Playwright Best Practices
This skill provides comprehensive guidance for all aspects of Playwright test development, from writing new tests to debugging and maintaining existing test suites.
Activity-Based Reference Guide
Consult these references based on what you're doing:
Writing New Tests
When to use: Creating new test files, writing test cases, implementing test scenarios
| Activity | Reference Files |
|---|---|
| Writing E2E tests | test-suite-structure.md, locators.md, assertions-waiting.md |
| Writing component tests | component-testing.md, test-suite-structure.md |
| Writing API tests | api-testing.md, test-suite-structure.md |
| Writing GraphQL tests | graphql-testing.md, api-testing.md |
| Writing visual regression tests | visual-regression.md, canvas-webgl.md |
| Structuring test code with POM | page-object-model.md, test-suite-structure.md |
| Setting up test data/fixtures | fixtures-hooks.md, test-data.md |
| Handling authentication | authentication.md, authentication-flows.md |
| Testing date/time features | clock-mocking.md |
| Testing file upload/download | file-operations.md, file-upload-download.md |
| Testing forms/validation | forms-validation.md |
| Testing drag and drop | drag-drop.md |
| Testing accessibility | accessibility.md |
| Testing security (XSS, CSRF) | security-testing.md |
| Using test annotations | annotations.md |
| Using test tags | test-tags.md |
| Testing iframes | iframes.md |
| Testing canvas/WebGL | canvas-webgl.md |
| Internationalization (i18n) | i18n.md |
| Testing Electron apps | electron.md |
| Testing browser extensions | browser-extensions.md |
Mobile & Responsive Testing
When to use: Testing mobile devices, touch interactions, responsive layouts
| Activity | Reference Files |
|---|---|
| Device emulation | mobile-testing.md |
| Touch gestures (swipe, tap) | mobile-testing.md |
| Viewport/breakpoint testing | mobile-testing.md |
| Mobile-specific UI | mobile-testing.md, locators.md |
Real-Time & Browser APIs
When to use: Testing WebSockets, geolocation, permissions, multi-tab flows
| Activity | Reference Files |
|---|---|
| WebSocket/real-time testing | websockets.md |
| Geolocation mocking | browser-apis.md |
| Permission handling | browser-apis.md |
| Clipboard testing | browser-apis.md |
| Camera/microphone mocking | browser-apis.md |
| Multi-tab/popup flows | multi-context.md |
| OAuth popup handling | third-party.md, multi-context.md |
Debugging & Troubleshooting
When to use: Test failures, element not found, timeouts, unexpected behavior
| Activity | Reference Files |
|---|---|
| Debugging test failures | debugging.md, assertions-waiting.md |
| Fixing flaky tests | flaky-tests.md, debugging.md, assertions-waiting.md |
| Debugging flaky parallel runs | flaky-tests.md, performance.md, fixtures-hooks.md |
| Ensuring test isolation / avoiding state leak | flaky-tests.md, fixtures-hooks.md, performance.md |
| Fixing selector issues | locators.md, debugging.md |
| Investigating timeout issues | assertions-waiting.md, debugging.md |
| Using trace viewer | debugging.md |
| Debugging race conditions | flaky-tests.md, debugging.md, assertions-waiting.md |
| Debugging console/JS errors | console-errors.md, debugging.md |
Error & Edge Case Testing
When to use: Testing error states, offline mode, network failures, validation
| Activity | Reference Files |
|---|---|
| Error boundary testing | error-testing.md |
| Network failure simulation | error-testing.md, network-advanced.md |
| Offline mode testing | error-testing.md, service-workers.md |
| Service worker testing | service-workers.md |
| Loading state testing | error-testing.md |
| Form validation testing | error-testing.md |
Multi-User & Collaboration Testing
When to use: Testing features involving multiple users, roles, or real-time collaboration
| Activity | Reference Files |
|---|---|
| Multiple users in one test | multi-user.md |
| Real-time collaboration | multi-user.md, websockets.md |
| Role-based access testing | multi-user.md |
| Concurrent action testing | multi-user.md |
Architecture Decisions
When to use: Choosing test patterns, deciding between approaches, planning test architecture
| Activity | Reference Files |
|---|---|
| POM vs fixtures decision | pom-vs-fixtures.md |
| Test type selection | test-architecture.md |
| Mock vs real services | when-to-mock.md |
| Test suite structure | test-suite-structure.md |
