From f71ca450a676b889c27b40671de400b45ed55654 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Simon Knott <info@simonknott.de>
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2026 16:01:34 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 1/6] fix(reporter): expose setup/teardown projects to
 preprocessSuite

Closes https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/issues/41708
---
 docs/src/test-reporter-api/class-reporter.md  |  2 +-
 packages/playwright/src/common/test.ts        | 13 ++++++
 packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts   | 38 ++++++++-------
 packages/playwright/types/testReporter.d.ts   |  3 +-
 .../reporter-preprocess-suite.spec.ts         | 46 ++++++++++++++-----
 5 files changed, 71 insertions(+), 31 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docs/src/test-reporter-api/class-reporter.md b/docs/src/test-reporter-api/class-reporter.md
index 26f8d619e22ca..67619c914e1f7 100644
--- a/docs/src/test-reporter-api/class-reporter.md
+++ b/docs/src/test-reporter-api/class-reporter.md
@@ -317,6 +317,6 @@ Resolved configuration.
 
 The root suite that contains the projects, files and test cases that will run.
 
-The suite reflects `--project`, `--grep`/`--grep-invert` and `.only` filtering, so it only contains tests that match the current invocation. It contains only the top-level projects being run — setup and dependency projects are not included and cannot be excluded from here.
+The suite reflects `--project`, `--grep`/`--grep-invert` and `.only` filtering, so it only contains tests that match the current invocation. Setup and dependency projects are readonly and cannot be excluded from here.
 
 The suite ignores the `--shard` argument: it always contains the full, un-sharded corpus. Playwright applies its built-in sharding after [`method: Reporter.preprocessSuite`] returns, unless the returned `implementsSharding` is `true`.
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/common/test.ts b/packages/playwright/src/common/test.ts
index 991ac8304ef0d..c5ba38a2d7b25 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/common/test.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/common/test.ts
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ export class Suite extends Base {
   _fullProject: FullProjectInternal | undefined;
   _fileId: string | undefined;
   _preprocessing = false;
+  _isDependency = false;
   readonly _type: 'root' | 'project' | 'file' | 'describe';
 
   skip: (reason?: string) => void;
@@ -272,6 +273,8 @@ export class Suite extends Base {
   private _modifier(type: 'skip' | 'fixme' | 'fail', location: Location, reason: string | undefined): void {
     if (!this._rootSuite()._preprocessing)
       throw new Error(`Suite.${type}() can only be called from Reporter.preprocessSuite().`);
+    if (this._isInDependencyProject())
+      throw new Error(`Suite.${type}() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project; these always run in full.`);
     for (const test of this.allTests())
       test._applyPlanAnnotation({ type, description: reason, location });
   }
@@ -281,9 +284,15 @@ export class Suite extends Base {
       throw new Error(`Suite.exclude() can only be called from Reporter.preprocessSuite().`);
     if (!this.parent)
       throw new Error(`Suite.exclude() cannot be called on the root suite.`);
+    if (this._isInDependencyProject())
+      throw new Error(`Suite.exclude() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project; these always run in full.`);
     this.parent._detach(this);
   }
 
+  _isInDependencyProject(): boolean {
+    return this._isDependency || (this.parent?._isInDependencyProject() ?? false);
+  }
+
   _rootSuite(): Suite {
     return this.parent?._rootSuite() ?? this;
   }
@@ -355,6 +364,8 @@ export class TestCase extends Base implements reporterTypes.TestCase {
   private _modifier(type: 'skip' | 'fixme' | 'fail', location: Location, reason: string | undefined): void {
     if (!this._rootSuite()._preprocessing)
       throw new Error(`TestCase.${type}() can only be called from Reporter.preprocessSuite().`);
+    if (this.parent._isInDependencyProject())
+      throw new Error(`TestCase.${type}() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project test; these always run in full.`);
     this._applyPlanAnnotation({ type, description: reason, location });
   }
 
@@ -370,6 +381,8 @@ export class TestCase extends Base implements reporterTypes.TestCase {
   exclude(): void {
     if (!this._rootSuite()._preprocessing)
       throw new Error(`TestCase.exclude() can only be called from Reporter.preprocessSuite().`);
+    if (this.parent._isInDependencyProject())
+      throw new Error(`TestCase.exclude() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project test; these always run in full.`);
     this.parent._detach(this);
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts b/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts
index 9485a923ba5a1..ed5b24acc0280 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts
@@ -165,12 +165,23 @@ export async function createRootSuite(testRun: TestRun, errors: TestError[], sho
     }
   }
 
+  // Prepend dependency projects without filtration.
+  for (const [project, type] of [...projectClosure].reverse()) {
+    if (type !== 'dependency')
+      continue;
+    const dependencySuite = buildProjectSuite(project, projectSuites.get(project)!);
+    dependencySuite._isDependency = true;
+    rootSuite._prependSuite(dependencySuite);
+  }
+
   const preprocessResult = await testRun.reporter.preprocessSuite(config.config, rootSuite);
   // Shard only the top-level projects.
   if (config.config.shard && !preprocessResult?.implementsSharding) {
     // Create test groups for top-level projects.
     const testGroups: TestGroup[] = [];
     for (const projectSuite of rootSuite.suites) {
+      if (projectSuite._isDependency)
+        continue;
       // Split beforeAll-grouped tests into "config.shard.total" groups when needed.
       // Later on, we'll re-split them between workers by using "config.workers" instead.
       for (const group of createTestGroups(projectSuite, config.config.shard.total))
@@ -186,26 +197,19 @@ export async function createRootSuite(testRun: TestRun, errors: TestError[], sho
     }
 
