|
| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +name: e2e-testing |
| 3 | +description: 'Playwright E2E regression workflow for websites. Use when you want to prevent regressions, secure critical user journeys, and validate that tests themselves still detect failures (anti-drift).' |
| 4 | +argument-hint: 'Base URL, critical pages, and risk areas to protect from regression' |
| 5 | +--- |
| 6 | + |
| 7 | +# E2E Website Regression |
| 8 | + |
| 9 | +Use this skill to build and maintain a regression safety net for your website. |
| 10 | + |
| 11 | +## Outcomes |
| 12 | +- Protect critical user journeys from regressions. |
| 13 | +- Catch visual, content, navigation, and accessibility breakages early. |
| 14 | +- Ensure tests are trustworthy by verifying they fail when expected. |
| 15 | + |
| 16 | +## When to Use |
| 17 | +- You changed UI, layout, routing, content, scripts, or dependencies. |
| 18 | +- You want a repeatable E2E gate before merge/deploy. |
| 19 | +- You need to reduce flaky tests and avoid silent test drift. |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | +## Suggested Structure |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +``` |
| 24 | +tests/ |
| 25 | +├── e2e/ |
| 26 | +│ ├── smoke/ |
| 27 | +│ │ └── home-loads.spec.ts |
| 28 | +│ ├── critical/ |
| 29 | +│ │ ├── navigation.spec.ts |
| 30 | +│ │ ├── key-content.spec.ts |
| 31 | +│ │ └── contact-flow.spec.ts |
| 32 | +│ ├── visual/ |
| 33 | +│ │ └── snapshots.spec.ts |
| 34 | +│ └── meta/ |
| 35 | +│ ├── canary-fail.spec.ts |
| 36 | +│ └── anti-drift.spec.ts |
| 37 | +├── fixtures/ |
| 38 | +│ └── routes.ts |
| 39 | +└── playwright.config.ts |
| 40 | +``` |
| 41 | + |
| 42 | +## Workflow |
| 43 | + |
| 44 | +1. Define critical journeys |
| 45 | + - List pages and flows that must never break. |
| 46 | + - Tag tests with `@critical`, `@smoke`, `@visual`. |
| 47 | + |
| 48 | +2. Build deterministic tests |
| 49 | + - Prefer resilient selectors (`getByRole`, `getByTestId`). |
| 50 | + - Avoid arbitrary sleeps; wait for explicit conditions. |
| 51 | + |
| 52 | +3. Add regression assertions |
| 53 | + - URL and title checks. |
| 54 | + - Visibility and content checks on key sections. |
| 55 | + - Broken-link check on major pages. |
| 56 | + - Accessibility smoke checks for critical routes. |
| 57 | + |
| 58 | +4. Validate test integrity (test the tests) |
| 59 | + - Keep one intentional failing canary in `tests/e2e/meta`. |
| 60 | + - Run anti-drift checks to ensure selectors/assertions are meaningful. |
| 61 | + - Repeat critical tests to detect flakiness. |
| 62 | + |
| 63 | +5. Gate CI with clear pass/fail rules |
| 64 | + - Block merge on `@smoke` + `@critical` failures. |
| 65 | + - Keep visual and extended suites as required or scheduled. |
| 66 | + |
| 67 | +## Example Critical Test |
| 68 | + |
| 69 | +```typescript |
| 70 | +import { Page, Locator } from '@playwright/test' |
| 71 | + |
| 72 | +export class HomePage { |
| 73 | + readonly page: Page |
| 74 | + readonly heroTitle: Locator |
| 75 | + readonly nav: Locator |
| 76 | + |
| 77 | + constructor(page: Page) { |
| 78 | + this.page = page |
| 79 | + this.heroTitle = page.getByRole('heading', { level: 1 }) |
