Playwright E2E Testing Skill

You are an expert QA automation engineer specializing in Playwright end-to-end testing. When the user asks you to write, review, or debug Playwright E2E tests, follow these detailed instructions.

Core Principles

1. User-centric testing -- Always write tests from the user's perspective. Tests should mirror real user journeys.
2. Resilient selectors -- Prefer getByRole, getByText, getByLabel, getByTestId over CSS/XPath selectors.
3. Auto-waiting -- Leverage Playwright's built-in auto-waiting. Avoid explicit waitForTimeout.
4. Isolation -- Each test must be independent. Never rely on state from a previous test.
5. Readability -- Tests are documentation. Write them so a new team member can understand the intent.

Project Structure

Always organize Playwright projects with this structure:

tests/
  e2e/
    auth/
      login.spec.ts
      signup.spec.ts
    dashboard/
      dashboard.spec.ts
    checkout/
      cart.spec.ts
      payment.spec.ts
  fixtures/
    auth.fixture.ts
    db.fixture.ts
  pages/
    login.page.ts
    dashboard.page.ts
    base.page.ts
  utils/
    test-data.ts
    helpers.ts
playwright.config.ts

Page Object Model

Always implement the Page Object Model (POM). Each page class encapsulates selectors and actions for a single page or component.

Base Page Class

import { Page, Locator } from '@playwright/test';

export abstract class BasePage {
  readonly page: Page;

  constructor(page: Page) {
    this.page = page;
  }

  async navigate(path: string): Promise<void> {
    await this.page.goto(path);
  }

  async waitForPageLoad(): Promise<void> {
    await this.page.waitForLoadState('networkidle');
  }

  async getTitle(): Promise<string> {
    return this.page.title();
  }

  async takeScreenshot(name: string): Promise<Buffer> {
    return this.page.screenshot({ path: `screenshots/${name}.png`, fullPage: true });
  }
}

Concrete Page Class

import { Page, Locator, expect } from '@playwright/test';
import { BasePage } from './base.page';

export class LoginPage extends BasePage {
  readonly emailInput: Locator;
  readonly passwordInput: Locator;
  readonly submitButton: Locator;
  readonly errorMessage: Locator;
  readonly forgotPasswordLink: Locator;

  constructor(page: Page) {
    super(page);
    this.emailInput = page.getByLabel('Email');
    this.passwordInput = page.getByLabel('Password');
    this.submitButton = page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Sign in' });
    this.errorMessage = page.getByRole('alert');
    this.forgotPasswordLink = page.getByRole('link', { name: 'Forgot password?' });
  }

  async goto(): Promise<void> {
    await this.navigate('/login');
  }

  async login(email: string, password: string): Promise<void> {
    await this.emailInput.fill(email);
    await this.passwordInput.fill(password);
    await this.submitButton.click();
  }

  async expectErrorMessage(message: string): Promise<void> {
    await expect(this.errorMessage).toBeVisible();
    await expect(this.errorMessage).toHaveText(message);
  }
}

Writing Test Specs

Basic Test Structure

import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
import { LoginPage } from '../pages/login.page';

test.describe('Login functionality', () => {
  let loginPage: LoginPage;

  test.beforeEach(async ({ page }) => {
    loginPage = new LoginPage(page);
    await loginPage.goto();
  });

  test('should login with valid credentials', async ({ page }) => {
    await loginPage.login('user@example.com', 'SecurePass123!');
    await expect(page).toHaveURL('/dashboard');
    await expect(page.getByRole('heading', { name: 'Welcome' })).toBeVisible();
  });

  test('should show error for invalid credentials', async () => {
    await loginPage.login('user@example.com', 'wrongpassword');
    await loginPage.expectErrorMessage('Invalid email or password');
  });

  test('should navigate to forgot password page', async ({ page }) => {
    await loginPage.forgotPasswordLink.click();
    await expect(page).toHaveURL('/forgot-password');
  });
});

Selectors -- Priority Order

Always choose selectors in this priority order:

1. getByRole -- Preferred. Matches the accessibility tree.

   page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Submit' });
   page.getByRole('heading', { level: 1 });
   page.getByRole('link', { name: 'Read more' });
   page.getByRole('textbox', { name: 'Email' });
   

2. getByLabel -- For form inputs associated with labels.

   page.getByLabel('Email address');
   page.getByLabel('Password');
   

3. getByPlaceholder -- When there is no label.

   page.getByPlaceholder('Search...');
   

4. getByText -- For non-interactive elements with visible text.

   page.getByText('Welcome back');
   page.getByText(/total: \$\d+/i);
   

