What Is Playwright? How to Set Up and Use It for Testing

Hi, I’m Nadeem — an ISTQB-certified QA engineer with over 7 years of experience in automating web, mobile, and API tests. One of the tools I rely on for modern end-to-end browser automation is Playwright.

This post will walk you through what Playwright is, how to set up Playwright, and how to use Playwright to automate your web testing efficiently.

What Is Playwright?

Playwright is an open-source automation library built by Microsoft for end-to-end testing of modern web apps. It supports Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit out of the box and works across Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Unlike older frameworks, Playwright allows you to write tests that are:

Reliable – handles waits and retries automatically
Cross-browser – tests on Chrome, Safari, and Firefox
Headless – runs in CI environments without a UI
Multi-language – supports JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Java, and C#

If you're looking for a single framework to test everything from login flows to visual regressions, Playwright is a powerful choice.

Why Use Playwright for Automation?

Multiple Browser Support: One test runs across multiple engines (Chromium, Firefox, WebKit).
Auto-wait: Playwright automatically waits for elements to be actionable.
Built-in Trace Viewer: Debug your tests with detailed trace logs and snapshots.
Parallel Test Execution: Runs tests faster using parallel workers.

All of this makes Playwright ideal for teams needing fast, stable, and scalable automation.

How to Set Up Playwright

Let’s walk through how to set up Playwright in a new Node.js project:

1. Install Node.js

Make sure you have Node.js 14+ installed:

node -v
                            npm -v

2. Initialize a Project

mkdir playwright-demo
                            cd playwright-demo
                            npm init -y

3. Install Playwright

npm install -D @playwright/test

This installs the test runner and browser binaries.

4. Generate Configuration (Optional)

npx playwright install

This command downloads all browser engines (Chromium, Firefox, WebKit).

5. Create Your First Test

Inside the project folder, create a file:

// tests/example.spec.js
                            const { test, expect } = require('@playwright/test');

                            test('homepage has title', async ({ page }) => {
                              await page.goto('https://example.com');
                              await expect(page).toHaveTitle(/Example Domain/);
                            });

6. Run the Test

npx playwright test

You’ll see the browser launch and the test run automatically.

How to Use Playwright (Best Practices)

Now that Playwright is set up, here’s how to use Playwright effectively in real-world projects:

Use Page Object Models: Organize your tests for scalability and reuse.
Run in Headless Mode: For CI/CD pipelines, add --headless to your scripts.
Use Built-in Selectors: Target elements by text, roles, or data-test IDs.
Enable Tracing: Use --trace on to debug flaky tests.

Playwright also supports advanced features like network mocking, device emulation, and visual comparisons.

Common Troubleshooting Tips

Browser not launching? Re-run npx playwright install
Timeout errors? Increase timeout settings or check wait conditions.
Slow CI execution? Disable video/trace if not needed.

Summary

In this guide, you learned what Playwright is, how to set up Playwright, and how to use Playwright for automating browser tests. It’s fast, modern, and developer-friendly—perfect for anyone looking to scale web testing across platforms.

Whether you're testing simple UI flows or full-stack workflows, Playwright is one of the best tools available today.