GitHub Actions for Playwright

CLI Commands
Workflow Patterns
Scenario Guide
Common Mistakes
Troubleshooting
Related

When to use: Automating Playwright tests on pull requests, main branch merges, or scheduled runs.

CLI Commands

bash

npx playwright install --with-deps    # browsers + OS dependencies
npx playwright test --shard=1/4       # run shard 1 of 4
npx playwright test --reporter=github # PR annotations
npx playwright merge-reports ./blob-report  # combine shard reports

Workflow Patterns

Basic Workflow

Use when: Starting a new project or running a small test suite.

yaml

# .github/workflows/e2e.yml
name: E2E Tests

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

concurrency:
  group: e2e-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true

env:
  CI: true

jobs:
  test:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - run: npm ci

      - name: Cache browsers
        id: browser-cache
        uses: actions/cache@v4
        with:
          path: ~/.cache/ms-playwright
          key: pw-${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('package-lock.json') }}

      - name: Install browsers
        if: steps.browser-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
        run: npx playwright install --with-deps

      - name: Install OS dependencies
        if: steps.browser-cache.outputs.cache-hit == 'true'
        run: npx playwright install-deps

      - run: npx playwright test

      - name: Upload report
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
        with:
          name: test-report
          path: playwright-report/
          retention-days: 14

      - name: Upload traces
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        if: failure()
        with:
          name: traces
          path: test-results/
          retention-days: 7

Sharded Execution

Use when: Test suite exceeds 10 minutes. Sharding cuts wall-clock time significantly. Avoid when: Suite runs under 5 minutes—sharding overhead negates benefits.

yaml

# .github/workflows/e2e-sharded.yml
name: E2E Tests (Sharded)

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

concurrency:
  group: e2e-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true

env:
  CI: true

jobs:
  test:
    timeout-minutes: 20
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        shard: [1/4, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4]

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - run: npm ci

      - name: Cache browsers
        id: browser-cache
        uses: actions/cache@v4
        with:
          path: ~/.cache/ms-playwright
          key: pw-${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('package-lock.json') }}

      - name: Install browsers
        if: steps.browser-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
        run: npx playwright install --with-deps

      - name: Install OS dependencies
        if: steps.browser-cache.outputs.cache-hit == 'true'
        run: npx playwright install-deps

      - name: Run tests (shard ${{ matrix.shard }})
        run: npx playwright test --shard=${{ matrix.shard }}

      - name: Upload blob report
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
        with:
          name: blob-${{ strategy.job-index }}
          path: blob-report/
          retention-days: 1

  merge:
    if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
    needs: test
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - run: npm ci

      - name: Download blob reports
        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          path: all-blobs
          pattern: blob-*
          merge-multiple: true

      - name: Merge reports
        run: npx playwright merge-reports --reporter=html ./all-blobs

      - name: Upload merged report
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: test-report
          path: playwright-report/
          retention-days: 14

Config for sharding—enable blob reporter:

typescript

// playwright.config.ts
import {defineConfig} from '@playwright/test'

export default defineConfig({
  reporter: process.env.CI ? [['blob'], ['github']] : [['html', {open: 'on-failure'}]],
})

Container-Based Execution

Use when: Reproducible environment matching local Docker setup, or runner OS dependencies cause issues. Avoid when: Standard ubuntu-latest with --with-deps works fine.

yaml

# .github/workflows/e2e-container.yml
name: E2E Tests (Container)

on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  test:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    container:
      image: mcr.microsoft.com/playwright:v1.48.0-noble

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - run: npm ci

      - name: Run tests
        run: npx playwright test
        env:
          HOME: /root

      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
        with:
          name: test-report
          path: playwright-report/
          retention-days: 14

Environment Secrets

Use when: Tests target staging/production with credentials. Avoid when: Tests only run against local dev server.

yaml

# .github/workflows/e2e-staging.yml
name: Staging Tests

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  test:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: staging

    env:
      CI: true
      BASE_URL: ${{ vars.STAGING_URL }}
      TEST_USER_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.TEST_USER_PASSWORD }}
      API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.API_TOKEN }}

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - run: npm ci

      - name: Cache browsers
        id: browser-cache
        uses: actions/cache@v4
        with:
          path: ~/.cache/ms-playwright
          key: pw-${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('package-lock.json') }}

      - name: Install browsers
        if: steps.browser-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
        run: npx playwright install --with-deps

      - name: Install OS dependencies
        if: steps.browser-cache.outputs.cache-hit == 'true'
        run: npx playwright install-deps

      - name: Run smoke tests
        run: npx playwright test --grep @smoke

      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
        with:
          name: staging-report
          path: playwright-report/
          retention-days: 14

Scheduled Runs

Use when: Full regression suite is too slow for every PR—run nightly instead. Avoid when: Suite runs under 15 minutes and can run on every PR.

yaml

# .github/workflows/nightly.yml
name: Nightly Regression

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 3 * * 1-5'
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  test:
    timeout-minutes: 60
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    env:
      CI: true
      BASE_URL: ${{ vars.STAGING_URL }}

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - run: npm ci

      - name: Install browsers
        run: npx playwright install --with-deps

      - name: Run full regression
        run: npx playwright test --grep @regression

      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
        with:
          name: nightly-${{ github.run_number }}
          path: playwright-report/
          retention-days: 30

      - name: Notify on failure
        if: failure()
        uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@latest
        with:
          payload: |
            {
              "text": "Nightly regression failed: ${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}"
            }
        env:
          SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL }}

