Gain Visibility into Cloud Browser Usage with Browser Activity Logs in Playwright Workspaces
Today, we're announcing a new feature to view the usage metrics for a browser session using the Browser Activity Logs in Playwright Workspaces. Modern test automation and browser-based workflows increasingly rely on cloud-hosted browsers. As teams scale their usage across test runs, automation tools, and AI-driven agents, visibility and traceability into browser usage become critical, not just for debugging, but also for cost awareness and governance. To address this, Browser Activity Logs in Playwright Workspaces provide a centralized view of every cloud browser session provisioned by Playwright Workspaces. In this post, we’ll walk through what Browser Activity Logs are, what insights they offer, and how you can access them from the Azure portal. What is a Browser Session? In Playwright Workspaces, a Browser Session represents any browser instance provisioned by the service, regardless of how it was initiated. This includes browsers started by: Playwright Workspaces test run Browser Automation Tool Other automation clients that connect to the workspace Every time a browser is requested, Playwright Workspaces automatically creates a Browser Session and records it in the Browser Activity Logs in the Azure portal. This ensures that all browser usage (testing and non-testing scenarios) is fully observable from a single view. What are Browser Activity Logs? The Browser Activity Logs page lets you track the full lifecycle of each browser session, from creation to completion. For every session, you can view the following details: Session Name / ID – A unique identifier for the browser session Start Time – When the browser session started End Time – When the browser session ended Billable Time – Total duration of the session that is billable Source Type – The client that initiated the session Playwright Workspaces test run Browser automation tool Others Source ID – Identifier of the initiating client Test run ID Conversation ID Status – Current state of the session. Created Active Completed Failed Browser Type – Browser used for the session Operating System – OS used by the browser Creator Name / ID – User who initiated the session Together, these fields give you end-to-end traceability for every browser instance created in your workspace. Filtering and Analyzing Browser Usage The Browser Activity Logs page includes built-in filters to help you quickly analyze usage patterns. You can filter browser sessions by: Time range Last 30 days Last 60 days Last 90 days Source type Playwright Workspaces test runs Browser automation tools Other sources Source ID Test run ID Conversation ID Status Created Active Completed Failed These filters make it easy to answer common questions such as: How many browser sessions were created by a specific test run? Which automation scenarios are consuming the most browser time? How much billable browser time was used in a given period? How to View Browser Activity Logs in the Azure Portal Prerequisites Before you begin, make sure you have: An Azure account with an active subscription Owner, Contributor, or a classic administrator role on the subscription A Playwright Workspace created in your subscription Reader, Contributor, or Owner access to the Playwright Workspace Step-by-step: Accessing Browser Activity Logs Sign in to the Azure portal. From the home page, search for and select Azure App Testing. In the Azure App Testing hub, select View resources under Playwright Workspaces. Search for and open your Playwright Workspace. In the left navigation pane, select: Browser sessions → Browser activity log Click on the Browser session to see additional details. Use the Source ID filter to narrow down results: Enter a Playwright Workspaces test run ID to view browser sessions for a specific test run. Enter a Foundry conversation ID to view browser sessions created by a browser automation tool. Alternatively, filter by Source type to view all sessions from a specific client. Why Browser Activity Logs Matter Browser Activity Logs unlock three key benefits for teams using Playwright Workspaces: Visibility – See every browser session created across testing and automation scenarios. Traceability – Correlate browser usage back to test runs, tools, or conversations. Cost transparency – Understand billable browser time and optimize usage as you scale. Whether you’re debugging a failed automation workflow, reviewing usage across teams, or tracking costs, Browser Activity Logs give you the clarity you need. Get Started Today Browser Activity Logs in Playwright Workspaces is now available for all Playwright Workspace users. To learn more and start exploring your browser usage, visit the Azure portal and head to the Browser Activity Log page in Playwright Workspaces today. Share your feedback As always, we welcome feedback, let us know what works great for you and what you’d love to see next.Introducing Reporting in Playwright Workspaces
Today, we’re thrilled to announce a powerful new reporting feature in Playwright Workspaces – designed to make debugging Playwright end-to-end tests faster, easier, and more insightful. If you’re using Playwright Workspaces (part of Azure App Testing) to run Playwright tests at scale, this update brings you – Streamlined access to all your test reports through the Azure portal. Greater control over your test artifacts with the bring-your-own-storage capability. Customizable data governance including retention, security, and compliance settings. Easy collaboration with team members using shareable test report URLs. What’s new in Playwright Workspaces Reporting: Integrated Reporting Experience in the Azure Portal All your test reports are accessible in one place, right within the Azure portal. As soon as your Playwright tests finish running, the results and test artifacts are available in the Test Runs page in your Playwright Workspace – no need to pull files from CI or scour different logs. Debugging test failures is now more visual and intuitive. Playwright’s Trace Viewer is integrated directly into the test report, so you can time-travel