Error messages

Every message names what it is about: the path, the method you called, the page object’s label or the session storage helper’s. Messages are grouped by the call that throws them; … stands for the part that varies. A page object adds its label in front of a message thrown by defineLocators() or the check after it (see page objects).

Paths

Thrown by a locator method of add(path) and by the resolving methods, when a path breaks the path rules. TypeScript rejects these paths where they are written, so the messages come from JavaScript or from a path built at run time. See paths and the registry.

LocatorSchemaPath must be a string; received 42.
LocatorSchemaPath string cannot be empty
LocatorSchemaPath string cannot contain whitespace chars: main\u00A0.form
LocatorSchemaPath string cannot start with a dot: .main
LocatorSchemaPath string cannot end with a dot: main.
LocatorSchemaPath string cannot contain consecutive dots: main..list

Whitespace is shown escaped, so a non-breaking space is visible. Fix the path.

Registering

A path registered twice

A locator schema with the path "main" already exists.
Existing and attempted schemas: { … }

Thrown by the locator method of a second add(path) for the same path. Each path has one locator: give the second one its own path, or change the first.

Two locator methods on one registration

A locator definition for "main" has already been provided; only one locator type can be set for a registration.

Thrown by a second locator method on the same add(path). Register one locator per path.

A first argument that is missing or empty

getByRole requires a role value for "main.button@save".
getByRole requires a non-empty role for "main.heading".
locator requires a non-empty selector for "main.list".
frameLocator requires a non-empty selector for "shell.frame".
getById requires a non-empty id for "main.panel@settings".
getByTestId requires a testId value for "main.row@order".

Thrown by a locator method of add, createReusable (createReusable.getByRole requires a role value., without a path) and replace when the first argument is missing (from JavaScript), and by those and by update and a seeded add when it is not a string or RegExp where one is needed, or is an empty string where Playwright cannot use one: locator, frameLocator, getByRole and getById. On update and a seeded add an omitted first argument keeps the registered one. getByText(""), getByTestId("") and the other text methods store the empty string, which Playwright matches. See registering locators.

A registration that has ended

nth() cannot apply to "main.list.item": its registration has ended; give a registration all its steps in its add(…) chain, or query the path for one use.
getByRole() cannot apply to "main.button@save": its registration has ended; give a registration all its steps in its add(…) chain, or query the path for one use.

A method of a registration kept in a variable, called after the registry was called again (the next add, getLocator, getNestedLocator, getLocatorSchema, verify, or the resolution of a query). Give the registration all its steps before that, in its chain; for a variation of one use, query the path. See registering locators.

A step before the locator method

filter() needs a locator strategy first for "main.list.item"; call getByRole, getByText, getByLabel, getByPlaceholder, getByAltText, getByTitle, locator, frameLocator, getByTestId or getById before it.

From JavaScript; TypeScript offers filter, nth and describe only after a locator method. Call the locator method first.

A description that is not a string

describe requires a string for "main.list.item@first"; pass "" to remove the description.
createReusable.describe requires a string; pass "" to remove the description.

From JavaScript. describe("") removes a description.

Reusing

No locator schema registered for path "main.nothing".
Locator reuse path cannot be the same as registration path: "main.same".
reuse requires a registered path or a seed from createReusable for "main.list.item@null".

Thrown by add(path, { reuse }): the reused path is not registered (register it first, or fix its name); the path reuses itself; or the value is neither a path nor a seed (from JavaScript).

The locator definition for "main.button@cancel" must use the "role" strategy when reusing a locator.
A locator definition for "main.link@help" was already provided from reuse; only one matching override is allowed.

Thrown by the locator method after add(path, { reuse: seed }): another strategy than the seed’s, or a second call on a registration kept in a variable. A seed’s locator can be patched once, with its own method; for another strategy, make another seed.

reuse cannot apply to "bannerFrame": frameLocator() without a selector has no element to filter, index or describe; resolve a path inside it.

A seed of the any-frame frameLocator() with steps or a description, which it cannot have.

Resolving and verifying

Thrown by getNestedLocator, getLocator, a query’s resolving methods, and verify(), which collects every one of them for every path:

Locator registry verification failed for 1 of 2 paths:
  "list.items": No locator schema registered for path "list.titel".

A path that is not registered

No locator schema registered for path "main.list.item".

The path, or a path a has or hasNot filter names, has no locator. Register it, or fix the name. A segment of a path that is not registered is left out of the chain and is not an error; with strictChains it is:

"main.form.button.save": strictChains requires every ancestor to be registered; "main.form" and "main.form.button" are not.

A cycle of filter paths

Detected cyclic filter reference while resolving "list@orders": "list@archive".

Two paths whose has or hasNot filters name each other, directly or through others. Remove one reference.

A filter reference that is neither a Locator nor a path

Unsupported filter reference while resolving "list". Filter has/hasNot supports Playwright Locator instances or registry path strings.

From JavaScript. Pass a Playwright Locator or a registered path.

The any-frame `frameLocator()` in the wrong place

frameLocator() without a selector must be the first segment of the chain; "shell.anyFrame" has the ancestor "shell".
frameLocator() without a selector does not point to a particular iframe; "anyFrame" cannot be resolved on its own, filtered or indexed; resolve a path inside it.

The any-frame segment must be the first registered segment of its chain, and it has no element of its own: resolve a path inside it, or give it a selector. See frames.

Queries

Thrown at the call by the methods of a query.

