Decide when to use Playwright component testing (@playwright/experimental-ct-*) versus full end-to-end tests for a given feature
domain: playwright.dev · 5 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
Sampled — shipped under file-level sampling, not individually fact-checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Steps
Reach for component testing to verify a single component's rendering, props, and events in isolation, since it mounts just that component in a real browser without a full app or server
Reach for E2E when behavior depends on routing, real API responses, authentication, or cross-component integration that an isolated mount can't reproduce
Remember component tests still run in a real browser via Playwright, catching real rendering bugs that jsdom-based unit tests miss, but backend calls are mocked/stubbed rather than hitting a real server
Weigh maintenance cost — the ct packages are framework-specific (react/vue/svelte) and explicitly experimental, so expect API changes between Playwright versions
Use both in combination: component tests for design-system/component-library coverage, E2E for critical, integration-dependent user journeys
Known gotchas
@playwright/experimental-ct-* packages are labeled experimental — expect breaking changes across Playwright minor versions
Component tests mount in an isolated harness page, so global app context (routing providers, global CSS, feature flags) must be explicitly re-provided via mount options/hooks or tests get false negatives
Component testing doesn't substitute for E2E coverage of real navigation, auth redirects, or third-party integrations — it only verifies the mounted component's own contract
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