gabrielmoreira Playwright MCP Validation
Technique skill for manually validating a live web app or docs site through
the playwright MCP server (configured in this repo's .mcp.json as
@playwright/mcp@latest). The agent calls the browser_* MCP tools directly —
never write or wrap them in scripts. This captures the validated workflow
used to verify the docs sidebar icon and dojo pages, including the gotchas an
agent otherwise rediscovers slowly.
When to reach for this
Use Playwright-MCP validation for what a unit test can't give you:
- Confirming something actually renders (layout, an icon/SVG, a color).
- Verifying interactive states — hover, click, theme toggle, dialogs.
- Catching console errors that only surface in a real browser.
- Producing a screenshot for a human to eyeball a visual change.
If a deterministic assertion in code would suffice, write a test instead.
Prerequisites
- The app/docs site must be running. If you start a dev server, note the port and URL; you own stopping it during cleanup.
- The
playwrightMCP server must be connected (itsbrowser_*tools appear in your tool list). On first use it may install a browser — allow time.
Validation loop
Cheap-to-expensive. Stop as soon as you have a confident answer.
- Navigate —
browser_navigateto the page URL. - Snapshot —
browser_snapshotreturns the accessibility tree (text + roles + refs). This is token-cheap and the primary assertion surface. Confirm the expected heading/text/landmark is present here before screenshotting. - Console —
browser_console_messagesand assert 0 errors (warnings may be acceptable; judge by context). Do this on every page you validate. - Screenshot —
browser_take_screenshotonly when a human needs to see it, or when a visual detail can't be asserted from the tree (color, spacing, image rendering). - Report pass/fail per check with the concrete evidence (the heading text you saw, the console count, the computed color).
❌ Don't screenshot-diff when an accessibility snapshot already proves the text/structure is correct — the snapshot is cheaper and more reliable.
Techniques that matter
Read computed styles for color/visual checks
Screenshots can't be asserted programmatically. Use browser_evaluate to read
getComputedStyle and compare elements rather than hard-coding a color
string (which differs across themes):
() => {
const icon = document.querySelector('aside a.active svg');
const text = document.querySelector('aside a.active span');
return {
icon: getComputedStyle(icon).color,
text: getComputedStyle(text).color,
matches: getComputedStyle(icon).color === getComputedStyle(text).color,
};
}
Asserting icon.color === text.color survives a theme change; asserting
color === 'rgb(...)' does not.
Light/dark mode
Most frameworks toggle a .dark (or data-theme) class on <html>. Toggle it
and re-check computed styles in both modes:
() => { document.documentElement.classList.toggle('dark'); }
Prefer clicking the site's real theme switch when one exists (so you exercise the actual code path); fall back to toggling the class only to read styles.
Hover needs a target
browser_hover requires an element/selector target — a bare ref with no
element errors. Pass the element described in the latest snapshot.
Force a hard reload for CSS/SVG/asset changes
A soft browser_navigate can serve cached CSS/SVG/JS, so your edit "doesn't
appear." Bypass the cache: navigate to a cache-busted URL (?v=<timestamp>)
or evaluate location.reload(true) after the asset changed.
❌ Don't trust a soft reload when validating a changed stylesheet, SVG, or bundled asset — you'll validate the stale version and report a false pass/fail.
Overlays intercept clicks
If a click/hover fails with "intercepted" or "not clickable," a dialog, cookie
banner, or menu is on top. Press Escape (browser_press_key Escape) to
dismiss it, then retry.
Element ids set via evaluate are ephemeral
Anything you inject with browser_evaluate (an id, a marker class) can be
lost on re-render/navigation. Re-query from a fresh snapshot each step
rather than relying on a handle you set earlier.
Cleanup discipline
Before finishing, leave no trace:
- Delete screenshot artifacts you generated and the
.playwright-mcp/output folder. - Stop any dev server / free the port you started for validation.
- Don't leave a browser context or toggled theme state that misleads later runs.
❌ Don't finish a validation task with leftover screenshots, a running dev server, or a
.playwright-mcp/folder committed into the repo.
Anti-patterns
- ❌ Writing a script that calls Playwright — use the
browser_*MCP tools directly. - ❌ Reporting "looks fine" from a screenshot without a snapshot/console-error assertion to back it.
- ❌ Hard-coding an expected
rgb(...)for a color check instead of comparing to a sibling element across themes. - ❌ Soft-reloading after a CSS/asset edit and trusting the result.
- ❌ Leaving artifacts, a
.playwright-mcp/folder, or a dev server running.