Quickstart: Run end-to-end tests at scale with Playwright Workspaces

In this quickstart, you learn how to run your Playwright tests with highly parallel cloud browsers using Playwright Workspaces. Use cloud infrastructure to validate your application across multiple browsers, devices, and operating systems.

After you complete this quickstart, you have a Playwright workspace to run your Playwright tests at scale.

Prerequisites

• An Azure account with an active subscription. If you don't have an Azure subscription, create a free account before you begin.
• Your Azure account needs the Owner, Contributor, or one of the classic administrator roles.
• A Playwright project. If you don't have project, create one by using the Playwright getting started documentation or use our Playwright Workspaces sample project.
• Azure CLI. If you don't have Azure CLI, see Install Azure CLI.

Create a workspace

To get started with running your Playwright tests on cloud browsers, you first need to create a Playwright workspace.

1. Sign in to the Azure portal.

2. Select the menu button in the upper-left corner of the portal, and then select Create a resource a resource.

   

3. Enter Playwright Workspaces in the search box.

4. Select the Playwright Workspaces card, and then select Create.

   

5. Provide the following information to configure a new Playwright workspace:

   Field	Description
   Subscription	Select the Azure subscription that you want to use for this Playwright workspace.
   Resource group	Select an existing resource group. Or select Create new, and then enter a unique name for the new resource group.
   Name	Enter a unique name to identify your workspace. The name can only consist of alphanumerical characters, and have a length between 3 and 64 characters.
   Location	Select a geographic location to host your workspace. This location also determines where the test execution results are stored.

   Note

   Optionally, you can configure more details on the Tags tab. Tags are name/value pairs that enable you to categorize resources and view consolidated billing by applying the same tag to multiple resources and resource groups.

6. After you're finished configuring the resource, select Review + Create.

7. Review all the configuration settings and select Create to start the deployment of the Playwright workspace.

   When the process has finished, a deployment success message appears.

8. To view the new workspace, select Go to resource.

   

Install Playwright Workspaces package

npm init @azure/playwright@beta

dotnet add package Azure.Developer.Playwright.NUnit --prerelease

Configure the service region endpoint

In your setup, you have to provide the region-specific service endpoint. The endpoint depends on the Azure region you selected when creating the workspace.

To get the service endpoint URL, perform the following steps:

1. Sign in to the Azure portal with your Azure account and navigate to your workspace.

2. Select the Get Started page.

   

3. In Add region endpoint in your setup, copy the service endpoint URL.

   Make sure this URL is available in PLAYWRIGHT_SERVICE_URL environment variable.

   

using Azure.Developer.Playwright.NUnit;
using Azure.Identity;

namespace PlaywrightTests; // Remember to change this as per your project namespace

[SetUpFixture]
public class PlaywrightServiceNUnitSetup  : PlaywrightServiceBrowserNUnit
{
    public PlaywrightServiceNUnitSetup() : base(
        credential: new DefaultAzureCredential()
    ) 
    {}
}

Set up Authentication

To run your Playwright tests in your Playwright workspace, you need to authenticate the Playwright client where you're running the tests with the service. This could be your local dev machine or CI machine.

The service offers two authentication methods: Microsoft Entra ID and Access Tokens.

Microsoft Entra ID uses your Azure credentials, requiring a sign-in to your Azure account for secure access. Alternatively, you can generate an access token from your Playwright workspace and use it in your setup.

Set up authentication using Microsoft Entra ID

Microsoft Entra ID is the default and recommended authentication for the service. From your local dev machine, you can use Azure CLI to sign-in

az login

Set up authentication using access tokens

You can generate an access token from your Playwright workspace and use it in your setup. However, we strongly recommend Microsoft Entra ID for authentication due to its enhanced security. Access tokens, while convenient, function like long-lived passwords and are more susceptible to being compromised.

1. Authentication using access tokens is disabled by default. To use, Enable access-token based authentication.

2. Set up authentication using access tokens.

Run your tests at scale with Playwright Workspaces

dotnet test -- NUnit.NumberOfTestWorkers=20

Starting test execution, please wait...

A total of 100 test files matched the specified pattern.

Passed!  - Failed:     0, Passed:     100, Skipped:     0, Total:     100, Duration: 59 s - PlaywrightTestsNUnit.dll (net7.0)

Workload updates are available. Run `dotnet workload list` for more information.

Optimize parallel worker configuration

Once your tests are running smoothly with the service, experiment with varying the number of parallel workers to determine the optimal configuration that minimizes test completion time.

With Playwright Workspaces, you can run with up to 50 parallel workers. Several factors influence the best configuration for your project, such as the CPU, memory, and network resources of your client machine, the target application's load-handling capacity, and the type of actions carried out in your tests.

Learn more about how to determine the optimal configuration for optimizing test suite completion.

Next step

You've successfully created a Playwright workspace in the Azure portal and run your Playwright tests on cloud browsers.

Advance to the next quickstart to set up continuous end-to-end testing by running your Playwright tests in your CI/CD workflow.