Phase 2: Playwright Installation & Setup

Purpose: Install Playwright and generate optimal configuration

Steps

1. Install Playwright

npm init playwright@latest -- --yes
# Installs Playwright, test runners, and browsers (Chromium, Firefox, WebKit)

2. Generate playwright.config.ts

Configure based on app type:

Set base URL (http://localhost:5173 for Vite, etc.)
Configure viewport sizes:
- Desktop: 1280x720
- Tablet: 768x1024
- Mobile: 375x667
Set screenshot directory: screenshots/{test-name}/{timestamp}/
Enable trace on failure for debugging
Configure retries (2 attempts) and timeout (30s)

3. Set up directory structure

tests/
├── setup/
│   └── global-setup.ts    # Start dev server
├── pages/
│   └── *.page.ts         # Page object models
├── specs/
│   └── *.spec.ts         # Test specifications
└── utils/
    └── screenshot-helper.ts

screenshots/
├── baselines/            # Reference images
├── current/              # Latest test run
└── diffs/                # Visual comparisons

4. Integrate with existing test setup

Add playwright scripts to package.json
Configure alongside Vitest/Jest (no conflicts)
Set up TypeScript types for Playwright

Output

Fully configured Playwright environment with version-appropriate templates

Performance

~2-3 minutes for installation and setup (one-time)

Common Issues

Installation fails

Check Node version (>=16)
Retry with --force
Suggest manual installation if network issues

Browser download fails

Check disk space (~500MB needed)
Try installing specific browser: npx playwright install chromium

Transition

Proceed to Phase 2.5 (Pre-flight Health Check)

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