"main.button@save" is not a valid sub-path of "main.list.item".
"main.form" is not a valid sub-path of "main.form.button@save". It is a segment of that path, but no locator schema is registered for it.

A subPath must be the query’s path or one of its registered ancestors.

filter() cannot apply to "main.list": it is skipped in this query; call unskip("main.list") first.
skip() cannot skip "main.list": it is already skipped in this query.
skip() cannot skip "main.button@save": it is the path this query resolves; skip one of its ancestors.
unskip() cannot unskip "main.list": it is not skipped in this query.

update, replace, filter, nth and clearSteps reject a skipped segment until unskip; the query’s own path cannot be skipped (a compile error, and this message from JavaScript).

update("main.button@save") cannot change the strategy from "role" to "locator"; use replace("main.button@save").locator(…) instead.

update patches the registered locator and keeps its strategy; replace installs one of another strategy.

replace() cannot apply to "main.frame@payment": it is the path this query resolves, and frameLocator() without a selector has no element to resolve to; replace an ancestor instead.
replace() cannot apply to "main.list": it has filter or nth steps, and frameLocator() without a selector takes none; call clearSteps("main.list") first.
filter() cannot apply to "anyFrame": frameLocator() without a selector has no element to filter, index or describe; resolve a path inside it.

The any-frame form has no element: it cannot be the query’s own path, carry steps, or be filtered or indexed.

Page objects

URLs

LoginPage: baseUrl must be an origin such as "https://example.com" or "http://localhost:9000" (scheme, host, optional port, no path, query or hash); received "localhost:9000".
LoginPage: baseUrl must be a string or a RegExp; received undefined.
LoginPage: urlPath must be "" or start with exactly one "/"; received "login".

Thrown by the constructor. A string baseUrl is an origin with a scheme and nothing after it; a path goes in urlPath. undefined usually means an environment variable that is not set. See URLs and navigation.

Locators

LoginPage: defineLocators() failed: A locator schema with the path "main" already exists. …
LoginPage: Locator registry verification failed for 1 of 5 paths:
  "main.form@login": No locator schema registered for path "main.form@login.heading".

An error from defineLocators(), or from the check of every path after it, labelled with the page object and with the original as cause. It fails the fixture that created the page object, before the test body, with the line that constructed the page object in its stack, and every later locator call on the page object throws it again. Fix the message after the label. See page objects.

OrdersPage: expected URL "https://shop.example/orders"; found "https://shop.example/orders?tab=1" (page.waitForURL: Timeout 15000ms exceeded.)
OrdersPage: expected to have left "https://shop.example/orders"; found "https://shop.example/orders" (page.waitForURL: Timeout 15000ms exceeded.)
OrdersPage: left "https://shop.example/orders" but returned to it; found "https://shop.example/orders"

Thrown by expectThisPage() and expectAnotherPage() when the browser is not where they wait for it within the timeout, with Playwright’s error as cause. A page’s identity is its exact URL; a page whose URL varies has a RegExp part.

AccountPage: goto() without a URL needs a string fullUrl; this page object has a RegExp URL. Pass an absolute URL instead.
AccountPage: goto("/account") needs an absolute URL because baseUrl is a RegExp.
Cannot resolve "http://" against baseUrl "https://shop.example".

Thrown by goto(): from JavaScript on a page object whose URL is a RegExp, and for a target that is not a URL, such as a scheme with nothing after it.

Session storage

Thrown by the methods of SessionStorage, prefixed with the helper’s label and method.

Shop.SessionStorage.set: the page has no origin yet (about:blank); navigate to the origin first or use seed()
AccountPage.SessionStorage.get: the page is on https://login.example, not on this page object's origin https://shop.example; another origin's sessionStorage is reachable only from a document on it. Use the page object for https://login.example, or a standalone SessionStorage without an origin

set, get and clear work on the page’s current origin, so the page must be on one, and a helper that belongs to an origin must be on it.

Shop.SessionStorage.set: value for "user" is not a string and no codec is declared for it
Shop.SessionStorage.set: value for "user" could not be encoded
Shop.SessionStorage.set: the codec for "user" returned undefined instead of a string
Shop.SessionStorage.get: value for "user" could not be decoded: {not json

A key without a codec holds a string; declare a codec for a key that holds anything else. A codec’s own error is the cause.

Shop.SessionStorage.constructor: origin must be an origin such as "https://app.example" or "http://localhost:9000" (scheme, host, optional port, no path, query or hash); received "shop.example"

seed

Shop.SessionStorage.seed: an origin is required; pass { origin } or construct the helper with one
Shop.SessionStorage.seed: the page committed a document on https://pay.example while seed() was registering, so the app may have started without the entries; await that navigation before seeding, or seed before starting it
Shop.SessionStorage.seed: seed() needs the Navigation API (navigation.activation) to write only on the first arrival at https://pay.example, and this browser has none (Mozilla/5.0 …); use set() on the origin and reload instead

At the call. The others fail the test later, when the app’s document loads or when the page closes, with the line of the seed call in the stack:

Shop.SessionStorage.seed: could not write sessionStorage for https://pay.example (keys: orderId): QuotaExceededError: The quota has been exceeded.; the app loaded without the entries
Shop.SessionStorage.seed: the seed for https://pay.example (keys: orderId) was never applied: the page closed without navigating there; remove the seed call, or navigate to the origin before the test ends

See what seed cannot do.

`@step`

@step decorates methods that return a Promise: make the method async

A compile error, on a method that does not return a Promise. Make the method async.

@step decorator can only be applied to methods.

From JavaScript, on something that is not a method.