Reusable Workflow

Use when: Multiple repositories share the same Playwright setup. Avoid when: Single repo with one workflow.

yaml

# .github/workflows/pw-reusable.yml
name: Playwright Reusable

on:
  workflow_call:
    inputs:
      node-version:
        type: string
        default: 'lts/*'
      test-command:
        type: string
        default: 'npx playwright test'
    secrets:
      BASE_URL:
        required: false
      TEST_PASSWORD:
        required: false

jobs:
  test:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    env:
      CI: true
      BASE_URL: ${{ secrets.BASE_URL }}
      TEST_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.TEST_PASSWORD }}

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ inputs.node-version }}
          cache: npm

      - run: npm ci

      - name: Cache browsers
        id: browser-cache
        uses: actions/cache@v4
        with:
          path: ~/.cache/ms-playwright
          key: pw-${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('package-lock.json') }}

      - name: Install browsers
        if: steps.browser-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
        run: npx playwright install --with-deps

      - name: Install OS dependencies
        if: steps.browser-cache.outputs.cache-hit == 'true'
        run: npx playwright install-deps

      - name: Run tests
        run: ${{ inputs.test-command }}

      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
        with:
          name: test-report
          path: playwright-report/
          retention-days: 14

Calling the reusable workflow:

yaml

# .github/workflows/ci.yml
name: CI
on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  e2e:
    uses: ./.github/workflows/pw-reusable.yml
    with:
      node-version: 'lts/*'
    secrets:
      BASE_URL: ${{ secrets.STAGING_URL }}
      TEST_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.TEST_PASSWORD }}

Scenario Guide

Scenario	Approach
Small suite (< 5 min)	Single job, no sharding
Medium suite (5-20 min)	2-4 shards with matrix
Large suite (20+ min)	4-8 shards + blob merge
Cross-browser on PRs	Chromium only on PRs; all browsers on main
Staging/prod smoke tests	Separate workflow with `environment:`
Nightly full regression	`schedule` trigger + `workflow_dispatch`
Multiple repos, same setup	Reusable workflow with `workflow_call`
Reproducible env needed	Container job with Playwright image

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Problem	Fix
No `concurrency` group	Duplicate runs waste minutes	Add `concurrency: { group: ..., cancel-in-progress: true }`
`fail-fast: true` with sharding	One failure cancels others	Set `fail-fast: false`
No browser caching	60-90 seconds wasted per run	Cache `~/.cache/ms-playwright`
No `timeout-minutes`	Stuck jobs run for 6 hours	Set explicit timeout: 20-30 minutes
Artifacts only on failure	No report when tests pass	Use `if: ${{ !cancelled() }}`
Hardcoded secrets	Security risk	Use GitHub Secrets and Environments
All browsers on every PR	3x CI cost	Chromium on PR; cross-browser on main
No artifact retention	Default 90-day fills storage	Set `retention-days: 7-14`
Missing `--with-deps`	Browser launch failures	Always use `npx playwright install --with-deps`

Troubleshooting

Browser launch fails: "Missing dependencies"

Cause: Browsers restored from cache but OS dependencies weren't cached.

Fix: Run npx playwright install-deps on cache hit:

yaml

- name: Install OS dependencies
  if: steps.browser-cache.outputs.cache-hit == 'true'
  run: npx playwright install-deps

Tests pass locally but timeout in CI

Cause: CI runners have fewer resources than dev machines.

Fix: Reduce workers and increase timeouts:

typescript

// playwright.config.ts
import {defineConfig} from '@playwright/test'

export default defineConfig({
  workers: process.env.CI ? '50%' : undefined,
  use: {
    actionTimeout: process.env.CI ? 15_000 : 10_000,
    navigationTimeout: process.env.CI ? 30_000 : 15_000,
  },
})

Sharded reports incomplete

Cause: Artifact names collide or merge-multiple not set.

Fix: Unique names per shard and enable merge:

yaml

# Upload in each shard
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
  with:
    name: blob-${{ strategy.job-index }}
    path: blob-report/

# Download in merge job
- uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
  with:
    path: all-blobs
    pattern: blob-*
    merge-multiple: true

`webServer` fails: "port already in use"

Cause: Zombie process from previous run.

Fix: Kill stale processes before starting:

yaml

- name: Kill stale processes
  run: lsof -ti:3000 | xargs kill -9 2>/dev/null || true

No PR annotations

Cause: github reporter not configured.

Fix: Add github reporter for CI:

typescript

// playwright.config.ts
import {defineConfig} from '@playwright/test'

export default defineConfig({
  reporter: process.env.CI
    ? [['html', {open: 'never'}], ['github']]
    : [['html', {open: 'on-failure'}]],
})

test-tags.md — tagging and filtering tests
parallel-sharding.md — sharding strategies
reporting.md — reporter configuration
docker.md — container images
gitlab.md — GitLab CI equivalent
other-providers.md — CircleCI, Azure DevOps, Jenkins

GitHub Actions for Playwright

GitHub Actions for Playwright

Table of Contents

CLI Commands

Workflow Patterns

Basic Workflow

Sharded Execution

Container-Based Execution

Environment Secrets

Scheduled Runs

Reusable Workflow

Scenario Guide

Common Mistakes

Troubleshooting

Browser launch fails: "Missing dependencies"

Tests pass locally but timeout in CI

Sharded reports incomplete

webServer fails: "port already in use"

No PR annotations

Related

`webServer` fails: "port already in use"