diff --git a/bin/design-extract.js b/bin/design-extract.js
index b29a995..845a6a3 100755
--- a/bin/design-extract.js
+++ b/bin/design-extract.js
@@ -274,8 +274,8 @@ program
       if (merged.full || merged.screenshots) {
         spinner.text = 'Extracting logo...';
         try {
-          const { chromium } = await import('playwright');
-          const browser = await chromium.launch({ headless: true, ...(merged.systemChrome && { channel: 'chrome' }) });
+          const { launchChromium } = await import('../src/browser.js');
+          const browser = await launchChromium({ headless: true, ...(merged.systemChrome && { channel: 'chrome' }) });
           const ctx = await browser.newContext({ viewport: { width: merged.width, height: parseInt(merged.height) || 800 } });
           const lp = await ctx.newPage();
           await lp.goto(url, { waitUntil: 'domcontentloaded', timeout: 20000 }).catch(() => {});
@@ -724,9 +724,9 @@ program
         process.exit(1);
       }
       spinner.fail('Extraction failed');
-      if (err.message.includes('playwright')) {
-        console.error(chalk.red('\n  Playwright is not installed.'));
-        console.error(chalk.gray('  Run: npx playwright install chromium\n'));
+      if (err.code === 'BROWSER_UNAVAILABLE' || err.message.includes('playwright')) {
+        console.error(chalk.red('\n  No browser available.'));
+        console.error(chalk.gray('  Run: npx designlang install-browser (or install Google Chrome)\n'));
       } else {
         console.error(chalk.red(`\n  ${err.message}\n`));
         if (opts.verbose) console.error(err.stack);
@@ -2371,9 +2371,9 @@ program
       const { chromium } = await import('playwright');
       const bin = chromium.executablePath();
       if (existsSync(bin)) add('Chromium binary', bin, 'OK');
-      else add('Chromium binary', 'not installed', 'FAIL', 'npx playwright install chromium');
+      else add('Chromium binary', 'not installed', 'FAIL', 'npx designlang install-browser');
     } catch {
-      add('Chromium binary', 'not resolvable', 'FAIL', 'npx playwright install chromium');
+      add('Chromium binary', 'not resolvable', 'FAIL', 'npx designlang install-browser');
     }
 
     const outDir = resolve('./design-extract-output');
@@ -2516,4 +2516,19 @@ program
     await run(opts);
   });
 
+// ── Browser install ────────────────────────────────────────
+program
+  .command('install-browser')
+  .description('Download the Chromium build designlang drives (no longer done at npm install)')
+  .option('--with-deps', 'also install the system libraries Chromium needs (Linux CI)')
+  .action(async (opts) => {
+    const { createRequire } = await import('module');
+    const { spawnSync } = await import('child_process');
+    // playwright's exports map hides cli.js, so locate it from package.json.
+    const pwDir = dirname(createRequire(import.meta.url).resolve('playwright/package.json'));
+    const args = [join(pwDir, 'cli.js'), 'install', ...(opts.withDeps ? ['--with-deps'] : []), 'chromium'];
+    const r = spawnSync(process.execPath, args, { stdio: 'inherit' });
+    process.exit(r.status ?? 1);
+  });
+
 program.parse();
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index f3dc7e0..ad5c47c 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
     "./package.json": "./package.json"
   },
   "scripts": {
-    "postinstall": "npx playwright install chromium --with-deps 2>/dev/null || npx playwright install chromium",
     "start": "node bin/design-extract.js",
     "check-plugin": "node scripts/check-plugin-version.mjs",
     "test": "node --test tests/*.test.js"
diff --git a/smithery.dockerfile b/smithery.dockerfile
index d312e1d..e7780c0 100644
--- a/smithery.dockerfile
+++ b/smithery.dockerfile
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
       libxss1 libxtst6 wget \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
-RUN npm install -g designlang && npx playwright install chromium
+RUN npm install -g designlang && designlang install-browser
 
