Configuring Your Playwright Tests

saucectl relies on a YAML specification file to determine exactly which tests to run and how to run them. To customize saucectl to run your Playwright tests, simply modify the properties of the YAML file accordingly. This page defines each of the configuration properties specific to running Playwright tests.

Setting an Alternative Configuration File

By default, saucectl looks for the config.yml file in the .sauce folder of your project root, but you can actually specify a different file, or if you are using multiple frameworks or need to configure different sets of tests to run separately, you may choose to have multiple configuration files that you can direct saucectl to reference as necessary.

Use the following configuration at runtime to direct saucectl to use any configuration file you choose:

saucectl run -c ./path/to/{config-file}.yml

YAML Required

While you can use multiple files of different names or locations to specify your configurations, each file must be a *.yml and follow the saucectl syntax. Our IDE Integrations (e.g., Visual Studio Code) can help you out by validating the YAML files and provide handy suggestions, so make sure to check them out!

Example Configuration

.sauce/config.yml

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See full example on GitHub

Each of the properties supported for running Playwright tests through saucectl is defined below.

`apiVersion`

| REQUIRED | STRING |

Identifies the version of the underlying configuration schema. At this time, v1alpha is the only supported value.

apiVersion: v1alpha

`kind`

| REQUIRED | STRING/ENUM |

Specifies which framework is associated with the automation tests configured in this specification.

kind: playwright

`showConsoleLog`

| OPTIONAL | BOOLEAN |

Controls whether the contents of console.log are always shown in the local output of saucectl. By default (false), console.log is only shown for failed suites.

showConsoleLog: true

`defaults`

| OPTIONAL | OBJECT |

Specifies any default settings for the project.

defaults:
  timeout: 15m

`timeout`

| OPTIONAL | DURATION |

Instructs how long (in ms, s, m, or h) saucectl should wait for each suite to complete. You can override this setting for individual suites using the timeout setting within the suites object. If not set, the default value is 0 (unlimited).

defaults:
  timeout: 15m

`sauce`

| OPTIONAL | OBJECT |

The parent property containing all settings related to how tests are run and identified in the Sauce Labs platform.

sauce:
  region: eu-central-1
  metadata:
    tags:
      - e2e
      - release team
      - other tag
    build: Release $CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA
  concurrency: 10

`region`

| OPTIONAL | STRING/ENUM |

Specifies through which Sauce Labs data center tests will run. Valid values are: us-west-1 or eu-central-1.

note

If you do not specify a region in your config file, you must set it when running your command with the --region flag.

sauce:
  region: eu-central-1

`metadata`

| OPTIONAL | OBJECT |

The set of properties that allows you to provide additional information about your project that helps you distinguish it in the various environments in which it is used and reviewed, and also helps you apply filters to easily isolate tests based on metrics that are meaningful to you, as shown in the following example:

sauce:
  metadata:
    build: RC 10.4.a
    tags:
      - e2e
      - release team
      - beta
      - featurex

`concurrency`

| OPTIONAL | INTEGER |

Sets the maximum number of suites to execute at the same time. If the test defines more suites than the max, excess suites are queued and run in order as each suite completes.

caution

For tests running on Sauce, set this value to equal or less than your Sauce concurrency allowance, as setting a higher value may result in jobs dropped by the server.

sauce:
  concurrency: 5

Alternatively, you can override the file setting at runtime by setting the concurrency flag as an inline parameter of the saucectl run command:

saucectl run --ccy 5

`retries`

| OPTIONAL | INTEGER |

Sets the number of times to retry a failed suite. For more settings, you can refer to passThreshold.

sauce:
  retries: 1

Alternatively, you can override the file setting at runtime by setting the retries flag as an inline parameter of the saucectl run command:

saucectl run --retries 1

`tunnel`

| OPTIONAL | OBJECT |

saucectl supports using Sauce Connect to establish a secure connection with Sauce Labs. To do so, launch a tunnel; then provide the name and owner (if applicable) in this property.

sauce:
  tunnel:
    name: your_tunnel_name
    owner: tunnel_owner_username

caution

Only certain HTTP(S) ports are proxied by the tunnel.

