ci(e2e): formally defer Playwright browser E2E + fix legacy comments (#647)

[frankbria]

Summary

Closes #647 (P6.5.2). Two browser-level Playwright E2E jobs were commented out with a "web-ui is legacy during v2 CLI-first refactor" rationale that contradicts CLAUDE.md (the web UI is actively developed). Per the issue, the fix is to either re-enable or formally defer them.

Decision: formally defer — re-enabling is infeasible in this issue's scope. The tests/e2e/*.spec.ts suite targets a /projects/[id] route architecture the current Phase-3+ workspace UI no longer has, so it cannot pass as-is and needs a rewrite (not a fix).

Evidence the suite is stale

• 19 of 19 spec files reference /projects; specs page.goto('.../projects/${PROJECT_ID}') 36+ times, plus /signup, /projects/1.
• Current pages: /, /prd, /tasks, /execution, /blockers, /proof, /review, /sessions, /settings, /costs, /login — no /projects, /dashboard, /metrics, /signup.
• tests/e2e/E2E_TEST_AUDIT.md (2026-01-09) describes login redirecting to /projects — stale.

Changes

• Removed 326 lines of stale commented-out job bodies (e2e-smoke-tests, e2e-frontend-tests); preserved in git history. Replaced with a concise, accurate DEFERRED note referencing the rewrite issue.
• Corrected the nightly schedule: cron comment to state why it's off.
• Removed the "web-ui is legacy" claim. The one remaining legacy reference (test-scoping note, line ~250) is about v1 Python modules, not the web UI.
• Opened [P6.8.5] Rewrite Playwright browser E2E suite against current Phase-3+ UI #684 to track the browser-E2E suite rewrite against the current UI.

Verification

• Workflow YAML parses; jobs: code-quality, check-hardcoded-urls, backend-tests, frontend-tests, e2e-backend-tests, testsprite-e2e, test-summary.
• test-summary.needs unchanged (deferred jobs were never wired in).
• No functional CI change (the jobs were already not running).

Acceptance criteria

• E2E jobs formally deferred with a tracked follow-up ([P6.8.5] Rewrite Playwright browser E2E suite against current Phase-3+ UI #684) and corrected comments.
• No CI comment claims the web UI is "legacy."

Known limitations

Browser E2E coverage remains off until #684 lands. Jest unit tests + the new npm run build gate (#646) remain the UI safety net in the meantime.

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Chores
  • Updated test workflow configuration. Browser-level Playwright E2E tests have been deferred pending completion of the UI rewrite.

[coderabbitai]

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Organization UI

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro

Run ID: 0503ca5d-a64d-4215-9047-d37ddecfacf6

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between b2ced8f and cfd81da.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)

• .github/workflows/test.yml

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Walkthrough

The CI workflow's commented-out Playwright browser-level E2E job stanzas (smoke and all-browsers, ~300 lines) are removed and replaced with a short comment block formally deferring the suite, referencing issue #684. The nightly schedule cron remains disabled with updated explanatory comments.

Changes

Playwright E2E Deferral

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Disable and document deferred Playwright E2E jobs .github/workflows/test.yml	Removes ~300 lines of commented-out Playwright smoke and all-browsers job definitions; replaces them with a compact deferral notice referencing issue #684. Updates the nightly schedule cron comments to explicitly state it remains disabled until the UI rewrite completes.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 1 (Trivial) | ⏱️ ~2 minutes

Poem

🐇 The browsers can wait, the tests aren't yet green,
A comment now stands where the YAML had been.
"Deferred!" says the rabbit, with a hop and a wave,
"Issue six-eight-four will dig us out of this cave."
For now the CI runs, just a little bit leaner! ✨

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly and concisely describes the main changes: deferring disabled Playwright E2E jobs and fixing legacy comments in the CI workflow.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	The PR successfully meets all acceptance criteria from #647: formally defers E2E jobs with tracked follow-up #684, removes misleading 'legacy' claims, and corrects misleading comments.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	All changes are tightly scoped to the .github/workflows/test.yml file and directly address the CI governance issue from #647 without introducing unrelated modifications.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.

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✨ Finishing Touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Commit unit tests in branch fix/647-defer-playwright-e2e

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