Python & Playwright in AWS CI/CD: End-to-End Testing Made Simple

Dec 18

Following up on my last post about Lambda automation, let's explore how Python and Playwright transform your CI/CD testing strategy in AWS environments.

Why Playwright?

Playwright outshines Selenium with faster execution, better reliability, and native async support. It handles modern web apps effortlessly—no more flaky tests or complex waits.

Setting Up Playwright in CodePipeline

Here's a minimal but production-ready test suite:

python

import asyncio
from playwright.async_api import async_playwright
import pytest

@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_user_authentication():
    async with async_playwright() as p:
        browser = await p.chromium.launch()
        page = await browser.new_page()
        
        # Navigate to your app
        await page.goto('https://your-app.example.com/login')
        
        # Perform login
        await page.fill('#email', 'test@example.com')
        await page.fill('#password', 'TestPassword123')
        await page.click('button[type="submit"]')
        
        # Verify successful login
        await page.wait_for_url('**/dashboard')
        assert await page.locator('h1').inner_text() == 'Dashboard'
        
        await browser.close()

@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_api_integration():
    async with async_playwright() as p:
        browser = await p.chromium.launch()
        context = await browser.new_context()
        
        # Intercept API calls
        page = await context.new_page()
        responses = []
        
        page.on('response', lambda response: responses.append(response))
        
        await page.goto('https://your-app.example.com')
        await page.click('#load-data')
        
        # Verify API was called
        api_calls = [r for r in responses if '/api/data' in r.url]
        assert len(api_calls) > 0
        assert api_calls[0].status == 200
        
        await browser.close()

CodeBuild Integration

Your buildspec.yml for AWS CodeBuild:

yaml

version: 0.2

phases:
  install:
    runtime-versions:
      python: 3.11
    commands:
      - pip install playwright pytest pytest-asyncio
      - playwright install chromium
      
  build:
    commands:
      - pytest tests/ --verbose --junit-xml=test-results.xml
      
reports:
  test-results:
    files:
      - test-results.xml
    file-format: JunitXml

Parallel Execution for Speed

Run tests concurrently across browsers:

python

async def run_tests_parallel():
    async with async_playwright() as p:
        browsers = await asyncio.gather(
            p.chromium.launch(),
            p.firefox.launch(),
            p.webkit.launch()
        )
        
        tasks = [test_on_browser(b) for b in browsers]
        await asyncio.gather(*tasks)

Key Benefits

Fast feedback: Tests complete in minutes, not hours
True reliability: Auto-wait eliminates race conditions
Cross-browser: Test Chrome, Firefox, Safari simultaneously
AWS native: Runs seamlessly in CodeBuild containers

The Bottom Line

Playwright + Python in your AWS CI/CD pipeline catches bugs before production without slowing deployments. Your team ships confidently, and customers see fewer issues.

Have any particular methodologies that you prefer to use for unit testing? Share in the comments!

Andre Nix