     // Update project suites, removing empty ones.
-    suiteUtils.filterTestsRemoveEmptySuites(rootSuite, test => testsInThisShard.has(test));
+    suiteUtils.filterTestsRemoveEmptySuites(rootSuite, test => test.parent._isInDependencyProject() || testsInThisShard.has(test));
   }
 
   if (testRun.postShardTestFilters.length)
-    suiteUtils.filterTestsRemoveEmptySuites(rootSuite, test => testRun.postShardTestFilters.every(filter => filter(test)));
-
-  const topLevelProjects = [];
-  // Now prepend dependency projects without filtration.
-  {
-    // Filtering 'only' and sharding might have reduced the number of top-level projects.
-    // Build the project closure to only include dependencies that are still needed.
-    const projectClosure = new Map(buildProjectsClosure(rootSuite.suites.map(suite => suite._fullProject!)));
-
-    // Clone file suites for dependency projects.
-    for (const [project, level] of projectClosure.entries()) {
-      if (level === 'dependency')
-        rootSuite._prependSuite(buildProjectSuite(project, projectSuites.get(project)!));
-      else
-        topLevelProjects.push(project);
-    }
+    suiteUtils.filterTestsRemoveEmptySuites(rootSuite, test => test.parent._isInDependencyProject() || testRun.postShardTestFilters.every(filter => filter(test)));
+
+  // Filtering 'only' and sharding might have reduced the number of top-level projects.
+  // Prune the project closure to only include dependencies that are still needed.
+  const topLevelProjects = rootSuite.suites.filter(suite => !suite._isDependency).map(suite => suite._fullProject!);
+  const neededClosure = buildProjectsClosure(topLevelProjects);
+  for (const projectSuite of [...rootSuite.suites]) {
+    if (projectSuite._isDependency && !neededClosure.has(projectSuite._fullProject!))
+      rootSuite._detach(projectSuite);
   }
 
   testRun.rootSuite = rootSuite;
diff --git a/packages/playwright/types/testReporter.d.ts b/packages/playwright/types/testReporter.d.ts
index 47e406bcd1d82..f7809c29c65fe 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/types/testReporter.d.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/types/testReporter.d.ts
@@ -153,8 +153,7 @@ export interface Reporter {
    * @param suite The root suite that contains the projects, files and test cases that will run.
    *
    * The suite reflects `--project`, `--grep`/`--grep-invert` and `.only` filtering, so it only contains tests that
-   * match the current invocation. It contains only the top-level projects being run — setup and dependency projects are
-   * not included and cannot be excluded from here.
+   * match the current invocation. Setup and dependency projects are readonly and cannot be excluded from here.
    *
    * The suite ignores the `--shard` argument: it always contains the full, un-sharded corpus. Playwright applies its
    * built-in sharding after
diff --git a/tests/playwright-test/reporter-preprocess-suite.spec.ts b/tests/playwright-test/reporter-preprocess-suite.spec.ts
index 7e2f16342851e..52a43acb3ee77 100644
--- a/tests/playwright-test/reporter-preprocess-suite.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/playwright-test/reporter-preprocess-suite.spec.ts
@@ -392,15 +392,29 @@ test('multiple reporters declaring implementsSharding throws', async ({ runInlin
   expect(result.outputLines.join('\n')).toContain(`Multiple reporters declare 'implementsSharding'`);
 });
 
-test('plan.suite contains only top-level projects, not dependency/setup projects', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
+test('plan.suite exposes setup/teardown dependency projects but they are read-only', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
   const result = await runInlineTest({
     'reporter.ts': `
       class Reporter {
         async preprocessSuite(config, suite) {
-          // The suite only exposes top-level projects, so a reporter has no handle on
-          // setup/dependency project tests and therefore cannot exclude them.
           console.log('%% plan projects: ' + suite.suites.map(s => s.title).join(','));
           console.log('%% plan tests: ' + suite.allTests().map(t => t.title).join(','));
+          const setupTest = suite.allTests().find(t => t.title === 'setup-test');
+          for (const method of ['skip', 'fixme', 'fail', 'exclude']) {
+            try {
+              setupTest[method]();
+              console.log('%% dep-' + method + ': no-throw');
+            } catch (e) {
+              console.log('%% dep-' + method + ': ' + e.message);
+            }
+          }
+          const setupProject = suite.suites.find(s => s.title === 'setup');
+          try {
+            setupProject.exclude();
+            console.log('%% dep-suite-exclude: no-throw');
+          } catch (e) {
+            console.log('%% dep-suite-exclude: ' + e.message);
+          }
         }
         onTestEnd(test, result) {
           console.log('%% ran ' + test.parent.project().name + '/' + test.title);
@@ -412,7 +426,8 @@ test('plan.suite contains only top-level projects, not dependency/setup projects
       module.exports = {
         reporter: './reporter.ts',
         projects: [
-          { name: 'setup', testMatch: /a\\.setup\\.ts/ },
+          { name: 'setup', testMatch: /a\\.setup\\.ts/, teardown: 'teardown' },
+          { name: 'teardown', testMatch: /a\\.teardown\\.ts/ },
           { name: 'main', testMatch: /a\\.test\\.ts/, dependencies: ['setup'] },
         ],
       };
@@ -421,6 +436,10 @@ test('plan.suite contains only top-level projects, not dependency/setup projects
       import { test } from '@playwright/test';
       test('setup-test', async () => {});
     `,
+    'a.teardown.ts': `
+      import { test } from '@playwright/test';
+      test('teardown-test', async () => {});
+    `,
     'a.test.ts': `
       import { test } from '@playwright/test';
       test('main-test', async () => {});
@@ -428,11 +447,16 @@ test('plan.suite contains only top-level projects, not dependency/setup projects
   }, { reporter: '', workers: 1 }, undefined, { additionalArgs: ['--project=main'] });
 
   expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
-  // plan only sees the top-level 'main' project; the 'setup' dependency is prepended afterwards.
-  expect(result.outputLines).toContain('plan projects: main');
-  // 'setup-test' is absent from the plan suite, proving setup/dependency tests are not exposed.
-  expect(result.outputLines).toContain('plan tests: main-test');
-  // Both the dependency and the main project still run.
-  expect(result.outputLines).toContain('ran setup/setup-test');
-  expect(result.outputLines).toContain('ran main/main-test');
+  expect(result.outputLines).toEqual([
+    'plan projects: setup,teardown,main',
+    'plan tests: setup-test,teardown-test,main-test',
+    'dep-skip: TestCase.skip() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project test; these always run in full.',
+    'dep-fixme: TestCase.fixme() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project test; these always run in full.',
+    'dep-fail: TestCase.fail() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project test; these always run in full.',
+    'dep-exclude: TestCase.exclude() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project test; these always run in full.',
+    'dep-suite-exclude: Suite.exclude() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project; these always run in full.',
+    'ran setup/setup-test',
+    'ran main/main-test',
+    'ran teardown/teardown-test',
+  ]);
 });

From 22a60540e40dc5d14b9a7bb678e03ebdf408f05c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Simon Knott <info@simonknott.de>
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2026 16:53:23 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 2/6] fix(reporter): preserve dependency project order

Dropped the reverse() so setup/teardown projects keep the same order
in the root suite as before, avoiding a spurious UI mode filter reorder.
---
 packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts             | 2 +-
 tests/playwright-test/reporter-preprocess-suite.spec.ts | 4 ++--
 2 files changed, 3 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts b/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts
index ed5b24acc0280..444aef454d67a 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ export async function createRootSuite(testRun: TestRun, errors: TestError[], sho
   }
 
   // Prepend dependency projects without filtration.
-  for (const [project, type] of [...projectClosure].reverse()) {
+  for (const [project, type] of projectClosure) {
     if (type !== 'dependency')
       continue;
     const dependencySuite = buildProjectSuite(project, projectSuites.get(project)!);
diff --git a/tests/playwright-test/reporter-preprocess-suite.spec.ts b/tests/playwright-test/reporter-preprocess-suite.spec.ts
index 52a43acb3ee77..1f1b5d2b7a1ef 100644
--- a/tests/playwright-test/reporter-preprocess-suite.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/playwright-test/reporter-preprocess-suite.spec.ts
@@ -448,8 +448,8 @@ test('plan.suite exposes setup/teardown dependency projects but they are read-on
 
   expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
   expect(result.outputLines).toEqual([
-    'plan projects: setup,teardown,main',
-    'plan tests: setup-test,teardown-test,main-test',
+    'plan projects: teardown,setup,main',
+    'plan tests: teardown-test,setup-test,main-test',
     'dep-skip: TestCase.skip() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project test; these always run in full.',
     'dep-fixme: TestCase.fixme() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project test; these always run in full.',
     'dep-fail: TestCase.fail() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project test; these always run in full.',

From 8a4b6f6042b4b47aa8c2cd9554fa69ef89636fd6 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Simon Knott <info@simonknott.de>
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2026 14:20:16 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 3/6] chore(reporter): unify preprocess suite modes

Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot-Session: af814592-e5ae-4edb-a8ef-dc73c2882097
---
 packages/playwright/src/common/test.ts        | 35 ++++++++-----------
 .../src/reporters/internalReporter.ts         |  4 +--
 packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts   | 14 ++++----
 3 files changed, 25 insertions(+), 28 deletions(-)

diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/common/test.ts b/packages/playwright/src/common/test.ts
index c5ba38a2d7b25..598a041d8a81e 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/common/test.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/common/test.ts
@@ -58,8 +58,7 @@ export class Suite extends Base {
   _parallelMode: 'none' | 'default' | 'serial' | 'parallel' = 'none';
   _fullProject: FullProjectInternal | undefined;
   _fileId: string | undefined;
-  _preprocessing = false;
-  _isDependency = false;
+  _preprocessMode: 'editable' | 'readonly' | undefined = undefined;
   readonly _type: 'root' | 'project' | 'file' | 'describe';
 
   skip: (reason?: string) => void;
@@ -271,30 +270,28 @@ export class Suite extends Base {
   }
 
   private _modifier(type: 'skip' | 'fixme' | 'fail', location: Location, reason: string | undefined): void {
-    if (!this._rootSuite()._preprocessing)
+    const mode = this._resolvePreprocessMode();
+    if (!mode)
       throw new Error(`Suite.${type}() can only be called from Reporter.preprocessSuite().`);
-    if (this._isInDependencyProject())
+    if (mode === 'readonly')
       throw new Error(`Suite.${type}() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project; these always run in full.`);
     for (const test of this.allTests())
       test._applyPlanAnnotation({ type, description: reason, location });
   }
 
   exclude(): void {
-    if (!this._rootSuite()._preprocessing)
+    const mode = this._resolvePreprocessMode();
+    if (!mode)
       throw new Error(`Suite.exclude() can only be called from Reporter.preprocessSuite().`);
     if (!this.parent)
       throw new Error(`Suite.exclude() cannot be called on the root suite.`);
-    if (this._isInDependencyProject())
+    if (mode === 'readonly')
       throw new Error(`Suite.exclude() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project; these always run in full.`);
     this.parent._detach(this);
   }
 
-  _isInDependencyProject(): boolean {
-    return this._isDependency || (this.parent?._isInDependencyProject() ?? false);
-  }
-
-  _rootSuite(): Suite {
-    return this.parent?._rootSuite() ?? this;
+  _resolvePreprocessMode(): 'editable' | 'readonly' | undefined {
+    return this._preprocessMode ?? this.parent?._resolvePreprocessMode();
   }
 }
 
