Question 1

What is Playwright, and who maintains it?

Accepted Answer

Playwright is an open-source automation library for end-to-end testing, created and maintained by Microsoft. It supports testing web applications across Chromium, WebKit (Safari), and Firefox browsers using a single unified API in JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, Java, and C#.

Question 2

What are the key advantages of Playwright over Cypress?

Accepted Answer

1. Cross-Browser Engine: Native support for WebKit (Safari engine) alongside Chromium and Firefox.
2. Multi-Page Support: Easily automate testing across multiple tabs, pages, and origins simultaneously.
3. Architecture: Communicates via browser debugging protocols (like CDPs), meaning it has no cross-origin restrictions.
4. Execution: Runs test threads in parallel out-of-the-box.

Question 3

What is a Browser Context in Playwright?

Accepted Answer

A Browser Context is an isolated, incognito-like session within a browser instance. It does not share cookies, storage, or cache with other contexts. Creating browser contexts is extremely cheap (taking milliseconds), allowing developers to run hundreds of isolated test sessions in a single browser instance.

Question 4

Explain Playwright Locators and the Locator API.

Accepted Answer

Locators are the core element query selectors in Playwright. Locators automatically resolve target elements, wait for them to become actionable, and retry actions if they disappear from the DOM. They support built-in user-facing roles (e.g. `getByRole`, `getByPlaceholder`).
Code Example:
// Locator example
await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Submit' }).click();
await page.getByPlaceholder('Enter email').fill('user@test.com');

Question 5

How does Playwright handle auto-waiting?

Accepted Answer

Playwright performs actionability checks on elements before executing commands (like clicking or typing). It automatically waits for the element to exist in DOM, be visible, stop animating, receive click pointer events, and be enabled, reducing flaky test sleeps.

Question 6

What is the Playwright Trace Viewer?

Accepted Answer

The Playwright Trace Viewer is a post-execution GUI tool that records test runs. It provides step-by-step debug actions, interactive snapshots of the DOM at each step, network request logs, source code pointers, and console logs, making it simple to diagnose CI test failures.

Question 7

How do you mock API network requests in Playwright?

Accepted Answer

You mock API requests using the `page.route()` command. This allows intercepting specific URL patterns and returning mock payloads, HTTP status codes, or headers.
Code Example:
// Mock API endpoint
await page.route('**/api/users', async (route) => {
  await route.fulfill({
    status: 200,
    contentType: 'application/json',
    body: JSON.stringify([{ id: 1, name: 'John' }])
  });
});

Question 8

How do you save and reuse login state in Playwright?

Accepted Answer

Playwright can record authentication states (cookies and local storage) after a login routine and save them to a JSON file. Subsequent test files can load this state when initializing browser contexts, bypassing login forms.
Code Example:
// Save state
await context.storageState({ path: 'auth.json' });

// Reuse state in config
const context = await browser.newContext({ storageState: 'auth.json' });

Question 9

Explain the difference between `page.click()` and `locator.click()`.

Accepted Answer

`page.click(selector)` is a legacy command that queries and clicks elements. Playwright now recommends `locator.click()`. Locators are strict; if a selector matches multiple elements, `locator.click()` will throw an error to prevent clicking the wrong element.

Question 10

How do you test drag and drop in Playwright?

Accepted Answer

Playwright has a native `.dragTo()` method that calculates element coordinates, moves the mouse, holds, and drops the element automatically.
Code Example:
await page.locator('#item-1').dragTo(page.locator('#dropzone'));

Question 11

How do you handle multiple windows or tabs in Playwright?

Accepted Answer

Since Playwright supports browser contexts, it natively tracks multiple pages. You listen for the `page` event on the context when a link opens a new tab.
Code Example:
// Start waiting for new page
const pagePromise = context.waitForEvent('page');
await page.getByText('Open Tab').click();
const newPage = await pagePromise;

await newPage.waitForLoadState();
expect(await newPage.title()).toBe('New Page Title');

Question 12

What is headless mode in Playwright, and how do you configure it?

Accepted Answer

Headless mode runs the browser without displaying a graphical UI, conserving memory. It is configured in the `playwright.config.js` file under the `use` options block, or passed as a command-line flag.
Code Example:
npx playwright test --headed # Runs tests displaying browser windows

Question 13

Explain soft assertions in Playwright.

Accepted Answer

By default, a failed assertion terminates the test run immediately. Soft assertions (`expect.soft()`) log the failure but allow the test execution to continue, gathering all failures in the final report.
Code Example:
// Test continues even if assertion fails
await expect.soft(page.locator('.status')).toHaveText('Success');

Question 14

What is Playwright Test Generator (Codegen)?

Accepted Answer

Codegen is a built-in CLI tool that opens a browser window and records user actions (clicks, inputs, navigations) in real-time, automatically generating the corresponding Playwright test code in JS, Python, Java, or C#.
Code Example:
npx playwright codegen https://example.com

Question 15

Explain the `test.use()` block in Playwright.

Accepted Answer

`test.use()` is a configuration block used within specific test files or describe suites to override global settings (e.g. changing viewport size, locale, geolocation, or HTTP headers).

Question 16

How do you wait for network requests to complete in Playwright?

Accepted Answer

You use `page.waitForResponse()` or `page.waitForRequest()` to pause execution until a specific network API request returns a response.
Code Example:
// Wait for response after click action
await Promise.all([
  page.waitForResponse(response => response.url().includes('/api/save') && response.status() === 200),
  page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Save' }).click(),
]);

Question 17

What are Playwright fixtures?

Accepted Answer

Playwright fixtures allow setting up custom parameters, configurations, page wrappers, or Page Objects that are automatically initialized and injected into test blocks. This keeps test files clean and modular.

Question 18

How do you run tests in parallel in Playwright?

Accepted Answer

Playwright runs test files in parallel by default, distributing them across multiple worker processes. You configure worker limits in `playwright.config.js` or via CLI.
Code Example:
npx playwright test --workers=4

Question 19

How do you test file uploads in Playwright?

Accepted Answer

You handle file uploads using the `setInputFiles()` method on the file input locator.
Code Example:
await page.locator('input[type="file"]').setInputFiles('photo.jpg');

Question 20

What is a locator's `.nth()` and `.first()` methods?

Accepted Answer

When a locator matches multiple elements, `.first()` selects the first matching element, `.last()` selects the last element, and `.nth(index)` selects the element at the specified 0-based index.

Playwright E2E Testing Interview

Difficulty Filters

Tools & Options

What is Playwright, and who maintains it?

What are the key advantages of Playwright over Cypress?

What is a Browser Context in Playwright?

Explain Playwright Locators and the Locator API.

How does Playwright handle auto-waiting?

What is the Playwright Trace Viewer?

How do you mock API network requests in Playwright?

How do you save and reuse login state in Playwright?

Explain the difference between `page.click()` and `locator.click()`.

How do you test drag and drop in Playwright?

How do you handle multiple windows or tabs in Playwright?

What is headless mode in Playwright, and how do you configure it?

Explain soft assertions in Playwright.

What is Playwright Test Generator (Codegen)?

Explain the `test.use()` block in Playwright.

How do you wait for network requests to complete in Playwright?

What are Playwright fixtures?

How do you run tests in parallel in Playwright?

How do you test file uploads in Playwright?

What is a locator's `.nth()` and `.first()` methods?

Technical Interview Mastery Blueprint

1. The Engineering STAR Technique

2. Defending Architectural Trade-Offs

3. Clean Code & Edge-Case Proactivity

4. Antipatterns to Avoid

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