diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 1b692e728d78a..f0081fd89c44a 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
     "check-deps": "node utils/check_deps.js",
     "build-android-driver": "./utils/build_android_driver.sh",
     "innerloop": "playwright run-server --reuse-browser",
-    "playwright-cli": "node packages/playwright/lib/cli/client/program.js",
+    "playwright-cli": "node packages/playwright/lib/cli/client/cli.js",
     "test-playwright-cli": "playwright test --config=tests/mcp/playwright.config.ts --project=chrome cli-",
     "playwright-cli-readme": "node utils/generate_cli_help.js --readme"
   },
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/cli/client/cli.ts b/packages/playwright/src/cli/client/cli.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..6db3e40ee050b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/cli/client/cli.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+import { program } from './program';
+
+program().catch(e => {
+  /* eslint-disable no-console */
+  console.error(e.message);
+  /* eslint-disable no-restricted-properties */
+  process.exit(1);
+});
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/cli/client/program.ts b/packages/playwright/src/cli/client/program.ts
index 780578f46dbeb..9826339a420f3 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/cli/client/program.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/cli/client/program.ts
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ const booleanOptions: (keyof (GlobalOptions & OpenOptions & { all?: boolean }))[
   'version',
 ];
 
-async function program() {
+export async function program(options?: { embedderVersion?: string}) {
   const clientInfo = createClientInfo();
   const help = require('./help.json');
 
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ async function program() {
   const commandName = args._?.[0];
 
   if (args.version || args.v) {
-    console.log(clientInfo.version);
+    console.log(options?.embedderVersion ?? clientInfo.version);
     process.exit(0);
   }
 
@@ -436,10 +436,3 @@ async function renderSessionStatus(session: Session) {
     text.push(...renderResolvedConfig(config.resolvedConfig));
   return text.join('\n');
 }
-
-program().catch(e => {
-  /* eslint-disable no-console */
-  console.error(e.message);
-  /* eslint-disable no-restricted-properties */
-  process.exit(1);
-});
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/cli/client/socketConnection.ts b/packages/playwright/src/cli/client/socketConnection.ts
index 7ebaa01519c23..0d5c35c9fb543 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/cli/client/socketConnection.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/cli/client/socketConnection.ts
@@ -89,15 +89,34 @@ export class SocketConnection {
 }
 
 export function compareSemver(a: string, b: string): number {
-  a = a.replace(/-.*$/, '');
-  b = b.replace(/-.*$/, '');
-  const aParts = a.split('.').map(Number);
-  const bParts = b.split('.').map(Number);
+  const aBase = a.replace(/-.*$/, '');
+  const bBase = b.replace(/-.*$/, '');
+  const aParts = aBase.split('.').map(Number);
+  const bParts = bBase.split('.').map(Number);
   for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
     if (aParts[i] > bParts[i])
       return 1;
     if (aParts[i] < bParts[i])
       return -1;
   }
+  const aTimestamp = parseSuffixTimestamp(a);
+  const bTimestamp = parseSuffixTimestamp(b);
+  if (aTimestamp > bTimestamp)
+    return 1;
+  if (aTimestamp < bTimestamp)
+    return -1;
   return 0;
 }
+
+function parseSuffixTimestamp(version: string): number {
+  // Stable release (no suffix) is greater than any pre-release.
+  const match = version.match(/^\d+\.\d+\.\d+-(?:alpha|beta)-(.+)$/);
+  if (!match)
+    return Infinity;
+  const suffix = match[1];
+  // Daily alpha: 1.59.0-alpha-2026-02-16
+  if (/^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}$/.test(suffix))
+    return new Date(suffix).getTime();
+  // Nightly/per-commit: 1.59.0-alpha-1771260841000
+  return Number(suffix);
+}
diff --git a/tests/mcp/cli-fixtures.ts b/tests/mcp/cli-fixtures.ts
index b90ed6d251093..a40b1a8d980ab 100644
--- a/tests/mcp/cli-fixtures.ts
+++ b/tests/mcp/cli-fixtures.ts
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ async function runCli(childProcess: CommonFixtures['childProcess'], args: string
   return await test.step(stepTitle, async () => {
     const testInfo = test.info();
     const cli = childProcess({
-      command: [process.execPath, require.resolve('../../packages/playwright/lib/cli/client/program.js'), ...args],
+      command: [process.execPath, require.resolve('../../packages/playwright/lib/cli/client/cli.js'), ...args],
       cwd: cliOptions.cwd ?? testInfo.outputPath(),
       env: {
         ...process.env,
diff --git a/tests/mcp/semver.spec.ts b/tests/mcp/semver.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..675908f21a0b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/mcp/semver.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
+import { compareSemver } from '../../packages/playwright/lib/cli/client/socketConnection';
+
+test('compareSemver', () => {
+  // Stable versions.
+  expect(compareSemver('1.59.0', '1.58.0')).toBe(1);
+  expect(compareSemver('1.58.0', '1.59.0')).toBe(-1);
+  expect(compareSemver('1.58.2', '1.58.2')).toBe(0);
+  expect(compareSemver('1.58.2', '1.58.1')).toBe(1);
+
+  // Different base versions ignore suffix.
+  expect(compareSemver('1.59.0-alpha-2026-02-16', '1.58.0')).toBe(1);
+  expect(compareSemver('1.58.0', '1.59.0-alpha-1771260841000')).toBe(-1);
+
+  // Stable beats alpha/beta at same version.
+  expect(compareSemver('1.59.0', '1.59.0-alpha-2026-02-16')).toBe(1);
+  expect(compareSemver('1.59.0-alpha-2026-02-16', '1.59.0')).toBe(-1);
+  expect(compareSemver('1.59.0', '1.59.0-beta-1771260841000')).toBe(1);
+  expect(compareSemver('1.59.0-beta-1771260841000', '1.59.0')).toBe(-1);
+
+  // Daily alphas compared by date.
+  expect(compareSemver('1.59.0-alpha-2026-02-16', '1.59.0-alpha-2026-02-15')).toBe(1);
+  expect(compareSemver('1.59.0-alpha-2026-02-15', '1.59.0-alpha-2026-02-16')).toBe(-1);
+  expect(compareSemver('1.59.0-alpha-2026-02-16', '1.59.0-alpha-2026-02-16')).toBe(0);
+
+  // Nightly timestamps.
+  expect(compareSemver('1.59.0-alpha-1771260841000', '1.59.0-alpha-1771260840000')).toBe(1);
+  expect(compareSemver('1.59.0-alpha-1771260840000', '1.59.0-alpha-1771260841000')).toBe(-1);
+  expect(compareSemver('1.59.0-alpha-1771260841000', '1.59.0-alpha-1771260841000')).toBe(0);
+
+  // Daily alpha vs nightly timestamp (date normalizes to ms).
+  expect(compareSemver('1.59.0-alpha-1771260841000', '1.59.0-alpha-2026-02-16')).toBe(1);
+  expect(compareSemver('1.59.0-alpha-2026-02-16', '1.59.0-alpha-1771260841000')).toBe(-1);
+
+  // Beta suffixes.
+  expect(compareSemver('1.59.0-beta-1771260841000', '1.59.0-beta-1771260840000')).toBe(1);
+  expect(compareSemver('1.59.0-beta-2026-02-16', '1.59.0-beta-2026-02-15')).toBe(1);
+});