Stably runs your existing Playwright tests. We don’t invent a new test runner or config – we just use your playwright.config.ts.
Overview Playwright provides many ways to select tests, and Stably supports them all. We recommend using Playwright projects since they let you customize configuration for a logical group of tests.
You can also use projects to run the same tests in different configurations. For example, you can run the same tests in a logged-in and logged-out state.
Defining Projects Projects are defined in your playwright.config.ts file. Each project represents a logical group of tests with its own configuration.
import { defineConfig } from '@playwright/test' ; export default defineConfig ({ testDir: './tests' , projects: [ { name: 'smoke' , testMatch: '/smoke/**' }, { name: 'release' , testMatch: '/release/**' }, ] , }) ;
Project Configuration Options Each project can have its own configuration settings:
testMatch : Pattern to match test files{ name : 'smoke' , testMatch : '/smoke/**/*.spec.ts' }
testIgnore : Pattern to exclude test files{ name : 'all-tests' , testMatch : '**/*.spec.ts' , testIgnore : '**/flaky/**' }
use : Browser-specific settings{ name : 'chromium-desktop' , use : { browserName : 'chromium' , viewport : { width : 1920 , height : 1080 } } }
dependencies : Run other projects before this one{ name : 'authenticated-tests' , dependencies : [ 'setup' ], testMatch : '/tests/**' }
Common Project Patterns By Test Type
By Feature Area
By Environment State
By Platform
Organize tests by their purpose: export default defineConfig ({ projects: [ { name: 'smoke' , testMatch: '/smoke/**' , retries: 0 }, { name: 'regression' , testMatch: '/regression/**' , retries: 2 }, { name: 'e2e' , testMatch: '/e2e/**' , timeout: 120000 } ] }) ;
Organize tests by application features: export default defineConfig ({ projects: [ { name: 'auth' , testMatch: '/features/auth/**' }, { name: 'checkout' , testMatch: '/features/checkout/**' }, { name: 'dashboard' , testMatch: '/features/dashboard/**' } ] }) ;
Run the same tests in different configurations: export default defineConfig ({ projects: [ { name: 'logged-out' , testMatch: '/public/**' , use: { storageState: undefined } }, { name: 'logged-in' , testMatch: '/authenticated/**' , dependencies: [ 'setup-auth' ], use: { storageState: 'auth.json' } } ] }) ;
Test across different browsers and devices: export default defineConfig ({ projects: [ { name: 'desktop-chrome' , use: { browserName: 'chromium' , viewport: { width: 1920 , height: 1080 } } }, { name: 'mobile-safari' , use: { browserName: 'webkit' , ... devices [ 'iPhone 13' ] } } ] }) ;
Running Specific Projects Once you’ve defined your projects, you can run them selectively:
Locally # Run a single project npx playwright test --project=smoke # Run multiple projects npx playwright test --project=smoke --project=critical
On Stably Cloud # Deploy your tests first npx stably deploy # Run specific projects in the cloud npx stably cloud test --project=smoke --project=release
Advanced Project Setup
Setup and Teardown Projects
Use special projects for setup and teardown: export default defineConfig ({ projects: [ { name: 'setup' , testMatch: '/setup/**' }, { name: 'tests' , dependencies: [ 'setup' ], testMatch: '/tests/**' }, { name: 'teardown' , testMatch: '/teardown/**' } ] }) ;
Conditional Project Execution
Use environment variables to conditionally run projects: export default defineConfig ({ projects: [ { name: 'smoke' , testMatch: '/smoke/**' }, ... ( process . env . RUN_FULL_SUITE ? [{ name: 'full-regression' , testMatch: '/regression/**' }] : []) ] }) ;
Combine projects with grep patterns for fine-grained control: // In your test files test ( '@p0 critical login flow' , async ({ page }) => { // test implementation });
Then run: npx stably cloud test --project=smoke --grep @p0
Best Practices
Keep Projects Focused Each project should have a clear purpose and contain related tests. Avoid catch-all projects.
Use Descriptive Names Name projects after their purpose (smoke, critical) rather than technical details.
Balance Granularity Too many projects add complexity. Too few limit flexibility. Find the right balance for your team.
Document Your Structure Add comments in your config explaining the purpose of each project and when to use it.
Next Steps
Running Test Groups Learn how to run your test groups locally, in the cloud, or in CI/CD pipelines
