Playwright "Error in global setup" - globalSetup Failures in CI

By Kaveh Alemi·Latchkey

Playwright runs globalSetup once before the suite - often to log in and save storageState. If that script throws, the entire run aborts before any test, and every project shows as failed.

What this error means

The run dies at the start with "Error in global setup" and the underlying exception. Tests that depend on a saved auth state then cannot run, because the setup that produces it never finished.

Error: Error in global setup.

  at loadConfigAndRunGlobalSetup (playwright/lib/runner.js)

Caused by: page.fill: Timeout 30000ms exceeded.
  waiting for getByLabel('Password')

Common causes

The setup script threw

A failed login, an unreachable backend, or a selector that times out inside globalSetup raises an exception that aborts the whole run.

storageState never written or path wrong

If setup is supposed to save storageState but the path is wrong or the save is skipped on error, dependent tests fail to load the auth state.

How to fix it

Make global setup robust and save state explicitly

// global-setup.ts
export default async () => {
  const browser = await chromium.launch();
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  await page.goto(process.env.BASE_URL + '/login');
  await page.getByLabel('Email').fill(process.env.E2E_USER);
  await page.getByLabel('Password').fill(process.env.E2E_PASS);
  await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Sign in' }).click();
  await page.context().storageState({ path: 'storage/state.json' });
  await browser.close();
};

Wire setup and state into the config

1. Reference globalSetup and use.storageState in playwright.config.ts.
2. Ensure the app/backend is up before setup runs (use webServer or a healthcheck).
3. Confirm required env (E2E_USER/E2E_PASS, BASE_URL) is present in CI.

How to prevent it

• Gate globalSetup behind a backend healthcheck.
• Fail fast with a clear message if required env is missing.
• Save storageState to a stable, configured path.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

References

• GitHub Actions documentation