How do I programmatically run tests and inject environment variables in Playwright?

Answer

Sure, you can run tests and inject environment variables in Playwright. Use the npx playwright test command to run tests. To inject environment variables, set them in the command line like this: USERNAME=me PASSWORD=secret npx playwright test.

You can also use a configuration file, playwright.config.ts, to define your base URL and other configurations using environment variables. Here's an example:

import { defineConfig } from '@playwright/test';

export default defineConfig({
  use: {
    baseURL: process.env.STAGING === '1' ? 'http://staging.ray.run/' : 'http://ray.run/',
  },
});

Run your tests with different values for the STAGING environment variable to switch between environments.

If you prefer, use .env files to manage environment variables. Create a .env file with key-value pairs:

STAGING=0
USERNAME=me
PASSWORD=secret

Then, in your playwright.config.ts, read these values using a package like dotenv:

import { defineConfig } from '@playwright/test';
import dotenv from 'dotenv';
import path from 'path';

dotenv.config();
dotenv.config({ path: path.resolve(__dirname, '..', 'my.env') });

export default defineConfig({
  use: {
    baseURL: process.env.STAGING === '1' ? 'http://staging.ray.run/' : 'http://ray.run/',
  },
});

This way, you can edit the .env file to set any variables you'd like without modifying your test code. Playwright provides multiple ways to run tests and inject environment variables. You can customize your test runs based on different environments or configurations.