๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ง๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด
You think you are one fix away from finishing. You patch a selector. You fix a button. You think the tests will stay green.
Playwright codegen looks easy. You record a flow. You convert it. It works once. This is the trap.
Here are the four hidden costs:
Prep work. Every element needs a stable ID. You must audit your components before you record. Recording is step two, not step one.
Manual fixes. AI tools do not solve everything. You spend time patching selectors in the source code.
High fragility. Long tests provide the most value. They also break the most. One UI tweak kills the whole chain.
External data. Tests create data on Facebook and TikTok. You cannot delete this data reliably. This risk grows with every test.
E2E tests are not a one-time build. You pay for them every release. The faster you move, the more you pay.
Stop chasing a finished state. Some suites cost more than they save.
My choice: Pause E2E investment. Keep the tools ready. Wait until the trade is worth it.