pytest-playwright Built-in Fixtures Explained (page, context, browser and more)

Every Playwright test you have written so far started with a page parameter. Behind that one word, the pytest-playwright plugin builds a chain of fixtures: it starts Playwright, launches a browser, creates a fresh browser context and opens a page, then cleans everything up. In this lesson you will see the whole chain with pytest’s –setup-show, prove that each test is isolated, and use the other built-in fixtures: new_context, browser, browser_name, is_chromium, device, output_path, base_url and the playwright object itself.

---

🔗 The Fixture Chain Behind page

When a test asks for page, pytest-playwright resolves a chain of fixtures, each built on the one before:

Fixture	Scope	What it gives you
playwright	session	The started Playwright object (sync_playwright().start())
browser_type	session	playwright.chromium, .firefox or .webkit, chosen by --browser
browser	session	One launched browser, shared by all tests of that browser
new_context	function	A function that creates browser contexts and closes them after the test
context	function	A fresh BrowserContext for this test, made with new_context()
page	function	A new Page in that context

The two scopes are the key idea:

• Session scope: started once for the whole run. Launching a browser takes time, so all tests share one browser process.
• Function scope: created for each test. Every test gets a brand-new context, which is like a new incognito window: no cookies, no localStorage, no cache from other tests.

So tests are fast (one browser) and isolated (a fresh context each).

Watching the chain with –setup-show

pytest’s --setup-show option prints every fixture as it is set up (SETUP) and torn down (TEARDOWN), with its scope: S for session, F for function.

📄 tests/conftest.py

import pytest
from playwright.sync_api import Page

URL = "https://sqatools.in/automation-practice-page/"


@pytest.fixture
def practice(page: Page) -> Page:
    page.goto(URL)
    return page

⌨️ Terminal

pytest -q --setup-show tests/test_isolation.py::test_first_visit

🖥️ Output

SETUP    S pytestconfig
SETUP    S delete_output_dir (fixtures used: pytestconfig)
SETUP    S browser_type_launch_args (fixtures used: pytestconfig)
SETUP    S _pw_api_request_contexts (fixtures used: pytestconfig)
SETUP    S playwright (fixtures used: _pw_api_request_contexts)
SETUP    S browser_name (fixtures used: pytestconfig)['chromium']
SETUP    S browser_type (fixtures used: browser_name, playwright)
SETUP    S connect_options
SETUP    S launch_browser (fixtures used: browser_type, browser_type_launch_args, connect_options)
SETUP    S browser (fixtures used: launch_browser)
SETUP    S device (fixtures used: pytestconfig)
SETUP    S base_url (fixtures used: pytestconfig)
SETUP    S _pw_artifacts_folder (fixtures used: pytestconfig)
SETUP    S browser_context_args (fixtures used: _pw_artifacts_folder, base_url, device, playwright, pytestconfig)
        SETUP    F _pw_trace_api_requests
        SETUP    F output_path (fixtures used: pytestconfig)
        SETUP    F _artifacts_recorder (fixtures used: _pw_api_request_contexts, _pw_artifacts_folder, output_path, playwright, pytestconfig)
        SETUP    F new_context (fixtures used: _artifacts_recorder, browser, browser_context_args)
        SETUP    F context (fixtures used: new_context)
        SETUP    F page (fixtures used: context)
        SETUP    F practice (fixtures used: page)
        tests/test_isolation.py::test_first_visit[chromium] (fixtures used: _artifacts_recorder, _pw_api_request_contexts, _pw_artifacts_folder, _pw_trace_api_requests, base_url, browser, browser_context_args, browser_name, browser_type, browser_type_launch_args, connect_options, context, delete_output_dir, device, launch_browser, new_context, output_path, page, playwright, practice, pytestconfig, request) .
        TEARDOWN F practice
        TEARDOWN F page
        TEARDOWN F context
        TEARDOWN F new_context
        TEARDOWN F _artifacts_recorder
        TEARDOWN F output_path
        TEARDOWN F _pw_trace_api_requests
TEARDOWN S browser_context_args
TEARDOWN S _pw_artifacts_folder
TEARDOWN S base_url
TEARDOWN S device
TEARDOWN S browser
TEARDOWN S launch_browser
TEARDOWN S connect_options
TEARDOWN S browser_type
TEARDOWN S browser_name['chromium']
TEARDOWN S playwright
TEARDOWN S _pw_api_request_contexts
TEARDOWN S browser_type_launch_args
TEARDOWN S delete_output_dir
TEARDOWN S pytestconfig
1 passed, 1 warning in 1.90s

Reading the output from top to bottom:

• The session fixtures (playwright, browser_type, browser, browser_context_args and others) are set up first. Fixtures whose names start with _pw are the plugin’s internal helpers; you never use them directly.
• browser_name is shown with ['chromium']: pytest-playwright parametrizes every browser test by browser name, which is why test ids end in [chromium].
• The function fixtures new_context, context and page are created just for this test, then your practice fixture runs on top of page.
• After the test (the .), teardown runs in reverse order: first the function fixtures, and at the end of the session the browser and Playwright.

