Dockerized Playwright Automation

A clean Playwright automation setup with Docker support for reliable local execution, CI runs, scheduled checks, and Discord notifications.

Contents

• About
• Quick Start
• Docker Setup
• Docker Compose
• CI / CD
• Published Reports
• Project Structure
• Commands
• Notes
• Troubleshooting & Useful Links

About

This repository uses Playwright for browser automation and Docker to make the runtime reproducible across local machines and GitHub Actions. The workflow now also supports scheduled runs and automatic Discord summaries after each test execution.

Quick Start

Local setup

1. Install dependencies:

   npm install

2. Install Playwright browsers:

   npx playwright install --with-deps

3. Run the automation:

   npx playwright test

When to use Docker

Use Docker when you want a consistent environment across machines, or when you want to mirror CI behavior locally.

Docker Setup

Docker packages the application together with the OS, Node.js, Playwright, and dependencies.

Why two Dockerfiles?

• Dockerfile.ci is intended for CI.
  • Uses the Playwright base image
  • Installs dependencies, Java runtime, and the Allure CLI
  • Copies the source and runs npx playwright test
  • Optimized for reproducible test execution and GitHub Actions report publishing
• Dockerfile.dev is intended for local development.
  • Uses the same Playwright base image as CI
  • Installs project dependencies with npm ci
  • Copies the source and keeps the container running with tail -f /dev/null
  • Enables interactive local development using a mounted workspace
• docker-compose.yml builds the local container from Dockerfile.dev and mounts the host project into /app.
  • This keeps local development fast and makes it easy to run commands inside the dev container without rebuilding.

Common Docker commands

• Build the CI image:

  docker build -f Dockerfile.ci -t playwright-test-image .

• Run the image:

  docker run --rm \
    -v "${PWD}/playwright-report:/app/playwright-report" \
    -v "${PWD}/test-results:/app/test-results" \
    playwright-test-image

• List running containers:

  docker ps

• Remove an image:

  docker rmi playwright-test-image

Docker Compose

Docker Compose makes it easier to manage the local development container.

What docker-compose.yml does

• Builds the image from Dockerfile.dev
• Starts the development container
• Mounts the project folder into /app
• Keeps the container running until stopped

Common Docker Compose commands

• Build and start services:

  docker compose up -d

• Stop and remove all services:

  docker compose down

• Stop services without removing them:

  docker compose stop

• Start previously stopped services:

  docker compose start

• Show Compose-managed containers:

  docker compose ps

• View service logs:

  docker compose logs

• Execute a command inside a running service:

  docker compose exec playwright <command>

Rule of thumb

• Use Docker for individual image builds and container runs.
• Use Docker Compose to manage services and simplify local development.

CI / CD

A GitHub Actions workflow is included at .github/workflows/playwright.yml.

Workflow triggers

The workflow runs on:

• pushes to the main branch
• pull requests targeting main
• manual runs via workflow_dispatch
• a scheduled cron run every Monday at 09:00 UTC (3:00 PM Bangladesh time)

Pipeline overview

The pipeline:

• checks out the repository
• configures GitHub Pages
• builds the CI Docker image using Dockerfile.ci
• creates and runs the Playwright test container
• copies Playwright, Allure, and test artifacts from the container
• generates an Allure HTML report
• uploads the HTML report, Allure report, and test results as workflow artifacts
• publishes the latest Allure report to GitHub Pages
• sends a Discord notification with a summary of the run via scripts/discord-summary.js
• fails the workflow if the Playwright tests fail, while still preserving reports and notifications

Discord notifications

The workflow sends a Discord embed after each run using the TEST_APP GitHub secret, which should contain your Discord webhook URL. The notification script reads the generated Playwright summary and includes:

• repository and branch information
• trigger event and actor
• pass/fail/skip counts
• links to the Allure report and the GitHub Actions run

Use CI=true in CI environments to enable Playwright CI behavior.

Published Reports

The latest generated Allure report is published automatically to GitHub Pages:

• Allure report: https://jhrahman.github.io/dockerized-playwright-project/

This provides a live, shareable test report for every run, including scheduled automation runs.

Project Structure

dockerized-test/
├── .github/
│   └── workflows/playwright.yml    # CI workflow, GitHub Pages deployment, scheduling, and Discord notifications
├── pages/                          # Page objects and reusable UI helpers
├── scripts/                        # Utility scripts such as Discord summary notification
├── tests/                          # Playwright test suites and scenarios
├── utils/                          # Shared helpers, fixtures, and test data utilities
├── allure-results/                 # Raw Allure test results generated by CI/local runs
├── allure-report/                  # Generated Allure HTML report output
├── docker-compose.yml              # Local development Docker Compose config
├── Dockerfile.dev                  # Local development Docker image recipe
├── Dockerfile.ci                   # CI Docker image recipe for Playwright and Allure
├── playwright.config.ts            # Playwright runner and project configuration
└── README.md                       # Project overview and usage guide

Commands

• Run the full suite locally:

  npx playwright test

• Run a specific browser project:

  npx playwright test --project=chromium

• Open the HTML report:

  npx playwright show-report

• Start local development container:

  docker compose up -d

• Execute tests inside the running dev container:

  docker compose exec playwright npx playwright test

• Stop and remove local container:

  docker compose down

• Send the Discord summary manually (requires the expected environment variables):

  node scripts/discord-summary.js

Notes

• The Docker setup is based on the official Playwright image (mcr.microsoft.com/playwright:v1.61.1-noble).
• Dockerfile.ci is used for CI execution and Allure report generation.
• Dockerfile.dev is used for local development and keeps the container running for interactive use.
• The project captures screenshots, video, and trace on failure.
• GitHub Actions now runs on a schedule and publishes the generated Allure report automatically to GitHub Pages.
• Discord notifications are sent after each run when the required secret is configured.

Troubleshooting & Useful Links

Troubleshooting

• If tests fail on CI, check the generated HTML and Allure reports in the workflow artifacts.
• If Playwright browsers are missing, run:

  npx playwright install --with-deps

• If the local container gets stuck, rebuild and restart with:

  docker compose down && docker compose up --build -d

• If reports are not generating, verify that allure-results/ is populated before running report generation.
• If Discord notifications are not arriving, confirm that the TEST_APP secret contains a valid Discord webhook URL.

Useful Links

• Allure report: https://jhrahman.github.io/dockerized-playwright-project/
• GitHub Actions workflow: .github/workflows/playwright.yml
• Discord summary script: scripts/discord-summary.js
• Playwright docs: https://playwright.dev
• Docker Compose docs: https://docs.docker.com/compose/