`name`

| OPTIONAL | STRING |

Identifies an active Sauce Connect tunnel to use for secure connectivity to the Sauce Labs cloud.

note

This property replaces the former id property, which is deprecated.

sauce:
  tunnel:
    name: your_tunnel_name

`owner`

| OPTIONAL | STRING |

Identifies the Sauce Labs user who created the specified tunnel, which is required if the user running the tests did not create the tunnel.

note

This property replaces the former parent property, which is deprecated.

sauce:
  tunnel:
    name: your_tunnel_name
    owner: tunnel_owner_username

`timeout`

| OPTIONAL | DURATION |

How long to wait for the specified tunnel to be ready. Supports duration values like '10s', '30m' etc. (default: 30s)

sauce:
  tunnel:
    name: your_tunnel_name
    timeout: 30s

`visibility`

| OPTIONAL | STRING |

Sets the visibility level of test results for suites run on Sauce Labs. If unspecified or empty, team visibility will be applied. Valid values are:

public: Accessible to everyone.
public restricted: Share your job's results page and video, but keeps the logs only for you.
share: Only accessible to people with a valid link.
team: (Default) Only accessible to people under the same root account as you.
private: Only you (the owner) will be able to view assets and test results page.

sauce:
  visibility: private

`launchOrder`

| OPTIONAL | STRING |

Specifies the execution order for your test suites. When set to fail rate, test suites with the highest failure rate will execute first. If unspecified, test suites will execute in the order in which they are written in the configuration file.

sauce:
  launchOrder: fail rate

`env`

| OPTIONAL | OBJECT |

A property containing one or more environment variables that are global for all tests suites in this configuration. Values set in this global property will overwrite values set for the same environment variables set at the suite level.

env:
  hello: world
  my_var: $MY_VAR  # You can also pass through existing environment variables through parameter expansion

note

Environment variables set with the saucectl --env flag will overwrite those specified in the sauce config file.

The order of precedence is as follows: --env flag > root-level environment variables > suite-level environment variables.

`rootDir`

| REQUIRED | OBJECT |

The directory of files that need to be bundled and uploaded for the tests to run. Ignores what is specified in .sauceignore. See Tailoring Your Test File Bundle for more details. The following examples show the different relative options for setting this value.

rootDir: "./" # Use the current directory

rootDir: "packages/subpackage" # Some other package from within a monorepo

caution

Only the files contained within rootDir will be available during the tests. Any reference to a file that is not included in rootDir will make the tests fail.

`npm`

| OPTIONAL | OBJECT |

A parent property specifying the configuration details for any npm dependencies. Packages listed are installed in the environment prior to your tests executing.

npm:
  registry: https://registry.npmjs.org
  registries:
    - url: https://registry.npmjs.org
  packages:
    "lodash": "4.17.20"

`registry`

| OPTIONAL | STRING |

note

This setting is supported up to Playwright 1.35.1. For newer versions, use registries.

Specifies the location of the npm registry source. If the registry source is a private address and you are running tests on Sauce Cloud, you can provide access to the registry source using Sauce Connect.

npm:
  registry: https://registry.npmjs.org

`registries`

| OPTIONAL | ARRAY |

Specifies the location of the npm registry, scope, and credentials. Only one scopeless registry is allowed. If the registry is inside a private network, you must establish a tunnel using Sauce Connect.

npm:
  registries:
    - url: https://registry.npmjs.org
    - url: https://private.registry.company.org
      scope: "@company"
      authToken: secretToken

`url`

Specifies the URL of the npm registry.

| REQUIRED | STRING |

npm:
  registries:
    - url: https://registry.npmjs.org

`scope`

Specifies which scope is associated with this registry. See Associating a scope with a registry.

