feat(keyboard): add array overload to pressSequentially by SebTardif · Pull Request #40748 · microsoft/playwright

SebTardif · 2026-05-09T01:17:11Z

Summary

Adds namedKeys option to Locator.pressSequentially

await locator.pressSequentially('Hello{Enter}World!', { namedKeys: true });

Fixes #40740

dgozman · 2026-05-11T19:47:43Z

 ### option: Frame.press.timeout = %%-input-timeout-js-%%
 * since: v1.8

+## async method: Frame.pressSequentially


Let's not introduce a discouraged method 😄

Agreed, removed.

dgozman · 2026-05-11T19:50:53Z

+- `text` <[string]|[Array]<[string]>>

-String of characters to sequentially press into a focused element.
+String of characters to sequentially press into a focused element, or an array of key names to press sequentially. Key names follow the same format as [`method: Locator.press`].


How about we support the following notation: Hello{ArrowRight}{Ctrl+A}world!{Backspace}? Basically, treating anything inside {} as a key from the press method, when passed a namedKeys: true option.

Reworked. Added namedKeys: true option to Locator.pressSequentially and Keyboard.type. {KeyName} treats brace content as a key name for press(), with {{/}} for literal braces.

await locator.pressSequentially('Hello{Enter}World', { namedKeys: true }); await locator.pressSequentially('{Control+A}{Delete}Hello', { namedKeys: true }); await locator.pressSequentially('type {{braces}}', { namedKeys: true }); // types: type {braces}

Add string[] overload to Locator.pressSequentially and new Keyboard.pressSequentially method, as requested in microsoft#40740. When given an array, each element is treated as a key name (same format as keyboard.press()) and pressed sequentially with optional delay between presses. Fixes microsoft#40740

Add missing documentation for Frame.pressSequentially selector-based method to fix doclint CI failure. Signed-off-by: Sebastien Tardif <sebtardif@ncf.ca>

Rework pressSequentially based on review feedback: - Drop Frame.pressSequentially (no new discouraged methods) - Drop Keyboard.pressSequentially and keyboardPressSequentially protocol - Add namedKeys option to Locator.pressSequentially and Keyboard.type - {KeyName} syntax treats braces content as key names for press() - {{ and }} escape to literal brace characters Fixes: microsoft#40740

dgozman · 2026-05-14T10:23:01Z

+- `namedKeys` <[boolean]>
+
+When `true`, anything inside `{}` in the text is treated as a key name (same format as [`method: Keyboard.press`]),
+allowing you to mix regular characters with special keys like `{Enter}`, `{ArrowDown}`, or modifier combos like `{Control+A}`.


Having an example that contains both text and special keys would be nice to explain the feature.

dgozman · 2026-05-14T10:24:22Z

 - `text` <[string]>

-String of characters to sequentially press into a focused element.
+String of characters to sequentially press into a focused element. When [`option: namedKeys`] is `true`, anything inside `{}` is treated as a key name (same format as [`method: Locator.press`]). Use `{{` and `}}` to type literal brace characters.


Suggested change

String of characters to sequentially press into a focused element. When [`option: namedKeys`] is `true`, anything inside `{}` is treated as a key name (same format as [`method: Locator.press`]). Use `{{` and `}}` to type literal brace characters.

String of characters to sequentially press into a focused element. When [`option: namedKeys`] is `true`, anything inside `{}` is treated as a key name (same format as [`method: Locator.press`]).

dgozman · 2026-05-14T10:24:52Z


 Focuses the element, and then sends a `keydown`, `keypress`/`input`, and `keyup` event for each character in the text.

+When [`option: namedKeys`] is `true`, anything inside `{}` is treated as a key name (same format as [`method: Locator.press`]). Use `{{` and `}}` to type literal brace characters.


Suggested change

When [`option: namedKeys`] is `true`, anything inside `{}` is treated as a key name (same format as [`method: Locator.press`]). Use `{{` and `}}` to type literal brace characters.

When [`option: namedKeys`] is `true`, anything inside `{}` is treated as a key name (same format as [`method: Locator.press`]).

dgozman · 2026-05-14T10:25:06Z


 Sends a `keydown`, `keypress`/`input`, and `keyup` event for each character in the text.

+When [`option: namedKeys`] is `true`, anything inside `{}` is treated as a key name (same format as [`method: Keyboard.press`]). Use `{{` and `}}` to type literal brace characters.


Suggested change

When [`option: namedKeys`] is `true`, anything inside `{}` is treated as a key name (same format as [`method: Keyboard.press`]). Use `{{` and `}}` to type literal brace characters.

When [`option: namedKeys`] is `true`, anything inside `{}` is treated as a key name (same format as [`method: Keyboard.press`]).

dgozman · 2026-05-14T10:26:17Z

+  expect(await page.evaluate(() => document.querySelector('textarea').value)).toBe('Hello {World}');
+});
+
+it('should type with namedKeys and delay', async ({ page }) => {


Let's remove this test.

dgozman · 2026-05-14T10:27:20Z

+  expect(await page.evaluate(() => document.querySelector('textarea').value)).toBe('Hello\nWorld');
+});
+
+it('should type with namedKeys and modifier combos', async ({ page }) => {


Let's remove this test.

dgozman · 2026-05-14T10:28:10Z

  return result;
 }

+function* parseNamedKeys(text: string): Generator<{ type: 'key' | 'char', value: string }> {


Can we avoid a generator here? It's not like it helps with performance or something.

dgozman · 2026-05-14T10:29:28Z

+        }
+      }
+    } else if (text[i] === '}') {
+      if (i + 1 < text.length && text[i + 1] === '}') {


It seems like there is no point to escape } as }} - these both yield the same result. Let's drop that and update docs to only mention {{ for escaping {.

dgozman · 2026-05-14T10:30:33Z

-        if (delay)
-          await progress.wait(delay);
-        await this.insertText(progress, char);
+    if (options?.namedKeys) {


We can combine both branches by making parseNamedKeys return all "chars" when namedKeys option is not passed. This should simplify the code quite a bit.

dgozman · 2026-05-14T10:32:16Z

+      for (const token of parseNamedKeys(text)) {
+        if (token.type === 'key') {
+          if (delay)
+            await progress.wait(delay);


Perhaps just pass delay to this.press() on the next line?