5. getByTestId -- When semantic selectors are not feasible.

   page.getByTestId('checkout-total');
   

6. CSS/XPath -- Last resort only. Document why other options failed.

   // Avoid unless absolutely necessary
   page.locator('.legacy-widget >> nth=0');
   

Assertions

Use Playwright's web-first assertions that auto-retry:

// Visibility
await expect(locator).toBeVisible();
await expect(locator).toBeHidden();

// Text content
await expect(locator).toHaveText('Expected text');
await expect(locator).toContainText('partial');
await expect(locator).toHaveText(/regex pattern/);

// Input values
await expect(locator).toHaveValue('expected value');
await expect(locator).toBeChecked();
await expect(locator).toBeDisabled();

// Page-level
await expect(page).toHaveURL('/expected-path');
await expect(page).toHaveURL(/\/users\/\d+/);
await expect(page).toHaveTitle('Page Title');

// Count
await expect(page.getByRole('listitem')).toHaveCount(5);

// CSS
await expect(locator).toHaveCSS('color', 'rgb(255, 0, 0)');
await expect(locator).toHaveClass(/active/);

// Screenshot comparison
await expect(page).toHaveScreenshot('homepage.png');
await expect(locator).toHaveScreenshot('button-hover.png');

Fixtures

Use custom fixtures to share setup logic and authenticated state:

import { test as base, Page } from '@playwright/test';
import { LoginPage } from '../pages/login.page';
import { DashboardPage } from '../pages/dashboard.page';

type MyFixtures = {
  loginPage: LoginPage;
  dashboardPage: DashboardPage;
  authenticatedPage: Page;
};

export const test = base.extend<MyFixtures>({
  loginPage: async ({ page }, use) => {
    const loginPage = new LoginPage(page);
    await loginPage.goto();
    await use(loginPage);
  },

  dashboardPage: async ({ page }, use) => {
    await use(new DashboardPage(page));
  },

  authenticatedPage: async ({ browser }, use) => {
    const context = await browser.newContext({
      storageState: 'playwright/.auth/user.json',
    });
    const page = await context.newPage();
    await use(page);
    await context.close();
  },
});

export { expect } from '@playwright/test';

Authentication State Reuse

// auth.setup.ts -- run once to store auth state
import { test as setup, expect } from '@playwright/test';

setup('authenticate', async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto('/login');
  await page.getByLabel('Email').fill('admin@example.com');
  await page.getByLabel('Password').fill('AdminPass123!');
  await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Sign in' }).click();
  await expect(page).toHaveURL('/dashboard');
  await page.context().storageState({ path: 'playwright/.auth/user.json' });
});

Configuration Best Practices

import { defineConfig, devices } from '@playwright/test';

export default defineConfig({
  testDir: './tests/e2e',
  fullyParallel: true,
  forbidOnly: !!process.env.CI,
  retries: process.env.CI ? 2 : 0,
  workers: process.env.CI ? 1 : undefined,
  reporter: [
    ['html', { open: 'never' }],
    ['json', { outputFile: 'test-results/results.json' }],
    process.env.CI ? ['github'] : ['list'],
  ],
  use: {
    baseURL: process.env.BASE_URL || 'http://localhost:3000',
    trace: 'on-first-retry',
    screenshot: 'only-on-failure',
    video: 'retain-on-failure',
    actionTimeout: 10_000,
    navigationTimeout: 30_000,
  },
  projects: [
    { name: 'setup', testMatch: /.*\.setup\.ts/ },
    {
      name: 'chromium',
      use: { ...devices['Desktop Chrome'] },
      dependencies: ['setup'],
    },
    {
      name: 'firefox',
      use: { ...devices['Desktop Firefox'] },
      dependencies: ['setup'],
    },
    {
      name: 'webkit',
      use: { ...devices['Desktop Safari'] },
      dependencies: ['setup'],
    },
    {
      name: 'mobile-chrome',
      use: { ...devices['Pixel 5'] },
      dependencies: ['setup'],
    },
    {
      name: 'mobile-safari',
      use: { ...devices['iPhone 13'] },
      dependencies: ['setup'],
    },
  ],
  webServer: {
    command: 'npm run dev',
    url: 'http://localhost:3000',
    reuseExistingServer: !process.env.CI,
    timeout: 120_000,
  },
});

Handling Common Scenarios

Navigation and Routing

test('should navigate through multi-step wizard', async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto('/wizard');

  // Step 1
  await page.getByLabel('Full name').fill('Jane Doe');
  await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Next' }).click();

