Projects & Dependencies

Table of Contents

1. Project Configuration
2. Project Dependencies
3. Setup Projects
4. Filtering & Running Projects
5. Sharing Configuration
6. Advanced Patterns

Project Configuration

Basic Multi-Browser Setup

// playwright.config.ts
import { defineConfig, devices } from "@playwright/test";

export default defineConfig({
  projects: [
    {
      name: "chromium",
      use: { ...devices["Desktop Chrome"] },
    },
    {
      name: "firefox",
      use: { ...devices["Desktop Firefox"] },
    },
    {
      name: "webkit",
      use: { ...devices["Desktop Safari"] },
    },
  ],
});

Environment-Based Projects

export default defineConfig({
  projects: [
    {
      name: "staging",
      use: {
        baseURL: "https://staging.example.com",
      },
    },
    {
      name: "production",
      use: {
        baseURL: "https://example.com",
      },
    },
    {
      name: "local",
      use: {
        baseURL: "http://localhost:3000",
      },
    },
  ],
});

Test Type Projects

export default defineConfig({
  projects: [
    {
      name: "e2e",
      testDir: "./tests/e2e",
      use: { ...devices["Desktop Chrome"] },
    },
    {
      name: "api",
      testDir: "./tests/api",
      use: { baseURL: "http://localhost:3000" },
    },
    {
      name: "visual",
      testDir: "./tests/visual",
      use: {
        ...devices["Desktop Chrome"],
        viewport: { width: 1280, height: 720 },
      },
    },
  ],
});

Project Dependencies

Setup Dependency

export default defineConfig({
  projects: [
    // Setup project runs first
    {
      name: "setup",
      testMatch: /.*\.setup\.ts/,
    },

    // Browser projects depend on setup
    {
      name: "chromium",
      use: {
        ...devices["Desktop Chrome"],
        storageState: ".auth/user.json",
      },
      dependencies: ["setup"],
    },
    {
      name: "firefox",
      use: {
        ...devices["Desktop Firefox"],
        storageState: ".auth/user.json",
      },
      dependencies: ["setup"],
    },
  ],
});

Multiple Auth States

export default defineConfig({
  projects: [
    // Auth setup projects
    {
      name: "setup-admin",
      testMatch: /admin\.setup\.ts/,
    },
    {
      name: "setup-user",
      testMatch: /user\.setup\.ts/,
    },

    // Admin tests
    {
      name: "admin-tests",
      testDir: "./tests/admin",
      use: { storageState: ".auth/admin.json" },
      dependencies: ["setup-admin"],
    },

    // User tests
    {
      name: "user-tests",
      testDir: "./tests/user",
      use: { storageState: ".auth/user.json" },
      dependencies: ["setup-user"],
    },

    // Tests that need both
    {
      name: "integration-tests",
      testDir: "./tests/integration",
      dependencies: ["setup-admin", "setup-user"],
    },
  ],
});

Chained Dependencies

export default defineConfig({
  projects: [
    // Step 1: Database setup
    {
      name: "db-setup",
      testMatch: /db\.setup\.ts/,
    },

    // Step 2: Auth setup (needs DB)
    {
      name: "auth-setup",
      testMatch: /auth\.setup\.ts/,
      dependencies: ["db-setup"],
    },

    // Step 3: Seed data (needs auth)
    {
      name: "seed-setup",
      testMatch: /seed\.setup\.ts/,
      dependencies: ["auth-setup"],
    },

    // Tests (need everything)
    {
      name: "tests",
      testDir: "./tests",
      dependencies: ["seed-setup"],
    },
  ],
});

Setup Projects

Authentication Setup

Setup projects are the recommended way to handle authentication. They run before your main test projects and can use Playwright fixtures.

For complete authentication patterns (storage state, multiple auth states, auth fixtures), see fixtures-hooks.md.

