Playwright Smart Logger

Smart logging for Playwright — buffers output, flushes only when needed

Smart Logger provides a smartLog fixture with the full console API. Logs are buffered during test execution and only displayed when tests fail, retry, or meet conditions you configure via flushOn. Passing tests produce zero log noise.

The Problem

PASS  Test 1  [15 lines of console.log spam]
PASS  Test 2  [23 lines of console.log spam]
PASS  Test 3  [18 lines of console.log spam]
FAIL  Test 4  [31 lines buried in noise]

The Solution

PASS  Test 1
PASS  Test 2
PASS  Test 3
FAIL  Test 4  [Clean, formatted logs with timestamps and colors]

Quick Start

Requirements

• Node.js 20.0.0 or higher
• @playwright/test >= 1.41.0 (peer dependency)
• ESM project (this package is ESM-only)

1. Install

npm install playwright-smart-logger

@playwright/test is a peer dependency. If it isn't already in your project, install it alongside this package:

npm install --save-dev @playwright/test playwright-smart-logger

2. Replace your import and add smartLog to your test

import { test, expect } from 'playwright-smart-logger';

test('user login', async ({ page, smartLog }) => {
  smartLog.info('Navigating to login page');
  await page.goto('https://app.com/login');

  smartLog.log('Filling credentials');
  await page.fill('#email', '[email protected]');
  await page.fill('#password', 'password');
  await page.click('#submit');

  // PASS: zero output
  // FAIL: all logs displayed with colors + timestamps
  await expect(page.locator('.dashboard')).toBeVisible();
});

3. (Optional) Configure in playwright.config.ts

import { defineConfig } from '@playwright/test';
import type { SmartLogOptions } from 'playwright-smart-logger';

export default defineConfig({
  use: {
    smartLog: {
      flushOn: ['fail', 'retry'], // when to show logs (default)
      alwaysFlush: false, // always flush regardless of status (default)
      maxBufferSize: 1000, // max buffered entries (default)
      capturePageConsole: false, // capture browser console (default)
    } as SmartLogOptions,
  },
});

Always flush locally

Set alwaysFlush: true to print logs after every test — handy when running locally where you always want to see output:

// playwright.config.ts
smartLog: {
  alwaysFlush: process.env.CI !== 'true', // flush every test locally, only on fail/retry in CI
} as SmartLogOptions,

alwaysFlush takes precedence over flushOn — when it is true, flushOn is ignored.

Use Anywhere — Page Objects, Helpers, Utilities

Import smartLog and use it directly. No need to pass the fixture through parameters:

import { smartLog } from 'playwright-smart-logger';

class LoginPage {
  constructor(private page: Page) {}

  async login(username: string, password: string) {
    smartLog.info('Logging in as', username);
    await this.page.fill('#username', username);
    await this.page.fill('#password', password);
    await this.page.click('#submit');
  }
}

It's a proxy that delegates to the current test's logger. Each test still gets full isolation.

Note: Your test must destructure smartLog to activate the logger:

test('login', async ({ page, smartLog }) => {
  //                          ^^^^^^^^ required
  const loginPage = new LoginPage(page);
  await loginPage.login('user', 'pass');
});

A getSmartLog() function is also available if you prefer explicit function calls.

API

The smartLog fixture mirrors the console API:

| Method | Description | | --------------------------------------- | ----------------------- | | log, debug, info, warn, error | Log at different levels | | group / groupEnd | Indented log groups | | table(data, columns?) | Structured data display | | dir(obj) | Object inspection | | time / timeLog / timeEnd | Performance timing | | assert(condition, ...args) | Log only on failure | | count / countReset | Counters | | trace | Stack trace | | clear / getBuffer / flush | Buffer control |

Logging Inside Custom Fixtures

When extending the base test with custom fixtures, you must declare smartLog as a dependency so Playwright initializes the logger before your fixture runs:

import { test as base, smartLog } from 'playwright-smart-logger';

const test = base.extend({
  autoTest: [
    async ({ page, smartLog: _smartLog }, use, testInfo) => {
      //                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ required — ensures the logger is initialized

      // Global proxy works because smartLog fixture is active
      smartLog.info('Setting up auto fixture');

      // Or use the fixture directly
      _smartLog.info('Also works');

      await use();
    },
    { auto: true },
  ],
});

Without smartLog in the destructured dependencies, the global smartLog proxy will throw because the logger may not be initialized yet. See Examples for more details.

Documentation

• Examples & API Details — Usage patterns, configuration, real-world scenarios
• Migration Guide — Adopting Smart Logger in existing projects
• Contributing — Development guidelines

License

MIT © Harry Tran

GitHub · NPM