@@ -362,9 +359,10 @@ export class TestCase extends Base implements reporterTypes.TestCase {
   }
 
   private _modifier(type: 'skip' | 'fixme' | 'fail', location: Location, reason: string | undefined): void {
-    if (!this._rootSuite()._preprocessing)
+    const mode = this.parent._resolvePreprocessMode();
+    if (!mode)
       throw new Error(`TestCase.${type}() can only be called from Reporter.preprocessSuite().`);
-    if (this.parent._isInDependencyProject())
+    if (mode === 'readonly')
       throw new Error(`TestCase.${type}() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project test; these always run in full.`);
     this._applyPlanAnnotation({ type, description: reason, location });
   }
@@ -379,17 +377,14 @@ export class TestCase extends Base implements reporterTypes.TestCase {
   }
 
   exclude(): void {
-    if (!this._rootSuite()._preprocessing)
+    const mode = this.parent._resolvePreprocessMode();
+    if (!mode)
       throw new Error(`TestCase.exclude() can only be called from Reporter.preprocessSuite().`);
-    if (this.parent._isInDependencyProject())
+    if (mode === 'readonly')
       throw new Error(`TestCase.exclude() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project test; these always run in full.`);
     this.parent._detach(this);
   }
 
-  _rootSuite(): Suite {
-    return this.parent._rootSuite();
-  }
-
   _serialize(): any {
     return {
       kind: 'test',
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/reporters/internalReporter.ts b/packages/playwright/src/reporters/internalReporter.ts
index 7766ec11f6f8b..3070aa64132de 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/reporters/internalReporter.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/reporters/internalReporter.ts
@@ -55,11 +55,11 @@ export class InternalReporter implements ReporterV2 {
   }
 
   async preprocessSuite(config: FullConfig, suite: testNs.Suite) {
-    suite._preprocessing = true;
+    suite._preprocessMode = 'editable';
     try {
       return await this._reporter.preprocessSuite?.(config, suite);
     } finally {
-      suite._preprocessing = false;
+      suite._preprocessMode = undefined;
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts b/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts
index 444aef454d67a..ead16f6a7ebc5 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts
@@ -166,11 +166,13 @@ export async function createRootSuite(testRun: TestRun, errors: TestError[], sho
   }
 
   // Prepend dependency projects without filtration.
+  const dependencyProjectIds = new Set<string>();
   for (const [project, type] of projectClosure) {
     if (type !== 'dependency')
       continue;
     const dependencySuite = buildProjectSuite(project, projectSuites.get(project)!);
-    dependencySuite._isDependency = true;
+    dependencySuite._preprocessMode = 'readonly';
+    dependencyProjectIds.add(project.id);
     rootSuite._prependSuite(dependencySuite);
   }
 
@@ -180,7 +182,7 @@ export async function createRootSuite(testRun: TestRun, errors: TestError[], sho
     // Create test groups for top-level projects.
     const testGroups: TestGroup[] = [];
     for (const projectSuite of rootSuite.suites) {
-      if (projectSuite._isDependency)
+      if (projectClosure.get(projectSuite._fullProject!) === 'dependency')
         continue;
       // Split beforeAll-grouped tests into "config.shard.total" groups when needed.
       // Later on, we'll re-split them between workers by using "config.workers" instead.
@@ -197,18 +199,18 @@ export async function createRootSuite(testRun: TestRun, errors: TestError[], sho
     }
 
     // Update project suites, removing empty ones.
-    suiteUtils.filterTestsRemoveEmptySuites(rootSuite, test => test.parent._isInDependencyProject() || testsInThisShard.has(test));
+    suiteUtils.filterTestsRemoveEmptySuites(rootSuite, test => dependencyProjectIds.has(test._projectId) || testsInThisShard.has(test));
   }
 
   if (testRun.postShardTestFilters.length)
-    suiteUtils.filterTestsRemoveEmptySuites(rootSuite, test => test.parent._isInDependencyProject() || testRun.postShardTestFilters.every(filter => filter(test)));
+    suiteUtils.filterTestsRemoveEmptySuites(rootSuite, test => dependencyProjectIds.has(test._projectId) || testRun.postShardTestFilters.every(filter => filter(test)));
 
   // Filtering 'only' and sharding might have reduced the number of top-level projects.
   // Prune the project closure to only include dependencies that are still needed.
-  const topLevelProjects = rootSuite.suites.filter(suite => !suite._isDependency).map(suite => suite._fullProject!);
+  const topLevelProjects = rootSuite.suites.filter(suite => !dependencyProjectIds.has(suite._fullProject!.id)).map(suite => suite._fullProject!);
   const neededClosure = buildProjectsClosure(topLevelProjects);
   for (const projectSuite of [...rootSuite.suites]) {
-    if (projectSuite._isDependency && !neededClosure.has(projectSuite._fullProject!))
+    if (dependencyProjectIds.has(projectSuite._fullProject!.id) && !neededClosure.has(projectSuite._fullProject!))
       rootSuite._detach(projectSuite);
   }
 

From a04af33018edb0a3ec29204e0051398fc510151b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Simon Knott <info@simonknott.de>
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2026 07:57:59 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 4/6] fix(reporter): preserve selected dependency projects

Copilot-Session: af814592-e5ae-4edb-a8ef-dc73c2882097
---
 .../src/reporters/internalReporter.ts         |   7 +-
 packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts   |  27 ++++-
 .../reporter-preprocess-suite.spec.ts         | 113 ++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 138 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/reporters/internalReporter.ts b/packages/playwright/src/reporters/internalReporter.ts
index 3070aa64132de..f4f092cd5d9ea 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/reporters/internalReporter.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/reporters/internalReporter.ts
@@ -55,12 +55,7 @@ export class InternalReporter implements ReporterV2 {
   }
 
   async preprocessSuite(config: FullConfig, suite: testNs.Suite) {
-    suite._preprocessMode = 'editable';
-    try {
-      return await this._reporter.preprocessSuite?.(config, suite);
-    } finally {
-      suite._preprocessMode = undefined;
-    }
+    return await this._reporter.preprocessSuite?.(config, suite);
   }
 
   onBegin(suite: testNs.Suite) {
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts b/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts
index ead16f6a7ebc5..472d25e4b21bb 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts
@@ -135,11 +135,13 @@ export async function createRootSuite(testRun: TestRun, errors: TestError[], sho
     }
   }
 
