[FEATURE]: Make `playwright.step` searchable via Test Optimisation filter

[padamczewski]

Package Name

datadog-plugin-playwright

Package Version(s)

No response

Describe the feature you'd like

How it works now
Playwright does support a lower level breakdown within scenarios called [test.step].(https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-test#test-step). Currently the error messages throwing within this closure are not reported via dd-trace in searchable manner. Even though the span is visible in Trace view the search input in Test Runs doesn't allow for finding it. Similarly the Table view doesn't allow for breaking the results down by these values which limits the analytics capabilities.

Relevant code:

dd-trace-js/packages/datadog-plugin-playwright/src/index.js

Lines 323 to 331 in 837bef3

	const stepSpan = this.tracer.startSpan('playwright.step', {
	childOf: span,
	startTime: stepStartTime,
	tags: {
	[COMPONENT]: this.constructor.id,
	'playwright.step': step.title,
	[RESOURCE_NAME]: step.title
	}
	})

How it could work in future
playwright.step error message could get surfaced alongside existing Other Tags

Is your feature request related to a problem?

No response

Describe alternatives you've considered

No response

Additional context

I'd be willing to submit a PR based on minimal set of suggestions and pointers towards a desired solution 👋

[Mariovido]

Hi @padamczewski, thank you for your suggestion. This is a valuable idea, and we agree it would be a great addition. We’ve added it to our backlog and will prioritize it accordingly. However, due to current resource constraints, we’re unable to commit to a timeline just yet. We appreciate your patience and understanding, and we’ll keep you updated as soon as we’re able to allocate capacity to this work.

[padamczewski]

That's cool, thanks for passing it along @Mariovido 🙏

As mentioned in the initial description of the issue I'd be more than happy to have a dab at this and see if this data can be surfaced in some way. I'm just not exactly sure what approach would be desired. If your team would be able to drop a high-level overview of potential adjustments with relevant links to code that would be grand 🙌

I'm conscious of the Level breakdown with Session/Module/Suite/Test spans being surfaced. I'm assuming collection of these 4 would be to stay without any modifications in this area?

My guess is that dropping the values as additional attributes onto the playwright.test span might be the easiest to enable search capability. It wouldn't be as readable as adding new Step Level though.

[Mariovido]

@padamczewski You’re right, the best approach is likely to include the information directly within playwright.test. Introducing a new Level would impact all supported languages, which may not be ideal. A Step level feels too specific and may only benefit a few frameworks like Playwright. That said, it’s worth exploring further, as exposing step-level visibility could introduce significant overhead to test execution.

As mentioned earlier, I’m not sure when we’ll have the capacity to tackle this. Nonetheless, any information you can provide will be valuable.