through a failing test, step by step. Open any failed or flaky test and you’ll see a rich timeline of actions: hover over each step to reveal the page state before and after each action. Detailed logs, DOM snapshots, network activity, errors, and console output are available at each test step for better troubleshooting. Flexible Data Governance with Bring Your Own Storage In this release, you have full control over where your test reports and artifacts live. Playwright Workspaces now lets you link your own Azure Storage account to store test results, traces, videos, and screenshots. With this update, you get to define your data retention, security, and compliance settings. For example, you might plug in an Azure Blob Storage container under your company’s account – all test artifacts will be saved there, under your organization’s preset governance. The bring-your-own-storage approach gives teams flexibility to meet enterprise policies or cost management goals. Once connected, the dashboard will seamlessly pull reports from your storage, so the experience remains smooth. Collaborate Seamlessly with Team Members Using the centralised test report experience enables you to easily manage and share access to your test reports. You can also see the URL to the test report as a part of your CI logs. Share this test report URL with your team members to debug failed or flaky tests faster. Having a single source of truth for test results not only saves time but also reduces miscommunication during crunch times. We’re excited about how the new reporting capability in Playwright Workspaces will empower teams to ship with greater confidence. By combining scalable test execution with a centralised, fully controllable and collaborative test results experience, Playwright Workspaces takes debugging and test results reporting to the next level. Happy Testing and Debugging with Playwright Workspaces Reporting! Get Started with Reporting in Playwright Workspaces Ready to take the new reporting feature for a spin? Playwright Workspaces Reporting is now available for all Playwright Workspace users. Use the following links to get started – Quickstart Guide Troubleshooting FAQs Share your feedback As always, we welcome feedback: let us know what works great for you and what you’d love to see next.Run Playwright Tests on Cloud Browsers using Playwright Workspaces
This post walks through setting up and running Playwright UI and API tests on Azure Playwright Testing Service (Preview). It covers workspace setup, project configuration, remote browser execution, and viewing test reports and traces using Visual Studio or VS Code.
Learn New Skills in the New Year
New year’s resolution: Start writing better code faster in 2025. Kick off the new year by learning new developer skills and elevate your career to the next level. In this post, we explore learning resources and live events that will help you build critical skills and get started with cutting-edge technologies. Learn how to build custom agents, code intelligent apps with familiar tools, discover new possibilities in .NET 9, use Copilot for testing and debugging, and more. Plus, get details about using GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code—for free! New AI for Developers page Check out the new AI for Developers page. It's packed with free GitHub courses on building apps, machine learning, and mastering GitHub Copilot for paired programming. Learn your way and skill up for what's next in AI. Use GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code for free Did you hear the news? You can now use GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code for free. Get details about the new Copilot Free plan and add Copilot to your developer toolbox. What is Copilot Studio? Have questions about Copilot Studio? This article from Microsoft Learn covers all the basics you need to know about Copilot Studio—the low-code tool for easily building agents and extending Microsoft 365 Copilot. From C# to ChatGPT: Build Generative AI Solutions with Azure Combine your C# skills with the cutting-edge power of ChatGPT and Azure OpenAI Service. This free learning path introduces you to building GenAI solutions, using REST APIs, SDKs, and Azure tools to create more intelligent applications. Register for the Powerful Devs Conference + Hackathon Register for the Powerful Devs Conference + Hackathon (February 12-28, 2025) and get more out of Power Platform. This one-day online conference is followed by a 2-week hackathon focused on building intelligent applications with less effort. 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Season 2 digs into the latest Azure AI advancements, with practical demos, code samples, and real-world use cases. GitHub Copilot Bootcamp Streamline your workflow with GitHub Copilot—craft more effective prompts and automate repetitive tasks like testing. This GitHub Copilot Bootcamp is a 4-part live streaming series that will help you master GitHub Copilot. 10 Days of GenAI – Gift Guide Edition Start building your own Gen AI application. These short videos outline 10 steps for creating your app—choose a model, add functions, fine tune responses, and more. Extend Microsoft 365 Copilot with declarative agents using Visual Studio Code Check out this new learning path from Microsoft Learn to discover how you can extend Microsoft 365 Copilot with declarative agents using VS Code. Learn about declarative agents and how they work. Developer's guide to building your own agents Want to build your own agents? Watch this Ignite session on demand for a look at the new agent development tools. Find out how to create agents built on Microsoft 365 Copilot or your custom AI engine. Master distributed application development with .NET Aspire Get started with .NET Aspire—an opinionated, cloud-ready stack for building distributed applications with .NET. This series covers everything from setup to deployment. Start your journey toward mastering distributed app development. Learn: What's new in .NET 9 Discover what's new in .NET 9. Learn about new features for AI, improvements for building cloud-native apps, performance