How do I perform authentication in my tests using Playwright?

Answer

Sure, let's dive into how to perform authentication with Playwright.

Creating an Authenticated Browser State

Playwright uses isolated environments called browser contexts for testing. You can load an authenticated state, which eliminates the need to authenticate in every test and speeds up execution.

Storing Authenticated Browser State

No matter your authentication strategy, it's best to store the authenticated browser state on the file system. Create a playwright/.auth directory and add it to your .gitignore. Your authentication routine will save the authenticated browser state to a file in this directory.

Shared Account Approach

If your tests don't modify server-side state and can run simultaneously with the same account, authenticate once in the setup project, save the state, and reuse it in each test.

Different Accounts or Server-Side Modifications

If your tests modify server-side state or need different accounts for parallel testing, use different accounts for each test.

Testing Multiple Roles

To test how multiple authenticated roles interact in a single test, use multiple BrowserContexts and Pages with different storage states.

Here's how to implement these steps with Playwright's API:

// Create a setup project that prepares an authenticated browser state for all other tests.
// Specify storageState for each individual test file or group instead of setting it in the config.
page.context().storageState({ path: userFile }) // Save the authenticated state for a specific test.
test.use({ storageState: 'playwright/.auth/admin.json' }) // Specify the storage state for a particular test or group.

By following these steps, you can ensure efficient reuse of authenticated browser states in your tests.