Playwright Python Blueprint

This project is designed to provide a blueprint to allow for development teams to start quickly developing UI tests using Playwright Python, providing the base framework and utilities to allow for initial focus on writing tests, rather than configuration of the framework itself.

NOTE: This project is currently under initial development so isn't finalised, but should work if you want to experiment with Playwright Python.

NOTE: When considering this project, please be advised that currently Playwright is a "proposed" tool within the NHS England Tech Radar. Whilst we are taking steps to get Playwright moved to the "mainstream" section of the radar, as it has not yet been formally adopted it is possible that Playwright may not be fully endorsed by NHS England as a standard tool going forward, and using this framework for an NHS England project is currently at your own risk.

Table of Contents

• Playwright Python Blueprint
  • Table of Contents
  • Setup
    • Prerequisites
    • Configuration
  • Getting Started
  • Utilities
  • Contacts
  • Licence

Setup

You can clone this whole repository using the code below:

git clone https://github.com/nhs-england-tools/playwright-python-blueprint.git

Prerequisites

To utilise the blueprint code, you will need to have the following installed:

• Python 3.12 or greater

NOTE: There are currently known issues with Python 3.13 and Playwright, so if you encounter issues running this project whilst using Python 3.13 it is recommended to downgrade to Python 3.12 in the interim.

Whilst not required to get started, you may also want to configure a Python virtual environment for your project before proceeding with the configuration. If you are using an IDE such as Visual Studio Code or PyCharm, you will normally be prompted to do this automatically.

Configuration

To get started using Playwright and with the examples provided, use the following commands:

pip install -r requirements.txt
playwright install --with-deps

This will install all the necessary packages for executing Playwright tests, and install Playwright ready for use by the framework. You can test the configuration has worked by running our example tests, which can be done using the following command (this will run all tests with tracing reports turned on, and in headed mode so you can see the browser execution):

pytest --tracing on --headed

Getting Started

NOTE: This section is currently under development and requires further work, so links to pages within this repository may not be very useful at this stage.

Once you've confirmed your installation is working, please take a look at the following guides on getting started with Playwright Python.

1. Understanding Playwright Python
2. Blueprint File Breakdown

We've also created a Quick Reference Guide for common commands and actions you may regularly perform using this blueprint.

For additional reading and guidance on writing tests, we also recommend reviewing the Playwright Python documentation.

Utilities

This blueprint also provides the following utility classes, that can be used to aid in testing:

Utility	Description
Axe	Accessibility scanning using axe-core.
NHSNumberTools	Basic tools for working with NHS numbers.

Contacts

If you have any queries regarding this blueprint, please contact [email protected].

Licence

The LICENCE.md file will need to be updated with the correct year and owner

Unless stated otherwise, the codebase is released under the MIT License. This covers both the codebase and any sample code in the documentation.

Any HTML or Markdown documentation is © Crown Copyright and available under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0.