How to Cache Browser Binaries for Playwright and Cypress

E2E jobs often spend their first minute downloading browsers. Cache the binaries and that minute disappears.

Playwright and Cypress download large browser binaries on a cold runner. Cache them keyed on the tool version so they are only fetched when you upgrade.

Playwright

Cache the Playwright browsers directory keyed on the installed version.

- uses: actions/cache@v4
  with:
    path: ~/.cache/ms-playwright
    key: pw-${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('package-lock.json') }}
- run: npx playwright install --with-deps

Cypress

Cypress caches its binary under ~/.cache/Cypress; cache it keyed on the Cypress version.

- uses: actions/cache@v4
  with:
    path: ~/.cache/Cypress
    key: cypress-${{ hashFiles('package-lock.json') }}

Key on the version

Tie the cache key to the lockfile or tool version so a browser upgrade re-downloads, but routine runs reuse the cached binaries.

Key takeaways

• Cache the browser binary directory, not just node_modules.
• Key on the tool/lockfile version to invalidate on upgrade.
• This removes the first-minute download from every E2E run.

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