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Configure visual comparisons with Playwright Workspaces

In this article, you learn how to properly configure Playwright's visual comparison tests when using Playwright Workspaces. Unexpected test failures may occur because Playwright's snapshots differ between local and remote browsers.

Background

The Playwright Test runner uses the host OS as a part of the expected screenshot path. If you're running tests using remote browsers on a different OS than your host machine, the visual comparison tests fail. Our recommendation is to only run visual comparisons when using the service. If you're taking screenshots on the service, there's no need to compare them to your local setup since they don't match.

Configure ignoreSnapshots

You can use the ignoreSnapshots option to only run visual comparisons when using Playwright Workspaces.

  1. Set ignoreSnapshots: true in the original playwright.config.ts that doesn't use the service.
  2. Set ignoreSnapshots: false in playwright.service.config.ts.

When you're using the service, its configuration overrides playwright.config.ts, and runs visual comparisons.

Configure the snapshot path

To configure snapshot paths for a particular project or the whole config, you can set snapshotPathTemplate option.

// This path is exactly like the default path, but replaces OS with hardcoded value that is used on the service (linux).
config.snapshotPathTemplate = '{snapshotDir}/{testFileDir}/{testFileName}-snapshots/{arg}{-projectName}-linux{ext}'

// This is an alternative path where you keep screenshots in a separate directory, one per service OS (linux in this case).
config.snapshotPathTemplate = '{testDir}/__screenshots__/{testFilePath}/linux/{arg}{ext}';

Example service config

Example service config that runs visual comparisons and configures the path for snapshotPathTemplate:

import { defineConfig } from '@playwright/test';
import { createAzurePlaywrightConfig, ServiceOS } from '@azure/playwright';
import { DefaultAzureCredential } from '@azure/identity';
import config from './playwright.config';

/* Learn more about service configuration at https://aka.ms/pww/docs/config */
export default defineConfig(
  config,
  createAzurePlaywrightConfig(config, {
    exposeNetwork: '<loopback>',
    connectTimeout: 30000,
    os: ServiceOS.LINUX,
    credential: new DefaultAzureCredential()
  }),
  {
    ignoreSnapshots: false,
    // Enable screenshot testing and configure directory with expectations. 
    snapshotPathTemplate: `{testDir}/__screenshots__/{testFilePath}/${ServiceOS.LINUX}/{arg}{ext}`,
  }
);

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