[Bug]: When Debugging test from VSCode the trace is not recorded

[nlesniewski]

Version

v1.56.1

Steps to reproduce

Prerequisite:

• init minimal project - npm init playwright@latest
• VS Code & Plawright VS Code extension installed

Steps to reproduce:

In VS Code:

• open minimal project
• add breakpoint in has title test
• open Testing tab
• run Debug test on has title test
• run Continue on breakpoint

Expected behavior

• Trace Viewer is populated with new data during debugging
• after test ends Trace Viewer displays whole trace

Actual behavior

• Trace Viewer is not populated with new data (actions, log's, network call's etc.) during debugging

• after test ends Trace Viewer displays Loading Playwright Trace... message

Additional context

When tests are run with Run Test option Trace Viewer displays trace after run.

Additional env info:

VS Code info:

Version: 1.105.1 (Universal)
Commit: 7d842fb85a0275a4a8e4d7e040d2625abbf7f084
Date: 2025-10-14T22:33:36.618Z
Electron: 37.6.0
ElectronBuildId: 12502201
Chromium: 138.0.7204.251
Node.js: 22.19.0
V8: 13.8.258.32-electron.0
OS: Darwin arm64 25.0.0

VS Code PW extension:

Name: Playwright Test for VSCode
Id: ms-playwright.playwright
Description: Run Playwright Test tests in Visual Studio Code.
Version: 1.1.16
Publisher: Microsoft
VS Marketplace Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-playwright.playwright

Environment

System:
    OS: macOS 26.0.1
    CPU: (8) arm64 Apple M2
    Memory: 4.84 GB / 16.00 GB
  Binaries:
    Node: 24.10.0 - /opt/homebrew/bin/node
    npm: 11.6.0 - /opt/homebrew/bin/npm
  IDEs:
    VSCode: 1.105.1 - /usr/local/bin/code
  Languages:
    Bash: 3.2.57 - /bin/bash
  npmPackages:
    @playwright/test: ^1.56.1 => 1.56.1

[nlesniewski]

I also checked on Windows machine - same result.

VS Code

Version: 1.105.1 (system setup)
Commit: 7d842fb85a0275a4a8e4d7e040d2625abbf7f084
Date: 2025-10-14T22:33:36.618Z
Electron: 37.6.0
ElectronBuildId: 12502201
Chromium: 138.0.7204.251
Node.js: 22.19.0
V8: 13.8.258.32-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.22631

PW Extension:

Name: Playwright Test for VSCode
Id: ms-playwright.playwright
Description: Run Playwright Test tests in Visual Studio Code.
Version: 1.1.16
Publisher: Microsoft
VS Marketplace Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-playwright.playwright

Envinfo:

  System:
    OS: Windows 11 10.0.22631
    CPU: (8) x64 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1145G7 @ 2.60GHz
    Memory: 14.78 GB / 31.39 GB
  Binaries:
    Node: 22.14.0 - C:\nvm4w\nodejs\node.EXE
    npm: 11.2.0 - C:\nvm4w\nodejs\npm.CMD
  IDEs:
    VSCode: 1.105.1 - C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code\bin\code.CMD
  Languages:
    Bash: 5.2.21 - C:\Windows\system32\bash.EXE
  npmPackages:
    @playwright/test: ^1.56.1 => 1.56.1 

[Skn0tt]

If I had to guess, I'd say it's related to this line in _debugTests() 😁

https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-vscode/blob/c9002ab939db957f28dd68adb1d4f3a8cb061e49/src/testModel.ts#L594

Looking into it!