Data Seeding Setup

// seed.setup.ts
import { test as setup } from "@playwright/test";

setup("seed test data", async ({ request }) => {
  // Create test data via API
  await request.post("/api/test/seed", {
    data: {
      users: 10,
      products: 50,
      orders: 100,
    },
  });
});

Cleanup Setup

// cleanup.setup.ts
import { test as setup } from "@playwright/test";

setup("cleanup previous run", async ({ request }) => {
  // Clean up data from previous test runs
  await request.delete("/api/test/cleanup");
});

Filtering & Running Projects

Run Specific Project

# Run single project
npx playwright test --project=chromium

# Run multiple projects
npx playwright test --project=chromium --project=firefox

Run by Grep

# Run tests matching pattern
npx playwright test --grep @smoke

# Run project with grep
npx playwright test --project=chromium --grep @critical

# Exclude pattern
npx playwright test --grep-invert @slow

Project-Specific Grep

export default defineConfig({
  projects: [
    {
      name: "smoke",
      grep: /@smoke/,
      use: { ...devices["Desktop Chrome"] },
    },
    {
      name: "regression",
      grepInvert: /@smoke/,
      use: { ...devices["Desktop Chrome"] },
    },
  ],
});

Sharing Configuration

Base Configuration

// playwright.config.ts
const baseConfig = {
  timeout: 30000,
  expect: { timeout: 5000 },
  use: {
    trace: "on-first-retry",
    screenshot: "only-on-failure",
  },
};

export default defineConfig({
  ...baseConfig,
  projects: [
    {
      name: "chromium",
      use: {
        ...baseConfig.use,
        ...devices["Desktop Chrome"],
      },
    },
    {
      name: "firefox",
      use: {
        ...baseConfig.use,
        ...devices["Desktop Firefox"],
      },
    },
  ],
});

Shared Project Settings

const sharedBrowserConfig = {
  timeout: 60000,
  retries: 2,
  use: {
    video: "on-first-retry",
    trace: "on-first-retry",
  },
};

export default defineConfig({
  projects: [
    {
      name: "chromium",
      ...sharedBrowserConfig,
      use: {
        ...sharedBrowserConfig.use,
        ...devices["Desktop Chrome"],
      },
    },
    {
      name: "firefox",
      ...sharedBrowserConfig,
      use: {
        ...sharedBrowserConfig.use,
        ...devices["Desktop Firefox"],
      },
    },
  ],
});

Advanced Patterns

Conditional Projects

const projects = [
  {
    name: "chromium",
    use: { ...devices["Desktop Chrome"] },
  },
];

// Add Firefox only in CI
if (process.env.CI) {
  projects.push({
    name: "firefox",
    use: { ...devices["Desktop Firefox"] },
  });
}

// Add mobile only for specific test dirs
if (process.env.TEST_MOBILE) {
  projects.push({
    name: "mobile",
    use: { ...devices["iPhone 14"] },
  });
}

export default defineConfig({ projects });

Project Metadata

export default defineConfig({
  projects: [
    {
      name: "chromium",
      use: { ...devices["Desktop Chrome"] },
      metadata: {
        platform: "desktop",
        browser: "chromium",
        priority: "high",
      },
    },
  ],
});

// Access in test
test("example", async ({ page }, testInfo) => {
  const { platform, priority } = testInfo.project.metadata;
  console.log(`Running on ${platform} with ${priority} priority`);
});

Teardown Projects

export default defineConfig({
  projects: [
    {
      name: "setup",
      testMatch: /.*\.setup\.ts/,
      teardown: "teardown", // Run teardown after this completes
    },
    {
      name: "teardown",
      testMatch: /.*\.teardown\.ts/,
    },
    {
      name: "tests",
      dependencies: ["setup"],
    },
  ],
});

// cleanup.teardown.ts
import { test as teardown } from "@playwright/test";

teardown("cleanup", async ({ request }) => {
  await request.delete("/api/test/data");
});

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

Related References

• Global Setup: See global-setup.md for globalSetup vs setup projects
• Fixtures: See fixtures-hooks.md for authentication patterns
• CI/CD: See ci-cd.md for running projects in CI