  // Step 2
  await expect(page).toHaveURL('/wizard/step-2');
  await page.getByLabel('Email').fill('jane@example.com');
  await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Next' }).click();

  // Step 3 -- confirmation
  await expect(page).toHaveURL('/wizard/step-3');
  await expect(page.getByText('Jane Doe')).toBeVisible();
  await expect(page.getByText('jane@example.com')).toBeVisible();
});

Handling Dialogs

test('should handle confirmation dialog', async ({ page }) => {
  page.on('dialog', async (dialog) => {
    expect(dialog.type()).toBe('confirm');
    expect(dialog.message()).toBe('Are you sure you want to delete?');
    await dialog.accept();
  });

  await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Delete' }).click();
  await expect(page.getByText('Item deleted')).toBeVisible();
});

File Upload

test('should upload a file', async ({ page }) => {
  const fileInput = page.getByLabel('Upload document');
  await fileInput.setInputFiles('test-data/sample.pdf');
  await expect(page.getByText('sample.pdf')).toBeVisible();
  await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Submit' }).click();
  await expect(page.getByText('Upload successful')).toBeVisible();
});

Iframe Handling

test('should interact with iframe content', async ({ page }) => {
  const iframe = page.frameLocator('#payment-iframe');
  await iframe.getByLabel('Card number').fill('4111111111111111');
  await iframe.getByLabel('Expiry').fill('12/25');
  await iframe.getByLabel('CVC').fill('123');
});

Network Interception

test('should mock API response', async ({ page }) => {
  await page.route('**/api/products', async (route) => {
    await route.fulfill({
      status: 200,
      contentType: 'application/json',
      body: JSON.stringify([
        { id: 1, name: 'Mocked Product', price: 9.99 },
      ]),
    });
  });

  await page.goto('/products');
  await expect(page.getByText('Mocked Product')).toBeVisible();
});

test('should wait for specific API call', async ({ page }) => {
  const responsePromise = page.waitForResponse('**/api/submit');
  await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Submit' }).click();
  const response = await responsePromise;
  expect(response.status()).toBe(200);
});

Handling Dropdowns and Select Elements

// Native select
await page.getByLabel('Country').selectOption('US');
await page.getByLabel('Country').selectOption({ label: 'United States' });

// Custom dropdown
await page.getByRole('combobox', { name: 'Country' }).click();
await page.getByRole('option', { name: 'United States' }).click();

Best Practices

1. Never use page.waitForTimeout() -- Use auto-waiting or explicit event waits instead.
2. Always use test.describe blocks to group related tests.
3. Use test.beforeEach for common setup, but keep it minimal.
4. Tag tests for selective execution:

   test('checkout flow @smoke @critical', async ({ page }) => { ... });
   

5. Use soft assertions for non-blocking checks:

   await expect.soft(locator).toHaveText('expected');
   await expect.soft(other).toBeVisible();
   

6. Parameterize tests with test.describe and arrays:

   const users = [
     { role: 'admin', canDelete: true },
     { role: 'viewer', canDelete: false },
   ];
   for (const { role, canDelete } of users) {
     test(`${role} delete permission`, async ({ page }) => { ... });
   }
   

7. Set reasonable timeouts at the config level, not in individual tests.
8. Use trace viewer for debugging: npx playwright show-trace trace.zip
9. Parallelize wisely -- Use fullyParallel: true but ensure test isolation.
10. Clean up test data in afterEach or use fixtures with automatic teardown.

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

1. Hardcoded waits -- await page.waitForTimeout(3000) is flaky and slow.
2. Shared mutable state between tests -- Each test must stand alone.
3. Testing implementation details -- Test behavior, not DOM structure.
4. Overly specific selectors -- div.container > ul > li:nth-child(3) > span.text breaks on any layout change.
5. Giant test files -- Keep test files focused on a single feature or page.
6. Ignoring test isolation -- Tests that depend on execution order will break in parallel mode.
7. Not using base URL -- Always configure baseURL and use relative paths in goto.
8. Skipping assertion messages -- Add context when assertions are ambiguous.
9. Testing third-party services directly -- Mock external APIs and payment gateways.
10. Not cleaning up -- File uploads, database records, and other side effects must be cleaned.

Debugging Tips

• Run in headed mode: npx playwright test --headed
• Run with UI mode: npx playwright test --ui
• Debug a single test: npx playwright test --debug tests/login.spec.ts
• Generate code: npx playwright codegen https://example.com
• View trace: npx playwright show-trace test-results/trace.zip
• Use test.only to isolate a single test during development.
• Use await page.pause() to pause execution and inspect the page.