2.5.2 Webapp Testing Playwright

When verifying web UI changes, implement and execute end-to-end tests using Playwright to ensure regressions are caught automatically.

1. Test Architecture

• Location: Keep E2E tests in a dedicated folder (e.g., tests/e2e/ or e2e/).
• Isolation: Each test should set up its own isolated state via fixtures to prevent dependencies between test runs.

2. Locators and Interactions

• User-Centric Locators: Always prefer testing the UI the way a user interacts with it. Use getByRole, getByText, or getByLabel instead of brittle CSS selectors or XPaths.
• Awaits: Trust Playwright's auto-waiting logic. Do not use hardcoded page.waitForTimeout unless absolutely necessary for external animations that cannot be hooked.

3. Authentication & State

• Storage State: For tests requiring login, authenticate once in a global setup and reuse the storage state (cookies/origins) across the test suite to save time.

4. Visual Testing (Optional)

• Snapshots: Use expect(page).toHaveScreenshot() when layout drift needs to be strictly monitored. Ensure these are run in consistent environments (like Docker) to avoid OS-level rendering diffs.