writing-e2e-tests

name

writing-e2e-tests

description

Use when a developer wants to add, write, or create an end-to-end test for an Opik feature, page, or branch — e.g. "add an e2e test for the experiments comparison page", "write a test for the feature I just built", "e2e test for this branch", "cover the dataset items flow with a test". Runs the full loop in tests_end_to_end/e2e/ — analyze the feature and frontend code, explore the live UI with the Playwright MCP, write the Page Object Model + spec, and run it locally until green.

Writing E2E Tests

This skill is how we add an end-to-end test to the Opik E2E suite. You give it a feature, page, or branch; it runs a proven loop end-to-end and leaves you with a working, locally-verified Playwright test.

Announce at start: "I'm using the writing-e2e-tests skill to add an E2E test for X."

Where tests live

The suite is at tests_end_to_end/e2e/. Inside it:

• Specs: tests/<feature>/<name>.spec.ts — one feature directory per page family (datasets, trace-explore, experiments, test-suites, online-evaluation, …). Dev-authored release-gate specs are the exception: they live under tests/_release-gate/ with @release-gate tags — see conventions.md and .agents/skills/explore-feature/release-gate-contract.md.
• Page Object Models: pom/<name>.page.ts — one class per page, methods for the interactions a test needs.
• Fixtures: fixtures/<name>.fixture.ts — seed entities (project, dataset, trace, experiment, testSuite) and tear them down. Composed in a chain; re-exported from fixtures/index.ts.
• SDK clients: core/sdk/ — sdkClient.python (HTTP wrapper over the bridge) and sdkClient.typescript (direct new Opik({...})) for seeding. core/backend/ holds the typed REST client for inspection + teardown.
• Bridge: services/opik-sdk-driver/ — a FastAPI app (run with uv) wrapping the Python SDK, exposing routes the TS clients call. Playwright's webServer directive auto-spawns it during a test run; you don't start it by hand.

Specs and POMs import through path aliases: import { test, expect } from '@e2e/fixtures' and import { LogsPage } from '@e2e/pom/logs.page'.

Tooling — already set up

• The Playwright MCP (live-UI exploration) and the playwright-test MCP (browser_generate_locator) are already configured in the repo's .mcp.json. No setup step.
• Tests run via the plain Playwright CLI from tests_end_to_end/e2e/. The webServer directive spawns the bridge automatically.

Conventions

Read conventions.md before writing any POM or spec. It carries the rules that keep tests legible and stable: mandatory test.step() wrapping, UI-first assertions, selector preference, public-SDK-only seeding, fixture seed shapes, and the tag taxonomy. They aren't optional polish — each prevents a class of failure.

The loop

digraph writing_e2e {
    rankdir=TB;
    "1. Scope (GATE)" [shape=box];
    "2. Analyze feature + FE code" [shape=box];
    "3. Discover live UI (GATE)" [shape=box];
    "4. Write POM + spec" [shape=box];
    "5. Run until green" [shape=box];
    "Green?" [shape=diamond];

    "1. Scope (GATE)" -> "2. Analyze feature + FE code";
    "2. Analyze feature + FE code" -> "3. Discover live UI (GATE)";
    "3. Discover live UI (GATE)" -> "4. Write POM + spec";
    "4. Write POM + spec" -> "5. Run until green";
    "5. Run until green" -> "Green?";
    "Green?" -> "4. Write POM + spec" [label="no — fix"];
    "Green?" -> "done" [label="yes"];
}

Step 1 — Scope (gate, lightweight)

Work out, from the request:

• What flow / feature the test covers, and which page it lives on. If the dev pointed at a branch or PR, read the diff to find what changed.
• The target. Default is local OSS at http://localhost:5173 (OPIK_DEPLOYMENT=oss, workspace default) — the natural target for "test the feature I just built." Only use another target if the dev asks.
• Tags — pick a tier (@t1-smoke / @t2-cuj / @t3-nightly) and a feature tag, per conventions.md.

Run the safety check (below) before any seeding. Then confirm the scope in one short message — feature, page, target, tags — and proceed. Don't write a formal spec document.

Step 2 — Analyze the feature and frontend code

Before touching the browser:

• Read the page's FE source under apps/opik-frontend/src/v2/pages/<Page>/ — the route it renders at, the components it composes, and any data-testid attributes already present. The route shape is what your POM's goto() will use.
• Identify the entity preconditions: what must exist for the page to render real data (an empty project shows only the empty state). Decide how to seed it — which fixture fits, or which bridge/SDK call. Seed via the SDK/bridge, never by click-creating through the UI.
• Check fixtures/ for an existing fixture that already seeds the shape you need; reuse it before writing a new one.

Step 3 — Discover the live UI (gate, lightweight)

Invoke the playwright-pom-discovery skill (via the Skill tool). It walks the live page with the Playwright MCP: seed state, navigate authed, snapshot the accessibility tree, enumerate data-testids, pick the most stable selector for each element you'll target, and flag any element that has no stable selector (needs a FE data-testid added in this change).

