Playwright API Testing with the request Fixture

Playwright is known for browser tests, but its request fixture also sends HTTP requests, so you can test an API from the same project and the same runner. This tutorial covers GET and POST with status and JSON assertions, baseURL, a reusable authentication token, and API setup before a UI check. Every snippet was run on 13 November 2026 with Playwright 1.59.1 against a small local mock API, so none of them depends on a third-party service.

Why test an API from Playwright

New to Playwright? Start with our beginner's guide or the free PDF course. An API test is faster and less fragile than a browser test, so it is a good place to check business rules. Having it in the same project as your end-to-end tests lets you share configuration, reports and the CI job. It also lets you prepare test data through the API and keep the browser for what only the browser can check.

The request fixture in 10 lines

GET, POST, status and JSON assertions

import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';

test('read and create a user', async ({ request }) => {
  const res = await request.get('users/1');
  expect(res.status()).toBe(200);
  expect(await res.json()).toMatchObject({ id: 1, name: 'Ada' });

  const created = await request.post('users', { data: { name: 'Grace' } });
  await expect(created).toBeOK();
  expect((await created.json()).name).toBe('Grace');
});

toBeOK() checks that the status is in the 200 range. data sends a JSON body.

baseURL and headers

Set baseURL once in playwright.config.ts so tests use short paths:

import { defineConfig } from '@playwright/test';

export default defineConfig({
  use: { baseURL: 'http://127.0.0.1:4599/api/' },
});

Authentication: reusing a token across tests

Log in once in a custom fixture, then give each test a ready-to-use context carrying the token:

import { test as base, expect, type APIRequestContext } from '@playwright/test';

export const test = base.extend<{ authedRequest: APIRequestContext }>({
  authedRequest: async ({ playwright, baseURL }, use) => {
    const login = await playwright.request.newContext({ baseURL });
    const res = await login.post('login', { data: { user: 'ada', password: 'secret' } });
    const { token } = await res.json();
    await login.dispose();

    const api = await playwright.request.newContext({
      baseURL,
      extraHTTPHeaders: { Authorization: 'Bearer ' + token },
    });
    await use(api);
    await api.dispose();
  },
});

test('reads the current user', async ({ authedRequest }) => {
  await expect(await authedRequest.get('me')).toBeOK();
});

This version logs in for each test. To log in once per worker, declare the fixture with { scope: 'worker' } and read the base URL from an environment variable, as baseURL is a test-scoped option.

Mixing API setup and UI checks

Create the data with the API, then check it in the browser:

test('a user created through the API shows up in the UI', async ({ page, request }) => {
  const created = await request.post('api/users', { data: { name: 'Grace' } });
  expect(created.status()).toBe(201);

  await page.goto('users');
  await expect(page.getByText('Grace')).toBeVisible();
});

Common mistakes

• The slash trap. With a baseURL of http://host/api/, request.get('users/1') reaches /api/users/1, but request.get('/users/1') goes to /users/1 and drops /api. In our run it returned a 404. Our article on a Claude Code and Playwright test session shows the same trap on a real project.
• Shared state. Tests that rely on data created by another test break in parallel runs. Create what each test needs, and clean up.
• Validating the JSON structure. Playwright has no built-in JSON schema validation: use toMatchObject, expect.any(Number) or a library such as Zod or Ajv. For a broader comparison of API testing tools, see our API testing guide.

Running it in CI

API-only tests do not open a browser: our run passed with no browser installed, so a CI job for them needs Node.js, npm ci and npx playwright test. Add npx playwright install only for the jobs that include UI tests.