 WORKDIR /app
 ENTRYPOINT ["npx", "designlang", "mcp"]
diff --git a/src/browser.js b/src/browser.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f68c553
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/browser.js
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+// One place that launches Chromium, so every command shares the same fallback:
+// bundled Chromium → system Chrome → an error that names the fix.
+//
+// Chromium used to be downloaded in `postinstall`, which fails in CI, Docker and
+// behind proxies. It is now installed on demand with `designlang install-browser`.
+
+import { chromium as playwrightChromium } from 'playwright';
+
+export const INSTALL_HINT = 'Run `npx designlang install-browser`, or install Google Chrome.';
+
+function isMissingBrowser(err) {
+  return /Executable doesn't exist|distribution '[^']*' is not found/i.test(err?.message || '');
+}
+
+export async function launchChromium(options = {}, { chromium = playwrightChromium } = {}) {
+  try {
+    return await chromium.launch(options);
+  } catch (err) {
+    if (!isMissingBrowser(err)) throw err;
+    // Only fall back when the caller didn't ask for a specific browser.
+    if (!options.channel && !options.executablePath) {
+      try {
+        return await chromium.launch({ ...options, channel: 'chrome' });
+      } catch (fallbackErr) {
+        if (!isMissingBrowser(fallbackErr)) throw fallbackErr;
+      }
+    }
+    const e = new Error(`No browser available. ${INSTALL_HINT}`, { cause: err });
+    e.code = 'BROWSER_UNAVAILABLE';
+    throw e;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/crawler.js b/src/crawler.js
index e47a21e..3de36b2 100644
--- a/src/crawler.js
+++ b/src/crawler.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { chromium } from 'playwright';
+import { launchChromium } from './browser.js';
 import { mkdirSync } from 'fs';
 import { join } from 'path';
 import { extractMediaDarkColors } from './extractors/dark-mode-pair.js';
@@ -53,7 +54,7 @@ export async function crawlPage(url, options = {}) {
   // require Playwright's protocol on a path like /playwright/chromium.
   const browser = usingRemote
     ? await chromium.connectOverCDP(wsEndpoint, { timeout: 30000 })
-    : await chromium.launch({
+    : await launchChromium({
         headless: true,
         ...(executablePath && { executablePath }),
         // channel: 'chrome' forces Playwright to use the system Chrome install
diff --git a/src/extractors/component-screenshots.js b/src/extractors/component-screenshots.js
index 3a663f8..7b46486 100644
--- a/src/extractors/component-screenshots.js
+++ b/src/extractors/component-screenshots.js
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 // subdirectory under the output root and returns an index the bin emits as
 // `*-screenshots.json`.
 
-import { chromium } from 'playwright';
+import { launchChromium } from '../browser.js';
 import { mkdirSync } from 'fs';
 import { join } from 'path';
 
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ export async function captureComponentScreenshotsV10(url, outDir, { width = 1280
   const screenshotDir = join(outDir, 'screenshots');
   mkdirSync(screenshotDir, { recursive: true });
 
-  const browser = await chromium.launch({ headless: true, ...(channel && { channel }) });
+  const browser = await launchChromium({ headless: true, ...(channel && { channel }) });
   try {
     const context = await browser.newContext({
       viewport: { width, height },
diff --git a/src/extractors/interactions.js b/src/extractors/interactions.js
index eabf815..23a6955 100644
--- a/src/extractors/interactions.js
+++ b/src/extractors/interactions.js
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 // Interaction state extraction — hover, focus, active styles
 
-import { chromium } from 'playwright';
+import { launchChromium } from '../browser.js';
 
 export async function captureInteractions(url, options = {}) {
   const { width = 1280, height = 800, wait = 0 } = options;
-  const browser = await chromium.launch({ headless: true });
+  const browser = await launchChromium({ headless: true });
   const context = await browser.newContext({ viewport: { width, height } });
   const page = await context.newPage();
 
diff --git a/src/extractors/perf.js b/src/extractors/perf.js
index afea2ca..dc5f7af 100644
--- a/src/extractors/perf.js
+++ b/src/extractors/perf.js
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 // No Lighthouse dependency — everything is pure `playwright` + the page's own
 // `PerformanceObserver` API, which keeps the package size flat.
 
-import { chromium } from 'playwright';
+import { launchChromium } from '../browser.js';
 
 const THIRD_PARTY_HOSTS = [
   'google-analytics', 'googletagmanager', 'analytics.google', 'segment.', 'mixpanel',
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ function fontLoadingStrategy(stack) {
 }
 
 export async function captureCoreWebVitals(url, { width = 1280, height = 800, channel, timeout = 30000 } = {}) {
-  const browser = await chromium.launch({ headless: true, ...(channel && { channel }) });
+  const browser = await launchChromium({ headless: true, ...(channel && { channel }) });
   try {
     const ctx = await browser.newContext({ viewport: { width, height }, colorScheme: 'light' });
     const page = await ctx.newPage();
diff --git a/src/extractors/responsive-screenshots.js b/src/extractors/responsive-screenshots.js
index 5c30604..248d0ca 100644
--- a/src/extractors/responsive-screenshots.js
+++ b/src/extractors/responsive-screenshots.js
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 // component screenshots dir so output stays organised. Writes to
 // `screenshots/responsive/<breakpoint>-<scheme>.png` and returns an index.
 
