[BUG] Unable to live debug and fix a failing playwright test that uses setup/teardown projects

[kirksl]

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System info

• Playwright Version: 1.38.1
• Operating System: All
• Browser: All
• Other info: See readme.md in linked-to source code for full details of issue

Source code

• [x] I provided exact source code that allows reproducing the issue locally.

Link to the GitHub repository with the repro

https://github.com/kirksl/playwright

Steps

Prefacing what i'm trying below i'm also trying various combinations under VSCode's Select Configuration -> Default Profile in the Testing activity here without any difference in results selecting only chromium, chromium and global setup, etc.

First I try what she said here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJF7UhA59Gc&t=43s

• I open VSCode with Playwright Test for VSCode plugin installed
• Goto the Testing activity and check the box Show browser for Playwright
• Open a test that is failing example.spec.ts > test 2 and hit the play button for it in the gutter
• The global setup project runs, opens a browser, kills the browser
• The chromium project runs, opens a browser, runs the test, kills the browser
• The global teardown project runs, opens a browser, leaves browser open
• Global setup and teardown don't use the browser so it's just a blank page
• VSCode shows the test's error inline within the test, but because the browser for the test was killed I have no way to live debug and fix it

Second I try what she said here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJF7UhA59Gc&t=2m41s

• I open VSCode with Playwright Test for VSCode plugin installed
• Goto the Testing activity and check the box Show browser for Playwright
• Open a test that is failing example.spec.ts > test 2, set a breakpoint at line where test is failing, right-click play and hit debug test in the gutter
• The global setup project runs, opens a browser, kills the browser
• The chromium project runs, opens a browser, runs the test up to the breakpoint and pauses leaving the browser open
• In debug mode I hit the Step Over debug button to watch the failure occur in the test which kills the browser
• The global teardown project runs, opens a browser, leaves browser open
• Global setup and teardown don't use the browser so it's just a blank page
• VSCode shows the test's error inline within the test, but because the browser for the test was killed I have no way to live debug and fix it

Expected

• In both scenarios I want to do what she does here live editing the test to resolve the locator issue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJF7UhA59Gc&t=1m32s
• Referencing the test steps above when the test in the chromium project fails, I expect the browser for the chromium project to remain open so that I can live debug and fix the test as shown in the video

Actual

• The chromium project runs, opens a browser, runs the test, the test fails, kills the browser
• The global teardown project runs, opens a browser, leaves browser open, which is just a blank page in the browser
• VSCode shows the test's error inline within the test, but because the browser for the test was killed I have no way to live debug and fix it

[pavelfeldman]

Thank you for the detailed report. I can see that when I run the test from the setup and it fails, we run teardown test that has its own page, which closes the one you wanted to look at.

[pavelfeldman]

As a temporary workaround, you could skip your teardown:

teardown.skip('global teardown', async ({ page }) => {

[kirksl]

Thanks @pavelfeldman appreciate the response and the workaround.

Please let me know if you need anything else to further the investigation...

I think this live debug feature and interaction between the editor and the browser would be a great addition to UI Mode by the way

[pavelfeldman]

Btw, in the UI Mode you can use Locator tab as a playground for tuning the selectors. In UI Mode you can also uncheck "teardown" project while you are tuning your setup.

[AdrianoFerrari]

I'm having the same issue (sorry, can't make a repro right now). If I use https://playwright.dev/docs/test-global-setup-teardown#option-1-project-dependencies to setup/teardown, then in UI mode I only see:

• teardown (if it exists)
• setup (if there's no teardown)

I switched to "Option 2" using the globalSetup config option instead, and it works.

[pavelfeldman]

Why was this issue closed?

Thank you for your contribution to our project. This issue has been closed due to its limited upvotes and recent activity, and insufficient feedback for us to effectively act upon. Our priority is to focus on bugs that reflect higher user engagement and have actionable feedback, to ensure our bug database stays manageable.

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