[CI] Speed up E2E tests

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -181,8 +181,28 @@ jobs:
               with:
                   name: cypress-screenshots
                   path: dist/cypress/packages/playground/website/screenshots
-    test-e2e-playwright-prepare:
+    # E2E Playwright tests - builds inline per runner for faster parallel execution
+    # Previously used a prepare job + artifact sharing, but inline builds allow
+    # all shards to start immediately in parallel, reducing total wall time.
+    test-e2e-playwright:
         runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+        strategy:
+            fail-fast: false
+            matrix:
+                # 4 Chromium shards for fast parallel execution
+                # 1 Firefox runner (no sharding - acceptable to be slower)
+                # WebKit disabled - random failures, see PR #2475
+                include:
+                    - browser: 'chromium'
+                      shard: '1/4'
+                    - browser: 'chromium'
+                      shard: '2/4'
+                    - browser: 'chromium'
+                      shard: '3/4'
+                    - browser: 'chromium'
+                      shard: '4/4'
+                    - browser: 'firefox'
+                      shard: ''
         steps:
             - name: Free up runner disk space
               shell: bash
@@ -201,68 +221,33 @@ jobs:
               with:
                   submodules: true
             - uses: ./.github/actions/prepare-playground
-            - name: Install Playwright Browsers
-              run: sudo npx playwright install --with-deps
-            - name: Prepare app deploy and offline mode
-              run: CORS_PROXY_URL=http://127.0.0.1:5263/cors-proxy.php? npx nx e2e:playwright:prepare-app-deploy-and-offline-mode playground-website
-            - name: Zip dist
-              run: zip -r dist.zip dist
-            - name: Upload dist
-              uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
-              with:
-                  name: playwright-dist
-                  path: dist.zip
-    test-e2e-playwright:
-        runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-        needs: [test-e2e-playwright-prepare]
-        strategy:
-            fail-fast: false
-            matrix:
-                # WebKit runner is disabled in CI – it used to be enabled but the tests
-                # failed randomly without any obvious reason.
-                # @see https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-playground/pull/2475
-                part: ['chromium', 'firefox']
-        steps:
-            - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-              with:
-                  submodules: true
-            - uses: ./.github/actions/prepare-playground
-            - name: Download dist
-              uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
-              with:
-                  name: playwright-dist
-            - name: Unzip dist
-              run: unzip dist.zip
             - name: Install Playwright Browser
-              run: sudo npx playwright install ${{ matrix.part }} --with-deps
-            - name: Run Playwright tests - ${{ matrix.part }}
+              run: sudo npx playwright install ${{ matrix.browser }} --with-deps
+            - name: Build app for E2E tests
+              run: CORS_PROXY_URL=http://127.0.0.1:5263/cors-proxy.php? npx nx e2e:playwright:prepare-app-deploy-and-offline-mode playground-website
+            - name: Run Playwright tests - ${{ matrix.browser }}${{ matrix.shard && format(' (shard {0})', matrix.shard) || '' }}
               run: |
-                  if [ "${{ matrix.part }}" = "firefox" ]; then
-                    sudo -E HOME=/root XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/root CI=true npx playwright test --config=packages/playground/website/playwright/playwright.ci.config.ts --project=${{ matrix.part }}
+                  SHARD_ARG=""
+                  if [ -n "${{ matrix.shard }}" ]; then
+                    SHARD_ARG="--shard=${{ matrix.shard }}"
+                  fi
+                  if [ "${{ matrix.browser }}" = "firefox" ]; then
+                    sudo -E HOME=/root XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/root CI=true npx playwright test --config=packages/playground/website/playwright/playwright.ci.config.ts --project=${{ matrix.browser }} $SHARD_ARG
                   else
-                    sudo CI=true npx playwright test --config=packages/playground/website/playwright/playwright.ci.config.ts --project=${{ matrix.part }}
+                    sudo CI=true npx playwright test --config=packages/playground/website/playwright/playwright.ci.config.ts --project=${{ matrix.browser }} $SHARD_ARG
                   fi
             - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
               if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
               with:
-                  name: playwright-report-${{ matrix.part }}
+                  name: playwright-report-${{ matrix.browser }}${{ matrix.shard && format('-shard-{0}', matrix.shard) || '' }}
                   path: packages/playground/website/playwright-report/
                   if-no-files-found: ignore
             - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
               if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
               with:
-                  name: playwright-snapshots-${{ matrix.part }}
+                  name: playwright-snapshots-${{ matrix.browser }}${{ matrix.shard && format('-shard-{0}', matrix.shard) || '' }}
                   path: packages/playground/website/playwright/e2e/deployment.spec.ts-snapshots/
                   if-no-files-found: ignore
-    test-e2e-playwright-cleanup:
-        runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-        needs: [test-e2e-playwright]
-        steps:
-            - name: Delete playwright-dist artifact
-              uses: geekyeggo/delete-artifact@v5
-              if: ${{ success() }}
-              with:
-                  name: playwright-dist
 
     test-e2e-components:
         runs-on: ubuntu-latest

packages/playground/website/playwright/playwright.config.ts

@@ -8,11 +8,11 @@ const baseURL =
 export const playwrightConfig: PlaywrightTestConfig = {
 	testDir: './e2e',
 	/* Run tests in files in parallel */
-	fullyParallel: false,
+	fullyParallel: true,
 	/* Fail the build on CI if you accidentally left test.only in the source code. */
 	forbidOnly: !!process.env.CI,
 	retries: 3,
-	workers: 3,
+	workers: process.env.CI ? 4 : 3,
 	/* Reporter to use. See https://playwright.dev/docs/test-reporters */
 	reporter: [['html'], ['list', { printSteps: true }]],
 	/* Shared settings for all the projects below. See https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-testoptions. */