- Combine namedKeys/non-namedKeys branches into single code path - Pass delay to press() for named keys - Replace generator with regular function returning array - Drop redundant }} escaping, keep only {{ for literal brace - Simplify docs wording per reviewer suggestions - Add mixed text+key example to Keyboard.type docs - Trim tests to two meaningful cases using textarea Signed-off-by: Sebastien Tardif <sebtardif@ncf.ca>

dgozman

Almost there!

dgozman · 2026-05-15T08:10:44Z

+    document.body.appendChild(textarea);
+    textarea.focus();
+  });
+  await page.keyboard.type('Hello{Enter}World', { namedKeys: true });


Let's type the following: He{{ll}o{Enter}Wor{ld and see that it produces He{ll}o\nWor{ld

Done. Updated the test to type He{{ll}o{Enter}Wor{ld and verify it produces He{ll}o\nWor{ld, covering escaped braces, unmatched braces, and named keys.

dgozman · 2026-05-15T08:11:37Z

-      } else {
+    for (const token of parseNamedKeys(text, !!options?.namedKeys)) {
+      if (token.type === 'key') {
        if (delay)


Why an extra delay here when we pass it to this.press() in the next line? Looks different from how it was before.

Done. Removed the extra progress.wait(delay) before this.press(). Now the named key branch matches the original behavior for layout characters, where press() handles delay internally.

- Remove extraneous progress.wait(delay) before this.press() in the named key branch, matching the original behavior for layout characters where press() handles delay internally. - Update namedKeys test to use edge-case input as suggested: escaped braces ({{), unmatched }, named key ({Enter}), and unmatched {. - Regenerate types to sync with doc wording updates. Signed-off-by: Sebastien Tardif <sebtardif@ncf.ca>

github-actions · 2026-05-18T10:00:09Z

Test results for "MCP"

2 failed
❌ [chromium] › mcp/annotate.spec.ts:173 › user-initiated annotate downloads zip with feedback.md @mcp-macos-latest-chromium
❌ [chromium] › mcp/annotate.spec.ts:137 › should abort MCP annotation when last screenshot is removed @mcp-windows-latest-chromium

7097 passed, 1104 skipped

Merge workflow run.

github-actions · 2026-05-18T10:05:15Z

Test results for "tests 1"

3 flaky

⚠️ [chromium-library] › library/video.spec.ts:719 › screencast › should work with video+trace `@chromium-ubuntu-22.04-arm-node20`
⚠️ [chromium-page] › page/page-request-continue.spec.ts:756 › propagate headers cross origin redirect after interception `@chromium-ubuntu-22.04-arm-node20`
⚠️ [chromium-library] › library/video.spec.ts:647 › screencast › should capture full viewport `@chromium-ubuntu-22.04-node22`

41925 passed, 850 skipped

Merge workflow run.

dgozman

Looks great, merging in. Thank you for the PR!

pavelfeldman approved these changes May 9, 2026

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dgozman reviewed May 11, 2026

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SebTardif added 3 commits May 11, 2026 17:01

docs(frame): add pressSequentially documentation

cbabea2

Add missing documentation for Frame.pressSequentially selector-based method to fix doclint CI failure. Signed-off-by: Sebastien Tardif <sebtardif@ncf.ca>

SebTardif force-pushed the feat/press-sequentially-array branch from aec15c9 to 4375b42 Compare May 12, 2026 00:07

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dgozman reviewed May 14, 2026

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dgozman reviewed May 15, 2026

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dgozman approved these changes May 18, 2026

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dgozman merged commit 7f13406 into microsoft:main May 18, 2026
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This was referenced May 18, 2026

[Ports]: Backport client side changes for 1.61 microsoft/playwright-python#3070

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[Ports]: Backport client side changes for 1.61 microsoft/playwright-java#1917

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[Ports]: Backport client side changes for 1.61 microsoft/playwright-dotnet#3312

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	String of characters to sequentially press into a focused element. When [`option: namedKeys`] is `true`, anything inside `{}` is treated as a key name (same format as [`method: Locator.press`]). Use `{{` and `}}` to type literal brace characters.
	String of characters to sequentially press into a focused element. When [`option: namedKeys`] is `true`, anything inside `{}` is treated as a key name (same format as [`method: Locator.press`]).


		Focuses the element, and then sends a `keydown`, `keypress`/`input`, and `keyup` event for each character in the text.

		When [`option: namedKeys`] is `true`, anything inside `{}` is treated as a key name (same format as [`method: Locator.press`]). Use `{{` and `}}` to type literal brace characters.


		Sends a `keydown`, `keypress`/`input`, and `keyup` event for each character in the text.

		When [`option: namedKeys`] is `true`, anything inside `{}` is treated as a key name (same format as [`method: Keyboard.press`]). Use `{{` and `}}` to type literal brace characters.

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SebTardif commented May 9, 2026 • edited by dgozman Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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github-actions Bot commented May 18, 2026

Test results for "MCP"

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github-actions Bot commented May 18, 2026

Test results for "tests 1"

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SebTardif commented May 9, 2026 •

edited by dgozman

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