CLI Quickstart
Install Lighthouse and run your first audit in under a minute
Node.js Quickstart
Use Lighthouse programmatically in your Node.js scripts
Configuration
Customize audits, throttling, categories, and output formats
User Flows
Audit multi-step interactions with navigation, timespan, and snapshot modes
What Lighthouse measures
Performance
Core Web Vitals (LCP, CLS, INP), Time to Interactive, Speed Index, and more — all simulated on a mid-tier mobile device over 4G.
Accessibility
Automated checks powered by axe-core, covering ARIA usage, color contrast, keyboard navigation, and semantic markup.
SEO
Crawlability, meta tags, structured data, mobile friendliness, and other ranking-relevant signals.
Best Practices
HTTPS, modern JavaScript APIs, secure headers, browser compatibility, and more.
How to run Lighthouse
Choose your entry point
Lighthouse runs in three ways: directly inside Chrome DevTools (no install needed), via the Node CLI for automation, or as a Node module for programmatic integration.
Point it at a URL
Whether you use DevTools, the CLI (
lighthouse https://example.com), or the Node API, Lighthouse launches Chrome, loads the page under controlled conditions, and collects data.Read your report
Lighthouse generates an HTML report (or JSON/CSV) with scores, metric values, failing audits, and step-by-step guidance for every issue found.
Integrate and automate
Add Lighthouse to CI with Lighthouse CI, write custom audits for your own checks, or embed results in your toolchain.
Explore the docs
Running in DevTools
Zero-install auditing right in your browser
CLI reference
Every flag and option for the command-line tool
Node API reference
Full API surface for programmatic use
Throttling
How network and CPU throttling works
Plugins
Build and share custom audit categories
Understanding results
What the LHR object contains and how scores work