr = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(process.argv[3]))
const metrics = ['largest-contentful-paint', 'cumulative-layout-shift', 'total-blocking-time']
metrics.forEach((metric) => {
const base = baseline.audits[metric].numericValue
const current = pr.audits[metric].numericValue
const diff = (((current - base) / base) * 100).toFixed(1)
const emoji = current <= base ? '✅' : '❌'
console.log(`${emoji} ${metric}: ${diff}% (${base.toFixed(0)} → ${current.toFixed(0)})`)
})| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| Inconsistent scores | Run multiple times (--number-of-runs=3), use median |
| Chrome not found | Set CHROME_PATH env var |
| Timeouts | Increase with --max-wait-for-load=60000 |
| Auth required | Use --extra-headers or puppeteer script |
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