Playwright Testing Interview Questions for Principal Roles (₹25–30 LPA)

Fetch tokens in a fixture with expiry tracking and refresh it when it is about to expire, keeping tests unaware of the details.

npx playwright codegen records user actions and generates test code with suggested locators, handy for starting tests.

locator.hover() and locator.dragTo(target) perform these actions, with auto-waiting for actionability.

JavaScript runs one call stack and uses queues for async work; the event loop pushes callbacks from the microtask (promises) and task queues when the stack is empty.

Set retries in the config or CLI and failed tests re-run in a fresh context, with trace recorded on first retry to diagnose flakiness.

Workflow: checkout → setup-node → npm ci → npx playwright install --with-deps → npx playwright test → upload playwright-report as an artifact.

Use npx playwright test --shard=1/4 in each CI job and merge reports afterwards to reduce total run time.

Use a library such as zod or ajv to define the expected schema and parse the response to fail on missing or wrongly typed fields.

Set extraHTTPHeaders in the config or pass headers per request, for example Authorization: Bearer token fetched in a setup step.

setInputFiles on the input for uploads; for downloads wait on page.waitForEvent('download') and save or inspect the file.

Named configurations that run the same tests across different browsers, devices or environments.

Both describe the shape of data. Interfaces are extendable and suit object contracts; type aliases can also model unions and primitives.

Auto-waiting, a built-in test runner, Chromium/Firefox/WebKit with one API, network interception, the trace viewer and parallel runs out of the box — usually faster and less flaky.

Add retries with backoff for the API step, set a suitable timeout, and use mocks for non-critical dependencies.

Log in once in global setup, save storageState to a JSON file and set use.storageState in the config so every test starts logged in.

Use try-catch with await, or .catch() on promises, and make sure rejected promises are never left unhandled.

Placeholders for types that make reusable code type-safe, for example a helper function returning the same type of item that it receives.

Add tags in the title (@smoke) or use the tag option, and run with --grep @smoke or --grep-invert.

Fixtures set up and tear down test dependencies. Extend with test.extend({ loggedInPage: async ({ page }, use) => { ...; await use(page); } }).

Register page.on('dialog', d => d.accept()) before the action triggers the dialog.

page.screenshot() for captures and config options use: { screenshot: 'only-on-failure', video: 'retain-on-failure' } for automatic evidence.

test.step groups actions into named steps in reports; annotations such as test.skip, test.fixme and test.slow communicate intent and adjust behaviour.

npx playwright test tests/login.spec.ts, add -g "test title" to match a name, or use test.only while debugging.

TypeScript + POM + custom fixtures, environment configs, API helpers for test data, tags like @smoke, sharding across CI machines, retries with traces, HTML/Allure reports, lint and review rules.

List, dot, line, HTML, JSON and JUnit reporters, plus integrations such as Allure, configurable per environment.

A function that remembers variables from its outer scope even after that scope has finished. They are used for private state and factory helpers.

POST the query and variables as JSON to the single endpoint and assert both data and errors fields in the response.

npm is the Node package manager. package.json lists the project's dependencies and scripts, such as the command that runs the tests.

Define projects for chromium, firefox and webkit in playwright.config.ts, set workers, then run: npx playwright test

waitForSelector is a lower-level wait; locator assertions are preferred as they retry and are more readable.

Send invalid payloads or missing auth and assert 400, 401 or 404 codes and the error message bodies.

TypeScript adds static types on top of JavaScript and compiles to it. Types catch errors early and give better autocomplete, which helps in larger test suites.

beforeEach runs the same code before every test in scope; fixtures are lazy, composable and only set up what a test uses.

Create test data through API calls, verify it in the UI and clean up via API, which makes UI tests faster and more reliable.

all waits for every promise and rejects on the first failure; allSettled waits for all and reports each outcome; race settles with the first one to finish.

Scripts that run once before or after the whole run, for seeding data, starting services or creating authentication state.

Separate tests, page objects, fixtures, utilities, test data and config; use tags, projects, shared auth setup, linting, code review and a CI pipeline with sharding and reports.

Define an interface for the payload, cast or validate the parsed JSON to it (for example with zod), and use that type in assertions to catch shape changes.

A type alias describes a shape or union of values; an enum creates a named set of constants that exists at runtime.

Destructuring pulls values from arrays or objects into variables; spread expands an array or object into another, useful for copying and merging config.

Playwright supports multiple browsers, tabs, languages and has auto-waiting and tracing; Selenium has the widest ecosystem; Cypress runs in-browser with a great UI but has more limits across tabs.

Run in parallel with sharding, reuse authentication state, set up data through APIs, avoid unnecessary waits, run smoke on every commit and the full suite nightly.

Before acting, Playwright waits for the element to be attached, visible, stable, enabled and able to receive events — so manual waits are rarely needed.

await request.post('/api/users', { data: { name: 'Asha' } }) automatically sets JSON headers and serialises the payload.

Tag tests (in the title or with { tag: '@smoke' }) and run: npx playwright test --grep @smoke (use --grep-invert to exclude).

Log in with request.post, call request.storageState(), and create a browser context using that state.

test('login', async ({ page }) => { await page.goto('/login'); await page.getByLabel('Email').fill('a@b.com'); await page.getByLabel('Password').fill('secret'); await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Login' }).click(); await expect(page.getByRole('heading', { name: 'Dashboard' })).toBeVisible(); });

click simulates a real user click with actionability checks; dispatchEvent fires a DOM event directly without those checks.

API testing checks services directly and is fast and stable; UI testing checks the full user experience in the browser and is slower.

Use environment variables or .env files, a baseURL in config, API calls for setup and cleanup, and unique data per run.

Playwright locators pierce open shadow roots by default, so getByRole and CSS locators work without special handling.

The object behind the request fixture that holds base URL, headers and cookies, and can share cookies with a browser context.

await expect.soft(locator).toHaveText('...') records the failure but lets the test continue, so you see every mismatch in one run.

page.route('**/api/items', route => route.fulfill({ json: [...] })) intercepts and replies with test data; route.abort() simulates failures.

await page.route('**/api/users', route => route.fulfill({ status: 200, json: [{ id: 1, name: 'Test' }] }) );

Click to open the control, then use getByRole('option') or a text locator for the target item, instead of relying on fragile index-based selectors.

User-facing ones: getByRole, getByText, getByLabel, getByPlaceholder and getByTestId, which are more resilient than CSS or XPath.