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UST Playwright Testing Interview Questions & Answers

Curated interview practice questions with answers. These are practice scenarios, not a verified list of past interview questions.

About UST hiring for Playwright Testing roles

UST is a digital transformation and IT services company with large delivery centres in India, particularly in Kerala. It provides software development, testing, cloud, data and AI services for clients in healthcare, retail, banking and semiconductors. It hires in India for software engineers, test engineers, data engineers and analysts.

For Playwright Testing roles, this UST practice set focuses most on JavaScript and TypeScript (7), Locators and Assertions (6), Framework Design and CI/CD (6), Debugging and Trace Viewer (5). It has 15 easy, 24 medium, 1 hard questions, so you can start easy and work up to the harder ones.

Company type
IT services
Headquarters
Aliso Viejo, California, USA
Main India offices
Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad

UST Playwright Testing interview process

  1. Online assessment (aptitude + reasoning)
  2. Coding test
  3. Technical interview
  4. HR round

Typical pattern based on public candidate experiences. Rounds vary by role, team and year.

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01

What do locator.and() and locator.or() do?

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and() returns a locator that matches elements satisfying both locators, for example a button that also has a certain title. or() matches either locator, which helps when the UI may show one of two states, such as a New email button or a security dialog. With or(), wrap the assertion carefully, because if both appear the strict check fails.
02

When should you use getByTestId?

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Use getByTestId when no user-facing locator is stable or unique, for example icon-only buttons, dynamic grids or canvas wrappers. It matches the data-testid attribute by default, and you can change the attribute name with testIdAttribute in the config. Test ids are very stable but users never see them, so prefer role, label or text first and keep test ids as a fallback.
03

What does the mount fixture return?

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mount renders the component into the test page and returns a locator pointing at the component root. You can call getByRole, click, and use web-first assertions on it like any locator. It also has helpers: update to re-render with new props or children, and unmount to remove it. Because it is a locator, the auto-waiting and retry behaviour of end-to-end tests applies here too.
04

What is a Promise and what states can it have?

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A Promise represents a value that will be available later, such as an API response. It is pending at first, then either fulfilled with a value or rejected with an error, and it never changes after that. You consume it with await or then and catch. Almost every Playwright call returns a Promise, which is why tests use await so much.
05

Tell me about a hard bug you found while debugging a test.

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Situation: a search test failed about once in ten runs. Task: find the cause. Action: I ran it with --repeat-each and traces, and saw two search requests return out of order, so the older result replaced the newer one. Result: I proved it was a real race condition in the app, developers fixed it with request cancellation, and the test became stable.
06

What is the blob reporter and why does it exist?

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The blob reporter writes a compact archive of everything about a run, including results, attachments and traces, into the blob-report folder. It is meant for machines rather than people. Each shard produces one blob, and npx playwright merge-reports later combines them into a single HTML, JUnit or JSON report. Without it, every shard would produce its own separate HTML report.
07

How do you filter a list of locators by text or by a child element?

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// pick one product card from many const card = page.getByRole('listitem') .filter({ hasText: 'Wireless Mouse' }) .filter({ has: page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Add to cart' }) }); await card.getByRole('button', { name: 'Add to cart' }).click(); // hasNotText and hasNot exclude matches
08

How do you combine API and UI tests?

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Create test data through API calls, verify it in the UI and clean up via API, which makes UI tests faster and more reliable.
09

How do you debug a Playwright test?

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Use --debug or the Inspector, page.pause(), UI mode, the trace viewer and headed runs with slowMo.
10

What is the Clock API in Playwright?

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page.clock lets tests control time. clock.install() fakes Date and timers, clock.setFixedTime() freezes the current date, and clock.fastForward() or runFor() moves time ahead. This is useful for session timeouts, countdowns, scheduled banners and date-based logic, without waiting real minutes. Install the clock before the page loads so the app uses fake time from the start.
11

What is the difference between waitForSelector and expect with locator?

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waitForSelector is a lower-level wait; locator assertions are preferred as they retry and are more readable.
12

What do headed mode and slowMo do?

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--headed shows the browser window instead of running headless, so you can watch the test. slowMo, set in launchOptions, adds a delay in milliseconds before every action, which makes fast steps visible. Both help when you are writing or debugging a test. Do not leave slowMo on in CI, because it slows every action.
13

Write a test that checks keyboard Tab order through a login form.