Framework-Specific Testing
When to use: Testing React, Angular, Vue, or Next.js applications
| Activity | Reference Files |
|---|---|
| Testing React apps | react.md |
| Testing Angular apps | angular.md |
| Testing Vue/Nuxt apps | vue.md |
| Testing Next.js apps | nextjs.md |
Refactoring & Maintenance
When to use: Improving existing tests, code review, reducing duplication
| Activity | Reference Files |
|---|---|
| Refactoring to Page Object Model | page-object-model.md, test-suite-structure.md |
| Improving test organization | test-suite-structure.md, page-object-model.md |
| Extracting common setup/teardown | fixtures-hooks.md |
| Replacing brittle selectors | locators.md |
| Removing explicit waits | assertions-waiting.md |
| Creating test data factories | test-data.md |
| Configuration setup | configuration.md |
Infrastructure & Configuration
When to use: Setting up projects, configuring CI/CD, optimizing performance
| Activity | Reference Files |
|---|---|
| Configuring Playwright project | configuration.md, projects-dependencies.md |
| Setting up CI/CD pipelines | ci-cd.md, github-actions.md |
| GitHub Actions setup | github-actions.md |
| GitLab CI setup | gitlab.md |
| Other CI providers | other-providers.md |
| Docker/container setup | docker.md |
| Global setup & teardown | global-setup.md |
| Project dependencies | projects-dependencies.md |
| Optimizing test performance | performance.md, test-suite-structure.md |
| Configuring parallel execution | parallel-sharding.md, performance.md |
| Isolating test data between workers | fixtures-hooks.md, performance.md |
| Test coverage | test-coverage.md |
| Test reporting/artifacts | reporting.md |
Advanced Patterns
When to use: Complex scenarios, API mocking, network interception
| Activity | Reference Files |
|---|---|
| Mocking API responses | test-suite-structure.md, network-advanced.md |
| Network interception | network-advanced.md, assertions-waiting.md |
| GraphQL mocking | network-advanced.md |
| HAR recording/playback | network-advanced.md |
| Custom fixtures | fixtures-hooks.md |
| Advanced waiting strategies | assertions-waiting.md |
| OAuth/SSO mocking | third-party.md, multi-context.md |
| Payment gateway mocking | third-party.md |
| Email/SMS verification mocking | third-party.md |
| Failing on console errors | console-errors.md |
| Security testing (XSS, CSRF) | security-testing.md |
| Performance budgets & Web Vitals | performance-testing.md |
| Lighthouse integration | performance-testing.md |
| Test annotations (skip, fixme) | annotations.md |
| Test tags (@smoke, @fast) | test-tags.md |
| Test steps for reporting | annotations.md |
Quick Decision Tree
What are you doing?
│
├─ Writing a new test?
│ ├─ E2E test → core/test-suite-structure.md, core/locators.md, core/assertions-waiting.md
│ ├─ Component test → testing-patterns/component-testing.md
│ ├─ API test → testing-patterns/api-testing.md, core/test-suite-structure.md
│ ├─ GraphQL test → testing-patterns/graphql-testing.md
│ ├─ Visual regression → testing-patterns/visual-regression.md
│ ├─ Visual/canvas test → testing-patterns/canvas-webgl.md, core/test-suite-structure.md
│ ├─ Accessibility test → testing-patterns/accessibility.md
│ ├─ Mobile/responsive test → advanced/mobile-testing.md
│ ├─ i18n/locale test → testing-patterns/i18n.md
│ ├─ Electron app test → testing-patterns/electron.md
│ ├─ Browser extension test → testing-patterns/browser-extensions.md
│ ├─ Multi-user test → advanced/multi-user.md
│ ├─ Form validation test → testing-patterns/forms-validation.md
│ └─ Drag and drop test → testing-patterns/drag-drop.md
│
├─ Testing specific features?
│ ├─ File upload/download → testing-patterns/file-operations.md, testing-patterns/file-upload-download.md
│ ├─ Date/time dependent → advanced/clock-mocking.md
│ ├─ WebSocket/real-time → browser-apis/websockets.md
│ ├─ Geolocation/permissions → browser-apis/browser-apis.md
│ ├─ OAuth/SSO mocking → advanced/third-party.md, advanced/multi-context.md
│ ├─ Payments/email/SMS → advanced/third-party.md
│ ├─ iFrames → browser-apis/iframes.md
│ ├─ Canvas/WebGL/charts → testing-patterns/canvas-webgl.md
│ ├─ Service workers/PWA → browser-apis/service-workers.md
│ ├─ i18n/localization → testing-patterns/i18n.md
│ ├─ Security (XSS, CSRF) → testing-patterns/security-testing.md
│ └─ Performance/Web Vitals → testing-patterns/performance-testing.md
│
├─ Architecture decisions?