| OPTIONAL | STRING |

npm:
  registries:
    - url: https://registry.npmjs.org
      scope: "@company"

`authToken`

Specifies the authentication token to be used with this registry.

| OPTIONAL | STRING |

npm:
  registries:
    - url: https://registry.npmjs.org
      authToken: secretToken

`packages`

| OPTIONAL | OBJECT |

Specifies any npm packages that are required to run tests and should, therefore, be installed on the Sauce Labs VM. See Including Node Dependencies.

npm:
  packages:
    "lodash": "4.17.20"

caution

Do not use dependencies and packages at the same time.

`dependencies`

| OPTIONAL | ARRAY |

Specifies any npm packages that are required to run tests and should, therefore, be included in the bundle. Unlike packages, which installs dependencies on the VM, the dependencies specified here have to be already installed in the local node_modules folder. These dependencies, along with any related transitive dependencies, are then included in the bundle that is uploaded to Sauce Labs.

If you have already been including node_modules in your bundle, then this feature will help you speed up your tests by reducing the amount of files in the bundle. A smaller bundle will upload and extract faster, which speeds up the setup on the VM, facilitating a faster test feedback cycle.

Take note that the syntax is different from packages. It's a simple list of dependencies, without the need to specify the version.

npm:
  dependencies:
    - lodash

To use this feature, make sure that node_modules is not ignored via .sauceignore.

caution

This feature is highly experimental.

caution

Do not use dependencies and packages at the same time.

`reporters`

| OPTIONAL | OBJECT |

Configures additional reporting capabilities provided by saucectl.

reporters:
  junit:
    enabled: true
    filename: saucectl-report.xml

`spotlight`

| OPTIONAL | OBJECT |

The spotlight reporter highlights failed or otherwise interesting jobs. It may include an excerpt of failed tests or other information that may be useful for troubleshooting.

reporters:
  spotlight:
    enabled: true

`junit`

| OPTIONAL | OBJECT |

The JUnit reporter gathers JUnit reports from all jobs and combines them into a single report.

reporters:
  junit:
    enabled: true
    filename: saucectl-report.xml

`json`

| OPTIONAL | OBJECT |

The JSON reporter gathers test results from all jobs and combines them into a single report.

reporters:
  json:
    enabled: true
    filename: saucectl-report.json
    webhookURL: https://my-webhook-url

`enabled`

| OPTIONAL | BOOLEAN |

Toggles the reporter on/off.

reporters:
  json:
    enabled: true

`webhookURL`

| OPTIONAL | STRING |

Specifies the webhook URL. When saucectl test is finished, it'll send an HTTP POST with a JSON payload to the configured webhook URL.

reporters:
  json:
    enabled: true
    webhookURL: https://my-webhook-url

`filename`

| OPTIONAL | STRING |

Specifies the report filename. Defaults to "saucectl-report.json".

reporters:
  json:
    enabled: true
    filename: my-saucectl-report.json

`artifacts`

| OPTIONAL | OBJECT |

Specifies how to manage test artifacts, such as logs, videos, and screenshots.

artifacts:
  cleanup: true
  download:
    when: always
    match:
      - junit.xml
    directory: ./artifacts/

`cleanup`

| OPTIONAL | BOOLEAN |

When set to true, all contents of the specified download directory are cleared before any new artifacts from the current test are downloaded.

artifacts:
  cleanup: true

`download`

| OPTIONAL | OBJECT |

Specifies the settings related to downloading artifacts from tests run by saucectl.

artifacts:
  download:
    when: always
    match:
      - junit.xml
    directory: ./artifacts/

`when`

| OPTIONAL | STRING |

Specifies when and under what circumstances to download artifacts. Valid values are:

always: Always download artifacts.
never: Never download artifacts.
pass: Download artifacts for passing suites only.
fail: Download artifacts for failed suites only.