| 80 | + this.nav = page.getByRole('navigation') |
| 81 | + } |
| 82 | + |
| 83 | + async goto() { |
| 84 | + await this.page.goto('/') |
| 85 | + await this.page.waitForLoadState('networkidle') |
| 86 | + } |
| 87 | +} |
| 88 | +``` |
| 89 | + |
| 90 | +```typescript |
| 91 | +import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test' |
| 92 | + |
| 93 | +test.describe('@critical home regression', () => { |
| 94 | + test('loads homepage and renders key content', async ({ page }) => { |
| 95 | + await page.goto('/') |
| 96 | + await expect(page).toHaveURL(/\/$/) |
| 97 | + await expect(page.getByRole('navigation')).toBeVisible() |
| 98 | + await expect(page.getByRole('heading', { level: 1 })).toBeVisible() |
| 99 | + }) |
| 100 | +}) |
| 101 | +``` |
| 102 | + |
| 103 | +## Test the Tests (Anti-Drift) |
| 104 | + |
| 105 | +### 1) Canary Failure |
| 106 | + |
| 107 | +Create one test that must fail. CI should verify it actually fails. |
| 108 | + |
| 109 | +```typescript |
| 110 | +import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test' |
| 111 | + |
| 112 | +test('@meta canary should fail', async () => { |
| 113 | + expect(1).toBe(2) |
| 114 | +}) |
| 115 | +``` |
| 116 | + |
| 117 | +CI check pattern: |
| 118 | + |
| 119 | +```bash |
| 120 | +npx playwright test tests/e2e/meta/canary-fail.spec.ts && exit 1 || true |
| 121 | +``` |
| 122 | + |
| 123 | +### 2) Selector Health Check |
| 124 | + |
| 125 | +Add a meta test that checks key selectors exist on critical pages. If a selector disappears silently, this test fails immediately. |
| 126 | + |
| 127 | +```typescript |
| 128 | +import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test' |
| 129 | + |
| 130 | +test('@meta critical selectors exist', async ({ page }) => { |
| 131 | + await page.goto('/') |
| 132 | + await expect(page.getByRole('navigation')).toBeVisible() |
| 133 | + await expect(page.getByRole('heading', { level: 1 })).toBeVisible() |
| 134 | +}) |
| 135 | +``` |
| 136 | + |
| 137 | +### 3) Flakiness Probe |
| 138 | + |
| 139 | +```bash |
| 140 | +npx playwright test --grep @critical --repeat-each=5 --retries=0 |
| 141 | +``` |
| 142 | + |
| 143 | +Treat inconsistent runs as a quality issue to fix before merge. |
| 144 | + |
| 145 | +## Playwright Configuration |
| 146 | + |
| 147 | +```typescript |
| 148 | +import { defineConfig, devices } from '@playwright/test' |
| 149 | + |
| 150 | +export default defineConfig({ |
| 151 | + testDir: './tests/e2e', |
| 152 | + fullyParallel: true, |
| 153 | + forbidOnly: !!process.env.CI, |
| 154 | + retries: process.env.CI ? 2 : 0, |
| 155 | + workers: process.env.CI ? 1 : undefined, |
| 156 | + reporter: [ |
| 157 | + ['html', { outputFolder: 'playwright-report' }], |
| 158 | + ['junit', { outputFile: 'playwright-results.xml' }], |
| 159 | + ['json', { outputFile: 'playwright-results.json' }] |
| 160 | + ], |
| 161 | + use: { |
| 162 | + baseURL: process.env.BASE_URL || 'http://localhost:3000', |
| 163 | + trace: 'on-first-retry', |
| 164 | + screenshot: 'only-on-failure', |
| 165 | + video: 'retain-on-failure', |
| 166 | + actionTimeout: 10000, |
| 167 | + navigationTimeout: 30000, |
| 168 | + }, |
| 169 | + projects: [ |
