fix(docker): Pre-install Playwright Chromium browsers for automated t…

[Shironex]

Fixes #725

AI agents in automated testing mode require Playwright to verify implementations, but Docker containers had only system dependencies installed, not browser binaries. This caused verification failures with permissions errors.

Changes:

• Install Playwright Chromium in Dockerfile (~300MB increase)
• Update docker-compose.override.yml.example with clearer Playwright documentation
• Add "Playwright for Automated Testing" section to README
• Document optional volume mount for persisting browsers across rebuilds

Browsers are now pre-installed and work out of the box for Docker users.

Summary by CodeRabbit

• New Features

  • Chromium browser pre-installed in the container image for immediate Playwright automated testing (~300MB increase).
  • Verification steps added to confirm browser installation during image startup.

• Documentation

  • New Playwright E2E testing section with no-setup checks, manual update/reinstall commands, and guidance for persisting browser caches.
  • Sample docker-compose.override snippet and notes warning that an empty cache volume will override pre-installed browsers and how to reset.

[coderabbitai]

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

Pre-installs Playwright Chromium in the Docker server image, updates README with Playwright E2E testing and cache guidance, and clarifies docker-compose.override.yml.example with an optional Playwright browser cache volume and manual update instructions.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Docker Image Setup Dockerfile	Adds Playwright Chromium install steps (runs as automaker then reverts to root), sets PATH entries for /home/automaker/.local/bin, emits verification output and lists Playwright cache; ensures browsers present in built image.
Documentation README.md	Adds End-to-End (Playwright) testing section, documents pre-installed Chromium, verifies no‑setup testing, provides guidance for persisting Playwright cache and reinstalling browsers when using a mounted volume.
Docker Composition docker-compose.override.yml.example	Clarifies "Playwright Browser Cache (Optional)" section, shows volume snippet to persist /home/automaker/.cache/ms-playwright, and documents manual update/reinstall commands and caveats about empty volumes overriding preinstalled browsers.

Sequence Diagram(s)

(omitted — changes are build and documentation focused and do not introduce a new multi-component runtime flow)

Estimated code review effort

🎯 2 (Simple) | ⏱️ ~10 minutes

Possibly related PRs

• chore(docker): add Playwright Chromium prerequisites #478 — Modifies Docker build and compose to support Playwright/Chromium; closely related to installing browsers in the image.
• refactor: update Dockerfiles for server and UI to streamline dependen… #302 — Changes to Docker image build stages and runtime artifacts; related to build-stage adjustments in this PR.

Suggested labels

Documentation, Ready-To-Merge

Poem

🐇 I hopped through Dockerfiles with nimble paws,
Poured Chromium in so tests obey the laws.
A cache for browsers, snug in a named volume bed,
Agents now click happily, no errors to dread.
Hooray — carrots for CI and cocoa for the devs! 🥕

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title accurately summarizes the main change: pre-installing Playwright Chromium in Docker for automated testing, matching the core objective of fixing the bug.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	All coding requirements from issue #725 are met: Dockerfile installs Playwright Chromium (primary fix), README documents Playwright for automated testing, docker-compose.override.yml.example clarifies cache persistence workflow.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	All changes directly address issue #725: Dockerfile modification for browser installation, README documentation for Playwright testing, and docker-compose example clarification for cache persistence.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.

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✨ Finishing touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Post copyable unit tests in a comment
• Commit unit tests in branch fix/docker-playwright-missing-browsers

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[gemini-code-assist]

Summary of Changes

Hello @Shironex, I'm Gemini Code Assist¹! I'm currently reviewing this pull request and will post my feedback shortly. In the meantime, here's a summary to help you and other reviewers quickly get up to speed!

This pull request addresses issue #725 by pre-installing Playwright Chromium in the Docker image, enabling automated testing without requiring additional setup. It also includes documentation updates and configuration examples to guide users on how to persist the browser cache across container rebuilds.

Highlights

• Playwright Installation: Playwright Chromium is now pre-installed in the Docker image to support automated testing, resolving issues with missing browser binaries and permission errors.
• Documentation Updates: The README.md has been updated with a new section on "Playwright for Automated Testing," including instructions for persisting browsers across rebuilds.
• Configuration Example: The docker-compose.override.yml.example file has been updated with clearer documentation on Playwright and instructions for persisting the browser cache.

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[gemini-code-assist]

Code Review

This pull request pre-installs Playwright Chromium browsers in the Docker image to enable automated testing out of the box. The changes include updating the Dockerfile to install the browser, and modifying the README and docker-compose example file to document this feature and the optional persistence of the browser cache. My review focuses on improving the Docker layer caching and clarifying the documentation around using a persistent volume for the Playwright cache to avoid user confusion.

[coderabbitai]

Actionable comments posted: 4

🤖 Fix all issues with AI agents

In `@docker-compose.override.yml.example`:
- Around line 24-30: Update the manual Playwright update instruction so it runs
inside the automaker-server container as the automaker user with working
directory /app (so Playwright installs to /home/automaker/.cache/ms-playwright
instead of root); specifically replace the current example command that runs as
root with one that executes the install command in the automaker-server
container using user "automaker" and working directory "/app".

In `@Dockerfile`:
- Around line 122-126: The Playwright install RUN (the command "npx playwright
install chromium") must be moved so it runs after the COPY --from=server-builder
/app/node_modules ./node_modules step; update the Dockerfile to remove the early
RUN and add a new RUN after the node_modules copy that invokes the locally
installed playwright (e.g., use ./node_modules/.bin/playwright install chromium
or npx --no-install playwright install chromium) so the pinned version from
node_modules/package-lock.json is used and no registry fetch occurs.

In `@README.md`:
- Line 347: Replace the bold subsection title "**Optional: Persist browsers
across container rebuilds**" with a proper Markdown heading (e.g., "###
Optional: Persist browsers across container rebuilds" or another appropriate
heading level) so it stops being flagged by markdownlint MD036; locate the exact
bold text in README.md and change it to the chosen heading syntax.
- Around line 362-366: Update the README's manual browser update command so it
runs as the automaker user and from /app: change the documented docker exec
invocation that currently runs npx playwright install chromium in the container
(automaker-server) to include running as user "automaker" and setting the
working directory to "/app" (i.e. add the equivalent of the docker exec flags to
set user and workdir) so that the Playwright browser cache is written to the
automaker user's cache directory rather than root.

[JasonBroderick]

Tested this PR - found an issue and submitted a fix

I tested this PR on WSL2 Ubuntu and found that the Playwright install step fails during Docker build:

#63 [server server 16/20] RUN ./node_modules/.bin/playwright install chromium
#63 0.248 /bin/sh: 1: ./node_modules/.bin/playwright: not found

Root cause: The server-builder stage only copies apps/server/package.json, so playwright (which is only in apps/ui/package.json devDependencies) isn't available in the server's node_modules.

Fix: I've submitted #751 which adds @playwright/test to the server's devDependencies. After this fix, the build works correctly and Playwright verification runs successfully in Automaker.

Feel free to:

• Merge fix(docker): Add @playwright/test to server devDependencies #751 separately, or
• Cherry-pick the commit into this branch, or
• Implement the fix differently if you prefer

Happy to help however is most useful!