Playwright with Python – Complete Setup & CI/CD Guide

 

1. Installation

🔹 Prerequisites

• Install Python (≥3.8) → Download

• Install Node.js (≥16) (needed for browsers) → Download

🔹 Install Playwright

# Create project folder
mkdir playwright_automation && cd playwright_automation

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate   # Linux/Mac
venv\Scripts\activate      # Windows

# Install Playwright
pip install pytest pytest-playwright

# Install browsers
playwright install

✅ This installs Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit engines for Playwright.

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2. Configuration

🔹 Project Structure

playwright_automation/
│── tests/
│   ├── test_google.py
│── conftest.py
│── requirements.txt
│── pytest.ini

• tests/ → contains test cases

• conftest.py → pytest fixtures (e.g., browser setup)

• requirements.txt → dependencies

🔹 requirements.txt

pytest
pytest-playwright

🔹 pytest.ini

[pytest]
addopts = -v --headed --html=report.html --self-contained-html
markers =
    smoke: quick checks
    regression: full suite

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3. First Test (Development)

Create tests/test_google.py:

import pytest
from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright

def test_google_search():
    with sync_playwright() as p:
        browser = p.chromium.launch(headless=True)
        page = browser.new_page()
        page.goto("https://www.google.com")
        page.fill("input[name='q']", "Playwright Python")
        page.keyboard.press("Enter")
        assert "Playwright" in page.title()
        browser.close()

Run test:

pytest tests/ --headed

• --headed → shows browser UI

• Default is headless (faster)

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4. Advanced Setup

🔹 Using Pytest Fixtures (Reusable Browsers)

Create conftest.py:

import pytest
from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright

@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
def browser():
    playwright = sync_playwright().start()
    browser = playwright.chromium.launch(headless=True)
    yield browser
    browser.close()
    playwright.stop()

@pytest.fixture
def page(browser):
    context = browser.new_context()
    page = context.new_page()
    yield page
    context.close()

Now tests/test_google.py becomes:

def test_google_search(page):
    page.goto("https://www.google.com")
    page.fill("input[name='q']", "Playwright Python")
    page.keyboard.press("Enter")
    assert "Playwright" in page.title()

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5. Execution

🔹 Run All Tests

pytest --headed --html=report.html

🔹 Run Specific Marker

pytest -m "smoke"

🔹 Parallel Execution

pytest -n 4

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6. Jenkins CI/CD Integration

🔹 Step 1: Install Jenkins

• Download from https://www.jenkins.io/download/

• Install plugins:

  • Git

  • HTML Publisher (to view reports)

🔹 Step 2: Jenkins Job

1. Create a Pipeline Job

2. Configure Git repo (with Playwright project)

3. Add build steps:

# Inside Jenkins pipeline
pip install -r requirements.txt
playwright install
pytest --html=report.html --self-contained-html

4. Post-build actions → Publish HTML report:

   • HTML directory: .

   • Index page: report.html

---

🔹 Jenkinsfile (Pipeline as Code)

Place this in your repo:

pipeline {
    agent any
    stages {
        stage('Setup') {
            steps {
                sh 'python -m venv venv'
                sh '. venv/bin/activate && pip install -r requirements.txt'
                sh '. venv/bin/activate && playwright install'
            }
        }
        stage('Test') {
            steps {
                sh '. venv/bin/activate && pytest --html=report.html --self-contained-html'
            }
        }
    }
    post {
        always {
            publishHTML (target: [
                reportDir: '.',
                reportFiles: 'report.html',
                keepAll: true,
                reportName: 'Playwright Test Report'
            ])
        }
    }
}

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7. Scaling Up

• Cross-browser execution:

  pytest --browser firefox
  pytest --browser webkit
  

• Parallel test execution: pytest -n auto

• Cloud Testing: Integrate with BrowserStack/Sauce Labs

• Reporting: Allure Reports (pip install allure-pytest)

• Dockerize your test framework for portability

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8. Real-World Project Idea

📌 Automate an e-commerce site workflow with Playwright:

• Search → Add to cart → Checkout → Validate order in DB

• Cover UI + API + DB layers

• Integrate with Jenkins for nightly regression runs

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✅ In summary:

1. Install Python + Playwright

2. Set up virtual environment + pytest config

3. Write first test (test_google.py)

4. Build framework with fixtures & POM

5. Run tests locally + in parallel

6. Integrate with Jenkins pipeline (CI/CD)

7. Scale with reporting, Docker, Cloud execution