# Playwright E2E Tests Fix Summary

**Date**: 2025-12-03
**Commit**: 8894c89
**Status**: ✅ Core infrastructure issue fixed

## Problem Identified

**Root Cause**: All Playwright E2E tests were navigating to the root URL (`http://localhost:3000/`) expecting to see the Dashboard, but that URL displays the ProjectCreationForm page. The Dashboard is actually located at `/projects/{projectId}`.

**Error Pattern**:
```
Error: expect(locator).toBeVisible() failed
Locator: locator('[data-testid="dashboard-header"]')
Expected: visible
Timeout: 5000ms
Error: element(s) not found
```

## Solution Implemented

### 1. Global Test Setup (`tests/e2e/global-setup.ts`)
- Automatically creates or reuses an existing test project via API
- Stores project ID in environment variable `E2E_TEST_PROJECT_ID`
- Runs before all tests via Playwright's `globalSetup` config

### 2. Updated Test Files
Modified 4 test files to navigate to correct dashboard URL:
- `test_dashboard.spec.ts`
- `test_checkpoint_ui.spec.ts`
- `test_metrics_ui.spec.ts`
- `test_review_ui.spec.ts`

**Before**:
```typescript
await page.goto(FRONTEND_URL); // http://localhost:3000
```

**After**:
```typescript
const PROJECT_ID = process.env.E2E_TEST_PROJECT_ID || '1';
await page.goto(`${FRONTEND_URL}/projects/${PROJECT_ID}`); // http://localhost:3000/projects/1
```

## Test Results

### Local Test Run (Chromium)
- ✅ **2 tests passed**:
  - should navigate between dashboard sections
  - should show error boundary on component errors
- ⚠️ **9 tests failed**: Due to empty test project (no tasks/agents/metrics data)

### Expected CI Improvement
- **Before**: 0 tests passing (infrastructure broken)
- **After**: 15-25% tests passing (infrastructure fixed, data-dependent tests still failing)

## Remaining Work

The tests that still fail are expecting data that doesn't exist in an empty project:

1. **Missing Test Data**:
   - `[data-testid="total-tasks"]` - No tasks in test project
   - `[data-testid="agent-status-panel"]` - No agents running
   - `[data-testid="metrics-panel"]` - No metrics recorded
   - `[data-testid="checkpoint-panel"]` - No checkpoints created

2. **Solutions** (pick one):
   - **Option A**: Extend global setup to create test data (tasks, agents, metrics)
   - **Option B**: Modify tests to handle empty state gracefully
   - **Option C**: Use test fixtures with pre-populated data
   - **Option D**: Mock API responses for dashboard data

## Files Changed

```
tests/e2e/
├── global-setup.ts              (NEW) - Creates/reuses test project
├── playwright.config.ts         (MODIFIED) - Added globalSetup
├── test_dashboard.spec.ts       (MODIFIED) - Updated navigation URL
├── test_checkpoint_ui.spec.ts   (MODIFIED) - Updated navigation URL
├── test_metrics_ui.spec.ts      (MODIFIED) - Updated navigation URL
└── test_review_ui.spec.ts       (MODIFIED) - Updated navigation URL
```

## GitHub Actions Impact

The fix resolves the critical infrastructure issue where tests couldn't find the dashboard page. Tests will now:
1. ✅ Successfully navigate to dashboard
2. ✅ Load the correct page
3. ⚠️ Still fail on data-dependent assertions

**Next CI Run Expected Results**:
- Fewer timeout errors
- More specific test failures (missing data elements vs. missing page)
- Some tests passing (those that don't depend on data)

## Recommendations

1. **Short-term**: Accept ~20-30% pass rate as progress, focus on higher-priority features
2. **Medium-term**: Add test data creation to global setup (1-2 hours work)
3. **Long-term**: Build comprehensive test fixtures library

## References

- Original issue: #37
- PR with npm install fix: #36
- Timeout fixes: PR #35
