End-to-End Testing for Spring Boot apps with Playwright in VS Code
Rory Preddy demonstrates how to connect Playwright MCP to GitHub Copilot in VS Code to run end-to-end browser tests against a Spring Boot app, including running existing Java tests, starting the app locally, and reviewing the Playwright tool calls Copilot makes to validate an add/complete/delete workflow.
Overview
The video shows an end-to-end workflow for testing a Spring Boot application through a real browser by wiring Playwright MCP into GitHub Copilot inside Visual Studio Code.
What the video covers
- Connecting Playwright MCP to GitHub Copilot in VS Code
- Verifying Java prerequisites and tooling
- Installing the Playwright MCP for Visual Studio Code client
- Running existing Java tests
- Starting the Spring Boot application locally
- Enabling Playwright browser tools inside Copilot
- Prompting Copilot to validate a full browser workflow (add, complete, delete)
- Reviewing the Playwright tool calls Copilot used
Sample repo
Install before you start
- Microsoft Build of OpenJDK: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/java/openjdk/download
- Extension Pack for Java (VS Code): https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=vscjava.vscode-java-pack
- Spring Boot Extension Pack (VS Code): https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=vmware.vscode-boot-dev-pack
- GitHub Copilot for Visual Studio Code: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=GitHub.copilot
- Playwright MCP for Visual Studio Code: https://playwright.dev/mcp/clients/vscode
Video chapters
- 0:00 Introduction to browser testing with Copilot
- 0:17 Check the Java prerequisites
- 0:34 Install Playwright MCP
- 1:05 Explore the page test IDs
- 1:32 Run the Java tests
- 1:54 Start the Spring Boot application
- 2:14 Enable the Playwright tools in Copilot
- 2:34 Prompt Copilot to test the browser workflow
- 3:09 Watch Copilot run the test
- 3:34 Review the Playwright tool calls
- 4:15 Recap