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test('login form is keyboard friendly', async ({ page }) => { await page.goto('/login'); await page.getByLabel('Email').focus(); await page.keyboard.press('Tab'); await expect(page.getByLabel('Password')).toBeFocused(); await page.keyboard.press('Tab'); await expect(page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Sign in' })).toBeFocused(); await page.keyboard.press('Enter'); });
14

How do you keep test code, page objects and utilities organised as a repository grows?

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Use a clear layout: tests grouped by feature, a pages folder for page objects, a fixtures folder that exposes them, and api and data folders for helpers and builders. Add path aliases in tsconfig, a lint config with the Playwright plugin, and a short contributing guide. Review new helpers in pull requests so duplicate utilities do not spread.
15

What is the difference between synchronous and asynchronous code?

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Synchronous code runs line by line and blocks; asynchronous code starts a task and continues, handling the result later with promises or await.
16

How do you handle errors in async code?

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Use try-catch with await, or .catch() on promises, and make sure rejected promises are never left unhandled.
17

What does --repeat-each do?

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--repeat-each=N runs every selected test N times in the same run, spread across workers. It is useful for checking a new or fixed test for flakiness before merging, for example npx playwright test checkout.spec.ts --repeat-each=20. Combined with several workers it also surfaces tests that collide with each other over shared data.
18

How do you mock an API response?

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await page.route('**/api/users', route => route.fulfill({ status: 200, json: [{ id: 1, name: 'Test' }] }) );
19

What are projects in playwright.config?

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Named configurations that run the same tests across different browsers, devices or environments.
20

How do you test pagination or chained API calls?

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Read the next page link or IDs from earlier responses, loop until done and assert counts and uniqueness; pass IDs between calls in the same test.
21

What is UI mode and how is it different from --debug?

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UI mode, opened with npx playwright test --ui, is a dashboard to run, filter and watch tests, with a trace-like timeline for each one and a watch mode that reruns on file changes. --debug opens the Inspector to step through a single run live. Use UI mode for daily development and --debug for stepping through a specific action.
22

What does the github reporter do?

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The github reporter prints failures in the format GitHub Actions understands, so each failed test appears as an annotation on the right line of the pull request diff. It is usually combined with the html or blob reporter, for example reporter: process.env.CI ? [['github'], ['html']] : 'list'. It saves reviewers from digging through raw logs.
23

How do you run only smoke tests?

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Tag tests (in the title or with { tag: '@smoke' }) and run: npx playwright test --grep @smoke (use --grep-invert to exclude).
24

What is the difference between unknown and any in TypeScript?

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any switches off type checking, so any property access compiles even if it crashes at runtime. unknown accepts any value but forces you to narrow or validate it before use. For API JSON in tests, typing it as unknown and then validating or asserting a type is safer than any, because mistakes appear at compile time.
25

What happens if you forget an await?

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The action runs without waiting, so the next step may run first — causing flaky failures or 'Target closed' errors. The @typescript-eslint/no-floating-promises rule catches it.
26

How do you verify a page's URL and title after navigation?

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await page.getByRole('link', { name: 'Orders' }).click(); await expect(page).toHaveURL(/\/orders$/); await expect(page).toHaveTitle('My Orders | Shop'); // both retry, so no need to wait for navigation manually
27

How do you organise tests with page object model in Playwright?

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Create a class that takes a page, defines locators as properties and exposes action methods; instantiate it in a fixture for clean tests.
28

How do you install and start a Playwright project?

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Run npm init playwright@latest, which sets up config, example tests and browsers; execute with npx playwright test.
29

What is the difference between the request fixture and request.newContext()?

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The request fixture is a ready APIRequestContext that uses the config's baseURL and extraHTTPHeaders and is cleaned up automatically per test. playwright.request.newContext() creates your own context with custom settings, such as a different base URL or auth token, for example in a worker fixture. You must dispose a manually created context yourself.
30

What is the difference between page.route and context.route?

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page.route applies only to requests from that page. context.route applies to every page in the browser context, including pop-ups and new tabs opened later. Use context.route when a flow opens new windows, such as a payment pop-up, or when you set up mocks in a fixture before the page exists. Page routes take priority over context routes.
31

What is npm and package.json?

