playwright

name	playwright
description	Robust E2E browser testing with Playwright. Use when writing browser-driven tests — leverage auto-waiting (no `waitForTimeout`), prefer user-visible locators (`getByRole`, `getByText`, `getByLabel`) over CSS/XPath, reuse `storageState` for auth, and enable trace-on-first-retry for CI debugging.
vendor	playwright

Skill: Playwright

Policy Capsule

• Rely on Playwright's auto-waiting; never use waitForTimeout or hardcoded sleeps to paper over flakes.
• Prefer user-visible locators (getByRole, getByText, getByLabel) over CSS selectors or XPath.
• Reuse storageState to seed authenticated scenarios; do not repeat login flows in every test.
• Use toHaveScreenshot() for critical visual surfaces; treat snapshot diffs as intentional reviews, not auto-refreshes.
• Write tests independent of one another so they run in parallel; clean up shared state in fixtures, not afterwards.
• Enable trace: 'on-first-retry' (or 'retain-on-failure') so CI failures are debuggable in the Trace Viewer.
• Use a unique data set per test run, or tear down state explicitly, to prevent cross-test contamination.

Standard operating procedures for robust, end-to-end (E2E) browser testing.

1. Core Principles

• End-to-End focus: Test the application as a user would, through the browser.
• Auto-waiting: Leverage Playwright's built-in auto-waiting instead of hardcoded waitForTimeout calls.
• Resilience: Write tests that survive minor UI changes (e.g., color tweaks) by using robust selectors.

2. Technical Standards

• Locators: Use user-visible locators (e.g., getByRole, getByText, getByLabel) over brittle CSS selectors or XPath.
• State Management: Use storageState to reuse authentication between tests, avoiding repetitive login flows.
• Visual Testing: Use toHaveScreenshot() for critical UI layouts to detect visual regressions.

3. Best Practices

• Parallelism: Ensure tests are independent so they can run concurrently to reduce CI time.
• Tracing: Enable trace recording on failure to quickly debug CI issues with the Playwright Trace Viewer.
• Test Data: Use a unique data set per test run or clean up state to prevent cross-contamination.