How do I test emails in Playwright?

Install the @inboxical/playwright SDK, use the inbox fixture to create isolated test inboxes, trigger your email flow, then use waitForMessages() to assert email content — no polling or arbitrary waits needed.

Can I extract OTPs from emails in Playwright tests?

Yes. Inboxical automatically extracts 4-8 digit OTP codes from email bodies. Access them via messages[0].extractedOtp in your Playwright test.

Does Inboxical work with Playwright in CI/CD?

Yes. Inboxical works in any CI/CD environment where Playwright runs — GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, CircleCI, and more. Just set your INBOXICAL_API_KEY environment variable.

Use Case

Playwright email testing
made reliable.

Stop using cy.wait() and inbox polling. Inboxical's Playwright SDK gives you first-class fixtures for inbox creation, long-polling message wait, and automatic OTP extraction.

How it works

Three steps to reliable email testing in Playwright.

Install the SDK

npm install @inboxical/playwright — adds fixtures and helpers to your Playwright project.

Use fixtures in tests

The inbox fixture creates an isolated inbox per test. No shared state, no conflicts in parallel runs.

Assert with confidence

Long-poll for messages, check subjects, extract OTPs — no arbitrary waits or flaky polling loops.

Complete email verification test

A real-world Playwright test using Inboxical fixtures.

email-verification.spec.ts

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

import { inboxical } from '@inboxical/playwright'

test('user receives welcome email with OTP', async ({ page }) => {

const inbox = await inboxical.createInbox()

// Register with the test inbox email

await page.goto('/register')

await page.fill('[name=email]', inbox.emailAddress)

await page.fill('[name=password]', 'TestPass123!')

await page.click('[type=submit]')

// Wait for the welcome email (long-polls, no arbitrary delay)

const messages = await inboxical.waitForMessages(inbox.id)

// Assert email content

expect(messages[0].subject).toBe('Welcome to Acme!')

expect(messages[0].from).toContain('[email protected]')

// Extract and use OTP

const otp = messages[0].extractedOtp

expect(otp).toHaveLength(6)

await page.fill('[name=otp]', otp)

await page.click('[type=submit]')

await expect(page.locator('h1')).toContainText('Dashboard')

})

Why teams choose Inboxical for Playwright

Purpose-built for test automation — not bolted on.

First-class fixtures

Inject inbox directly into your test via Playwright's fixture system. No global setup needed.

Parallel-safe

Each test gets its own isolated inbox. Run hundreds of tests in parallel with zero interference.

Long-polling wait

waitForMessages() blocks until the email arrives. No setTimeout, no retry loops, no flakiness.

OTP extraction

Auto-extract 4-8 digit codes from email bodies. No regex parsing in your test code.

CI/CD ready

Works in GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, CircleCI — anywhere Playwright runs. Just set your API key.

Full email inspection

Check subject, from, to, body, HTML, headers, and attachments via a clean API.

Start testing emails in Playwright today.

Try Inboxical with 50 emails/month on the free plan. Get the Playwright SDK from day one.

Playwright email testing made reliable.