Playwright Best Practices

Expert guidance for writing reliable, maintainable Playwright tests.

Quick Reference

Concern	Best Practice	Avoid
Selectors	getByRole, getByTestId, getByLabel	CSS classes, DOM structure
Waits	Auto-waiting, explicit assertions	waitForTimeout, hardcoded delays
Accessibility	getByRole, a11y checks	Visual-only testing
Flaky tests	Proper waits, stable selectors	Timing-dependent assertions
Isolation	Cleanup after each test	Tests depending on each other
Parallel	Independent tests	Shared state

What Do You Need?

1. Selectors - Stable, semantic locator strategies
2. Waits - Proper waiting, no hardcoded delays
3. Accessibility - A11y assertions, keyboard nav
4. Responsive - Testing different viewports
5. Flaky prevention - Isolation, cleanup, retries

Specify a number or describe your testing concern.

Routing

Response	Reference to Read
1, "selector", "locator", "getBy"	selectors.md
2, "wait", "timeout", "delay"	waits.md
3, "a11y", "accessibility", "keyboard"	accessibility.md
4, "responsive", "mobile", "viewport"	responsive.md
5, "flaky", "unstable", "retry"	flaky-tests.md

Essential Principles

Use semantic selectors: getByRole, getByLabel, getByTestId are stable. CSS classes and DOM structure change frequently.

Never waitForTimeout: Hardcoded delays make tests slow and flaky. Use auto-waiting and explicit assertions.

Test accessibility: getByRole ensures accessible markup. Keyboard tests verify a11y.

Isolate tests: Each test should work independently. Clean up test data after each test.

Responsive testing: Test mobile, tablet, desktop viewports.

Selector Best Practices

// ❌ Bad: Fragile selectors
page.click('div > div > button')
page.click('.btn-primary')
page.click('#submit-btn-123')

// ✅ Good: Stable, semantic selectors
page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Submit' })
page.getByTestId('submit-button')
page.getByLabel('Email address')

Wait Strategies

// ❌ Bad: Hardcoded waits
page.waitForTimeout(5000)  // Flaky, slow

// ✅ Good: Explicit waits
await page.waitForURL('/dashboard')
await page.waitForSelector('[data-testid="success-message"]')
await expect(page.getByTestId('loading')).toBeHidden()
await page.waitForResponse(resp => resp.url().includes('/api/users') && resp.status() === 200)

Accessibility Testing

// Good: Semantic selectors enforce a11y
await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Submit' }).click()

// Good: Keyboard navigation test
test('is keyboard navigable', async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto('/form')
  await page.keyboard.press('Tab')
  await expect(page.getByTestId('name-input')).toBeFocused()
})

// Good: A11y assertions (with axe-core)
await expect(page).toHaveAccessibleTree()

Responsive Testing

test.describe('Mobile', () => {
  test.use({ viewport: { width: 375, height: 667 } })

  test('shows mobile menu', async ({ page }) => {
    await page.goto('/')
    await expect(page.getByTestId('hamburger-menu')).toBeVisible()
  })
})

Common Anti-Patterns

Anti-Pattern	Severity	Fix
waitForTimeout	Critical	Use explicit waits/assertions
CSS class selectors	High	Use getByRole/getByTestId
Tests depending on each other	High	Make tests independent
No cleanup	Medium	Use fixtures with proper cleanup
Only desktop testing	Low	Test multiple viewports
Hardcoded test data	Medium	Use data factories

Reference Index

File	Topics
selectors.md	getByRole, getByTestId, getByLabel
waits.md	Auto-waiting, explicit assertions
accessibility.md	A11y checks, keyboard navigation
responsive.md	Viewports, devices, mobile testing
flaky-tests.md	Isolation, retries, debugging

Success Criteria

Tests are reliable when:

• No waitForTimeout in tests
• Selectors are semantic (getByRole, getByTestId)
• Tests run in isolation (independent)
• Test data cleaned up after each test
• Multiple viewports tested
• Accessibility assertions present
• Tests are deterministic (no randomness)