+  let hasOnly = false;
   if (shouldFilterOnly) {
     // Create a fake root to execute the exclusive semantics across the projects.
     const filteredRoot = new testNs.Suite('', 'root');
     for (const filteredProjectSuite of filteredProjectSuites.values())
       filteredRoot._addSuite(filteredProjectSuite);
+    hasOnly = !!filteredRoot._getOnlyItems().length;
     suiteUtils.filterOnly(filteredRoot);
     for (const [project, filteredProjectSuite] of filteredProjectSuites) {
       if (!filteredRoot.suites.includes(filteredProjectSuite))
@@ -171,12 +173,21 @@ export async function createRootSuite(testRun: TestRun, errors: TestError[], sho
     if (type !== 'dependency')
       continue;
     const dependencySuite = buildProjectSuite(project, projectSuites.get(project)!);
-    dependencySuite._preprocessMode = 'readonly';
     dependencyProjectIds.add(project.id);
     rootSuite._prependSuite(dependencySuite);
   }
 
-  const preprocessResult = await testRun.reporter.preprocessSuite(config.config, rootSuite);
+  const preprocessSuites = [rootSuite, ...rootSuite.suites];
+  for (const suite of preprocessSuites)
+    suite._preprocessMode = suite === rootSuite || projectClosure.get(suite._fullProject!) === 'top-level' ? 'editable' : 'readonly';
+  let preprocessResult: Awaited<ReturnType<typeof testRun.reporter.preprocessSuite>>;
+  try {
+    preprocessResult = await testRun.reporter.preprocessSuite(config.config, rootSuite);
+  } finally {
+    for (const suite of preprocessSuites)
+      suite._preprocessMode = undefined;
+  }
+
   // Shard only the top-level projects.
   if (config.config.shard && !preprocessResult?.implementsSharding) {
     // Create test groups for top-level projects.
@@ -207,7 +218,17 @@ export async function createRootSuite(testRun: TestRun, errors: TestError[], sho
 
