[Feature]: Set process.env.PLAYWRIGHT = 'true' in Playwright processes incl. webServer processes #37377
Description
🚀 Feature Request
Projects often branch behavior for Playwright tests (eg. disable reCAPTCHA, stub external 3rd party integrations).
Today this requires manually wiring an env var in multiple places: test workers, UI mode, each webServer command, framework dev server, and build scripts (duplication, brittle, easy to miss an environment):
playwright.config.ts
import { PlaywrightTestConfig } from '@playwright/test';
const config: PlaywrightTestConfig = {
webServer: [
{
command: 'pnpm website build && pnpm website start',
env: {
PLAYWRIGHT: 'true',
},
port: 3000,
stdout: 'pipe',
},
{
command: 'pnpm api build && pnpm api start',
env: {
PLAYWRIGHT: 'true',
},
port: 3010,
stdout: 'pipe',
},
],package.json
{
"scripts": {
"test": "PLAYWRIGHT=true pnpm playwright test --ui"
}
}Playwright could set process.env.PLAYWRIGHT = 'true' by default, similar to Prior Art below
Prior Art
- Vitest setting
process.env.VITEST = 'true'by default - GitHub Actions setting
process.env.GITHUB_ACTIONS = 'true'
Example
In runtime code or build configuration, process.env.PLAYWRIGHT could be used to gate behavior to avoid testing external services or provide mocks:
api/routes/signup.ts
if (!process.env.PLAYWRIGHT) {
const success = await verifyRecaptcha(form.json.recaptchaToken);webpack.config.ts
import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
import type { Configuration } from 'webpack';
const config: Configuration = {
resolve: {
alias: {
'@sendgrid/mail':
process.env.PLAYWRIGHT === 'true'
? fileURLToPath(new URL('./test/mocks/sendgrid-stub.ts', import.meta.url))
: '@sendgrid/mail',Can also be forwarded + inlined in bundled frontend code via webpack's DefinePlugin or similar:
webpack.config.ts
import { type Configuration, DefinePlugin } from 'webpack';
const config: Configuration = {
plugins: [
new DefinePlugin({
'process.env.PLAYWRIGHT': JSON.stringify(process.env.PLAYWRIGHT),
}),Motivation
Described in Feature Request above