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npm is the Node package manager. package.json lists the project's dependencies and scripts, such as the command that runs the tests.
32

How do you debug a test in VS Code with the Playwright extension?

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Install the Playwright Test for VS Code extension. Open the Testing panel to see tests, then set a breakpoint in the test file and click Debug Test. Execution stops at the breakpoint with the browser open, so you can inspect variables. Turn on Show browser to watch runs, and use Pick locator or Record at cursor to add steps.
33

How do you write a custom matcher with expect.extend?

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expect.extend takes an object of matcher functions. Each receives the received value and arguments, and returns { pass, message, name, expected, actual }. For example a toHaveAmount matcher can read a locator's text, strip the currency symbol and compare numbers, retrying with expect.poll inside. Export the extended expect from a shared fixtures file so all tests use the same version.
34

What is forbidOnly and why use it in CI?

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test.only runs only that test and is handy locally, but if committed by mistake, CI would run one test and report success. forbidOnly: !!process.env.CI makes the run fail when any test.only is present on CI. It is a cheap safety net that most generated configs already include, and it should stay on.
35

How do you do visual regression testing?

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Use expect(page).toHaveScreenshot() to compare with stored baselines, with thresholds and masks for dynamic regions.
36

What do maxDiffPixels, maxDiffPixelRatio and threshold control in a screenshot comparison?

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threshold sets how different two pixels can be in colour, from 0 to 1, before they count as different; the default is 0.2. maxDiffPixels allows a fixed number of differing pixels, and maxDiffPixelRatio allows a fraction of the total image. Keep them tight so real regressions fail, and set them in the expect section of the config rather than loosening single tests one by one.
37

In what order do hooks and fixtures run?

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Worker fixtures and beforeAll run first for the worker. For each test, the test fixtures it needs are set up, then beforeEach hooks run, then the test body. Afterwards afterEach hooks run, then test fixtures are torn down in reverse order. afterAll and worker fixture teardown run when the worker finishes. Fixtures are lazy, so unused ones never run.
38

What does fullyParallel change?

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By default Playwright runs test files in parallel but tests within one file in order in a single worker. fullyParallel: true lets tests inside a file run in parallel across workers too. It speeds up suites with big files, but every test must be independent. You can also enable it per file with test.describe.configure({ mode: 'parallel' }).
39

Write a typed helper that retries an async function a few times.

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async function retry<T>(fn: () => Promise<T>, times = 3): Promise<T> { let lastError: unknown; for (let i = 0; i < times; i++) { try { return await fn(); } catch (e) { lastError = e; } } throw lastError; }
40

Locator vs ElementHandle?

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A Locator is lazy, re-resolved on every action and auto-waits (recommended). An ElementHandle points to one DOM node and can go stale.

Tips to crack the UST Playwright Testing interview

  • Practise aptitude and coding questions for the assessment, focusing on accuracy within time limits.
  • Revise SQL, testing concepts and your main programming language, and prepare examples from your projects.
  • Learn about UST's history as UST Global and its large Thiruvananthapuram campus for company questions.
  • Keep a one-minute story ready for every project on your CV: problem, your part, tools, result.
  • Practise the hard questions on this page aloud; UST interviewers usually ask follow-ups on your first answer.

Frequently asked questions

How many rounds are there in the UST Playwright Testing interview?

Candidates usually go through 4 stages: Online assessment (aptitude + reasoning); Coding test; Technical interview; HR round. The exact rounds change with the role, team, location and your experience, so confirm the process with the recruiter.

Which topics should I prepare for the UST Playwright Testing interview?

This practice set leans on JavaScript and TypeScript (7), Locators and Assertions (6), Framework Design and CI/CD (6), Debugging and Trace Viewer (5). Revise those first, then practise explaining one or two of your own projects end to end, because most UST interviewers ask you to walk through real work.

Are these the exact questions asked at UST?

No. These are curated practice questions that match the skills and difficulty usually tested in it services interviews like UST's. They are not a leaked or verified list of past questions.

Where does UST hire Playwright Testing professionals in India?

UST has large teams in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad. Openings and locations change often, so check the UST careers page and filter by city and experience.

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