PLAYWRIGHT: Interview Questions & Answers

                        Mastering Playwright: Essential Interview Questions & Answers

Complete Guide to Top Playwright Interview Questions with Answers (2025)

Introduction

Are you preparing for a job interview in automation testing and aiming to impress your interviewer with solid Playwright knowledge? You’re in the right place. Playwright, an end-to-end testing tool developed by Microsoft, has gained massive popularity for its speed, reliability, and cross-browser compatibility. It supports testing across Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit, and it’s packed with features like smart waits, auto-waiting, and built-in debugging tools. If you're aiming for roles like Automation Test Engineer, SDET, or QA Analyst, this blog will guide you through the top Playwright interview questions and answers with easy explanations, memorable tricks, and real-world examples.

Whether you're a fresher, have a few years of experience, or are switching from tools like Selenium, this guide will help you boost your confidence and land your dream job.

1. What makes Playwright a powerful automation tool?

Playwright shines because of its complete end-to-end automation capabilities. Here’s what makes it stand out:

• Cross-browser testing (Chromium, Firefox, WebKit)

• Auto-waiting for elements before performing actions

• Mobile device emulation

• Multi-tab and multi-context support

• Headless and headed execution modes

• Parallel test execution for faster results

• API automation support alongside UI testing

• Built-in tools like screenshot, video recording, and trace viewing

Trick to Remember: Think of Playwright as an “all-in-one” testing superhero that works on Chrome, Firefox, and Safari without needing extra plugins.

2. How can authentication be handled in Playwright?

Playwright offers flexible ways to test authenticated areas of your application. It supports:

• Basic HTTP Authentication:

const context = await browser.newContext({
  httpCredentials: { username: 'user', password: 'pass' }
});

• Form-based login: Manually fill the form and click login.

await page.fill('#username', 'testuser');
await page.fill('#password', 'testpass');
await page.click('button[type=submit]');

• Storage state (session reuse):

await context.storageState({ path: 'auth.json' });

Later, load it:

const context = await browser.newContext({ storageState: 'auth.json' });

Trick: Think of it like three login options—auto-pass (Basic Auth), manual login, and shortcut (reuse session).

3. What is tracing in Playwright, and why is it useful?

Tracing helps you understand what happened during a test. It collects detailed data:

• Screenshots

• DOM snapshots

• Console logs

• Network activity

How to use:

await context.tracing.start({ screenshots: true, snapshots: true });
// run test steps
await context.tracing.stop({ path: 'trace.zip' });

You can open the trace file in the Playwright UI to inspect actions step by step.

Trick: Imagine tracing as a black box recorder for your test flight. You can replay everything!

4. How do you handle file uploads and downloads in Playwright?

Playwright supports both features without needing third-party libraries.

• Upload:

await page.setInputFiles('input[type="file"]', 'resume.pdf');

• Download:

const [ download ] = await Promise.all([
  page.waitForEvent('download'),
  page.click('text=Download')
]);
await download.saveAs('resume.pdf');

Trick: Upload with setInputFiles, download with waitForEvent – simple!

5. What is the Playwright Inspector and how is it used?

Inspector is Playwright's GUI debugger. It allows you to:

• Pause and step through scripts

• Record and generate locators

• Run tests interactively

How to enable:

npx playwright test --debug

Trick: Think of Inspector as your friendly guide showing how your test walks through the app.

6. What types of locators can be used in Playwright?

Locators help target elements reliably. Playwright supports:

• Text: page.getByText("Login")

• Role-based: page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Submit' })

• Data-test ID: page.getByTestId("submit-button")

• CSS/XPath: page.locator('input[name=email]')

Trick: Prefer role/text-based locators—they're more stable than CSS/XPath.

7. How do you handle iframes and nested frames in Playwright?

Frames isolate parts of a page. Here’s how to interact:

const frame = page.frame({ name: 'frameName' });
await frame.click('button');

Or using frameLocator:

await page.frameLocator('#frameID').locator('text=Submit').click();

Trick: Think of a frame like a separate mini-webpage. You must switch your focus inside it first.

8. What types of assertions are available in Playwright Test?

Assertions help validate expected outcomes:

• toBeVisible()

• toHaveText()

• toHaveAttribute()

• toHaveValue()

• toBeChecked()

Example:

await expect(page.locator('#welcome')).toHaveText('Hello Riya!');

Trick: Use assertions like a teacher grading your web page—checking if it's doing the right thing.

9. How do you generate test reports in Playwright?

Reports are essential for understanding test results. Options:

• Default HTML report:

npx playwright show-report

• Allure Reports:

npm install --save-dev allure-playwright

Add to config:

reporters: [['allure-playwright']]

Trick: Use Allure for fancy dashboards, or Playwright's built-in viewer for simplicity.

10. What’s the difference between context and page in Playwright?

• Context: A browser session with its own cookies and storage.

• Page: A tab inside a context.

Example:

const context = await browser.newContext();
const page = await context.newPage();

Trick: Context = browser profile; Page = browser tab.

Bonus: 5 Advanced Playwright Interview Tips

1. Integrate with CI/CD – Be ready to discuss GitHub Actions, Jenkins, or Azure Pipelines.

2. API Testing – Playwright allows API calls using request.newContext().

3. Test Parallelization – Talk about using workers in playwright.config.ts.

4. Mocking APIs – Know route() and fulfill() methods.

5. Handling flaky tests – Use retry logic and stable locators.

Conclusion: Final Words Before Your Interview

The key to acing any Playwright interview is understanding how real-world scenarios are solved using Playwright’s features. Whether it's debugging flaky tests, running parallel tests, or reusing login sessions, these topics come up frequently. Practice with sample projects, automate a few web pages, and try running your tests on different browsers to build confidence.

If you're aiming for companies like Cognizant, TCS, Accenture, Infosys, or product-based firms, Playwright is often part of their automation test stack. This guide has equipped you with the top 10 Playwright interview questions, added bonus tips, and simplified concepts using tricks and examples.

Stay consistent, keep exploring, and you'll surely impress your interviewer!

Playwright Interview Tips to Clear Your Automation Testing Interview

To succeed in a Playwright interview, start by mastering the basics: understand Playwright’s architecture, browser support (Chromium, Firefox, WebKit), and key concepts like contexts, pages, and locators. Practice writing scripts to automate common tasks like clicks, form fills, file uploads/downloads, and handling iframes or pop-ups.

Be ready to explain Playwright’s unique features such as auto-waiting for elements, cross-browser testing with one API, and built-in debugging tools like tracing and Playwright Inspector. Interviewers often ask you to write or debug code live, so practice clear, step-by-step scripting and debugging.

Authentication handling is essential—know how to use setHTTPCredentials() for basic auth and simulate user login flows with page.fill() and page.waitForNavigation(). Master locator strategies, especially stable selectors like data-testid, to ensure your tests are reliable.

Understand assertions Playwright provides (e.g., toHaveText(), toBeVisible()) and reporting options, including built-in tracing and third-party tools. Finally, highlight your experience integrating Playwright tests into CI/CD pipelines like Jenkins or GitHub Actions.

Don’t forget behavioral questions—explain how you handle flaky tests or challenging bugs. Confidence, clear communication, and practical knowledge will help you clear your Playwright interview with ease.