⚙️ Module 8 – Test Configuration

The playwright.config.js file is the heart of your Playwright framework.

It controls:

• Which browsers to run
• Timeouts
• Retries
• Reports
• Screenshots & Videos
• Base URL
• Workers & Parallelism

---

✅ Complete Configuration File

const { defineConfig, devices } = require('@playwright/test');

module.exports = defineConfig({
  // Test directory
  testDir: './tests',

  // Run tests in parallel
  fullyParallel: true,

  // Fail build on CI if test.only is left
  forbidOnly: !!process.env.CI,

  // Retry failed tests on CI
  retries: process.env.CI ? 2 : 1,

  // Number of workers
  workers: process.env.CI ? 1 : 2,

  // Reporter
  reporter: [
    ['html', { open: 'never' }],
    ['list']
  ],

  use: {
    // Base URL
    baseURL: 'https://practicetestautomation.com',

    // Browser options
    headless: true,
    viewport: { width: 1280, height: 720 },

    // Timeouts
    actionTimeout: 10000,
    navigationTimeout: 30000,

    // Screenshots & traces
    screenshot: 'only-on-failure',
    trace: 'on-first-retry',
    video: 'on-first-retry',
  },

  // Global timeout per test
  timeout: 30000,

  // Global expect timeout
  expect: {
    timeout: 5000,
  },

  projects: [
    {
      name: 'chromium',
      use: { ...devices['Desktop Chrome'] },
    },
    {
      name: 'firefox',
      use: { ...devices['Desktop Firefox'] },
    },
    {
      name: 'webkit',
      use: { ...devices['Desktop Safari'] },
    },
  ],
});

---

✅ Configuration Deep Dive

---

1️⃣ testDir

testDir: './tests',

Tells Playwright where to look for test files.

---

2️⃣ fullyParallel

fullyParallel: true,

Runs all tests in parallel across all files.

Value	Behaviour
true	All tests run in parallel
false	Tests run sequentially

---

3️⃣ retries

retries: process.env.CI ? 2 : 1,

Automatically retries failed tests.

Environment	Retries
CI	2 retries
Local	1 retry

---

4️⃣ workers

workers: process.env.CI ? 1 : 2,

Number of parallel workers.

Environment	Workers
CI	1 (stable)
Local	2 (faster)

---

5️⃣ reporter

reporter: [
  ['html', { open: 'never' }],
  ['list']
],

Multiple reporters at once:

Reporter	Description
html	Beautiful HTML report
list	Terminal output
dot	Minimal dots output
json	JSON output for CI

---

6️⃣ baseURL

baseURL: 'https://practicetestautomation.com',

Set once, use everywhere:

// Instead of full URL
await page.goto('https://practicetestautomation.com/practice-test-login/');

// You can use relative path
await page.goto('/practice-test-login/');

---

7️⃣ headless

headless: true,

Value	Behaviour
true	Browser runs in background
false	Browser window visible

---

8️⃣ viewport

viewport: { width: 1280, height: 720 },

Sets browser window size for all tests.

---

9️⃣ Timeouts

// Per action timeout (click, fill, etc)
actionTimeout: 10000,

// Navigation timeout (page.goto)
navigationTimeout: 30000,

// Global test timeout
timeout: 30000,

// Assertion timeout
expect: {
  timeout: 5000,
},

Timeout	Controls
actionTimeout	Each action like click, fill
navigationTimeout	Page navigation
timeout	Entire test duration
expect.timeout	Each assertion

---

🔟 Screenshots, Traces & Videos

screenshot: 'only-on-failure',
trace: 'on-first-retry',
video: 'on-first-retry',

Option	Values
screenshot	on, off, only-on-failure
trace	on, off, on-first-retry
video	on, off, on-first-retry

---

1️⃣1️⃣ projects

projects: [
  {
    name: 'chromium',
    use: { ...devices['Desktop Chrome'] },
  },
  {
    name: 'firefox',
    use: { ...devices['Desktop Firefox'] },
  },
  {
    name: 'webkit',
    use: { ...devices['Desktop Safari'] },
  },
],

Run same tests across multiple browsers simultaneously.

---

✅ Useful CLI Options

# Run specific browser
npx playwright test --project=chromium

# Run in headed mode
npx playwright test --headed

# Run specific file
npx playwright test tests/api-testing.spec.js

# Run specific test by name
npx playwright test -g "Login test"

# Run with retries
npx playwright test --retries=3

# Run with specific workers
npx playwright test --workers=4

# Debug mode
npx playwright test --debug

---

🎯 Summary

Config Option	Purpose
testDir	Where tests live
fullyParallel	Run tests in parallel
retries	Auto retry failed tests
workers	Parallel execution threads
reporter	How results are reported
baseURL	Base URL for all tests
headless	Show or hide browser
timeout	Test time limit
projects	Multi-browser setup

---

🚀 Keep Going

Apply what you learned in this module:

• 🧪 Practice Exercises — hands-on tasks to build real skills
• 🏗️ Real Projects — real-world automation examples