artifacts:
  download:
    when: always

`match`

| OPTIONAL | STRING/ARRAY |

Specifies which artifacts to download based on whether they match the name or file type pattern provided. Supports the wildcard character * (use quotes for best parsing results with wildcard).

artifacts:
  download:
    match:
      - junit.xml
      - "*.log"

`directory`

| OPTIONAL | STRING |

Specifies the path to the folder location in which to download artifacts. A separate subdirectory is generated in this location for each suite for which artifacts are downloaded. The name of the subdirectory will match the suite name. If a directory with the same name already exists, the new one will be suffixed by a serial number.

artifacts:
  download:
    directory: ./artifacts/

`playwright`

| REQUIRED | OBJECT |

The parent property containing the details specific to the Playwright project.

playwright:
  version: 1.36.2
  configFile: config.ts

`version`

| REQUIRED | STRING |

The version of Playwright that is compatible with the tests defined in this file. See Supported Testing Platforms for the list of Playwright versions supported by saucectl and their compatible test platforms.

playwright:
  version: 1.36.2

tip

You can also define a path to your package.json. This will make saucectl use the same Playwright version that's defined in your projects devDependencies or dependencies map.

The path to your package.json file will be relative to the rootDir of your configuration.

`configFile`

| OPTIONAL | STRING |

The path (relative to rootDir) to your Playwright configuration file. saucectl determines related files based on the location of this config file. Supports both TypeScript and JavaScript files. If it's not set, saucectl defaults to playwright.config.ts or playwright.config.js.

playwright:
  configFile: config.ts

`suites`

| REQUIRED | OBJECT |

The set of properties providing details about the test suites to run. May contain multiple suite definitions. See the full example config for an illustration of multiple suite definitions.

`name`

| REQUIRED | STRING |

The name of the test suite, which will be reflected in the results and related artifacts.

suites:
  - name: "saucy test"

`env`

| OPTIONAL | OBJECT |

A property containing one or more environment variables that may be referenced in the tests for this suite. Expanded environment variables are supported. Values set here will be overwritten by values set in the global env property.

suites:
  - name: "saucy test"
    env:
      hello: world
      my_var: $MY_VAR

`platformName`

| OPTIONAL | STRING |

A specific operating system and version on which to run the specified browser and test suite. Defaults to a platform that is supported by saucectl for the chosen browser.

suites:
  - name: "saucy test"
    platformName: "Windows 10"

`screenResolution`

| OPTIONAL | STRING |

Specifies a browser window screen resolution, which may be useful if you are attempting to simulate a browser on a particular device type. See Test Configurations for a list of available resolution values.

suites:
  - name: "saucy test"
    screenResolution: "1920x1080"

`testMatch`

| REQUIRED | STRING/ARRAY |

One or more paths to the Playwright test files to run for this suite. Regex values are supported to indicate all files of a certain type or in a certain directory, etc.

suites:
  - name: "saucy test"
    testMatch: ["**/*.js"]

`excludedTestFiles`

| OPTIONAL | ARRAY |

Excludes test files to skip the tests. You can use regex values to indicate all files that match a specific value, such as a file name, type, or directory.

suites:
  - name: "saucy test"
    excludedTestFiles: ["**/*.js"]

`numShards`

| OPTIONAL | INTEGER | Playwright version >= 1.12 |

Sets the number of separate shards to create for the test suite. Read more about shard tests on the Playwright developer site.

When sharding is configured, saucectl automatically creates the sharded jobs based on the number of shards you specify. For example, for a suite that specifies 2 shards, saucectl clones the suite and runs shard 1/2 on the first suite, and the other shard 2/2 on the identical clone suite.

