Caching Playwright Browsers in CI/CD

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Setting up CI/CD for a project with Playwright E2E tests
• Build times are slow due to browser downloads (~400MB, 1-2 minutes)
• You want automatic cache invalidation when Playwright version changes
• Using GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps pipelines

The Problem

Playwright browsers (~400MB) must be downloaded on every CI run by default. This:

• Adds 1-2 minutes to every build
• Wastes bandwidth
• Can fail on transient network issues
• Slows down PR feedback loops

Core Pattern

1. Extract Playwright version from Directory.Packages.props (CPM) to use as cache key
2. Cache browser binaries using platform-appropriate paths
3. Conditional install - only download on cache miss
4. Automatic cache bust - key includes version, so package upgrades invalidate cache

Cache Paths by OS

GitHub Actions

- name: Get Playwright Version
  shell: pwsh
  run: |
    $propsPath = "Directory.Packages.props"
    [xml]$props = Get-Content $propsPath
    $version = $props.Project.ItemGroup.PackageVersion |
      Where-Object { $_.Include -eq "Microsoft.Playwright" } |
      Select-Object -ExpandProperty Version
    echo "PlaywrightVersion=$version" >> $env:GITHUB_ENV

- name: Cache Playwright Browsers
  id: playwright-cache
  uses: actions/cache@v4
  with:
    path: ~/.cache/ms-playwright
    key: ${{ runner.os }}-playwright-${{ env.PlaywrightVersion }}

- name: Install Playwright Browsers
  if: steps.playwright-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
  shell: pwsh
  run: ./build/playwright.ps1 install --with-deps

Multi-OS GitHub Actions

For workflows that run on multiple operating systems:

- name: Cache Playwright Browsers
  id: playwright-cache
  uses: actions/cache@v4
  with:
    path: |
      ~/.cache/ms-playwright
      ~/Library/Caches/ms-playwright
      ~/AppData/Local/ms-playwright
    key: ${{ runner.os }}-playwright-${{ env.PlaywrightVersion }}

Azure DevOps

- task: PowerShell@2
  displayName: 'Get Playwright Version'
  inputs:
    targetType: 'inline'
    script: |
      [xml]$props = Get-Content "Directory.Packages.props"
      $version = $props.Project.ItemGroup.PackageVersion |
        Where-Object { $_.Include -eq "Microsoft.Playwright" } |
        Select-Object -ExpandProperty Version
      Write-Host "##vso[task.setvariable variable=PlaywrightVersion]$version"

- task: Cache@2
  displayName: 'Cache Playwright Browsers'
  inputs:
    key: 'playwright | "$(Agent.OS)" | $(PlaywrightVersion)'
    path: '$(HOME)/.cache/ms-playwright'
    cacheHitVar: 'PlaywrightCacheHit'

- task: PowerShell@2
  displayName: 'Install Playwright Browsers'
  condition: ne(variables['PlaywrightCacheHit'], 'true')
  inputs:
    filePath: 'build/playwright.ps1'
    arguments: 'install --with-deps'

Helper Script: playwright.ps1

Create a build/playwright.ps1 script that discovers and runs the Playwright CLI. This abstracts away the Playwright CLI location which varies by project structure.

# build/playwright.ps1
# Discovers Microsoft.Playwright.dll and runs the bundled Playwright CLI

param(
    [Parameter(ValueFromRemainingArguments = $true)]
    [string[]]$Arguments
)

# Find the Playwright DLL (after dotnet build/restore)
$playwrightDll = Get-ChildItem -Path . -Recurse -Filter "Microsoft.Playwright.dll" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
    Select-Object -First 1

if (-not $playwrightDll) {
    Write-Error "Microsoft.Playwright.dll not found. Run 'dotnet build' first."
    exit 1
}

$playwrightDir = $playwrightDll.DirectoryName

# Find the playwright CLI (path varies by OS and node version)
$playwrightCmd = Get-ChildItem -Path "$playwrightDir/.playwright/node" -Recurse -Filter "playwright.cmd" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
    Select-Object -First 1

if (-not $playwrightCmd) {
    # Try Unix executable
    $playwrightCmd = Get-ChildItem -Path "$playwrightDir/.playwright/node" -Recurse -Filter "playwright" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
        Where-Object { $_.Name -eq "playwright" } |
        Select-Object -First 1
}

if (-not $playwrightCmd) {
    Write-Error "Playwright CLI not found in $playwrightDir/.playwright/node"
    exit 1
}

Write-Host "Using Playwright CLI: $($playwrightCmd.FullName)"
& $playwrightCmd.FullName @Arguments

Usage:

# Install browsers
./build/playwright.ps1 install --with-deps

# Install specific browser
./build/playwright.ps1 install chromium

# Show installed browsers
./build/playwright.ps1 install --dry-run

Prerequisites

This pattern assumes:

1. Central Package Management (CPM) with Directory.Packages.props:

   <Project>
     <ItemGroup>
       <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Playwright" Version="1.40.0" />
     </ItemGroup>
   </Project>
   

2. Project has been built before running playwright.ps1 (so DLLs exist)

3. PowerShell available on CI agents (pre-installed on GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps)

Why Version-Based Cache Keys Matter

Using the Playwright version in the cache key ensures:

• Automatic invalidation when you upgrade Playwright
• No stale browser binaries that don't match the SDK version
• No manual cache clearing needed after version bumps

If you hardcode the cache key (e.g., playwright-browsers-v1), you'll need to manually bump it every time you upgrade Playwright, or you'll get cryptic version mismatch errors.

Troubleshooting

Cache not being used

1. Verify the version extraction step outputs the correct version
2. Check that the cache path matches your OS
3. Ensure Directory.Packages.props exists and has the Playwright package

"Browser not found" after cache hit

The cached browsers don't match the Playwright SDK version. This happens when:

• The cache key doesn't include the version
• The version extraction failed silently

Fix: Ensure the Playwright version is in the cache key.

playwright.ps1 can't find the DLL

Run dotnet build or dotnet restore before running the script. The Playwright DLL only exists after NuGet restore.

References

This pattern is battle-tested in production projects:

• petabridge/geekedin
• petabridge/DrawTogether.NET

Related Skills

• dotnet-skills:playwright-blazor - Writing Playwright tests for Blazor applications
• dotnet-skills:project-structure - Central Package Management setup