Configuring Browsers and Timeouts

Configuring browsers, timeouts, and retries is essential for making Playwright tests stable in both local and CI environments. Thoughtful defaults reduce flakiness and make failures more meaningful.

Browser and Project Configuration #

You can define multiple “projects” in playwright.config to run the same tests against different browsers or devices. This is helpful for cross-browser coverage without duplicating test code.

// playwright.config.ts
import { defineConfig, devices } from '@playwright/test';

export default defineConfig({
  timeout: 30_000,
  expect: {
    timeout: 5_000,
  },
  use: {
    baseURL: 'https://demo.myshop.com',
    trace: 'on-first-retry',
    video: 'on-first-retry',
  },
  projects: [
    {
      name: 'Chromium',
      use: { ...devices['Desktop Chrome'] },
    },
    {
      name: 'Firefox',
      use: { ...devices['Desktop Firefox'] },
    },
  ],
});

Retries can be configured per run or in the config file to re-run failing tests automatically. Combined with traces and videos, this makes it easier to diagnose intermittent issues.

Common Mistakes #

Mistake 1 — Leaving all configuration at defaults without review #

This may not match your app’s behaviour.

❌ Wrong: Relying solely on default timeouts even when the app is consistently slower.

✅ Correct: Adjust global timeouts and baseURL based on real response times and environments.

Mistake 2 — Overusing retries to mask flaky tests #

Retries are not a cure-all.

❌ Wrong: Adding many retries instead of fixing test logic or app race conditions.

✅ Correct: Use a small number of retries plus traces to uncover and fix root causes.