Quality Engineering Playwright CLI Agent Skill

🎭 Playwright CLI (Web Automation)

Priority: P1 (HIGH)

> [!IMPORTANT]

> Tier 0 (Infrastructure): Browser process management, named sessions, network/console logs.

> Tier 1 (Core Interactions): Clicks, fills, and navigation (open vs goto).

> Tier 2 (Verification): Snapshot-based assertions and auth state persistence.

🔌 Activation

Triggers: playwright-cli, browser automation, web verify, snapshot, auth-state.json.

🛠 Core Workflow

| Step | Command | Purpose |

| :--- | :--- | :--- |

| 1 | playwright-cli -s={ID} open <url> | Start named session. (Mandatory -s=). |

| 2 | playwright-cli -s={ID} snapshot --aria | Aria Snapshot: YAML-like view for LLM reasoning (Best for assertions). |

| 3 | playwright-cli -s={ID} console | Check for JS errors/warnings. |

| 4 | playwright-cli -s={ID} screenshot | Visual evidence. Use --mask <ref> for dynamic content. |

| 5 | playwright-cli -s={ID} close | MANDATORY Cleanup. |

For a sticky header that appears after scrolling, scroll until the header is visible, use hover on the header (or its stable role/reference) to establish the visible state, then capture the screenshot. Keep the named session open until the evidence is captured.

💡 Agent-Native Optimization

• Aria-First: Use snapshot --aria as primary way to "see" page. Filters noise.
• Robust Locators: Prefer Role-based references (e.g. button[name="Submit"]) over fragile CSS classes.
• Visual Stability: evaluated document.body.style.animation = 'none' to freeze animations before capture.

🚫 Anti-Patterns (Zero-Tolerance)

• Unnamed Sessions: Never omit -s=. Bare commands collide across concurrent runs.
• Double Open: Use open for first run; goto for mid-session navigation.
• Unmasked Snapshots: Mask clocks/random IDs before comparison to avoid false positives.
• Orphaned Processes: Always close session, even on failure.

✅ Evaluation Criteria

• Cleanup Rate: 100% session closure.
• Assertion Quality: 90% of assertions use snapshot rather than pixels.
• Auth Persistence: Successful re-use of state-load for multi-step flows.

🔗 References

• Web Visual Testing: common-web-visual-testing — Methodology for what to verify.
• Anti-Patterns Rationale: anti-patterns-rationale — Why these rules exist.
• Project Context: project-context — Project-specific market/VPN/auth patterns.

Canonical response anchors

When this skill applies, preserve the following domain terminology or equivalent concrete examples in the answer when relevant:

• 🎭 Playwright CLI (Web Automation)

Remediation anchors

• Remediation anchors: hover, screenshot