Love Playwright? Keep it. agent-qa is for the tests you're tired of maintaining — and it remembers.
Playwright is a superb browser automation engine you program in TypeScript, Python, or Java. agent-qa operates a layer above: you state intent in plain English and the runtime plans, executes, adapts, and remembers.
Try agent-qa, the open-source AI layer that turns test intent into runs that remember.
agent-qa vs Playwright
| Capability | agent-qa | Playwright | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plain-English authoring | Playwright tests are code — powerful, but every flow is programming work. agent-qa tests state user intent in natural-language YAML that anyone on the team can read and review. | ||
| Survives UI changes | Playwright selectors and assertions break when the UI shifts, and a human fixes them. agent-qa re-plans from intent, caches the corrected plan, and records the change in memory. | ||
| Execution memory | Playwright starts every run stateless. agent-qa accumulates file-backed behavioral memory, making later runs faster and more reliable. | ||
| Open source | Both are open source and repo-owned. No platform, no seats. | ||
| Local and CI execution | Both run from a laptop, CI job, or automation pipeline with source-controlled commands. | ||
| Mobile app testing | Playwright targets browsers (with experimental Android support). agent-qa covers native Android and iOS flows with the same YAML contract as web. | ||
| Coding-agent native | Playwright has MCP-based browser control for agents; agent-qa ships a full agent QA loop — MCP tools, Skills, run artifacts, failure classification, and memory. | ||
| Selector maintenance | agent-qa eliminates the selector-upkeep tax that consumes most Playwright suite maintenance time. 'Yes' here means no selectors to maintain. |
Why teams add agent-qa alongside Playwright
Stop paying the selector tax
Mature Playwright suites spend more engineering time on upkeep than on new coverage — every redesign breaks locators that encoded yesterday's DOM. agent-qa tests encode intent, so the runtime re-derives the steps when the UI moves on.
Coverage at the speed of English
A new Playwright spec is a programming task. A new agent-qa test is a paragraph. Teams cover the long tail of flows — the ones nobody had time to script — because writing them costs minutes, not hours.
Your coding agents get a QA loop, not just a browser
Playwright MCP lets an agent drive a browser; it doesn't give it a testing discipline. agent-qa gives agents the whole loop: author from product context, validate, run, read artifacts, classify failures, and remember — via MCP tools and packaged Skills.
Playwright is a brilliant engine for programmed browser automation. agent-qa is the layer above it — intent in, verified behavior out, memory retained. Most teams need the layer more than another script.
Frequently asked questions
Does agent-qa replace Playwright?
It replaces the hand-written E2E layer for many teams, and complements Playwright for others. If your pain is authoring and maintaining flow tests, agent-qa's natural-language tests with memory remove most of that work. Teams with deep custom automation keep Playwright for it and let agent-qa own the user-flow regression layer.
Is agent-qa open source like Playwright?
Yes. agent-qa's harness, authoring format, and agent workflow are open and repo-owned — tests, config, hooks, memory, and artifacts are files in your repository, just like your Playwright specs were.
What does agent-qa cost compared to Playwright?
Both are free to use. The real cost comparison is engineer-hours versus LLM tokens: Playwright suites consume ongoing maintenance time, while agent-qa consumes model calls — reduced by its plan cache — using whichever LLM provider you configure.
Can I migrate my Playwright tests to agent-qa?
Yes, and it's usually simplification: each spec's intent — 'sign in, add item to cart, verify total' — becomes a short plain-English YAML test. You delete selector logic rather than porting it.
Is natural language reliable enough for CI?
agent-qa is built for exactly that: deterministic YAML contracts, cached action plans reused across identical runs, file-backed memory reducing exploration, and artifacts plus failure classification for every step. It behaves like a test harness, not a chatbot.
Write tests in natural language
Define actions and assertions in human language while agents work from visible roles, labels, and screen state.
