Does Django Work With Playwright?
Django and Playwright work together seamlessly for end-to-end testing of Django applications, with Playwright launching and automating your Django app in a real browser.
Quick Facts
How Django Works With Playwright
Django and Playwright are a powerful pairing for comprehensive web application testing. Django runs your application (typically via `manage.py runserver` or a test server), while Playwright automates a real browser instance to interact with it just like a user would. This combination captures full end-to-end behavior including JavaScript execution, DOM interactions, and network requests—something Django's built-in test client can't do.
The typical workflow involves starting a Django test server, then using Playwright to navigate to `http://localhost:8000` and perform automated actions. Most teams integrate this into pytest using fixtures that handle server lifecycle management. Playwright's multi-browser support (Chromium, Firefox, WebKit) means you can test cross-browser compatibility of your Django frontend without additional tools.
The main architectural consideration is test isolation and database state. Use Django's `TransactionTestCase` or database fixtures to reset state between Playwright tests, since Playwright operates outside Django's test transaction wrapping. For CI/CD, ensure your test runner can manage both the Django server process and Playwright's browser lifecycle—tools like `pytest-django` and `pytest-xdist` handle this gracefully.
Best Use Cases
Django + Playwright Test Setup
pip install pytest pytest-django playwrightimport pytest
from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright
from django.test import LiveServerTestCase
@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
def browser():
with sync_playwright() as p:
browser = p.chromium.launch()
yield browser
browser.close()
@pytest.fixture
def page(browser, live_server):
context = browser.new_context()
page = context.new_page()
yield page
context.close()
def test_django_login(page, live_server):
page.goto(f"{live_server.url}/login/")
page.fill('input[name="username"]', 'testuser')
page.fill('input[name="password"]', 'password123')
page.click('button[type="submit"]')
assert page.url == f"{live_server.url}/dashboard/"Known Issues & Gotchas
Database state persists across Playwright tests since they run outside Django's transaction context
Fix: Use Django's `pytest-django` plugin with `transactional_db` marker or create explicit database cleanup fixtures between tests
Django's test server may not start/stop cleanly when Playwright holds browser connections
Fix: Use fixtures with proper async context management and add delays before server shutdown to allow browser disconnects
Hardcoded localhost URLs in Playwright tests break in CI/CD if server runs on different port
Fix: Use environment variables or pytest fixtures to inject the base URL dynamically
Playwright tests are significantly slower than Django's test client tests
Fix: Reserve Playwright for critical user journeys; use Django's test client for unit and integration tests
Alternatives
- •Selenium with Django: More mature but slower; similar capabilities with higher boilerplate
- •Cypress with Django REST Framework: Better DX for SPAs, but requires JavaScript framework
- •Puppeteer with Django: Chromium-only, lighter footprint but less cross-browser support
Resources
Related Compatibility Guides
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