Replace Selenium with Playwright by Vansh1419 · Pull Request #79 · django/django-docker-box

Vansh1419 · 2026-08-23T16:20:59Z

Summary

Replaces Selenium with Playwright for running Django's user interface tests.

Changes

docker-compose.yml:
- Replaced the x-selenium-base anchor with x-playwright-base
  (image: mcr.microsoft.com/playwright)
- Removed selenium-hub service and its port mapping — Playwright
  has no hub/grid model, so there's no direct equivalent
- Replaced selenium-chrome / selenium-edge / selenium-firefox
  with playwright-chrome / playwright-edge / playwright-firefox
- chrome, edge, firefox command services keep their names,
  now depend on the corresponding playwright-* service instead
  of the hub
- Updated entrypoint flags from --selenium=<browser> --selenium-hub=http://selenium-hub:4444/wd/hub to
  --playwright=<browser>
README.md: updated references to Selenium (Highlights section,
User Interface Tests section, Other Versions section) to Playwright

Notes

No specific Playwright image version was pinned (matches prior
behavior of always using the latest Selenium tag)
The --playwright=<browser> flag assumes runtests.py will support
this option — will need to be confirmed/implemented on the Django
side since entrypoint.bash just forwards args
The link [8] in the README still points to Django's own docs page
titled "Running the Selenium tests" (external URL, unchanged)

Closes : #78

…infrastructure

varunkasyap

Thanks for picking this. Could you please verify that you are able to run Playwright tests after changes?

varunkasyap · 2026-08-25T11:15:04Z

 regressions, the `--screenshots` flag can be passed.

-More information about [running the Selenium tests][8] for Django can be found
+More information about [running the Playground tests][8] for Django can be found


I believe this is a typo

Suggested change

More information about [running the Playground tests][8] for Django can be found

More information about [running the Playwright tests][8] for Django can be found

I think reference hyperlink should be available from Django 6.2 onwards in https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/stable/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests/#running-the-playwright-tests

varunkasyap · 2026-08-25T11:18:44Z

      /django/entrypoint.bash
-      --selenium=edge
-      --selenium-hub=http://selenium-hub:4444/wd/hub
+      --playwright=edge


only these browsers are available

--playwright=chromium,firefox,webkit

we no longer have edge

varunkasyap · 2026-08-25T11:19:27Z

    working_dir: /django/source/docs
    environment:
-      BUILDDIR: /django/output/docs
+      BUILDDIR: /django/output/docs


new line at the end

Suggested change

BUILDDIR: /django/output/docs

BUILDDIR: /django/output/docs

varunkasyap · 2026-08-25T11:20:50Z


-x-selenium-base: &selenium-base
+x-playwright-base: &playwright-base
+  image: mcr.microsoft.com/playwright


this is Node.js image i think

its not only node image it has multiple things inside:

Node.js runtime

Playwright library pre-installed

Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit browsers already downloaded

All the OS-level dependencies those browsers need (fonts, codecs, etc.)

not sure, why nodejs based image for a python project

because this is necessay for playwright environment to get setup in our system to perform the test. Its just nodejs runtime

varunkasyap · 2026-08-25T11:23:02Z

 - :test\_tube: Test supported core database backends — MariaDB, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, SQLite
 - :earth\_africa: Test supported core geospatial backends — MariaDB, MySQL, Oracle, PostGIS, SpatiaLite
- :globe\_with\_meridians: Test user interfaces in different browsers using Selenium — Chrome, Edge, Firefox
+- :globe\_with\_meridians: Test user interfaces in different browsers using Playwright — Chrome, Edge, Firefox


Suggested change

- :globe\_with\_meridians: Test user interfaces in different browsers using Playwright — Chrome, Edge, Firefox

- :globe\_with\_meridians: Test user interfaces in different browsers using Playwright — Chromium, Firefox, Webkit

Vansh1419 · 2026-08-26T08:24:46Z

Thanks @varunkasyap, for the suggestion. I will apply the suggested changes

…tion

varunkasyap · 2026-08-26T10:41:18Z

@Vansh1419 Could you please verify that you are able to run Playwright tests?

