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service-worker-tests

Test service workers with Playwright (`context.serviceWorkers()` + `waitForEvent('serviceworker')`) and unit tests using `service-worker-mock`. Covers MV3 service worker lifecycle (~30s suspend), cache strategies (cache-first, network-first, stale-while-revalidate), and `evaluate()` continuity across worker restart.

service-worker-tests

Service workers are the heart of offline-capable PWAs and Chrome extension MV3 background scripts. Per the Playwright Chrome extensions docs, Playwright accesses service workers via context.serviceWorkers() and persists Worker objects across MV3's ~30s auto-suspend.

When to use

  • Testing offline-first behavior (cache-first responses, queue requests during offline).
  • Validating cache invalidation on service worker version bump.
  • Testing message passing between page and service worker.
  • Verifying push notification subscription registration.

Step 1 - Playwright setup with persistent context

import { test, expect, chromium } from '@playwright/test';

test('service worker registers on first load', async () => {
  const userDataDir = '/tmp/test-user-data';
  const context = await chromium.launchPersistentContext(userDataDir, {
    headless: false, // needed for SW registration in some Chromium versions
  });

  const page = await context.newPage();
  await page.goto('https://localhost:3000');

  // Wait for the SW to register
  let [serviceWorker] = context.serviceWorkers();
  if (!serviceWorker) {
    serviceWorker = await context.waitForEvent('serviceworker');
  }

  expect(serviceWorker.url()).toContain('/sw.js');
  await context.close();
});

Per Playwright Chrome extensions docs, the same context.serviceWorkers() pattern applies to PWA service workers (not just extensions).

Step 2 - Evaluate code in worker context

const swVersion = await serviceWorker.evaluate(() => {
  return self.SW_VERSION;
});
expect(swVersion).toBe('1.4.2');

// Inspect cache contents
const cachedUrls = await serviceWorker.evaluate(async () => {
  const cache = await caches.open('app-v1');
  const reqs = await cache.keys();
  return reqs.map(r => r.url);
});
expect(cachedUrls).toContain('https://localhost:3000/manifest.json');

evaluate() proxies through the worker's JS context. Per Playwright Chrome extensions docs, Playwright keeps the same Worker object alive across MV3 auto-suspend (~30s) - evaluate() calls continue transparently after restart.

Step 3 - Test cache strategies

Cache-first:

test('cache-first returns from cache, no network', async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto('https://localhost:3000');
  await page.waitForLoadState('networkidle');

  // Block network to force cache hits
  await page.route('**/static/**', route => route.abort('failed'));
  await page.reload();

  // Page still renders from SW cache
  await expect(page.locator('h1')).toBeVisible();
});

Network-first with offline fallback:

test('network-first falls back to offline page', async ({ page, context }) => {
  await page.goto('https://localhost:3000');
  await page.waitForLoadState('networkidle');

  await context.setOffline(true);
  await page.reload();

  await expect(page.locator('text=You are offline')).toBeVisible();
});

Step 4 - Test version bump + cache invalidation

test('SW v2 deletes v1 caches on activate', async ({ context, page }) => {
  await page.goto('https://localhost:3000');
  let sw = context.serviceWorkers()[0]
        ?? await context.waitForEvent('serviceworker');

  const v1Caches = await sw.evaluate(() => caches.keys());
  expect(v1Caches).toContain('app-v1');

  // Trigger SW update (deploy v2 to test server)
  await page.evaluate(() => navigator.serviceWorker.getRegistration().then(r => r?.update()));

  // Wait for activation
  await page.waitForFunction(() =>
    navigator.serviceWorker.controller?.scriptURL.includes('v2')
  );

  const v2Caches = await sw.evaluate(() => caches.keys());
  expect(v2Caches).toContain('app-v2');
  expect(v2Caches).not.toContain('app-v1');
});

Step 5 - Unit test the SW with service-worker-mock

For Jest/Vitest unit tests that don't need a browser:

npm install --save-dev service-worker-mock
import makeServiceWorkerEnv from 'service-worker-mock';

beforeEach(() => {
  Object.assign(global, makeServiceWorkerEnv());
  jest.resetModules();
});

test('install event opens cache and pre-caches assets', async () => {
  await import('../src/sw.js');
  await self.trigger('install');

  expect(self.snapshot().caches['app-v1']).toBeDefined();
  expect(self.snapshot().caches['app-v1']['/index.html']).toBeDefined();
});

Step 6 - Push notification subscription test

test('push subscription created on registration', async ({ page, context }) => {
  await context.grantPermissions(['notifications']);
  await page.goto('https://localhost:3000');

  const subscription = await page.evaluate(async () => {
    const reg = await navigator.serviceWorker.ready;
    return reg.pushManager.subscribe({
      userVisibleOnly: true,
      applicationServerKey: '<base64-vapid-key>',
    });
  });
  expect(subscription).toBeDefined();
});

Pair with the testland-qa qa-notifications/push-notification-test-author skill for downstream send/receive assertions.

Anti-patterns

Anti-patternWhy it failsFix
Test SW with chromium.launch() (incognito)SWs don't register in incognito-by-default contextsUse launchPersistentContext (Step 1)
Skip waitForEvent('serviceworker')Race condition - serviceWorkers() returns empty before registrationAlways await the event (Step 1)
Reuse user-data-dir across test runsStale SW from prior run answers requestsFresh userDataDir per test (Step 1)
Test offline by killing dev serverSW caches still serve from network until setOffline(true)Use context.setOffline(true) (Step 3)
Forget to grant notifications permissionpushManager.subscribe rejects silentlycontext.grantPermissions(['notifications']) (Step 6)

Limitations

  • WebKit (Safari) and Firefox have different SW APIs; this skill targets Chromium-channel testing primarily.
  • Playwright service worker support is documented as experimental-stable; check current API status at the Playwright Chrome extensions docs for breaking changes.
  • service-worker-mock does not implement all Workbox APIs - for Workbox-using SWs, integration tests via Playwright are required.

References