│ ├─ POM vs fixtures → architecture/pom-vs-fixtures.md
│ ├─ Test type selection → architecture/test-architecture.md
│ ├─ Mock vs real services → architecture/when-to-mock.md
│ └─ Test suite structure → core/test-suite-structure.md
│
├─ Framework-specific testing?
│ ├─ React app → frameworks/react.md
│ ├─ Angular app → frameworks/angular.md
│ ├─ Vue/Nuxt app → frameworks/vue.md
│ └─ Next.js app → frameworks/nextjs.md
│
├─ Authentication testing?
│ ├─ Basic auth patterns → advanced/authentication.md
│ └─ Complex flows (MFA, reset) → advanced/authentication-flows.md
│
├─ Test is failing/flaky?
│ ├─ Flaky test investigation → debugging/flaky-tests.md
│ ├─ Element not found → core/locators.md, debugging/debugging.md
│ ├─ Timeout issues → core/assertions-waiting.md, debugging/debugging.md
│ ├─ Race conditions → debugging/flaky-tests.md, debugging/debugging.md
│ ├─ Flaky only with multiple workers → debugging/flaky-tests.md, infrastructure-ci-cd/performance.md
│ ├─ State leak / isolation → debugging/flaky-tests.md, core/fixtures-hooks.md
│ ├─ Console/JS errors → debugging/console-errors.md, debugging/debugging.md
│ └─ General debugging → debugging/debugging.md
│
├─ Testing error scenarios?
│ ├─ Network failures → debugging/error-testing.md, advanced/network-advanced.md
│ ├─ Offline (unexpected) → debugging/error-testing.md
│ ├─ Offline-first/PWA → browser-apis/service-workers.md
│ ├─ Error boundaries → debugging/error-testing.md
│ └─ Form validation → testing-patterns/forms-validation.md, debugging/error-testing.md
│
├─ Refactoring existing code?
│ ├─ Implementing POM → core/page-object-model.md
│ ├─ Improving selectors → core/locators.md
│ ├─ Extracting fixtures → core/fixtures-hooks.md
│ ├─ Creating data factories → core/test-data.md
│ └─ Configuration setup → core/configuration.md
│
├─ Setting up infrastructure?
│ ├─ CI/CD → infrastructure-ci-cd/ci-cd.md
│ ├─ GitHub Actions → infrastructure-ci-cd/github-actions.md
│ ├─ GitLab CI → infrastructure-ci-cd/gitlab.md
│ ├─ Other CI providers → infrastructure-ci-cd/other-providers.md
│ ├─ Docker/containers → infrastructure-ci-cd/docker.md
│ ├─ Sharding/parallel → infrastructure-ci-cd/parallel-sharding.md
│ ├─ Reporting/artifacts → infrastructure-ci-cd/reporting.md
│ ├─ Global setup/teardown → core/global-setup.md
│ ├─ Project dependencies → core/projects-dependencies.md
│ ├─ Test performance → infrastructure-ci-cd/performance.md
│ ├─ Test coverage → infrastructure-ci-cd/test-coverage.md
│ └─ Project config → core/configuration.md, core/projects-dependencies.md
│
├─ Organizing tests?
│ ├─ Skip/fixme/slow tests → core/annotations.md
│ ├─ Test tags (@smoke, @fast) → core/test-tags.md
│ ├─ Filtering tests (--grep) → core/test-tags.md
│ ├─ Test steps → core/annotations.md
│ └─ Conditional execution → core/annotations.md
│
└─ Running subset of tests?
├─ By tag (@smoke, @critical) → core/test-tags.md
├─ Exclude slow/flaky tests → core/test-tags.md
├─ PR vs nightly tests → core/test-tags.md, infrastructure-ci-cd/ci-cd.md
└─ Project-specific filtering → core/test-tags.md, core/configuration.mdTest Validation Loop
After writing or modifying tests:
- Run tests:
npx playwright test --reporter=list - If tests fail:
- Review error output and trace (npx playwright show-trace) - Fix locators, waits, or assertions - Re-run tests
- Only proceed when all tests pass
- Run multiple times for critical tests:
npx playwright test --repeat-each=5