Assertions

expect() in depth — visible/hidden, text, URL, count, attribute, and soft assertions that don't abort the test on first failure.

practice site: SauceDemo

How expect() works in Playwright

Playwright’s expect() is not Jest’s expect. It is locator-aware and retries automatically until the assertion passes or the timeout expires.

// This retries for up to 5s (configurable) checking visibility
await expect(page.getByText('Products')).toBeVisible();

// NOT like Jest: does not throw immediately on failure
// It polls the DOM until the condition is met

This means you can write assertions immediately after an action without manual waits — the assertion’s retry covers the async UI update.

Visibility

// Element is visible (in DOM + visible in viewport)
await expect(page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Checkout' })).toBeVisible();

// Element is hidden or detached from DOM
await expect(page.getByTestId('loading-spinner')).toBeHidden();

// Element is in DOM (even if hidden)
await expect(page.locator('.modal')).toBeAttached();

// Element is not in DOM at all
await expect(page.locator('.old-element')).not.toBeAttached();

Text content

// Contains this text (substring match)
await expect(page.getByRole('heading')).toContainText('Welcome');

// Exact text match
await expect(page.getByRole('heading')).toHaveText('Welcome back, Alice');

// Match with regex
await expect(page.getByTestId('item-count')).toHaveText(/\d+ items?/);

// Inner text (all text nodes concatenated)
const text = await page.getByRole('heading').innerText();
expect(text).toBe('Welcome back, Alice'); // synchronous — value already retrieved

URL and navigation

// Current URL matches string exactly
await expect(page).toHaveURL('https://saucedemo.com/inventory.html');

// URL matches regex
await expect(page).toHaveURL(/inventory/);

// Page title
await expect(page).toHaveTitle('Swag Labs');
await expect(page).toHaveTitle(/Swag/);

Count

// Exactly N elements match the locator
await expect(page.locator('.inventory_item')).toHaveCount(6);

// At least one match
await expect(page.locator('.notification')).not.toHaveCount(0);

Attributes and properties

// Element has attribute with value
await expect(page.getByRole('textbox')).toHaveAttribute('placeholder', 'Username');
await expect(page.getByRole('textbox')).toHaveAttribute('disabled', '');

// CSS class
await expect(page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Selected' })).toHaveClass(/selected/);

// Input value
await expect(page.getByLabel('Username')).toHaveValue('standard_user');

// Checkbox state
await expect(page.getByRole('checkbox', { name: 'Remember me' })).toBeChecked();

Negation

Every assertion has a .not counterpart:

await expect(page.getByText('Error')).not.toBeVisible();
await expect(page.locator('.spinner')).not.toBeAttached();
await expect(page).not.toHaveURL(/login/);

Soft assertions

Soft assertions do not abort the test on failure. All soft assertions are collected and reported together at the end of the test.

test('checkout page summary', async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto('/checkout-step-two.html');

  // These collect failures but don't stop the test
  await expect.soft(page.getByTestId('subtotal')).toHaveText('Item total: $29.99');
  await expect.soft(page.getByTestId('tax')).toHaveText('Tax: $2.40');
  await expect.soft(page.getByTestId('total')).toHaveText('Total: $32.39');

  // This hard assertion runs regardless of the soft failures above
  await expect(page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Finish' })).toBeVisible();
});
// If soft assertions fail, the test is marked failed after the test body completes

Reference