enhancements, updates to C#, and more. Read the overview and get started with .NET 9. Become a .NET AI engineer using the OpenAI library for .NET Use your .NET skills to become an AI engineer. With the OpenAI library, .NET developers can quickly master critical AI skills and apply them to real world apps. Read the blog to learn more about the OpenAI library for .NET. Test like a pro with Playwright and GitHub Copilot Supercharge your testing using Playwright and GitHub Copilot. Watch this in-depth demo and discover how you can easily create end-to-end tests using Playwright's powerful built-in code generator. Other news and resources from around Microsoft · Microsoft Learn: Why and how to adopt AI in your organization · Microsoft Learn: Learn to use Copilot in Microsoft Fabric · AI Toolkit for Visual Studio Code: Update highlights · Teams Toolkit for Visual Studio Code update · RAG Deep Dive: Live streams · Learn Together: SQL database in Fabric · Become an AI security expert using OpenAI with Azure Managed Identity · Deploy, monitor, and manage development resources with Microsoft Dev Box · Microsoft Playwright testing · Introduction to artificial intelligence and Azure AI services · Azure AI-900 Fundamentals Training event series · Leveraging cloud-native infra for your intelligent apps · Platform engineering with GitHub · Extend declarative agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot with API plugins using Visual Studio Code · Introducing the Microsoft 365 Agents SDK · Azure Live Q&A events · Get started with multimodal parsing for RAG using GPT-4o, Azure AI Search, and LlamaParse
Microsoft Playwright Testing service now supports NUnit test runner
Microsoft Playwright Testing is an Azure service that accelerates builds by running tests in parallel, enhances test coverage by enabling testing across multiple operating systems and browsers, and simplifies troubleshooting with a unified dashboard for test results and artifacts. We are excited to announce that Playwright Testing service now supports the NUnit test runner, bringing the following benefits to .NET developers: Speed up your NUnit test runs by running more .NET tests in parallel. Expand test coverage by running your .NET tests across multiple operating systems and browsers. Troubleshoot faster using Microsoft Playwright Testing’s rich reporting capabilities. Faster builds with parallel test execution As your application grows, test suite complexity increases, leading to longer execution times that slow development and delay releases. On both dev machines and CI agents, resource constraints limit the number of browsers that can run in parallel, resulting in longer wait times. With NUnit support in Playwright Testing, you can run more .NET tests in parallel across multiple cloud-hosted browsers. By offloading tests to managed infrastructure, the service eliminates resource bottlenecks, enabling simultaneous execution to speed up builds and reduce pipeline delays. This seamless integration preserves your NUnit workflow, providing faster feedback without requiring additional setup or maintenance. Comprehensive test coverage across browsers and operating systems Modern web applications are complex, both in features and compatibility across multiple browsers and operating systems. Testing across these configurations lengthens execution time and adds infrastructure burdens. With NUnit support in Microsoft Playwright Testing, you can easily run your .NET tests across various OS-browser combinations without the need for additional infrastructure management. The service-managed infrastructure ensures reliable test execution, whether running tests locally or in your CI pipeline. The service’s cross-platform coverage and scalable infrastructure guarantee that your application performs flawlessly across browsers and operating systems, providing a consistent and optimized user experience. Easy troubleshooting with reporting As development teams scale and release new features, quickly resolving issues becomes critical to maintaining quality. Delays in issue resolution can disrupt the entire development process. With NUnit support in Playwright Testing, your team can access detailed test results from CI/CD runs of .NET tests, along with rich artifacts like error logs, screenshots, videos, and traces, all within a unified dashboard for rapid troubleshooting. The reporting feature highlights tests that need attention, filtering results to focus on failures, so you can immediately start troubleshooting. You can easily click through each test to access all the necessary information to resolve issues. All artifacts are securely stored in a centralized location with customizable permissions. A standout feature is the Trace Viewer, which allows you to visually navigate through your NUnit test execution. You can step through tests or use the timeline to examine the page state before and after each action, including detailed logs, DOM snapshots, network activity, errors, and console output at every step for precise troubleshooting. Get started with Playwright Testing service Getting started is simple. In just a few steps, you can integrate your NUnit test suite with Microsoft Playwright Testing. Check out our QuickStart and try the service today! Share your feedback Your feedback is invaluable to us. Share your thoughts and help us improve Microsoft Playwright Testing. Learn more about the Microsoft Playwright Testing service Learn more about using the Playwright Testing service for your web application testing. Explore the features and benefits that Microsoft Playwright Testing offers. Learn about our flexible pricing. Use the pricing calculator to determine your costs based on your business needs.First Steps into Automation: Building Your First Playwright Test
Your journey into automated testing begins here! This is not just a blog; it's your gateway to mastering the art of reliable and consistent user experiences. With Playwright's rich features and tools, you're equipped to tackle modern web development challenges head-on. Don't wait, start learning Playwright today and take your web testing to the next level!
