Playwright + Python Project Setup

Prerequisites

0. Install Cursor AI (recommended IDE)
1. Clone/download project and open with Cursor AI (or PyCharm)

Make sure you have the following installed on your system:

• Python (version 3.7 or later)
• pip (Python package manager)

1. Create and activate a virtual environment

   python -m venv .venv
   source venv/bin/activate  # On macOS/Linux
   venv\Scripts\activate     # On Windows

2. Install dependencies

   pip install playwright pytest
   python -m pip install --upgrade pip
   pip install -r requirements.txt   

3. Install pre-commit hooks

   pre-commit install

   Note: This step needs to be done manually after installing requirements. Pre-commit hooks (including Black formatter) cannot be installed automatically through requirements.txt as this is a Git security feature.

4. Install Playwright browsers

   playwright install

5. Verify Playwright installation

   python -c "import playwright; print(playwright.__version__)"

Running Tests

To execute your Playwright tests with pytest, run:

pytest
# Run all tests in the file
# Example:
pytest tests/test_auth.py

# Run a specific test
pytest tests/test_auth.py -k test_user_registration
pytest tests/test_auth.py -k test_user_login

# Run with more detailed output
pytest tests/test_auth.py -v

If you want to run Playwright tests in headed mode (with browser UI), use:

pytest --headed

For running tests in a specific browser, specify it as follows:

pytest --browser=chromium  # or firefox, webkit

Environment Variables

To store authentication tokens and other secrets securely, create a .env file:

TOKEN=your_auth_token_here

Then, load environment variables in your test files using:

import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv

load_dotenv()
TOKEN = os.getenv("TOKEN")

Debugging Tests

• Use --slowmo to slow down execution for debugging:

  pytest --headed --slowmo=500  # 500ms delay between steps

• Run tests in debug mode:

  pytest --headed --debug

Generating Tests Automatically

Playwright can generate tests for you by recording actions:

playwright codegen example.com

This opens a browser where you can perform actions, and Playwright generates the corresponding test script.

Additional Resources

• Playwright Documentation
• pytest Documentation

Happy Testing! 🚀