   // Filtering 'only' and sharding might have reduced the number of top-level projects.
   // Prune the project closure to only include dependencies that are still needed.
-  const topLevelProjects = rootSuite.suites.filter(suite => !dependencyProjectIds.has(suite._fullProject!.id)).map(suite => suite._fullProject!);
+  const filteredProjects = new Set(testRun.filteredProjects);
+  const hasExplicitSelection = !!testRun.options.projectFilter?.length || !!testRun.preOnlyTestFilters.length || !!testRun.postShardTestFilters.length || hasOnly;
+  const isExplicitlySelected = (projectSuite: testNs.Suite) => {
+    const project = projectSuite._fullProject!;
+    if (!hasExplicitSelection || (testRun.options.projectFilter?.length && !filteredProjects.has(project)))
+      return false;
+    return !!filteredProjectSuites.get(project)?._hasTests() &&
+      (!testRun.postShardTestFilters.length || projectSuite.allTests().some(test => testRun.postShardTestFilters.every(filter => filter(test))));
+  };
+  const topLevelProjects = rootSuite.suites.filter(suite => !dependencyProjectIds.has(suite._fullProject!.id) ||
+      isExplicitlySelected(suite)).map(suite => suite._fullProject!);
   const neededClosure = buildProjectsClosure(topLevelProjects);
   for (const projectSuite of [...rootSuite.suites]) {
     if (dependencyProjectIds.has(projectSuite._fullProject!.id) && !neededClosure.has(projectSuite._fullProject!))
diff --git a/tests/playwright-test/reporter-preprocess-suite.spec.ts b/tests/playwright-test/reporter-preprocess-suite.spec.ts
index 1f1b5d2b7a1ef..bce02858757fc 100644
--- a/tests/playwright-test/reporter-preprocess-suite.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/playwright-test/reporter-preprocess-suite.spec.ts
@@ -416,6 +416,15 @@ test('plan.suite exposes setup/teardown dependency projects but they are read-on
             console.log('%% dep-suite-exclude: ' + e.message);
           }
         }
+        onBegin(config, suite) {
+          const setupTest = suite.allTests().find(t => t.title === 'setup-test');
+          try {
+            setupTest.skip();
+            console.log('%% dep-after-preprocess: no-throw');
+          } catch (e) {
+            console.log('%% dep-after-preprocess: ' + e.message);
+          }
+        }
         onTestEnd(test, result) {
           console.log('%% ran ' + test.parent.project().name + '/' + test.title);
         }
@@ -455,8 +464,112 @@ test('plan.suite exposes setup/teardown dependency projects but they are read-on
     'dep-fail: TestCase.fail() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project test; these always run in full.',
     'dep-exclude: TestCase.exclude() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project test; these always run in full.',
     'dep-suite-exclude: Suite.exclude() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project; these always run in full.',
+    'dep-after-preprocess: TestCase.skip() can only be called from Reporter.preprocessSuite().',
     'ran setup/setup-test',
     'ran main/main-test',
     'ran teardown/teardown-test',
   ]);
 });
+
+const explicitDependencyVariants: {
+  name: string,
+  only: string,
+  projects?: string[],
+  additionalArgs?: string[],
+}[] = [
+  { name: 'file arguments', only: '', additionalArgs: ['setup.spec.ts', 'main.spec.ts'] },
+  { name: 'project filters', only: '', projects: ['setup', 'main'] },
+  { name: 'test.only', only: '.only' },
+];
+
+for (const variant of explicitDependencyVariants) {
+  test(`plan.suite preserves dependency projects selected through ${variant.name}`, async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
+    const result = await runInlineTest({
+      'reporter.ts': `
+        class Reporter {
+          async preprocessSuite(config, suite) {
+            suite.suites.find(suite => suite.title === 'main').exclude();
+          }
+          onTestEnd(test, result) {
+            console.log('%% ran ' + test.parent.project().name + '/' + test.title);
+          }
+        }
+        module.exports = Reporter;
+      `,
+      'playwright.config.ts': `
+        module.exports = {
+          reporter: './reporter.ts',
+          projects: [
+            { name: 'setup', testMatch: /setup\\.spec\\.ts/ },
+            { name: 'main', testMatch: /main\\.spec\\.ts/, dependencies: ['setup'] },
+          ],
+        };
+      `,
+      'setup.spec.ts': `
+        import { test } from '@playwright/test';
+        test${variant.only}('setup-test', async () => {});
+      `,
+      'main.spec.ts': `
+        import { test } from '@playwright/test';
+        test${variant.only}('main-test', async () => {});
+      `,
+    }, {
+      reporter: '',
+      workers: 1,
+      ...(variant.projects ? { project: variant.projects } : {}),
+    }, undefined, variant.additionalArgs ? { additionalArgs: variant.additionalArgs } : {});
+
+    expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(result.outputLines).toEqual([
+      'ran setup/setup-test',
+    ]);
+  });
+}
+
+test('plan.suite preserves dependency projects selected through --last-failed', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
+  const files = {
+    'reporter.ts': `
+      class Reporter {
+        async preprocessSuite(config, suite) {
+          if (process.env.EXCLUDE_MAIN)
+            suite.suites.find(suite => suite.title === 'main').exclude();
+        }
+        onTestEnd(test, result) {
+          console.log('%% ran ' + test.parent.project().name + '/' + test.title);
+        }
+      }
+      module.exports = Reporter;
+    `,
+    'playwright.config.ts': `
+      module.exports = {
+        reporter: './reporter.ts',
+        projects: [
+          { name: 'setup', testMatch: /setup\\.spec\\.ts/ },
+          { name: 'main', testMatch: /main\\.spec\\.ts/, dependencies: ['setup'] },
+        ],
+      };
+    `,
+    'setup.spec.ts': `
+      import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
+      test('setup-test', async () => {
+        expect(1).toBe(2);
+      });
+    `,
+    'main.spec.ts': `
+      import { test } from '@playwright/test';
+      test('main-test', async () => {});
+    `,
+  };
+
+  const firstRun = await runInlineTest(files, { reporter: '', workers: 1 });
+  expect(firstRun.exitCode).toBe(1);
+  expect(firstRun.outputLines).toEqual([
+    'ran setup/setup-test',
+  ]);
+
+  const lastFailedRun = await runInlineTest(files, { reporter: '', workers: 1 }, { EXCLUDE_MAIN: '1' }, { additionalArgs: ['--last-failed'] });
+  expect(lastFailedRun.exitCode).toBe(1);
+  expect(lastFailedRun.outputLines).toEqual([
+    'ran setup/setup-test',
+  ]);
+});

From 5e2b04ff7369105b589aa1912de1fe9f822567f1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Simon Knott <info@simonknott.de>
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2026 08:05:32 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 5/6] fix(reporter): keep dependency preprocessing additive

Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot-Session: af814592-e5ae-4edb-a8ef-dc73c2882097
---
 packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts   | 48 +++++-----
 .../reporter-preprocess-suite.spec.ts         | 87 ++++---------------
 2 files changed, 38 insertions(+), 97 deletions(-)

diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts b/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts
index 472d25e4b21bb..3736ba042255c 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts
@@ -135,13 +135,11 @@ export async function createRootSuite(testRun: TestRun, errors: TestError[], sho
     }
   }
 
-  let hasOnly = false;
   if (shouldFilterOnly) {
     // Create a fake root to execute the exclusive semantics across the projects.
     const filteredRoot = new testNs.Suite('', 'root');
     for (const filteredProjectSuite of filteredProjectSuites.values())
       filteredRoot._addSuite(filteredProjectSuite);
-    hasOnly = !!filteredRoot._getOnlyItems().length;
     suiteUtils.filterOnly(filteredRoot);
     for (const [project, filteredProjectSuite] of filteredProjectSuites) {
       if (!filteredRoot.suites.includes(filteredProjectSuite))
@@ -167,13 +165,13 @@ export async function createRootSuite(testRun: TestRun, errors: TestError[], sho
     }
   }
 
-  // Prepend dependency projects without filtration.
-  const dependencyProjectIds = new Set<string>();
+  // Temporarily prepend unfiltered dependency projects for preprocessing.
+  const dependencySuites = new Map<commonConfig.FullProjectInternal, testNs.Suite>();
   for (const [project, type] of projectClosure) {
     if (type !== 'dependency')
       continue;
     const dependencySuite = buildProjectSuite(project, projectSuites.get(project)!);
-    dependencyProjectIds.add(project.id);
+    dependencySuites.set(project, dependencySuite);
     rootSuite._prependSuite(dependencySuite);
   }
 
@@ -188,13 +186,15 @@ export async function createRootSuite(testRun: TestRun, errors: TestError[], sho
       suite._preprocessMode = undefined;
   }
 