Vansh1419 · 2026-08-26T13:41:49Z

Hi @varunkasyap, I have made some changes the containerfile and compose.yml for playwright tests to work and out of all tests 2 tests are failing in case of chromium no testcase failed in case of firefox

======================================================================
FAIL: test_collapse_filter_with_unescaped_title (admin_changelist.tests.PlaywrightTests.test_collapse_filter_with_unescaped_title)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/django/source/tests/admin_changelist/tests.py", line 2185, in test_collapse_filter_with_unescaped_title
    ).not_to_have_attribute("open")
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.14/site-packages/playwright/sync_api/_generated.py", line 22144, in not_to_have_attribute
    self._sync(
    ~~~~~~~~~~^
        self._impl_obj.not_to_have_attribute(
        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    ...<4 lines>...
        )
        ^
    )
    ^
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.14/site-packages/playwright/_impl/_sync_base.py", line 115, in _sync
    return task.result()
           ~~~~~~~~~~~^^
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.14/site-packages/playwright/_impl/_assertions.py", line 367, in not_to_have_attribute
    await self._not.to_have_attribute(
        name, value, ignoreCase=ignoreCase, timeout=timeout
    )
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.14/site-packages/playwright/_impl/_assertions.py", line 340, in to_have_attribute
    await self._expect_impl(
    ...<5 lines>...
    )
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.14/site-packages/playwright/_impl/_assertions.py", line 128, in _expect_impl
    _record_soft_or_raise(
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^
        AssertionError(
        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    ...<2 lines>...
        self._is_soft,
        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    )
    ^
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.14/site-packages/playwright/_impl/_assertions.py", line 60, in _record_soft_or_raise
    raise error
AssertionError: Locator expected not to have attribute
Actual value: attribute present 
Call log:
  - Expect "not_to_have_attribute" with timeout 5000ms
  - waiting for locator("[data-filter-title='It\\'s OK']")
    14 × locator resolved to <details open="" data-filter-title="It's OK">…</details>
       - unexpected value "attribute present"

Aria snapshot:
- group:
  - text: ↓ By It's OK
  - list

======================================================================
FAIL: test_collapse_filters (admin_changelist.tests.PlaywrightTests.test_collapse_filters)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/django/source/tests/admin_changelist/tests.py", line 2154, in test_collapse_filters
    ).not_to_have_attribute("open")
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.14/site-packages/playwright/sync_api/_generated.py", line 22144, in not_to_have_attribute
    self._sync(
    ~~~~~~~~~~^
        self._impl_obj.not_to_have_attribute(
        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    ...<4 lines>...
        )
        ^
    )
    ^
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.14/site-packages/playwright/_impl/_sync_base.py", line 115, in _sync
    return task.result()
           ~~~~~~~~~~~^^
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.14/site-packages/playwright/_impl/_assertions.py", line 367, in not_to_have_attribute
    await self._not.to_have_attribute(
        name, value, ignoreCase=ignoreCase, timeout=timeout
    )
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.14/site-packages/playwright/_impl/_assertions.py", line 340, in to_have_attribute
    await self._expect_impl(
    ...<5 lines>...
    )
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.14/site-packages/playwright/_impl/_assertions.py", line 128, in _expect_impl
    _record_soft_or_raise(
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^
        AssertionError(
        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    ...<2 lines>...
        self._is_soft,
        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    )
    ^
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.14/site-packages/playwright/_impl/_assertions.py", line 60, in _record_soft_or_raise
    raise error
AssertionError: Locator expected not to have attribute
Actual value: attribute present 
Call log:
  - Expect "not_to_have_attribute" with timeout 5000ms
  - waiting for locator("[data-filter-title='superuser status']")
    14 × locator resolved to <details open="" data-filter-title="superuser status">…</details>
       - unexpected value "attribute present"

Aria snapshot:
- group:
  - text: ↓ By superuser status
  - list

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 107 tests in 91.132s

FAILED (failures=2)

I have added the failed tests

could u suggest me where i am doing wrong

…and fix documentation typo

varunkasyap · 2026-08-26T16:11:51Z

out of all tests 2 tests are failing
could u suggest me where i am doing wrong

i dont know, but, you may not need to think about failing tests.

varunkasyap · 2026-08-26T16:15:36Z

-      --selenium=chrome
-      --selenium-hub=http://selenium-hub:4444/wd/hub
+      --playwright=chromium
+      --parallel=1


i see this was not there earlier🤔
--parallel=1

yeah i have added this because i am getting a error while running the docker. I have 2 option

Is to use --parallel=1 everytime running docker

is to add in the compose .yml

so i have gone for the 2nd option so person running for the first time won't bother about it

We should not hardcode that.
please refer https://github.com/django/django/blob/main/tests/runtests.py#L738-L746

Okay @varunkasyap, i will add this reference in the readme.md

👍
for your understanding, parallelism is not supported in spawn and forkserver start methods. but, for systems which do not fall in this category can run parallelly.

thanks @varunkasyap, for clarification i have added these and already made a commit

varunkasyap · 2026-08-26T16:16:35Z

 [7]: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/stable/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests/#running-the-unit-tests
-[8]: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/stable/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests/#running-the-selenium-tests
-[9]: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/stable/ref/contrib/gis/testing/#geodjango-tests
+[9]: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/stable/ref/contrib/gis/testing/#geodjango-tests


8th link is missing

Because there is no dedicated reference link available for playwright testing in djangoproject

I'm not sure which one to use

https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests/#running-the-playwright-tests

stable will be available after 6.2
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/stable/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests/#running-the-playwright-tests

Exactly thats why i havn't put any of these.

