Build the PeopleDesk HR framework from scratch

Interview scenario

"Here is an empty folder and PeopleDesk HR. Set up the automation framework you would put in front of a client: Playwright config, page objects, an API client where the app has an API, fixtures, test data, production-grade UI and API tests, and a README. Treat it like a real repo, not an exercise. Admin login, employee CRUD with cleanup, leave validation. Show me how you keep test data isolated."

Acceptance criteria

1. playwright.config.ts you write yourself: testDir, baseURL from an environment variable with a default, retries, reporter, trace/screenshot on failure.
2. pages/ with at least two page objects; fixtures.ts that extends test (for example a logged-in page or a ready page object).
3. tests/ with at least two spec files and four tests in total, using only fixtures and page objects, grouped with test.describe or tagged @smoke/@regression.
4. data/ or utils/ for test data and helpers; a README that says how to install and run.
5. Where the application has a REST API (the practice apps, OrangeHRM, AutomationExercise): an API client module, at least one API spec, and a spec that uses the API to set up or verify a UI journey. UI-only frameworks do not pass.
6. Everything green: in the browser for the practice apps, and on GitHub Actions with your own config for every app.