+  // Continue the existing sharding and filtering pipeline with top-level projects only.
+  for (const dependencySuite of dependencySuites.values())
+    rootSuite._detach(dependencySuite);
+
   // Shard only the top-level projects.
   if (config.config.shard && !preprocessResult?.implementsSharding) {
     // Create test groups for top-level projects.
     const testGroups: TestGroup[] = [];
     for (const projectSuite of rootSuite.suites) {
-      if (projectClosure.get(projectSuite._fullProject!) === 'dependency')
-        continue;
       // Split beforeAll-grouped tests into "config.shard.total" groups when needed.
       // Later on, we'll re-split them between workers by using "config.workers" instead.
       for (const group of createTestGroups(projectSuite, config.config.shard.total))
@@ -210,29 +210,23 @@ export async function createRootSuite(testRun: TestRun, errors: TestError[], sho
     }
 
     // Update project suites, removing empty ones.
-    suiteUtils.filterTestsRemoveEmptySuites(rootSuite, test => dependencyProjectIds.has(test._projectId) || testsInThisShard.has(test));
+    suiteUtils.filterTestsRemoveEmptySuites(rootSuite, test => testsInThisShard.has(test));
   }
 
   if (testRun.postShardTestFilters.length)
-    suiteUtils.filterTestsRemoveEmptySuites(rootSuite, test => dependencyProjectIds.has(test._projectId) || testRun.postShardTestFilters.every(filter => filter(test)));
-
-  // Filtering 'only' and sharding might have reduced the number of top-level projects.
-  // Prune the project closure to only include dependencies that are still needed.
-  const filteredProjects = new Set(testRun.filteredProjects);
-  const hasExplicitSelection = !!testRun.options.projectFilter?.length || !!testRun.preOnlyTestFilters.length || !!testRun.postShardTestFilters.length || hasOnly;
-  const isExplicitlySelected = (projectSuite: testNs.Suite) => {
-    const project = projectSuite._fullProject!;
-    if (!hasExplicitSelection || (testRun.options.projectFilter?.length && !filteredProjects.has(project)))
-      return false;
-    return !!filteredProjectSuites.get(project)?._hasTests() &&
-      (!testRun.postShardTestFilters.length || projectSuite.allTests().some(test => testRun.postShardTestFilters.every(filter => filter(test))));
-  };
-  const topLevelProjects = rootSuite.suites.filter(suite => !dependencyProjectIds.has(suite._fullProject!.id) ||
-      isExplicitlySelected(suite)).map(suite => suite._fullProject!);
-  const neededClosure = buildProjectsClosure(topLevelProjects);
-  for (const projectSuite of [...rootSuite.suites]) {
-    if (dependencyProjectIds.has(projectSuite._fullProject!.id) && !neededClosure.has(projectSuite._fullProject!))
-      rootSuite._detach(projectSuite);
+    suiteUtils.filterTestsRemoveEmptySuites(rootSuite, test => testRun.postShardTestFilters.every(filter => filter(test)));
+
+  const topLevelProjects = [];
+  {
+    // Filtering 'only' and sharding might have reduced the number of top-level projects.
+    // Build the project closure to only include dependencies that are still needed.
+    const finalProjectClosure = buildProjectsClosure(rootSuite.suites.map(suite => suite._fullProject!));
+    for (const [project, type] of finalProjectClosure) {
+      if (type === 'dependency')
+        rootSuite._prependSuite(dependencySuites.get(project)!);
+      else
+        topLevelProjects.push(project);
+    }
   }
 
   testRun.rootSuite = rootSuite;
diff --git a/tests/playwright-test/reporter-preprocess-suite.spec.ts b/tests/playwright-test/reporter-preprocess-suite.spec.ts
index bce02858757fc..d9139a34c518d 100644
--- a/tests/playwright-test/reporter-preprocess-suite.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/playwright-test/reporter-preprocess-suite.spec.ts
@@ -399,6 +399,7 @@ test('plan.suite exposes setup/teardown dependency projects but they are read-on
         async preprocessSuite(config, suite) {
           console.log('%% plan projects: ' + suite.suites.map(s => s.title).join(','));
           console.log('%% plan tests: ' + suite.allTests().map(t => t.title).join(','));
+          this.preprocessedTests = new Set(suite.allTests());
           const setupTest = suite.allTests().find(t => t.title === 'setup-test');
           for (const method of ['skip', 'fixme', 'fail', 'exclude']) {
             try {
@@ -417,6 +418,7 @@ test('plan.suite exposes setup/teardown dependency projects but they are read-on
           }
         }
         onBegin(config, suite) {
+          console.log('%% same test objects: ' + suite.allTests().every(test => this.preprocessedTests.has(test)));
           const setupTest = suite.allTests().find(t => t.title === 'setup-test');
           try {
             setupTest.skip();
@@ -464,6 +466,7 @@ test('plan.suite exposes setup/teardown dependency projects but they are read-on
     'dep-fail: TestCase.fail() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project test; these always run in full.',
     'dep-exclude: TestCase.exclude() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project test; these always run in full.',
     'dep-suite-exclude: Suite.exclude() cannot be called on a setup or teardown project; these always run in full.',
+    'same test objects: true',
     'dep-after-preprocess: TestCase.skip() can only be called from Reporter.preprocessSuite().',
     'ran setup/setup-test',
     'ran main/main-test',
@@ -471,68 +474,13 @@ test('plan.suite exposes setup/teardown dependency projects but they are read-on
   ]);
 });
 
