When Browser Automation Should Not Run Fully Headless

Headless browser automation is attractive for one simple reason: it removes friction. No visible browser window. No manual clicking. No one waiting beside the screen. No local desktop dependency. A task can run in the background, repeat on a schedule, collect results, and move on. For many automation workflows, this is exactly what teams want. Playwright, Puppeteer, and Selenium all make headless execution easy, and many browser automation systems treat headless mode as the natural path to scale