Unlighthouse --desktop Flag & Device Configuration

Run Unlighthouse in desktop mode with the --desktop flag:

npx unlighthouse --site https://example.com --desktop

This overrides the default mobile emulation and scans every page using a desktop viewport. Prefer a config file? Set scanner.device: 'desktop' instead.

When to use --desktop

Mobile is the default because Google uses mobile-first indexing. But desktop scans still matter for:

• B2B SaaS dashboards (95%+ desktop traffic)
• Admin panels and internal tools
• Documentation sites
• Benchmarking against PageSpeed Insights desktop scores

The --desktop flag is equivalent to the --device desktop long form and takes precedence over any config file setting.

Device Types

Desktop Scanning

import { defineUnlighthouseConfig } from 'unlighthouse/config'

export default defineUnlighthouseConfig({
  scanner: {
    device: 'desktop',
  },
})

Mobile Scanning (Default)

export default defineUnlighthouseConfig({
  scanner: {
    device: 'mobile',
  },
})

Custom Dimensions

Test specific viewport sizes for responsive breakpoints:

export default defineUnlighthouseConfig({
  lighthouseOptions: {
    screenEmulation: {
      width: 1800,
      height: 1000,
    },
  },
})

Network Throttling

Throttling simulates slower network and CPU conditions for more realistic performance testing:

export default defineUnlighthouseConfig({
  scanner: {
    throttle: true,
  },
})