Playwright

Configure Playwright for browser automation and testing in your agentic workflows. Playwright enables headless browser control for accessibility testing, visual regression detection, end-to-end testing, and web scraping.

Configuration Options

Version

Pin to a specific version or use the latest:

tools:
  playwright:
    version: "1.56.1"  # Pin to specific version (default)
  playwright:
    version: "latest"  # Use latest available version

Default: 1.56.1 (when version is not specified)

Network Access Configuration

Domain access for Playwright is controlled by the top-level network: field. By default, Playwright can only access localhost and 127.0.0.1.

Using Ecosystem Identifiers

network:
  allowed:
    - defaults
    - playwright     # Enables browser downloads
    - github         # For testing GitHub pages
    - node           # For testing Node.js apps

Custom Domains

Add specific domains for the sites you want to test:

network:
  allowed:
    - defaults
    - playwright
    - "example.com"              # Matches example.com and subdomains
    - "*.staging.example.com"    # Wildcard for staging environments

Automatic subdomain matching: When you allow example.com, all subdomains like api.example.com, www.example.com, and staging.example.com are automatically allowed.

GitHub Actions Compatibility

Playwright runs in a Docker container on GitHub Actions runners. gh-aw automatically applies --security-opt seccomp=unconfined and --ipc=host (required for Chromium) starting with version 0.41.0. No manual configuration is needed.

Browser Support

Playwright includes three browser engines: Chromium (Chrome/Edge, most commonly used), Firefox, and WebKit (Safari). All three are available in the Playwright Docker container.

Common Use Cases

Accessibility Testing

---
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 9 * * *"  # Daily at 9 AM

tools:
  playwright:

network:
  allowed:
    - defaults
    - playwright
    - "docs.example.com"

permissions:
  contents: read

safe-outputs:
  create-issue:
    title-prefix: "[a11y] "
    labels: [accessibility, automated]
    max: 3
---

# Accessibility Audit

Use Playwright to check docs.example.com for WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance.

Run automated accessibility checks using axe-core and report:
- Missing alt text on images
- Insufficient color contrast
- Missing ARIA labels
- Keyboard navigation issues

Create an issue for each category of problems found.

Visual Regression Testing

---
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize]

tools:
  playwright:

network:
  allowed:
    - defaults
    - playwright
    - github

permissions:
  contents: read

safe-outputs:
  add-comment:
    max: 1
---

# Visual Regression Check

Compare screenshots of the documentation site before and after this PR.

Test on multiple viewports (mobile, tablet, desktop) and report any visual differences.

End-to-End Testing

---
on:
  workflow_dispatch:

tools:
  playwright:
  bash: [":*"]

network:
  allowed:
    - defaults
    - playwright
    - "localhost"

permissions:
  contents: read
---

# E2E Testing

Start the development server locally and run end-to-end tests with Playwright.

1. Start the dev server on localhost:3000
2. Test the complete user journey
3. Report any failures with screenshots

Related Documentation

• Tools Reference - All tool configurations
• Network Permissions - Network access control
• Network Configuration Guide - Common network patterns
• Safe Outputs Reference - Configure output creation
• Frontmatter - All frontmatter configuration options