Shard Property Exclusivity

The numShards and shard properties are mutually exclusive within each suite. If you have values for both in a single suite, the test will fail and terminate. You can, however, vary shard settings across different suites.

suites:
  - name: "saucy test"
    numShards: 2

`shard`

| OPTIONAL | STRING |

When sharding is configured, saucectl automatically splits the tests (e.g., by spec or concurrency) so that they can easily run in parallel. For sharding by concurrency, saucectl splits test files into several groups (the number of groups is determined by the concurrency setting). Each group will then run as an individual job.

Selectable values: spec to shard by spec file, concurrency to shard by concurrency. Remove this field or leave it empty "" for no sharding.

suites:
  - name: 'I am sharded'
    shard: spec

tip

To split tests in the most efficient way possible, use:

spec when the number of specs is less than the configured concurrency.
concurrency when the number of specs is larger than the configured concurrency.

Shard Property Exclusivity

`shardGrepEnabled`

| OPTIONAL | BOOLEAN |

When sharding is configured and used in conjunction with grep/grepInvert, some spec files may be allocated to VMs, just to be skipped by Playwright in accordance with the grep/grepInvert filters, thus wasting VM allocations.

With shardGrepEnabled: true, saucectl will ensure that every spec to be allocated contains at least one test matching the grep/grepInvert filters.

tip

Filtering relies on the value set for grep and grepInvert.

grep to match with test name or filename.
grepInvert to exclude any match with name or filename.

suites:
  - name: "I am sharded"
    shard: spec
    shardGrepEnabled: true
    params:
      grep: "@smoke"
      grepInvert: "@slow"

`params`

| OPTIONAL | OBJECT |

A parent property that details any additional parameters you wish to set for the test suite.

suites:
  - name: "saucy test"
    params:
      browserName: "firefox"
      headless: true
      slowMo: 1000
      project: "project name"
      grep: "should include"
      grepInvert: "should exclude"

`browserName`

| OPTIONAL | STRING |

The name of the browser in which to run this test suite. Available browser names: chromium, firefox, webkit, and chrome.

suites:
  - name: "saucy test"
    browserName: "firefox"

note

chromium, firefox, and webkit are bundled with Playwright. chrome is provided by the sauce VM. For more information, see Playwright Browsers.

`headless`

| OPTIONAL | BOOLEAN |

Determines whether to run the test suite in headless mode.

suites:
  - name: "saucy test"
    headless: true

`sloMo`

| OPTIONAL | INTEGER |

Allows you to alter the test execution speed for the test suite in milliseconds, to simulate different network connectivity or other conditions that may impact load times.

suites:
  - name: "saucy test"
    sloMo: 1000

`project`

| OPTIONAL | STRING |

Allows you to apply the configurations from your Playwright project to the suite.

note

saucectl browserName overrides the Playwright project browserName in the event of a conflict.

suites:
  - name: "saucy test"
    project: "project name"

`grep`

| OPTIONAL | STRING |

Patterns to run tests based on their title.

suites:
  - name: "saucy test"
    grep: "should include"

`grepInvert`

| OPTIONAL | STRING |

Patterns to skip tests based on their title.

suites:
  - name: "saucy test"
    grepInvert: "should exclude"

`updateSnapshots`

| OPTIONAL | BOOLEAN |

Determines whether to update snapshots with the actual results produced by the test run. Playwright tests support visual comparisons.

suites:
  - name: "saucy test"
    updateSnapshots: true

To run a test with saucectl:

Use the following config to download the baseline screenshots generated in the first run. The baseline screenshots can be found in the artifacts folder and are named example-test-1-actual.png.

artifacts:
  download:
    when: always
    match:
      - console.log
      - "*.png" // this will download the new baseline screenshots

Create a snapshot folder for the test file (e.g., tests/example.test.js).

$ mkdir tests/example.test.js-snapshots

Move the downloaded baseline screenshots to the snapshots folder. These screenshots will be accessible to Playwright in the next test run.

