medium

Error: expect(locator).toBeVisible() — Timeout

A Playwright assertion (expect) timed out waiting for the expected condition. Playwright assertions auto-retry until the timeout, then fail.

Common Causes

  1. 1Element never becomes visible within the assertion timeout
  2. 2Wrong selector in the assertion
  3. 3Page is still loading when assertion runs
  4. 4Assertion timeout is too short for the operation

How to Fix

Increase the assertion timeout

await expect(page.locator('#element')).toBeVisible({ timeout: 15000 });

Override the default assertion timeout for slow-loading elements.

Set global assertion timeout

// playwright.config.ts
export default defineConfig({
  expect: { timeout: 10000 },
});

Increase the default assertion timeout for all expect() calls.

How ObserveOne Helps

ObserveOne analyzes assertion failure patterns and identifies flaky tests caused by inconsistent load times.

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Related Errors

TimeoutError: Exceeded 30000ms

The default action timeout (30 seconds) was exceeded before the operation could complete. This commonly occurs during navigation, element waits, or network-dependent operations.

TimeoutError: waiting for selector

Playwright waited for an element matching the given selector but it did not appear within the timeout. The element may not exist, may be hidden, or may appear under a different selector.

Error: element is not visible

The target element exists in the DOM but is not visible. Playwright requires elements to be visible before interacting with them (clicking, typing, etc.).

TimeoutError: page.goto: Timeout 30000ms exceeded

Navigation to the target URL did not complete within the timeout period. The page either failed to respond or took too long to reach the 'load' event.

Error: strict mode violation: locator resolved to N elements

A locator matched more than one element, but the action requires exactly one. Playwright's strict mode (enabled by default) prevents ambiguous interactions.