Test Execution Basics

🎭 Running Playwright Tests: Your Backstage Pass to Test Execution

The Big Picture: You’re a Theater Director! 🎬

Imagine you’re the director of a theater. You have many actors (tests) ready to perform different scenes (test files). Sometimes you want:

• The whole show — run all tests
• Just one scene — run a specific file
• One actor’s part — run tests by name
• A themed act — run tests by tag
• Second chances — retry if someone forgets their lines!

Playwright gives you the director’s remote control to decide exactly what plays on stage!

🏃 Running Tests: The Full Show

When you want to run ALL your tests — the entire theater production — you simply use:

npx playwright test

What happens?

• Playwright finds every .spec.ts or .spec.js file
• Runs them all, one by one (or in parallel!)
• Shows you who passed ✅ and who failed ❌

Think of it like: Pressing “PLAY ALL” on your music playlist. Every song plays!

Quick Example:

# Your tests folder has:
# tests/login.spec.ts
# tests/signup.spec.ts
# tests/checkout.spec.ts

npx playwright test
# Runs ALL three test files! 🎉

📁 Running Specific Test Files: Just One Scene

Sometimes you don’t need the whole show. Maybe you only want to test the login page.

npx playwright test login.spec.ts

Or multiple specific files:

npx playwright test login.spec.ts signup.spec.ts

Think of it like: Telling Netflix “Just play Episode 3!” instead of the whole season.

Real Example:

# Only test the checkout flow
npx playwright test tests/checkout.spec.ts

# Test both login AND signup
npx playwright test login.spec.ts signup.spec.ts

Pro Tip: You can use folder paths too!

# Run all tests in the "auth" folder
npx playwright test tests/auth/

🏷️ Running Tests by Name: Find Your Star Actor

What if you have 50 tests but only want to run ones about “password”? Use the -g flag (g = grep = search)!

npx playwright test -g "password"

This runs any test whose name contains “password”:

• ✅ “user can reset password”
• ✅ “password must be 8 characters”
• ❌ “user can login” (doesn’t have “password”)

Think of it like: Searching for “pizza” in your food delivery app — only pizza restaurants show up!

Examples:

# Run tests with "login" in the name
npx playwright test -g "login"

# Run tests about "shopping cart"
npx playwright test -g "shopping cart"

# Case doesn't matter!
npx playwright test -g "LOGIN"  # Same result

🎯 Running Tests by Tag: Organize with Labels

Tags are like stickers you put on your tests. Some tests are @fast, some are @slow, some are @critical.

Step 1: Add Tags to Your Tests

test('user can login @smoke @critical', async () => {
  // test code here
});

test('user can upload large file @slow', async () => {
  // test code here
});

Step 2: Run by Tag

# Run only @smoke tests
npx playwright test --grep "@smoke"

# Run only @critical tests
npx playwright test --grep "@critical"

# Skip @slow tests
npx playwright test --grep-invert "@slow"

Think of it like: Your closet has labels — “Work Clothes”, “Gym Clothes”, “Party Clothes”. You pick what to wear based on the label!

Combining Tags:

# Run tests that are BOTH @smoke AND @fast
npx playwright test --grep "@smoke" --grep "@fast"

🔄 Test Retries: Second Chances!

Sometimes tests fail because of flaky behavior — like a slow network or a button that didn’t load yet. Retries give your test another chance!

Method 1: Command Line Retry

# Retry failed tests up to 2 times
npx playwright test --retries=2

What happens:

1. Test runs → Fails ❌
2. Playwright waits → Tries again (Retry 1)
3. Still fails? → Tries again (Retry 2)
4. Passes on retry? → Counts as passed! ✅

Method 2: Config File Retry

// playwright.config.ts
export default {
  retries: 2,  // All tests get 2 retries
};

Method 3: Per-Test Retry

test('flaky network test', async () => {
  test.retries(3);  // This test gets 3 retries
  // test code
});

Think of it like: A video game giving you 3 lives. If you fail, you respawn and try again!

🗺️ The Command Cheatsheet

graph LR
    A["🎭 Run Tests"] --> B["All Tests"]
    A --> C["Specific Files"]
    A --> D["By Name"]
    A --> E["By Tag"]
    A --> F["With Retries"]

    B --> B1["npx playwright test"]
    C --> C1["npx playwright test file.spec.ts"]
    D --> D1["npx playwright test -g 'name'"]
    E --> E1["npx playwright test --grep '@tag'"]
    F --> F1["npx playwright test --retries=2"]

🎮 Quick Reference Table

🌟 Real-World Scenarios

Scenario 1: Morning Quick Check

# Run only critical smoke tests
npx playwright test --grep "@smoke"

Scenario 2: Before Deploy

# Run everything with retries for flaky tests
npx playwright test --retries=2

Scenario 3: Debugging One Test

# Run just the test you're working on
npx playwright test -g "user can add item to cart"

Scenario 4: Avoid Slow Tests

# Skip slow tests during development
npx playwright test --grep-invert "@slow"

💡 Key Takeaways

1. npx playwright test = Run everything (full show)
2. npx playwright test [file] = Run specific file (one scene)
3. -g "name" = Search by test name (find your star)
4. --grep "@tag" = Filter by tag (organize with labels)
5. --retries=N = Give failing tests second chances (extra lives)

🎉 You’re Now a Test Director!

You’ve learned how to control your Playwright tests like a pro director:

• 🎬 Run the full production
• 🎭 Pick specific scenes
• 🔍 Find actors by name
• 🏷️ Organize with tags
• 🔄 Grant retries for flaky performers

Go forth and run your tests with confidence! 🚀