$ mv artifacts/{your-suite-name}/example-test-1-actual.png tests/example.test.js-snapshots/

Set updateSnapshots to true. Playwright will continue to update the baseline screenshots.

suites:
  - name: "saucy test"
    updateSnapshots: true

`timeout`

| OPTIONAL | DURATION |

Instructs how long saucectl should wait for the suite to complete, overriding the default project timeout setting of 30 minutes.

When the suite reaches the timeout limit, its status is set to '?' in the CLI. This does not reflect the actual status of the job in the Sauce Labs web UI or API.

note

Setting 0 reverts to the value set in defaults.

suites:
  - name: "saucy test"
    timeout: 15m

`preExec`

| OPTIONAL | STRING/ARRAY |

Specifies which commands needs to be executed before the tests are actually started. The commands are executed from the root directory of your project.

note

There is a 300-second limit for all preExec commands to complete.

suites:
  - name: "saucy test"
    preExec:
      - node ./scripts/pre-execution-script.js

`timeZone`

| OPTIONAL | STRING |

Allows you to set a custom time zone for your test based on a city name. Most major cities are supported.

suites:
  - name: "saucy test"
    timeZone: New_York

`passThreshold`

| OPTIONAL | INTEGER |

Specifies the minimum number of successful attempts for a suite to be considered as passed. It should be used along with retries.

note

For example, setting retries to 3 and passThreshold to 2. The max attempt would be 4 times. If the test passed twice, it'd stop and be marked as passed. Otherwise, it'd be marked as failed.

sauce:
  retries: 3
suite:
  - name: My Saucy Test
    passThreshold: 2

`smartRetry`

| OPTIONAL | OBJECT |

Specifies the retry strategy to apply for that suite. Requires retries to be >= 1.

sauce:
  retries: 3
suite:
  - name: My Saucy Test
    smartRetry:
      failedOnly: true

`failedOnly`

| OPTIONAL | BOOLEAN |

When set to true, only the tests that failed during the previous attempt are retried.

suite:
  - name: My Saucy Test
    smartRetry:
      failedOnly: true

Setting an Alternative Configuration File​

Example Configuration​

apiVersion​

kind​

showConsoleLog​

defaults​

timeout​

sauce​

region​

metadata​

concurrency​

retries​

tunnel​

name​

owner​

timeout​

visibility​

launchOrder​

env​

rootDir​

npm​

registry​

registries​

url​

scope​

authToken​

packages​

dependencies​

reporters​

spotlight​

junit​

json​

enabled​

webhookURL​

filename​

artifacts​

cleanup​

download​

when​

match​

directory​

playwright​

version​

configFile​

suites​

name​

env​

platformName​

screenResolution​

testMatch​

excludedTestFiles​

numShards​

shard​

shardGrepEnabled​

params​

browserName​

headless​

sloMo​

project​

grep​

grepInvert​

updateSnapshots​

timeout​

preExec​

timeZone​

passThreshold​

smartRetry​

failedOnly​

Setting an Alternative Configuration File

Example Configuration

`apiVersion`

`kind`

`showConsoleLog`

`defaults`

`timeout`

`sauce`

`region`

`metadata`

`concurrency`

`retries`

`tunnel`

`name`

`owner`

`timeout`

`visibility`

`launchOrder`

`env`

`rootDir`

`npm`

`registry`

`registries`

`url`

`scope`

`authToken`

`packages`

`dependencies`

`reporters`

`spotlight`

`junit`

`json`

`enabled`

`webhookURL`

`filename`

`artifacts`

`cleanup`

`download`

`when`

`match`

`directory`

`playwright`

`version`

`configFile`

`suites`

`name`

`env`

`platformName`

`screenResolution`

`testMatch`

`excludedTestFiles`

`numShards`

`shard`

`shardGrepEnabled`

`params`

`browserName`

`headless`

`sloMo`

`project`

`grep`

`grepInvert`

`updateSnapshots`

`timeout`

`preExec`

`timeZone`

`passThreshold`

`smartRetry`

`failedOnly`