/playwright

name: playwright-skill
description: Battle-tested Playwright patterns for E2E, API, component, visual, accessibility, and security testing. Covers locators, fixtures, POM, network mocking, auth flows, debugging, CI/CD (GitHub Actions, GitLab, CircleCI, Azure, Jenkins), framework recipes (React, Next.js, Vue, Angular), and migration guides from Cypress/Selenium. TypeScript and JavaScript.

Playwright Skill

> Opinionated, production-tested Playwright guidance — every pattern includes when (and when _not_) to use it.

**50+ reference guides** covering the full Playwright surface: selectors, assertions, fixtures, page objects, network mocking, auth, visual regression, accessibility, API testing, CI/CD, debugging, and more — with TypeScript and JavaScript examples throughout.

Golden Rules

1. **`getByRole()` over CSS/XPath** — resilient to markup changes, mirrors how users see the page 2. **Never `page.waitForTimeout()`** — use `expect(locator).toBeVisible()` or `page.waitForURL()` 3. **Web-first assertions** — `expect(locator)` auto-retries; `expect(await locator.textContent())` does not 4. **Isolate every test** — no shared state, no execution-order dependencies 5. **`baseURL` in config** — zero hardcoded URLs in tests 6. **Retries: `2` in CI, `0` locally** — surface flakiness where it matters 7. **Traces: `'on-first-retry'`** — rich debugging artifacts without CI slowdown 8. **Fixtures over globals** — share state via `test.extend()`, not module-level variables 9. **One behavior per test** — multiple related `expect()` calls are fine 10. **Mock external services only** — never mock your own app; mock third-party APIs, payment gateways, email

Guide Index

Writing Tests

| What you're doing | Guide | Deep dive | | -------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Choosing selectors | [locators.md](core/locators.md) | [locator-strategy.md](core/locator-strategy.md) | | Assertions & waiting | [assertions-and-waiting.md](core/assertions-and-waiting.md) | | | Organizing test suites | [test-organization.md](core/test-organization.md) | [test-architecture.md](core/test-architecture.md) | | Playwright config | [configuration.md](core/configuration.md) | | | Page objects | [page-object-model.md](pom/page-object-model.md) | [pom-vs-fixtures-vs-helpers.md](pom/pom-vs-fixtures-vs-helpers.md) | | Fixtures & hooks | [fixtures-and-hooks.md](core/fixtures-and-hooks.md) | | | Test data | [test-data-management.md](core/test-data-management.md) | | | Auth & login | [authentication.md](core/authentication.md) | [auth-flows.md](core/auth-flows.md) | | API testing (REST/GraphQL) | [api-testing.md](core/api-testing.md) | | | Visual regression | [visual-regression.md](core/visual-regression.md) | | | Accessibility | [accessibility.md](core/accessibility.md) | | | Mobile & responsive | [mobile-and-responsive.md](core/mobile-and-responsive.md) | | | Component testing | [component-testing.md](core/component-testing.md) | | | Network mocking | [network-mocking.md](core/network-mocking.md) | [when-to-mock.md](core/when-to-mock.md) | | Forms & validation | [forms-and-validation.md](core/forms-and-validation.md) | | | File uploads/downloads | [file-operations.md](core/file-operations.md) | [file-upload-download.md](core/file-upload-download.md) | | Error & edge cases | [error-and-edge-cases.md](core/error-and-edge-cases.md) | | | CRUD flows | [crud-testing.md](core/crud-testing.md) | | | Drag and drop | [drag-and-drop.md](core/drag-and-drop.md) | | | Search & filter UI | [search-and-filter.md](core/search-and-filter.md) | |

Debugging & Fixing

| Problem | Guide | | -------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | | General debugging workflow | [debugging.md](core/debugging.md) | | Specific error message | [error-index.md](core/error-index.md) | | Flaky / intermittent tests | [flaky-tests.md](core/flaky-tests.md) | | Common beginner mistakes | [common-pitfalls.md](core/common-pitfalls.md) |

Framework Recipes

| Framework | Guide | | ----------------------------------- | ----------------------------- | | Next.js (App Router + Pages Router) | [nextjs.md