-import { chromium } from 'playwright';
+import { launchChromium } from '../browser.js';
 import { mkdirSync } from 'fs';
 import { join } from 'path';
 
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ const BREAKPOINTS = [
 ];
 
 async function captureAt(url, dir, bp, scheme, channel) {
-  const browser = await chromium.launch({ headless: true, ...(channel && { channel }) });
+  const browser = await launchChromium({ headless: true, ...(channel && { channel }) });
   try {
     const ctx = await browser.newContext({
       viewport: { width: bp.width, height: bp.height },
diff --git a/src/extractors/responsive.js b/src/extractors/responsive.js
index 76c2add..e77e167 100644
--- a/src/extractors/responsive.js
+++ b/src/extractors/responsive.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 // Responsive multi-breakpoint capture — extract at multiple viewports and diff
 
-import { chromium } from 'playwright';
+import { launchChromium } from '../browser.js';
 
 const VIEWPORTS = [
   { name: 'mobile', width: 375, height: 812 },
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ const VIEWPORTS = [
 
 export async function captureResponsive(url, options = {}) {
   const { wait = 0 } = options;
-  const browser = await chromium.launch({ headless: true });
+  const browser = await launchChromium({ headless: true });
 
   const snapshots = [];
 
diff --git a/src/fidelity/run.js b/src/fidelity/run.js
index 46b5374..de8f745 100644
--- a/src/fidelity/run.js
+++ b/src/fidelity/run.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 // The two fold into one combined report + a loss heatmap. Live browser + URLs,
 // so this is the integration layer; the scoring it calls is unit-tested.
 
-import { chromium } from 'playwright';
+import { launchChromium } from '../browser.js';
 import { extractDesignLanguage } from '../index.js';
 import { diffPngBuffers, ratioToFidelity } from '../verify/diff.js';
 import { scoreMotionFidelity } from './motion-fidelity.js';
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ export async function measureCloneFidelity({ originalUrl, cloneUrl, opts = {} }
   // Visual: pixel-diff full-page screenshots.
   let visualFidelity = null;
   let heatmap = null;
-  const browser = await chromium.launch({ headless: true, ...browserOpts });
+  const browser = await launchChromium({ headless: true, ...browserOpts });
   try {
     const [origShot, cloneShot] = await Promise.all([
       fullPageShot(browser, originalUrl, opts),
diff --git a/src/multipage.js b/src/multipage.js
index baa83da..f88c2c8 100644
--- a/src/multipage.js
+++ b/src/multipage.js
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // not re-implement extraction. That keeps this thin and lets every extractor
 // improve automatically when v10+ gains more signals.
 
-import { chromium } from 'playwright';
+import { launchChromium } from './browser.js';
 import { extractPageIntent } from './extractors/page-intent.js';
 
 const PAGE_TYPE_RANK = [
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ export function computeCrossPageConsistency(pages) {
 export async function crawlCanonicalPages({ homepageUrl, homepageRawData, maxPages = 5, extract, crawlerOptions = {} }) {
   // `extract` is injected so we can reuse the full single-page pipeline without
   // circular imports (index.js → multipage.js → index.js).
-  const browser = await chromium.launch({ headless: true });
+  const browser = await launchChromium({ headless: true });
   const context = await browser.newContext({
     viewport: { width: crawlerOptions.width || 1280, height: crawlerOptions.height || 800 },
     colorScheme: 'light',
diff --git a/src/pdf.js b/src/pdf.js
index 45c4171..88bc0cf 100644
--- a/src/pdf.js
+++ b/src/pdf.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { chromium } from 'playwright';
+import { launchChromium } from './browser.js';
 import { writeFileSync } from 'fs';
 
 export async function htmlToPdf(html, opts = {}) {
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ export async function htmlToPdf(html, opts = {}) {
   } = opts;
 
   const format = String(paper).toLowerCase();
-  const browser = await chromium.launch();
+  const browser = await launchChromium();
   try {
     const page = await browser.newPage();
     await page.setContent(html, { waitUntil: 'networkidle' });
diff --git a/src/replay.js b/src/replay.js
index 05c632d..7b4c448 100644
--- a/src/replay.js
+++ b/src/replay.js
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 //
 // Usage: designlang replay <url> [--duration 5] [--out dir]
 
-import { chromium } from 'playwright';
+import { launchChromium } from './browser.js';
 import { mkdirSync, existsSync, readdirSync, statSync, renameSync, unlinkSync, rmdirSync } from 'fs';
 import { resolve, join } from 'path';
 import { spawnSync } from 'child_process';
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ export async function recordReplay(url, opts = {}) {
   const videoDir = join(outDir, `.playwright-video-${Date.now()}`);
   mkdirSync(videoDir, { recursive: true });
 
-  const browser = await chromium.launch({ headless: true });
+  const browser = await launchChromium({ headless: true });
   const context = await browser.newContext({
     viewport: { width, height },
     recordVideo: { dir: videoDir, size: { width, height } },
diff --git a/src/site.js b/src/site.js
index f36d145..db112bb 100644
--- a/src/site.js
+++ b/src/site.js
@@ -6,12 +6,12 @@
 // caller and passed in, so we never re-extract it. Per-page failures are
 // recorded, never thrown — one dead route can't kill the run.
 
