1 min readMay 26, 2025
Playwright Trace Viewer is Criminally Underused
The Playwright trace viewer gives you a full recording of your test run with DOM snapshots, network requests, and console logs. Here is how I debug flaky tests with it.
Observation
Most flaky test investigations still start in CI logs, but trace viewer usually answers the question faster because it preserves state transitions, not just text output.
My default order
- open trace
- inspect failing step
- compare DOM snapshot and network behavior
- only then read test source again
Practical note
The trace often reveals a product timing issue, not a testing issue.