Testing with Playwright MCP

CRITICAL: Always test changes before completion.

Subagent Delegation for Testing

Screenshot operations blow up context fast (~2000-5000 tokens each). Delegate to subagent for:

• Multi-step UI test scenarios
• Visual regression verification
• Accessibility audits
• Screenshot-heavy debugging

Delegation Pattern

runSubagent(
  prompt: "TESTING task with Playwright MCP.
    
    **Servers**: Frontend at localhost:5173, Backend at localhost:8080
    
    **Test Scenario**: [describe what to verify]
    
    **Steps**:
    1. Navigate to http://localhost:5173
    2. [specific actions to perform]
    
    **Check in priority order** (stop when answer found):
    1. Browser console logs - look for errors, state transitions (🔄)
    2. Network requests - verify API calls and status codes
    3. Accessibility snapshot - check element presence
    4. Screenshot - ONLY if visual verification essential
    
    **Return**:
    - Pass/Fail result
    - Specific evidence (error messages, status codes, element presence)
    - Console action log if relevant (🔄 ACTION_TYPE entries)
    
    Do NOT include raw screenshots or full accessibility dumps.",
  description: "Test: [what being verified]"
)

When to Delegate vs Inline

Delegate to Subagent	Keep Inline
Multi-page flows	Single console check
Visual verification needed	Network status check
Accessibility audit	Element presence (single)
Error reproduction	Quick state verification
Screenshot required	Reading console logs

Testing Priority (Token efficiency)

1. Browser console logs - Check console messages for state transitions and errors
2. VS Code terminal logs - Check terminal output for backend/frontend server logs
3. Network requests - Inspect API calls and status codes
4. Accessibility snapshot - Get DOM structure for element verification
5. Screenshots - Visual verification (use sparingly, high token cost)

Key insight: Browser console shows React state changes (🔄 ACTION_TYPE), errors, and warnings. VS Code terminals show server logs and compilation output.

Workflow

Start servers in VS Code terminals (preferred - logs visible to AI agent):

# Run these VS Code tasks:
# - "Backend: ASP.NET Core API" (dotnet watch, port 8080)
# - "Frontend: React Vite" (npm run dev, port 5173)
# Or use compound task: "Start Dev (VS Code Terminals)"

Then test with Playwright MCP:

1. Navigate to http://localhost:5173
2. Check browser console for state transitions and errors
3. Verify network requests for API calls
4. Take accessibility snapshot for DOM validation

Check server logs:

• Check VS Code terminal output for backend compilation and request logs
• Backend terminal shows: request handling, errors, recompilation status
• Frontend terminal shows: HMR updates, build warnings, Vite output

When to Test

• After UI component or API endpoint changes
• Before committing multi-step implementations
• When user reports issues

Validation Checklist

• Console shows expected actions (🔄 [timestamp] ACTION_TYPE)
• No console errors/warnings
• Network tab shows correct status codes (200/400/401/500)
• DOM elements present in accessibility snapshot

State Logging (Dev Mode)

Each state change prints:

🔄 [HH:MM:SS] ACTION_TYPE
Action: { … }
Changes: { field: before → after }

Project-Specific: Key Test Scenarios

Scenario	What to Verify
Initial load	Auth redirect, agent metadata loads
Send message	User message appears, streaming starts
Streaming	Text chunks append, no flicker
Annotations	Citations render with links
Cancel stream	Input re-enabled, status → idle
Error recovery	Retry button works, error clears

Project-Specific: Network Verification

Endpoint	Success	Failure
POST /api/chat/stream	200 + SSE events	401 (auth), 400 (validation)
GET /api/agent/info	200 + JSON metadata	500 (agent not found)

Playwright MCP

Capability	Token Cost
Navigate	Low
Console logs	Low
Click / Type	Low
Accessibility snapshot	Medium
Screenshot	High

Use console logs for state verification. Use snapshots for element presence. Avoid screenshots unless visual check required.

Related Skills

• validating-ui-features - Detailed test procedures for specific features
• writing-typescript-code - Frontend patterns and state management
• implementing-chat-streaming - SSE flow verification