Playwright - GitHub Actions

Running Playwright tests in Parallel in GitHub Actions using Matrix Workflow

Check out the example repository https://github.com/currents-dev/playwright-gh-actions-demo

Currents collects Playwright test results from GitHub Action CI Runners, together with the generated artifacts (trace files, screenshots, videos) for more efficient troubleshooting and providing insights into the test suite performance:

• console output

• screenshots

• videos

• traces

Running Playwright tests in parallel - Currents dashboard

Parallel Playwright tests in GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions Matrix and Playwright Sharding speed up you CI pipeline by running tests in parallel - playwright support splitting the tests between multiple CI machines using --shard CLI flag. Playwright Orchestration improves the parallel execution even more by optimally balancing your tests across the available CI machines.

Read our Playwright Parallelization guide to discover more about parallelizing your Playwright test in GitHub Actions.

Example

The example repository showcases running Playwright tests in GitHub Actions. We've included several config files to exemplify the workflows:

• test-basic-pwc.yml - run Playwright tests in parallel using 3 shards of GitHub Actions Matrix and pwc command.
• test-basic-reporter.yml - run Playwright tests in parallel run using 3 shards of GitHub Actions Matrix and configuring Currents Reporter in playwright.config.ts.
• test-or8n.yml - run Playwright tests in parallel Playwright using Playwright Orchestration and GitHub Actions Matrix. Currents Orchestration speeds up CI runs by up to 40% (compared to native sharding) by optimally balancing tests between the available machines.
• argos-example.yml - run Playwright tests in parallel using Currents Orchestration, use Argos CI for visual testing.

Re-run only failed tests in GitHub Actions

When a workflow fails in GitHub Actions you have the option to re-run the failed jobs. However, an additional setup is required for properly configure Playwright for rerunning only the failed tests.

See Re-run Only Failed Tests guide for details.

Playwright Sharding

If you're using Playwright Sharding for running your tests in parallel, add Last Failed GitHub Action to simplify the re-runs.

Step-by-step guide:

Install the @currents/cmd package

npm i -D @currents/cmd

Add the currents-dev/playwright-last-failed step

Add a step to your workflow before you run your tests

- name: Playwright Last Failed action
  id: last-failed-action
  uses: currents-dev/playwright-last-failed@v1
  with:
    # if you're using a custom CI build id, set "previous-ci-build-id" accordingly 
    # previous-ci-build-id: default is ${{ github.repository }}-${{ github.run_id }}-<%= ${{ github.run_attempt }} - 1 %>
    pw-output-dir: basic/test-results
    matrix-index: ${{ matrix.shard }}
    matrix-total: ${{ strategy.job-total }}

See the action configuration for details.

A full example

name: failed-only-reruns

on:
  push:

jobs:
  test-reporter:
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        shard: [1, 2, 3]
    timeout-minutes: 60
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    container: mcr.microsoft.com/playwright:latest
    env:
      CURRENTS_PROJECT_ID: bnsqNa
      CURRENTS_RECORD_KEY: ${{ secrets.CURRENTS_RECORD_KEY }}
      CURRENTS_CI_BUILD_ID: ${{ github.repository }}-${{ github.run_id }}-${{ github.run_attempt }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          ref: ${{ github.ref }}
      - run: |
          echo "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"
          git config --global --add safe.directory "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: "20.x"
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          npm ci
          npx playwright install chrome
      - name: Playwright Last Failed action
        id: last-failed-action
        uses: currents-dev/playwright-last-failed@v1
        with:
          pw-output-dir: basic/test-results
          matrix-index: ${{ matrix.shard }}
          matrix-total: ${{ strategy.job-total }}
      - name: Playwright Tests
        working-directory: ./basic
        run: |
          COMMAND="npx playwright test --config playwright.config.reporter.ts ${{ steps.last-failed-action.outputs.extra-pw-flags }}"
          echo "Running command: $COMMAND"
          $COMMAND

Note the use of Custom CI Build ID for reruns.

Full examples:

• rerun-shards-pwc.yml - rerun only the tests that failed in the previous run, using pwc helper command that is included in @currents/playwright package.
• rerun-shards-reporter.yml - rerun only the tests that failed in the previous run, using reporter explicitly configured in playwright.config.ts

Currents Orchestration

If you're using Currents Orchestration for running your Playwright tests you can also fetch the results of from API.

Currents Orchestration dynamically assigns tests to all the available CI runners, that's why you should select Re-run all jobs when using Currents Orchestration. Read more at Re-run Only Failed Tests guide.

Step-by-step guide:

Install the @currents/cmd package

npm i -D @currents/cmd

Set CURRENTS_API_KEY CI environment variable

Obtain an API key (see API Keys) from Currents Dashboard (in addition to Record Key) and set GitHub Actions Secret

env:
  CURRENTS_RECORD_KEY: ${{ secrets.CURRENTS_RECORD_KEY }}
  CURRENTS_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.CURRENTS_API_KEY }}

Add the currents-dev/playwright-last-failed step

Add a step that fetches the last-run information prior to running tests

- name: Playwright Last Failed action
  id: last-failed-action
  uses: currents-dev/playwright-last-failed@v1
  with:
    or8n: true
    # debug: true
    # previous-ci-build-id: default is ${{ github.repository }}-${{ github.run_id }}-%<= ${{ github.run_attempt }} - 1 %>
    pw-output-dir: basic/test-results

See the action configuration for details on the inputs.

A full example

name: failed-only-or8n

on:
  push:

jobs:
  test-or8n:
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        shard: [1, 2, 3]
    timeout-minutes: 60
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    container: mcr.microsoft.com/playwright:latest
    env:
      CURRENTS_PROJECT_ID: bnsqNa
      CURRENTS_RECORD_KEY: ${{ secrets.CURRENTS_RECORD_KEY }}
      CURRENTS_CI_BUILD_ID: ${{ github.repository }}-${{ github.run_id }}-${{ github.run_attempt }}
      CURRENTS_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.CURRENTS_API_KEY }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          ref: ${{ github.ref }}
      - run: |
          echo "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"
          git config --global --add safe.directory "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: "20.x"
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          npm ci
          npx playwright install chrome
      - name: Playwright Last Failed action
        id: last-failed-action
        uses: currents-dev/playwright-last-failed@v1
        with:
          or8n: true
          # previous-ci-build-id: default is ${{ github.repository }}-${{ github.run_id }}-<%= ${{ github.run_attempt }} - 1 %>
          pw-output-dir: basic/test-results
      - name: Playwright Tests
        working-directory: ./basic
        run: |
          COMMAND="npx pwc-p ${{ steps.last-failed-action.outputs.extra-pw-flags }}"
          echo "Running command: $COMMAND"
          $COMMAND

Example workflow:

• reruns-or8n.yml - rerun only the tests that failed in the previous orchestrated run.

Note the use of Custom CI Build ID for reruns.

Custom CI Build ID for reruns

The last-failed-action gets the previous run information using the default CI build ID pattern:

${{ github.repository }}-${{ github.run_id }}-${{ github.run_attempt }}

If you are using a different CI Build ID, specify the previous-ci-build-id configuration property.

Using custom CI build ID for reruns

For example:

# an example for custom value like:
# currents-${{ github.run_id }}-${{ github.run_attempt }}
with:
    # if you're using a custom CI build id, set "previous-ci-build-id" accordingly 
    previous-ci-build-id: currents-${{ github.run_id }}-<%= ${{ github.run_attempt }} - 1 %>
    pw-output-dir: basic/test-results
    matrix-index: ${{ matrix.shard }}
    matrix-total: ${{ strategy.job-total }}