Quickstart

Install CodeceptJS into your project:

npm install codeceptjs playwright --save-dev

Then install the browser binaries:

npx playwright install --with-deps

The --with-deps flag also installs required system dependencies for the browsers.

Prefer WebDriver or Appium? See installation options for all supported helpers.

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Init

Initialize CodeceptJS to set up the config file and test directory:

npx codeceptjs init

This command walks you through a short setup wizard and creates codecept.conf.js, a sample test file, and any required browser binaries.

Answer the questions, accepting defaults to get started quickly:

Question	Default Answer	Alternative
Do you plan to write tests in TypeScript?	n (No)	or learn how to use TypeScript
Where are your tests located?	**./*_test.js	or any glob pattern like **.spec.js
What helpers do you want to use?	Playwright	See options for web testing, mobile testing, API testing
Where should logs, screenshots, and reports be stored?	./output	path to store artifacts and temporary files

For Playwright, you’ll also be asked about the site and browser:

Question	Default Answer	Alternative
Base url of site to be tested	http://localhost	URL of the site you plan to test
Show browser window	y Yes	or run in headless mode
Browser	chromium	or firefox, webkit (open-source Safari), or electron

Sample output:

? Do you plan to write tests in TypeScript? No
? Where are your tests located? **./*_test.js
? What helpers do you want to use? Playwright
? Where should logs, screenshots, and reports be stored? ./output
? [Playwright] Base url of site to be tested http://localhost
? [Playwright] Show browser window Yes
? [Playwright] Browser in which testing will be performed chromium

When asked, create your first feature and test file.

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Write Your First Test

Open the generated test file. It will look like this:

Feature('My First Test');

Scenario('test something', ({ I }) => {

});

Add a simple scenario:

Feature('My First Test');

Scenario('test something', ({ I }) => {
  I.amOnPage('https://github.com');
  I.see('GitHub');
});

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Run Tests

npx codeceptjs run

Expected output:

My First Test --
  test something
     I am on page "https://github.com"
     I see "GitHub"
 ✓ OK

Run in headless mode:

npx codeceptjs run --headless

See all available commands in the CLI reference.

▶ Next: CodeceptJS Basics