diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7d126d7..05a8323 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+- **`shots capture` / `render` find Playwright's chromium in a project's CommonJS playwright** whether it comes on the
+  namespace or under `default`; when the module has no `chromium.launch`, the error names the resolved file and its
+  exports (was "Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'launch')").
+
 ## 0.8.18 · 2026-10-20
 
 - **No more "Reparsing as ES module" warning** for a `.ts` config in a CommonJS project (Node's
diff --git a/cli/shots/browser.ts b/cli/shots/browser.ts
index 6176f67..e009c05 100644
--- a/cli/shots/browser.ts
+++ b/cli/shots/browser.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ import { compiled } from '../lib/runner';
 import * as rt from '../lib/rt';
 
 // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
+/** A playwright module that resolved but does not have the API: named, so the error says which file it was. */
+class PlaywrightShapeError extends Error {}
+
 async function chromium(root: string): Promise<any> {
   for (const base of [root, rt.packageRoot()]) {
     try {
@@ -34,8 +37,13 @@ async function chromium(root: string): Promise<any> {
       // cache (~/.bun/install/cache), whose browser build was never downloaded ("headless shell: not installed" on
       // Linux CI, where no Google Chrome hides it); storebound's own copy is next
       if (!isInstalledPackage(p)) continue;
-      return (await rt.importPath(p)).chromium;
-    } catch { /* next */ }
+      // playwright's entry is CommonJS: depending on the runtime and version the ESM import puts chromium on the
+      // namespace or only under default (a project's playwright 1.57 under a global Bun install gave undefined)
+      const m = await rt.importPath(p);
+      const c = m?.chromium ?? m?.default?.chromium;
+      if (!c || typeof c.launch !== 'function') throw new PlaywrightShapeError(`playwright at ${p} has no chromium.launch (exports: ${Object.keys(m ?? {}).slice(0, 8).join(', ') || 'none'}${m?.default ? `; default: ${Object.keys(m.default).slice(0, 8).join(', ')}` : ''})`);
+      return c;
+    } catch (e) { if (e instanceof PlaywrightShapeError) throw e; /* next */ }
   }
   // only reached in the compiled sidecar: the bundled playwright-core (not a runtime dependency of the npm package)
   if (compiled()) return (await import('playwright-core')).chromium;
diff --git a/tests/capture-review-account.test.ts b/tests/capture-review-account.test.ts
index 6b4e418..934bed1 100644
--- a/tests/capture-review-account.test.ts
+++ b/tests/capture-review-account.test.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { run as check } from '../cli/check';
 import { BASE, capture, jsonOut, project, restore } from './helpers/store-mock';
 
 afterEach(restore);
-const withAuth = (baseUrl: string, ref: string) => ({ ...BASE, play: undefined, shots: { capture: { baseUrl, auth: { request: { url: '/api/login', method: 'POST', body: { email: `\${cred:${ref}}`, password: `\${cred:${ref.replace('username', 'password').replace('email', 'password')}}` } } } } } }) as typeof BASE;
+const withAuth = (baseUrl: string, ref: string) => ({ ...BASE, play: undefined, shots: { capture: { baseUrl, auth: { request: { url: '/api/login', method: 'POST', body: { email: `\${cred:${ref}}`, password: `\${cred:${ref.replace('username', 'password').replace('email', 'password')}}` } } } } } }) as unknown as typeof BASE;
 const notes = async (cfg: typeof BASE) => { const p = project(cfg, { '.gitignore': '.storebound/\n' }); const j = jsonOut((await capture(() => check(p.ctx(['--json'], ['json'])))).out); return JSON.stringify(j); };
 
 test('local capture with reviewDemoAccount gets a note; captureAuth or a remote stack does not', async () => {
diff --git a/tests/playwright-resolve.test.ts b/tests/playwright-resolve.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..812476d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/playwright-resolve.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+// A project's playwright is CommonJS: its chromium may come through the ESM import only under `default`. A playwright
+// 1.57 project under a global Bun install gave undefined and "Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'launch')".
+import { expect, test } from 'bun:test';
+import { mkdirSync, mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
+import { chromiumFor } from '../cli/shots/browser';
+
+const fakePlaywright = (body: string): string => {
+  const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'sb-pw-'));
+  const pkg = join(dir, 'node_modules', 'playwright');
+  mkdirSync(pkg, { recursive: true });
+  writeFileSync(join(pkg, 'package.json'), JSON.stringify({ name: 'playwright', version: '1.57.0', main: 'index.js' }));
+  writeFileSync(join(pkg, 'index.js'), body);
+  writeFileSync(join(dir, 'package.json'), '{"name":"app","private":true}');
+  return dir;
+};
+
+test('chromium from a CommonJS playwright, named or under default; a wrong shape names the file', async () => {
+  const named = fakePlaywright('module.exports = { chromium: { launch() { return "ok"; } } };');
+  const viaDefault = fakePlaywright('const api = { chromium: { launch() { return "ok"; } } }; module.exports = { __esModule: true, default: api };');
+  const broken = fakePlaywright('module.exports = { firefox: {} };');
+  try {
+    expect(typeof (await chromiumFor(named)).launch).toBe('function');
+    expect(typeof (await chromiumFor(viaDefault)).launch).toBe('function');
+    await expect(chromiumFor(broken)).rejects.toThrow(/node_modules[\\/]playwright[\\/]index\.js has no chromium\.launch/);
+  } finally { for (const d of [named, viaDefault, broken]) rmSync(d, { recursive: true, force: true }); }
+});