Could we put both of them in this case or for now we add reference to the stable one

Vansh1419 · 2026-08-26T16:16:43Z

In that case @varunkasyap, the tests are working fine in all three chromium, firefox and webkit

…umentation link

Vansh1419 · 2026-08-26T18:24:45Z

hi @varunkasyap, I have update the readme to add 8 link with its reference to stable one and removed --parallel=1 from compose.yml as suggested

varunkasyap · 2026-08-27T09:21:35Z


-x-selenium-base: &selenium-base
+x-playwright-base: &playwright-base
+  image: mcr.microsoft.com/playwright


I see an issue. The browsers come along with PW Docker image, and you're also running playwright install --with-deps chromium firefox webkit. 🤔

yeah i got it, by doing so it becoming retundent

varunkasyap · 2026-08-27T09:53:37Z

are you able to run tests now?

Vansh1419 · 2026-08-27T10:10:28Z

are you able to run tests now?

Yes i am able to run the tests

…edge

varunkasyap · 2026-08-27T10:43:47Z

The sidecar is unused, and system without a cached browser will get this.

BrowserType.launch: Executable doesn't exist
╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ Looks like Playwright was just installed or updated.       ║
║ Please run the following command to download new browsers: ║
║                                                            ║
║     playwright install                                     ║
║                                                            ║
║ <3 Playwright Team                                         ║
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

vansh1003 · 2026-08-27T16:33:17Z

The sidecar is unused, and system without a cached browser will get this.

BrowserType.launch: Executable doesn't exist
╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ Looks like Playwright was just installed or updated.       ║
║ Please run the following command to download new browsers: ║
║                                                            ║
║     playwright install                                     ║
║                                                            ║
║ <3 Playwright Team                                         ║
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Hi @varunkasyap, could you tell me how can i recreate this error in my system. I had already uninstalled the playwright completely and after that is have tested it with this command

docker compose run --rm webkit --parallel=1

My tests run completely fine

vansh@vanshs-MacBook-Air django-docker-box % docker compose run --rm webkit --parallel=1
[+]  1/1t 1/1
 ✔ Container django-docker-box-playwright-webkit-1 Started                                                                             0.0s
Container django-docker-box-webkit-run-bff21bb97dba Creating 
Container django-docker-box-webkit-run-bff21bb97dba Created 
Testing against Django installed in '/django/source/django'
Found 107 test(s).
Creating test database for alias 'default'...
System check identified no issues (46 silenced).
................................ssss.......................................................................
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 107 tests in 86.763s

OK (skipped=4)
Destroying test database for alias 'default'...

varunkasyap · 2026-08-27T16:43:11Z

Hi,
If you are only deleting playwright python package, the browser binaries may stay. Could you please try deleting the browser binaries and previous docker images as well?

varunkasyap · 2026-08-27T18:33:46Z

refactor: replace Selenium with Playwright for browser-based testing …

0142811

…infrastructure

varunkasyap suggested changes Aug 25, 2026

View reviewed changes

refactor: remove Edge support and update Playwright browser documenta…

7933c9c

…tion

fix: correct Playwright configurations, update browser installation, …

ab4794f

…and fix documentation typo

Vansh1419 force-pushed the replace-selenium-with-playwright branch from ffd08a4 to ab4794f Compare August 26, 2026 14:26

varunkasyap reviewed Aug 26, 2026

View reviewed changes

chore: remove parallel test flag from playwright services and add doc…

92ccd7f

…umentation link

Vansh1419 requested a review from varunkasyap August 26, 2026 18:25

varunkasyap reviewed Aug 27, 2026

View reviewed changes

chore: remove unused playwright browser installation from Containerfile

04f73d7

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docs: update docker compose command example to use webkit instead of …

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…edge

jacobtylerwalls mentioned this pull request Sep 4, 2026

Fixed #37154, #37149 -- Switched from Selenium to Playwright for integration testing. django/django#21596

Merged

	More information about [running the Playground tests][8] for Django can be found
	More information about [running the Playwright tests][8] for Django can be found

	- :globe\_with\_meridians: Test user interfaces in different browsers using Playwright — Chrome, Edge, Firefox
	- :globe\_with\_meridians: Test user interfaces in different browsers using Playwright — Chromium, Firefox, Webkit

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Vansh1419 commented Aug 23, 2026

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