SurfSense/.cursor/skills/playwright-testing/infrastructure-ci-cd/gitlab.md

GitLab CI/CD Configuration

Table of Contents

1. Key Commands
2. Patterns
3. Decision Guide
4. Anti-Patterns
5. Troubleshooting

When to use: Running Playwright tests in GitLab pipelines on merge requests, merges to main, or scheduled pipelines.

Key Commands

npx playwright install --with-deps    # install browsers + OS deps
npx playwright test --shard=1/4       # run 1 of 4 parallel shards
npx playwright merge-reports ./blob-report  # merge shard results
npx playwright test --reporter=dot    # minimal output for CI logs

Patterns

Basic Pipeline Configuration

Use when: Any GitLab project with Playwright tests.

# .gitlab-ci.yml
image: mcr.microsoft.com/playwright:v1.48.0-noble

stages:
  - install
  - test
  - report

variables:
  CI: "true"
  npm_config_cache: "$CI_PROJECT_DIR/.npm"

cache:
  key:
    files:
      - package-lock.json
  paths:
    - .npm/
    - node_modules/

setup:
  stage: install
  script:
    - npm ci
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - node_modules/
    expire_in: 1 hour

e2e:
  stage: test
  needs: [setup]
  script:
    - npx playwright test
  artifacts:
    when: always
    paths:
      - playwright-report/
      - test-results/
    expire_in: 14 days
  rules:
    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH

Sharded Parallel Execution

Use when: Test suite exceeds 10 minutes. GitLab's parallel keyword splits across jobs automatically. Avoid when: Suite runs under 5 minutes.

image: mcr.microsoft.com/playwright:v1.48.0-noble

stages:
  - install
  - test
  - report

variables:
  CI: "true"
  npm_config_cache: "$CI_PROJECT_DIR/.npm"

cache:
  key:
    files:
      - package-lock.json
  paths:
    - .npm/
    - node_modules/

setup:
  stage: install
  script:
    - npm ci
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - node_modules/
    expire_in: 1 hour

e2e:
  stage: test
  needs: [setup]
  parallel: 4
  script:
    - npx playwright test --shard=$CI_NODE_INDEX/$CI_NODE_TOTAL
  artifacts:
    when: always
    paths:
      - blob-report/
    expire_in: 1 hour
  rules:
    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH

combine-reports:
  stage: report
  needs: [e2e]
  when: always
  script:
    - npx playwright merge-reports --reporter=html ./blob-report
  artifacts:
    when: always
    paths:
      - playwright-report/
    expire_in: 14 days

Config for sharded pipelines:

// playwright.config.ts
export default defineConfig({
  reporter: process.env.CI
    ? [["blob"], ["dot"]]
    : [["html", { open: "on-failure" }]],
});

Environment Variables and Secrets

Use when: Tests need secrets (API keys, passwords) and should only run on merge requests or the default branch.

image: mcr.microsoft.com/playwright:v1.48.0-noble

stages:
  - test

variables:
  CI: "true"

e2e:staging:
  stage: test
  variables:
    BASE_URL: $STAGING_URL
    TEST_PASSWORD: $TEST_PASSWORD
    API_KEY: $API_KEY
  before_script:
    - npm ci
  script:
    - npx playwright test
  artifacts:
    when: always
    paths:
      - playwright-report/
      - test-results/
    expire_in: 14 days
  rules:
    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH
    - when: manual
      allow_failure: true

Setting variables in GitLab: Navigate to Settings > CI/CD > Variables and add:

• STAGING_URL -- not masked, not protected
• TEST_PASSWORD -- masked, protected
• API_KEY -- masked, protected

Multi-Browser Matrix

Use when: Running Chromium on MRs and all browsers on the default branch.

image: mcr.microsoft.com/playwright:v1.48.0-noble

stages:
  - install
  - test

variables:
  CI: "true"

setup:
  stage: install
  script:
    - npm ci
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - node_modules/
    expire_in: 1 hour

e2e:chromium:
  stage: test
  needs: [setup]
  script:
    - npx playwright test --project=chromium
  artifacts:
    when: always
    paths:
      - playwright-report/
      - test-results/
    expire_in: 14 days
  rules:
    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"

e2e:all-browsers:
  stage: test
  needs: [setup]
  parallel:
    matrix:
      - PROJECT: [chromium, firefox, webkit]
  script:
    - npx playwright test --project=$PROJECT
  artifacts:
    when: always
    paths:
      - playwright-report/
      - test-results/
    expire_in: 14 days
  rules:
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH

Services Integration (Database, Cache)

Use when: Tests need the application running alongside Playwright, or you need external services.

stages:
  - test

e2e:integration:
  stage: test
  image: mcr.microsoft.com/playwright:v1.48.0-noble
  services:
    - name: postgres:latest
      alias: db
    - name: redis:latest
      alias: cache
  variables:
    CI: "true"
    DATABASE_URL: "postgresql://postgres:postgres@db:5432/testdb"
    REDIS_URL: "redis://cache:6379"
    POSTGRES_PASSWORD: "postgres"
    POSTGRES_DB: "testdb"
  before_script:
    - npm ci
    - npx prisma db push
    - npx prisma db seed
  script:
    - npx playwright test
  artifacts:
    when: always
    paths:
      - playwright-report/
      - test-results/
    expire_in: 14 days
  rules:
    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH

Scheduled Nightly Regression

Use when: Full regression is too slow for every MR.

e2e:nightly:
  stage: test
  image: mcr.microsoft.com/playwright:v1.48.0-noble
  before_script:
    - npm ci
  script:
    - npx playwright test --grep @regression
  artifacts:
    when: always
    paths:
      - playwright-report/
    expire_in: 30 days
  rules:
    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule"

Set up the schedule in CI/CD > Schedules: 0 3 * * 1-5 (3 AM UTC, weekdays).

Decision Guide

Scenario	Approach	Why
Simple project, < 5 min suite	Single test job using Playwright Docker image	No sharding overhead; artifacts capture report
Suite > 10 min	parallel: N with --shard	GitLab auto-assigns CI_NODE_INDEX/CI_NODE_TOTAL
Merge request fast feedback	Chromium only on MRs; all browsers on main	3x fewer pipeline minutes on MRs
External services needed (DB, Redis)	services: keyword with Postgres/Redis images	GitLab manages service lifecycle
Secrets for staging environment	GitLab CI/CD Variables (masked + protected)	Never hardcode secrets in .gitlab-ci.yml
Full nightly regression	Pipeline schedule (CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule")	Avoids blocking MR pipelines
Report browsing	artifacts: with paths: [playwright-report/]	Browse directly in GitLab job artifacts UI

Anti-Patterns

Anti-Pattern	Problem	Do This Instead
Not using the Playwright Docker image	Installing browsers every run adds 1-2 minutes	Use mcr.microsoft.com/playwright:v1.48.0-noble as base image
artifacts: when: on_failure only	No report when tests pass; can't verify results	Use when: always to capture reports regardless
No expire_in on artifacts	Artifacts accumulate and consume storage	Set expire_in: 14 days for reports, 1 hour for intermediate artifacts
Hardcoding CI_NODE_TOTAL in shard flag	Breaks when you change parallel: value	Use --shard=$CI_NODE_INDEX/$CI_NODE_TOTAL
Skipping needs: between stages	Jobs wait for all previous stage jobs, not just their dependencies	Use needs: for precise dependency graphs
Large cache: including node_modules/ without key	Stale cache causes version conflicts	Key cache on package-lock.json hash

Troubleshooting

Browser launch fails: "Failed to launch browser"

Cause: Not using the Playwright Docker image, or using a version that doesn't match your @playwright/test version.

Fix: Match the Docker image tag to your Playwright version:

# Check your version: npm ls @playwright/test
image: mcr.microsoft.com/playwright:v1.48.0-noble

Tests hang in GitLab runner: "Navigation timeout exceeded"

Cause: GitLab shared runners may have limited resources.

Fix: Reduce workers and increase timeouts:

export default defineConfig({
  workers: process.env.CI ? 2 : undefined,
  use: {
    navigationTimeout: process.env.CI ? 30_000 : 15_000,
  },
});

Pipeline runs on every push, not just merge requests

Cause: Missing rules: configuration.

Fix: Add explicit rules:

rules:
  - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"
  - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH

Services (Postgres/Redis) not reachable from tests

Cause: Using localhost instead of the service alias.

Fix: Use the service alias as hostname:

services:
  - name: postgres:latest
    alias: db

variables:
  DATABASE_URL: "postgresql://postgres:postgres@db:5432/testdb"

Merged report is empty after sharded run

Cause: Each shard job needs the blob reporter, not html.

Fix: Configure blob reporter for CI:

export default defineConfig({
  reporter: process.env.CI
    ? [["blob"], ["dot"]]
    : [["html", { open: "on-failure" }]],
});