PlaywrightPHP

Storage state

Save cookies and storage to a JSON file, then reuse them in a fresh browser context.

This example saves browser state to a JSON file, then opens a second context with that state loaded.

Use the same pattern after a real login flow when login itself is not the behavior under test.

Run it

bash
php content/examples/storage-state.php

Expected output:

text
Saved state: .../var/playwright-artifacts/examples/state.json
Reused cookie: yes

The example uses a synthetic cookie on example.com so it can run without a test account.

What it demonstrates

  • addCookies() seeds state in a context.
  • saveStorageState() writes cookies and storage to JSON.
  • storageState loads that JSON into a fresh context.
  • State files belong in artifacts or ignored .auth/ directories, not in commits.

Go next

Source

storage-state.php
php
<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

/*
 * This file is part of the community-maintained Playwright PHP project.
 * It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft.
 *
 * (c) 2025-Present - Playwright PHP - https://github.com/playwright-php
 *
 * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
 * file that was distributed with this source code.
 */

require_once __DIR__.'/../../vendor/autoload.php';

use Playwright\Playwright;

$artifactDir = __DIR__.'/../../var/playwright-artifacts/examples';
is_dir($artifactDir) || mkdir($artifactDir, 0777, true);

$statePath = $artifactDir.'/state.json';

$context = Playwright::chromium(['headless' => true]);
$context->addCookies([
    [
        'name' => 'example_session',
        'value' => 'demo',
        'url' => 'https://example.com',
    ],
]);
$context->saveStorageState($statePath);
$context->close();

$reused = Playwright::chromium([
    'headless' => true,
    'context' => [
        'storageState' => $statePath,
    ],
]);

$cookies = $reused->cookies(['https://example.com']);
$hasCookie = false;
foreach ($cookies as $cookie) {
    if ('example_session' === ($cookie['name'] ?? null)) {
        $hasCookie = true;
        break;
    }
}

echo 'Saved state: '.$statePath.PHP_EOL;
echo 'Reused cookie: '.($hasCookie ? 'yes' : 'no').PHP_EOL;

$reused->close();