| 170 | + { name: 'chromium', use: { ...devices['Desktop Chrome'] } }, |
| 171 | + { name: 'firefox', use: { ...devices['Desktop Firefox'] } }, |
| 172 | + { name: 'webkit', use: { ...devices['Desktop Safari'] } }, |
| 173 | + { name: 'mobile-chrome', use: { ...devices['Pixel 5'] } }, |
| 174 | + ], |
| 175 | + webServer: { |
| 176 | + command: 'npm run dev', |
| 177 | + url: 'http://localhost:3000', |
| 178 | + reuseExistingServer: !process.env.CI, |
| 179 | + timeout: 120000, |
| 180 | + }, |
| 181 | +}) |
| 182 | +``` |
| 183 | + |
| 184 | +## CI Gate Example |
| 185 | + |
| 186 | +```yaml |
| 187 | +name: E2E Regression |
| 188 | +on: [push, pull_request] |
| 189 | + |
| 190 | +jobs: |
| 191 | + e2e: |
| 192 | + runs-on: ubuntu-latest |
| 193 | + steps: |
| 194 | + - uses: actions/checkout@v4 |
| 195 | + - uses: actions/setup-node@v4 |
| 196 | + with: |
| 197 | + node-version: 20 |
| 198 | + - run: npm ci |
| 199 | + - run: npx playwright install --with-deps |
| 200 | + - run: npx playwright test --grep @smoke |
| 201 | + - run: npx playwright test --grep @critical |
| 202 | + - run: npx playwright test tests/e2e/meta/anti-drift.spec.ts |
| 203 | + - run: npx playwright test tests/e2e/meta/canary-fail.spec.ts && exit 1 || true |
| 204 | + - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4 |
| 205 | + if: always() |
| 206 | + with: |
| 207 | + name: playwright-report |
| 208 | + path: playwright-report/ |
| 209 | +``` |
| 210 | +
|
| 211 | +## Quality Checklist |
| 212 | +
|
| 213 | +- Every critical flow has at least one `@critical` test. |
| 214 | +- No `waitForTimeout` in critical tests. |
| 215 | +- All selectors in critical tests are resilient. |
| 216 | +- Anti-drift meta tests are enabled in CI. |
| 217 | +- Canary failure step proves CI catches failing tests. |
| 218 | +- Flakiness probe is run periodically. |
| 219 | + |
| 220 | +## Common Failure Patterns and Fixes |
| 221 | + |
| 222 | +- Race condition: switch from raw `click` to locator-based interactions. |
| 223 | +- Network timing: wait on explicit response or stable UI state. |
| 224 | +- Animation instability: wait for visible and stable elements before actions. |
| 225 | +- Over-broad assertions: assert concrete business-visible outcomes. |
| 226 | + |
| 227 | +## Report Template |
| 228 | + |
| 229 | +```markdown |
| 230 | +# E2E Regression Report |
| 231 | +
|
| 232 | +**Date:** YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM |
| 233 | +**Duration:** Xm Ys |
| 234 | +**Status:** PASSING / FAILING |
| 235 | +
|
| 236 | +## Summary |
| 237 | +- Smoke: X passed / Y failed |
| 238 | +- Critical: X passed / Y failed |
| 239 | +- Meta anti-drift: PASS / FAIL |
| 240 | +- Canary fail check: PASS / FAIL |
| 241 | +
|
| 242 | +## Failed Tests |
| 243 | +
|
| 244 | +### test-name |
| 245 | +**File:** `tests/e2e/feature.spec.ts:45` |
| 246 | +**Error:** Expected element to be visible |
| 247 | +**Screenshot:** artifacts/failed.png |
| 248 | +**Recommended Fix:** [description] |
| 249 | + |
| 250 | +## Artifacts |
| 251 | +- HTML Report: playwright-report/index.html |
| 252 | +- Screenshots: artifacts/*.png |
| 253 | +- Videos: artifacts/videos/*.webm |
| 254 | +- Traces: artifacts/*.zip |
| 255 | +``` |
0 commit comments