GSoC 2026 – Playwright Testing Migration Introduction (AxraMj)

Mentorship Google Season of Code
1

Hello Django community!

My name is Akshara, an MCA Graduate with experience in Python,
JavaScript, and web development including REST APIs and backend
development.

I am applying for GSoC 2026 and interested in the project:
“Switch to Playwright Tests for Integration Testing”
Reference: Use Playwright for integration testing · Issue #13 · django/new-features · GitHub

What I have done so far:

I have studied the existing Selenium tests in:

  • tests/view_tests/tests/test_i18n.py
  • tests/forms_tests/fields/test_floatfield.py

My converted Playwright test file:
tests/test_i18n_playwright.py

I would appreciate any feedback on my approach and guidance on
next steps toward a formal proposal.

Thank you!

1 Like
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Hi Akshara, nice work on converting the I18nSeleniumTests to Playwright!

I’m curious about your experience with the migration — did you run into any
challenges with how Django’s current test infrastructure (like `LiveServerTestCase`
or `StaticLiveServerTestCase`) works with Playwright vs Selenium?

I ask because I’ve been working on keyboard shortcut tests for the Django admin
using Selenium (`AdminSeleniumTestCase`), and testing keyboard events has been
tricky. If Playwright handles keyboard simulation better, that could be a big win
for the admin’s accessibility testing too.

Looking forward to seeing your proposal!

3

Hi Prachi, thank you!

Regarding LiveServerTestCase vs StaticLiveServerTestCase with
Playwright — this is actually one of the key integration points
I am researching for my proposal.

Currently Django’s SeleniumTestCase inherits from
StaticLiveServerTestCase, which serves static files during tests.
My plan is to create a PlaywrightTestCase base class that similarly
inherits from StaticLiveServerTestCase, exposing self.page instead
of self.selenium.

Regarding keyboard simulation — you are right, Playwright handles
keyboard events much better than Selenium. Playwright has built-in
methods like page.keyboard.press(“Tab”) and page.keyboard.type()
which are more reliable than Selenium’s send_keys(). This would
definitely benefit AdminSeleniumTestCase keyboard tests too.

I will keep this in mind as I work on the PlaywrightTestCase base
class design. Looking forward to sharing my proposal!