When discovery is done, report a short summary — the selectors you'll use per element, and any missing testids you'll add — and confirm before writing code. Don't write anything under pom/ before this step.

Step 4 — Write the POM + spec

• Write or extend the POM in pom/<name>.page.ts using the selectors from discovery. Each method wraps its body in test.step() and returns through the callback (see conventions.md).
• Write the spec in tests/<feature>/<name>.spec.ts: tier + @area: on the describe block, a @cap: per test, coarse test.step() phases, UI-first assertions.
• Take the @area:/@cap: values from tests_end_to_end/coverage/taxonomy.yaml — never invent them. Grep it for the feature first; the capability you're covering is usually already reserved as covered: false. Update the taxonomy in the same change: add the spec to the area's specs: list and flip each covered capability to covered: true with its tier. See the Tags section of conventions.md.
• If discovery flagged a missing/brittle selector, add a descriptive data-testid to the FE component in the same change.

Rebuilding the FE after adding a data-testid

The local OSS deployment serves the frontend from a Docker image — file changes to apps/opik-frontend/ are not picked up automatically. After adding a data-testid, you must rebuild and restart the container before the test can find it.

From deployment/docker-compose/:

# 1. Build a new image from the updated source
docker compose --profile opik build frontend

# 2. Recreate the container using the locally built image
#    (pull_policy defaults to "always" — override it so Docker uses the local build)
docker stop opik-frontend-1 && docker rm opik-frontend-1
OPIK_FRONTEND_PULL_POLICY=never docker compose --profile opik up -d --no-deps frontend

Verify the new data-testid is live before running the test:

docker exec opik-frontend-1 sh -c 'grep -r "your-testid" /usr/share/nginx/html/ | wc -l'
# should print a non-zero number

Network note: if the rebuilt container loses connectivity to the backend (502 errors), the container may have ended up on the wrong Docker network. Fix it:

docker network disconnect opik-opik_default opik-frontend-1
docker network connect opik-opik_default opik-frontend-1

Step 5 — Run until green

From tests_end_to_end/e2e/:

npx playwright test tests/<feature>/<name>.spec.ts --reporter=list

The bridge auto-spawns (you'll see its startup line in the output). If a test fails, read the failure trace (npx playwright show-trace) rather than adjusting selectors blindly — see "verify the test render before blaming the backend" in conventions.md. Fix and re-run until green. Report the actual run output.

Three checks before you call it done — each catches something the single-spec run can't:

# 1. Tags resolve in the taxonomy (this is the CI `tag-lint` job — run it locally, it's instant)
python3 tests_end_to_end/coverage/tag_lint.py --taxonomy tests_end_to_end/coverage/taxonomy.yaml --estate tests_end_to_end

# 2. If you touched a shared POM, the whole feature directory still passes
npx playwright test tests/<feature>/ --reporter=list

# 3. Types
npx tsc --noEmit

"My spec passes" is not "I didn't break anything": a shared POM is used by sibling specs, and tag-lint failures never surface in a Playwright run at all.

Safety: verify local config before seeding

The Python SDK behind the bridge reads ~/.opik.config. If it points at a cloud environment, seeding would create real data there. Before any seed against a local target:

cat ~/.opik.config

If url_override is anything other than http://localhost:5173/api, back it up and point it local:

cp ~/.opik.config ~/.opik.config.bak 2>/dev/null || true
cat > ~/.opik.config << 'EOF'
[opik]
url_override = http://localhost:5173/api
workspace = default
EOF

When the work is done, remind the dev to restore: cp ~/.opik.config.bak ~/.opik.config. If it already points local, skip this.

Anti-patterns

Symptom	What you skipped
"Let me read the FE source to find the selector"	Discovery — snapshot the rendered DOM. What renders is the only source of truth for selectors.
"I'll explore the empty page and figure out the rows later"	Seeding — an empty-state-only POM never exercises the row template or open-detail actions.
"I'll write the POM and find out if it works when the whole suite runs"	Run-until-green in isolation — iterate on the one spec, don't debug it inside a full suite run.
"page.locator('tbody tr:nth-child(3)') is fine"	Flagging the missing testid — brittle structural selectors are the top source of flake; add a data-testid.
"I'll create the dataset through the UI so the page has data"	SDK/bridge seeding — UI-create is what the test exercises, not how you set up.
"@cap:traces.bulk-delete-traces describes what my test does"	Checking the taxonomy — @area:/@cap: values are a fixed vocabulary in taxonomy.yaml, not free text. CI's tag-lint rejects invented names, and the capability you want is usually already reserved there.
"The spec passes, so I'm done"	tag_lint.py, the feature-directory run, and tsc — a green single spec hides tag errors and sibling breakage from a shared POM.