---

🧼 Proving Test Isolation

These two tests run one after the other in the same browser. The first one stores data in the browser; the second checks that none of it is left:

📄 tests/test_isolation.py

from playwright.sync_api import Browser, BrowserContext, Page

SEEN = {}


def test_first_visit(practice: Page, context: BrowserContext, browser: Browser):
    practice.evaluate("localStorage.setItem('cart', '3 items')")
    context.add_cookies([{"name": "session", "value": "abc123", "url": practice.url}])

    SEEN["browser"], SEEN["context"] = browser, context
    print("\nstored:", practice.evaluate("localStorage.getItem('cart')"), "| cookies:", len(context.cookies()))


def test_second_visit(practice: Page, context: BrowserContext, browser: Browser):
    print("\nleft over:", practice.evaluate("localStorage.getItem('cart')"),
          "| cookies named session:", [c for c in context.cookies() if c["name"] == "session"])
    print("same browser:", browser is SEEN["browser"], "| same context:", context is SEEN["context"])

• SEEN is a plain module-level dictionary used only to compare objects between the two tests.
• context.add_cookies() adds a cookie; context.cookies() lists the cookies of the context. The count of 7 includes cookies that the live site set itself while loading.
• localStorage is read and written with page.evaluate(), which runs JavaScript in the page.

Part of the output of pytest -q -s tests (the full run is at the end of this section):

🖥️ Output

stored: 3 items | cookies: 7
.
left over: None | cookies named session: []
same browser: True | same context: False

The second test sees no localStorage value and no session cookie, because it runs in a new context. The browser object, however, is the very same one.

---

👥 new_context: Several Users in One Test

Some scenarios need two independent sessions at once: a buyer and a seller, an admin and a user, a chat between two people. The new_context fixture is a function: each call creates another context, using the same settings as context (browser_context_args), plus any options you pass.

📄 tests/test_new_context.py

from playwright.sync_api import Page


def test_two_users(new_context):
    alice = new_context().new_page()
    bob = new_context(locale="de-DE", viewport={"width": 800, "height": 600}).new_page()

    alice.goto("https://sqatools.in/automation-practice-page/")
    bob.goto("https://sqatools.in/automation-practice-page/")
    alice.evaluate("localStorage.setItem('user', 'alice')")

    print("\nalice sees:", alice.evaluate("localStorage.getItem('user')"))
    print("bob sees  :", bob.evaluate("localStorage.getItem('user')"))
    print("bob locale:", bob.evaluate("navigator.language"), "| bob viewport:", bob.viewport_size)


def test_page_and_extra_context(page: Page, new_context):
    # page uses one context; new_context() makes a second, independent one
    other = new_context().new_page()
    print("\ncontexts in the browser:", len(page.context.browser.contexts))
    assert page.context is not other.context

• Each new_context() call returns a new, isolated BrowserContext.
• Options passed to the call, such as locale or viewport, are added to the configured browser_context_args for that context only.
• You do not close these contexts yourself: the fixture closes all of them after the test. They also get the plugin’s tracing, video and screenshot handling.

---

🌐 browser: Contexts You Manage Yourself

You can also call browser.new_context() directly. The difference: such a context does not use browser_context_args, does not get the plugin’s artifacts, and you must close it.

📄 tests/test_browser_fixture.py

from playwright.sync_api import Browser


def test_manual_context(browser: Browser):
    context = browser.new_context(java_script_enabled=False)
    try:
        page = context.new_page()
        page.goto("https://sqatools.in/automation-practice-page/")
        print("\nbrowser:", browser.browser_type.name, browser.version.split(".")[0], "| JS enabled:", False)
    finally:
        context.close()

• try / finally makes sure the context is closed even if the test fails.
• Prefer new_context in tests. Use browser.new_context() when you deliberately want a context without the project’s default settings.

⌨️ Terminal

pytest -q -s tests

🖥️ Output

browser: chromium 156 | JS enabled: False
.
stored: 3 items | cookies: 7
.
left over: None | cookies named session: []
same browser: True | same context: False
.
alice sees: alice
bob sees  : None
bob locale: de-DE | bob viewport: {'width': 800, 'height': 600}
.
contexts in the browser: 2
.
5 passed, 1 warning in 8.88s

---

🧭 Information Fixtures: browser_name, is_*, channel and device

These session fixtures tell a test where it runs:

Fixture	Value
browser_name	"chromium", "firefox" or "webkit"
is_chromium, is_firefox, is_webkit	True or False
browser_channel	The --browser-channel value, such as "chrome", or None
device	The --device value, such as "iPhone 15", or None
output_path	This test’s artifact folder inside --output (function scope)

📄 info/test_where_am_i.py

from playwright.sync_api import Page


def test_where_am_i(page: Page, browser_name, is_webkit, browser_channel, device, output_path):
    print(f"\nbrowser_name={browser_name} is_webkit={is_webkit} channel={browser_channel} device={device}")
    print("viewport:", page.viewport_size, "| iPhone user agent:", "iPhone" in page.evaluate("navigator.userAgent"))
    print("output_path ends with:", output_path.replace("\\", "/").split("/")[-1])