-import { chromium } from 'playwright';
+import { launchChromium } from './browser.js';
 import { discoverCanonicalPages, collectLinks } from './multipage.js';
 import { synthesizeSite } from './site-synthesis.js';
 
 export async function crawlSite({ homepageUrl, homepageDesign, maxPages = 6, extract, crawlerOptions = {}, onProgress }) {
-  const browser = await chromium.launch({ headless: true });
+  const browser = await launchChromium({ headless: true });
   const context = await browser.newContext({
     viewport: { width: crawlerOptions.width || 1280, height: crawlerOptions.height || 800 },
     colorScheme: 'light',
diff --git a/src/verify/index.js b/src/verify/index.js
index 6c4896d..46b909d 100644
--- a/src/verify/index.js
+++ b/src/verify/index.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 // diff against the real crop → fidelity %. Aggregate to a site score, with
 // per-token-family attribution so the number is explained, not asserted.
 
-import { chromium } from 'playwright';
+import { launchChromium } from '../browser.js';
 import { mkdirSync, writeFileSync } from 'fs';
 import { join } from 'path';
 import { extractDesignLanguage } from '../index.js';
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ export async function verifyDesign(url, opts = {}) {
   const design = opts.design || await extractDesignLanguage(url, opts.browserOpts || {});
   const tokens = tokensFromDesign(design);
 
-  const browser = await chromium.launch({ headless: true, ...(opts.channel && { channel: opts.channel }) });
+  const browser = await launchChromium({ headless: true, ...(opts.channel && { channel: opts.channel }) });
   const results = [];
   try {
     const context = await browser.newContext({ viewport: { width, height }, deviceScaleFactor: 2, colorScheme: 'light' });
diff --git a/tests/browser.test.js b/tests/browser.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b6b731e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/browser.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+import { describe, it } from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { launchChromium, INSTALL_HINT } from '../src/browser.js';
+
+const missingBundled = () => new Error("browserType.launch: Executable doesn't exist at /tmp/chromium/chrome");
+const missingChrome = () => new Error("browserType.launch: Chromium distribution 'chrome' is not found at /opt/google/chrome/chrome");
+
+function fakeChromium(results) {
+  const calls = [];
+  return {
+    calls,
+    async launch(opts) {
+      calls.push(opts);
+      const r = results[calls.length - 1];
+      if (r instanceof Error) throw r;
+      return r;
+    },
+  };
+}
+
+describe('launchChromium', () => {
+  it('uses the bundled browser when it is installed', async () => {
+    const chromium = fakeChromium([{ id: 'bundled' }]);
+    const browser = await launchChromium({ headless: true }, { chromium });
+    assert.equal(browser.id, 'bundled');
+    assert.equal(chromium.calls.length, 1);
+  });
+
+  it('falls back to system Chrome when the bundled browser is missing', async () => {
+    const chromium = fakeChromium([missingBundled(), { id: 'chrome' }]);
+    const browser = await launchChromium({ headless: true }, { chromium });
+    assert.equal(browser.id, 'chrome');
+    assert.deepEqual(chromium.calls[1], { headless: true, channel: 'chrome' });
+  });
+
+  it('names the fix when no browser is available', async () => {
+    const chromium = fakeChromium([missingBundled(), missingChrome()]);
+    await assert.rejects(launchChromium({}, { chromium }), (err) => {
+      assert.equal(err.code, 'BROWSER_UNAVAILABLE');
+      assert.ok(err.message.includes(INSTALL_HINT));
+      return true;
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('does not second-guess an explicit channel', async () => {
+    const chromium = fakeChromium([missingChrome()]);
+    await assert.rejects(launchChromium({ channel: 'chrome' }, { chromium }), { code: 'BROWSER_UNAVAILABLE' });
+    assert.equal(chromium.calls.length, 1);
+  });
+
+  it('rethrows unrelated launch errors untouched', async () => {
+    const boom = new Error('Target page, context or browser has been closed');
+    const chromium = fakeChromium([boom]);
+    await assert.rejects(launchChromium({}, { chromium }), (err) => err === boom);
+  });
+});