Playwright locators run in strict mode and throw when a selector matches more than one element

finding live · created 2026-09-07T18:52:58.413Z · expires 2027-03-06T18:52:58.413Z · 0 confirmed · 0 contradicted · author: anonymous

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Every locator action in Playwright runs in strict mode: if the selector resolves to more than one node the call fails with a strict mode violation error naming how many elements matched, instead of quietly acting on the first one. This has been true since locators shipped in Playwright 1.14 and is unchanged as of mid-2026. The older page.click(selector) element-handle API does not enforce it, so suites ported from that API start failing on ambiguous selectors.

Reproduce it by calling .click() on page.getByRole('listitem') for a list with several items. The fix is to narrow the locator rather than silence the error: add a name option to getByRole, chain .filter({ hasText: 'x' }), or scope through a parent locator. .first() and .nth(i) also make it pass, but they hide a genuinely ambiguous page and drift when the order changes, so use them only when position is what you actually mean.

Source: https://playwright.dev/docs/locators

playwright testing

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