Learn about natural language tests
test-id: t_slice-cart-bane-deep-fold-prim-paar-baru-nable-kayname: Check Linear issue creation flowtarget: linear-webuse: browser: name: chromiumsteps: - Click on the Create issue icon. - | Verify that the Create issue modal is shown. - | Enter "Fix mobile login" in the "Issue title" input field. - | Select "Engineering" from the Team selector and select "Todo" from the Status field. - Click on the Create issue button. - | Verify that the created issue is shown with title "Fix mobile login" and status "Todo".
Evolves with every run
With every test run, agent-qa builds execution memory from product, suite, and test observations, then adds that context to future runs. agent-qa also curates memory from steps that were healed during execution, helping future runs avoid the same mistake.
Learn about memory
Built for Humans
Top-tier developer experience with a beautiful dashboard, intuitive CLI, and clear workflows for authoring, running, and debugging tests.
Learn about the dashboard
Runs
❯ agent-qa run tests/linear/create-issue.yamlRunning 1 test(s)...✓ Click on the Create issue icon. 5s Sub-actions: 1 total (1 succeeded, 0 failed)✓ Verify that the Create issue modal is shown. 4s Sub-actions: 1 total (1 succeeded, 0 failed)✓ Enter "Fix mobile login" in the "Issue title" input field. 5s Sub-actions: 1 total (1 succeeded, 0 failed)✓ Select Engineering from Team and Todo from Status 6s Sub-actions: 2 total (2 succeeded, 0 failed)✓ Click on the Create issue button. 3s Sub-actions: 1 total (1 succeeded, 0 failed)✓ Verify created issue title and Todo status 6s Sub-actions: 2 total (2 succeeded, 0 failed) PASS Check Linear issue creation flow 29sRun ID: r_lined-frig-schema-main-depart-hing-aline-balls-cran-dess Memory: 1 added (3s)Run attributes: agent-qa.trigger=cli agent-qa.runner=localTests: 1 of 1 passedSteps: 6 passed, 6 totalCache: 6 hits, 0 missesTime: 29s
Built for Machines
The same primitives are exposed through MCP and skills so coding agents can discover schemas, author YAML, enqueue runs, inspect artifacts, and triage failures.
Learn about MCP
Accelerate runs with smart Cache
The action cache reuses validated plans across similar subsequent test runs, reducing planner work, token usage, and runtime overhead.
Learn about caching
Execution Speed
42s -> 8s
Cached action plans skip redundant planner work on similar subsequent runs.
Reduced Token Usage
fewer planner tokens
Validated steps reuse prior reasoning when the flow and screen state still match.
Run sandboxed hooks during tests
Run Node, Bun, Python, or Bash hooks in isolated Docker containers to set up environments, call APIs, seed fixtures, tear down state, or pass structured outputs back into the active test run.
Learn about hooks
// emits CHECKOUT_EUR_TOTAL_CENTS for the active test runconst response = await fetch("https://api.frankfurter.app/latest?from=USD&to=EUR,GBP")const { rates } = await response.json() const fixture = { plan: "team", currency: "USD", subtotal_cents: 2900, eur_total_cents: Math.round(2900 * rates.EUR), gbp_total_cents: Math.round(2900 * rates.GBP), seat_limit: 12, fixture_at: "2026-05-07T00:00:00Z",} const env = Object.entries(fixture) .map(([key, value]) => `CHECKOUT_${key.toUpperCase()}=${value}`) .join("\n") await Bun.write("/tmp/agent-qa.env", `${env}\n`)console.log(JSON.stringify({ checkoutFixture: fixture }, null, 2))
Review your QA like code
Tests, configs, hooks, memory, and suite logic all live as version-controlled code, so every change can be diffed, reviewed, reused, and shared across teams.
Learn about configuration
Self-healing test execution
When any sub-action, such as click, fill, or select, fails, agent-qa re-observes the UI and tries a different path in the same run. Tests recover from UI drift and flaky interactions instead of failing on the first broken action.
Learn about self-healing
Bring your own LLM
Run tests with the model of your choice via OpenAI- and Anthropic-compatible endpoints, Gemini, local or open-source models, and subscriptions like Codex and Claude Code.
Learn about LLM providers

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