⌨️ Terminal

pytest -q -s info --browser firefox --device "iPhone 15"

🖥️ Output

browser_name=firefox is_webkit=False channel=None device=iPhone 15
viewport: {'width': 393, 'height': 659} | iPhone user agent: True
output_path ends with: info-test-where-am-i-py-test-where-am-i-firefox
.
1 passed, 1 warning in 2.00s

• --device "iPhone 15" applies the device’s viewport (393 x 659), user agent and touch support to every context, through browser_context_args.
• The iPhone descriptor names WebKit as its default browser, but --browser decides which browser actually runs. Here Firefox ran with the iPhone viewport and user agent. For the most realistic iPhone emulation, run such tests on WebKit.
• output_path is a folder name built from the test id. Nothing is written there unless an artifact is kept.

Now run on two browsers:

⌨️ Terminal

pytest -q -s info --browser chromium --browser webkit

🖥️ Output

browser_name=chromium is_webkit=False channel=None device=None
viewport: {'width': 1280, 'height': 720} | iPhone user agent: False
output_path ends with: info-test-where-am-i-py-test-where-am-i-chromium
.
browser_name=webkit is_webkit=True channel=None device=None
viewport: {'width': 1280, 'height': 720} | iPhone user agent: False
output_path ends with: info-test-where-am-i-py-test-where-am-i-webkit
.
2 passed, 1 warning in 0.72s

Each --browser adds one parametrized copy of every test, so the test ran twice with a different browser_name.

---

🏠 base_url: Short URLs in Tests

The base_url fixture holds the value of --base-url (or base_url in pytest.ini, or the PYTEST_BASE_URL environment variable). pytest-playwright passes it to every context, so page.goto() accepts paths:

📄 base/test_base_url.py

from playwright.sync_api import Page, expect


def test_relative_goto(page: Page, base_url):
    print("\nbase_url:", base_url)
    page.goto("/automation-practice-page/")                 # resolved against base_url
    expect(page).to_have_url("https://sqatools.in/automation-practice-page/")

⌨️ Terminal

pytest -q -s base --base-url https://sqatools.in

🖥️ Output

base_url: https://sqatools.in
.
1 passed, 1 warning in 2.46s

---

🎭 The playwright Fixture

The session-scoped playwright fixture is the same object you get from sync_playwright().start(). Two things you will use it for:

📄 pw/test_playwright_fixture.py

def test_device_list(playwright):
    iphone = playwright.devices["iPhone 15"]               # a device descriptor (a dict)
    print(iphone["viewport"], iphone["default_browser_type"])

def test_api(playwright):
    api = playwright.request.new_context(base_url="https://sqatools.in")
    response = api.get("/automation-practice-page/")
    assert response.ok
    api.dispose()

• playwright.devices contains the device descriptors used by --device. You can pass one to new_context(**playwright.devices["Pixel 7"]).
• playwright.request creates API clients without a browser. Module 9 covers API testing in detail.

---

📋 All Built-in Fixtures at a Glance

Fixture	Scope	Typical use
page	function	Almost every UI test
context	function	Cookies, permissions, routes, a second page in the same session
new_context	function	Several independent users or per-test context options
browser	session	Contexts without the default settings
browser_type, launch_browser	session	Launching another browser yourself
playwright	session	Devices, API request contexts
browser_context_args	session	Override to change context settings (Lesson 6)
browser_type_launch_args	session	Override to change launch options (headless, args, channel)
connect_options	session	Override to connect to a remote browser server
browser_name, browser_channel, device	session	Where the test runs
is_chromium, is_firefox, is_webkit	session	Browser-specific branches
output_path	function	This test’s artifact folder
base_url	session	The --base-url value

---

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

🤔 Is the browser restarted for every test?

No. The browser fixture is session-scoped, so one browser is launched per browser type for the whole run (per worker when you use pytest-xdist). Each test gets a fresh context instead, which is fast and fully isolated.

🤔 Can I make the page fixture shared between tests to save time?

You could write your own session-scoped page fixture, but tests would then share cookies and state and depend on each other’s order. Keep the per-test context; to save login time, reuse a saved login state instead (Module 8).

🤔 What is the difference between context and new_context?

context is one ready-made context for the test. new_context is a function that creates as many extra contexts as you need, with optional per-context settings. All of them are closed automatically after the test.

🤔 Why do all my test names end with [chromium]?

pytest-playwright parametrizes browser tests by browser_name. The suffix shows which browser ran that copy of the test, which matters when you pass several --browser options.

---

🏁 Summary

• page sits on a chain: playwright → browser_type → browser (session) → new_context → context → page (per test).
• One shared browser makes runs fast; a fresh context per test keeps them isolated.
• --setup-show reveals which fixtures run and in which scope.
• new_context creates extra isolated contexts with optional settings and closes them for you.
• browser.new_context() skips the project settings and must be closed by you.
• browser_name, is_*, browser_channel, device, output_path and base_url tell a test where and how it runs.

Next, you will write your own fixtures on top of these: page objects, logged-in pages, test data with cleanup and fixture factories.