Running Modes

When to Use

Running reports in your specific environment.

Local (Host Machine)

npx playwright test                    # report auto-opens on failure

Triage in browser at http://localhost:9323.

DDEV (or Any Container)

Tests run inside the container; playwright-report/ lives on the bind-mounted project volume, so the host's browser can serve it.

Easiest path: don't run show-report in the container. Just open the report from the host:

cd $PROJECT_DIR
npx playwright show-report

The host needs Playwright installed (npm i -D @playwright/test at minimum), but no browsers required.

Alternative: run show-report inside the container with --host 0.0.0.0 and expose the port. In .ddev/config.yaml:

web_extra_exposed_ports:
  - name: playwright-report
    container_port: 9323
    http_port: 9323

CI (GitHub Actions, GitLab, etc.)

- name: Run Playwright
  run: npx playwright test
- name: Upload report
  uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
  if: always()
  with:
    name: playwright-report
    path: playwright-report/
    retention-days: 30

Triage flow: download artifact → unzip → npx playwright show-report ./playwright-report.

Set open: 'never' (or rely on CI=true auto-detection). Use trace: 'on-first-retry' to keep traces only when needed.

Decision

Environment	Approach
Local	`npx playwright test` — report auto-opens on failure at `localhost:9323`
DDEV	Run `show-report` on the host, not inside the container
CI	Upload artifact with `if: always()`; set `open: 'never'`

Common Mistakes

Trying to bind localhost inside DDEV and access from host — host can't reach container's localhost; bind to 0.0.0.0
Forgetting if: always() on artifact upload — failed runs don't upload; you can't triage
Setting open: 'always' in CI — wastes a browser launch; use 'never'