-const explicitDependencyVariants: {
-  name: string,
-  only: string,
-  projects?: string[],
-  additionalArgs?: string[],
-}[] = [
-  { name: 'file arguments', only: '', additionalArgs: ['setup.spec.ts', 'main.spec.ts'] },
-  { name: 'project filters', only: '', projects: ['setup', 'main'] },
-  { name: 'test.only', only: '.only' },
-];
-
-for (const variant of explicitDependencyVariants) {
-  test(`plan.suite preserves dependency projects selected through ${variant.name}`, async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
-    const result = await runInlineTest({
-      'reporter.ts': `
-        class Reporter {
-          async preprocessSuite(config, suite) {
-            suite.suites.find(suite => suite.title === 'main').exclude();
-          }
-          onTestEnd(test, result) {
-            console.log('%% ran ' + test.parent.project().name + '/' + test.title);
-          }
-        }
-        module.exports = Reporter;
-      `,
-      'playwright.config.ts': `
-        module.exports = {
-          reporter: './reporter.ts',
-          projects: [
-            { name: 'setup', testMatch: /setup\\.spec\\.ts/ },
-            { name: 'main', testMatch: /main\\.spec\\.ts/, dependencies: ['setup'] },
-          ],
-        };
-      `,
-      'setup.spec.ts': `
-        import { test } from '@playwright/test';
-        test${variant.only}('setup-test', async () => {});
-      `,
-      'main.spec.ts': `
-        import { test } from '@playwright/test';
-        test${variant.only}('main-test', async () => {});
-      `,
-    }, {
-      reporter: '',
-      workers: 1,
-      ...(variant.projects ? { project: variant.projects } : {}),
-    }, undefined, variant.additionalArgs ? { additionalArgs: variant.additionalArgs } : {});
-
-    expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
-    expect(result.outputLines).toEqual([
-      'ran setup/setup-test',
-    ]);
-  });
-}
-
-test('plan.suite preserves dependency projects selected through --last-failed', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
-  const files = {
+test('plan.suite temporarily exposes dependencies without changing final project selection', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
+  const result = await runInlineTest({
     'reporter.ts': `
       class Reporter {
         async preprocessSuite(config, suite) {
-          if (process.env.EXCLUDE_MAIN)
-            suite.suites.find(suite => suite.title === 'main').exclude();
+          console.log('%% plan projects: ' + suite.suites.map(suite => suite.title).join(','));
+          suite.suites.find(suite => suite.title === 'main').exclude();
         }
         onTestEnd(test, result) {
           console.log('%% ran ' + test.parent.project().name + '/' + test.title);
@@ -546,6 +494,7 @@ test('plan.suite preserves dependency projects selected through --last-failed',
         projects: [
           { name: 'setup', testMatch: /setup\\.spec\\.ts/ },
           { name: 'main', testMatch: /main\\.spec\\.ts/, dependencies: ['setup'] },
+          { name: 'keep', testMatch: /keep\\.spec\\.ts/ },
         ],
       };
     `,
@@ -559,17 +508,15 @@ test('plan.suite preserves dependency projects selected through --last-failed',
       import { test } from '@playwright/test';
       test('main-test', async () => {});
     `,
-  };
-
-  const firstRun = await runInlineTest(files, { reporter: '', workers: 1 });
-  expect(firstRun.exitCode).toBe(1);
-  expect(firstRun.outputLines).toEqual([
-    'ran setup/setup-test',
-  ]);
+    'keep.spec.ts': `
+      import { test } from '@playwright/test';
+      test('keep-test', async () => {});
+    `,
+  }, { reporter: '', workers: 1 }, undefined, { additionalArgs: ['setup.spec.ts', 'main.spec.ts', 'keep.spec.ts'] });
 
-  const lastFailedRun = await runInlineTest(files, { reporter: '', workers: 1 }, { EXCLUDE_MAIN: '1' }, { additionalArgs: ['--last-failed'] });
-  expect(lastFailedRun.exitCode).toBe(1);
-  expect(lastFailedRun.outputLines).toEqual([
-    'ran setup/setup-test',
+  expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
+  expect(result.outputLines).toEqual([
+    'plan projects: setup,main,keep',
+    'ran keep/keep-test',
   ]);
 });

From 8c413d81335a89231c8f46936b6d7389883b22d5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Simon Knott <info@simonknott.de>
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2026 08:23:45 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 6/6] chore(reporter): simplify preprocess suite modes

Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot-Session: af814592-e5ae-4edb-a8ef-dc73c2882097
---
 packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts | 17 ++++++++---------
 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts b/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts
index 3736ba042255c..9878b14702c8b 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/runner/loadUtils.ts
@@ -171,25 +171,24 @@ export async function createRootSuite(testRun: TestRun, errors: TestError[], sho
     if (type !== 'dependency')
       continue;
     const dependencySuite = buildProjectSuite(project, projectSuites.get(project)!);
+    dependencySuite._preprocessMode = 'readonly';
     dependencySuites.set(project, dependencySuite);
     rootSuite._prependSuite(dependencySuite);
   }
 
-  const preprocessSuites = [rootSuite, ...rootSuite.suites];
-  for (const suite of preprocessSuites)
-    suite._preprocessMode = suite === rootSuite || projectClosure.get(suite._fullProject!) === 'top-level' ? 'editable' : 'readonly';
+  rootSuite._preprocessMode = 'editable';
   let preprocessResult: Awaited<ReturnType<typeof testRun.reporter.preprocessSuite>>;
   try {
     preprocessResult = await testRun.reporter.preprocessSuite(config.config, rootSuite);
   } finally {
-    for (const suite of preprocessSuites)
-      suite._preprocessMode = undefined;
+    // Continue the existing sharding and filtering pipeline with top-level projects only.
+    rootSuite._preprocessMode = undefined;
+    for (const dependencySuite of dependencySuites.values()) {
+      dependencySuite._preprocessMode = undefined;
+      rootSuite._detach(dependencySuite);
+    }
   }
 
-  // Continue the existing sharding and filtering pipeline with top-level projects only.
-  for (const dependencySuite of dependencySuites.values())
-    rootSuite._detach(dependencySuite);
-
   // Shard only the top-level projects.
   if (config.config.shard && !preprocessResult?.implementsSharding) {
     // Create test groups for top-level projects.