[Bug]: browserType.launchServer() ignores the timeout option and can hang forever #43819

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1. Pavel Feldman (pavelfeldman)

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   needs-triage

   on Oct 31, 2026
2. github-actions commented on Oct 31, 2026

   

   github-actionsBot

   on Oct 31, 2026 – with GitHub Actions · Hidden as outdated

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3. github-actions commented on Oct 31, 2026

   

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   on Oct 31, 2026 – with GitHub Actions

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   Hi, I'm the Playwright bot. I reproduced this and verified a fix.

   Reproduced on Chromium, Firefox and WebKit on Linux at deb7e86201e26cb4a8e25191fce5ef2f7a28aa87 (1.65.0-next). launchServer() calculates the timeout but does not pass it to the progress controller. Passing that value restores the timeout. The existing launch-timeout test now checks server launches too.

   The release check confirms the regression in 1.54.0, introduced by #36455; the same check passes on 1.53.2.

   Condensed reproduction

   The hook requires the repository's test environment (PWTEST_UNDER_TEST=1).

   import { playwrightTest as test, expect } from '../config/browserTest';
   
   test('launchServer honors startup timeout', async ({ browserType }) => {
     const options = {
       timeout: 5000,
       __testHookBeforeCreateBrowser: () => new Promise(f => setTimeout(f, 6000)),
     };
     await expect(browserType.launchServer(options).then(server => server.close()))
         .rejects.toThrow('Timeout 5000ms exceeded.');
   });

   Without the fix, the server launch succeeds after the six-second hook instead of rejecting at five seconds. The check closes that server so that the failed test does not leave it running.

   What I ran

   All runs were headless on Linux.

   Version	Browsers	Result
   1.53.2	Chromium bundled with that release	Rejects at 5000ms as expected
   1.54.0	Chromium bundled with that release	Does not time out; regression reproduced
   1.65.0-next, deb7e86201e26cb4a8e25191fce5ef2f7a28aa87	Chromium, Firefox, WebKit	Server timeout assertion fails on all three; direct launch timeout works
   Same checkout with the fix	Chromium, Firefox, WebKit	Timeout assertion passes on all three

   Both browsertype-launch.spec.ts and browsertype-launch-server.spec.ts pass with the fix: 77 passed, 1 existing skip. The without/with-fix check was repeated before handoff. npm run build and npm run flint pass.

   Draft PR: #43826

   _{Triaged on Linux by the Playwright bot - agent run}