How do I check the value of an input field in Playwright?

Use await expect(locator).toHaveValue(...), which retries until the input's current value matches a string or a regular expression. Do not use toHaveText() for this: the text of an input is empty, and what the user typed lives in its value.

This answer is one piece of Chapter 11: Assertions.

Web-First Assertions Cookbook
Retry & Polling Patterns
Visual Regression Testing
Making a Failure Explain Itself

An <input> does not hold its contents as text inside the element. What the user typed, or what a script filled in, is the input's value. That is why toHaveText() on a text field disappoints, and why Playwright has a separate assertion, toHaveValue().

Like every web-first assertion, toHaveValue() retries. That matters when a value is filled in by script after the page loads.

The example uses two inputs:

On the dashboard, a script fills a Report reference field with RPT-0093. The test finds it by its label and checks the exact value. A regular expression, /^RPT-\d{4}$/, checks the shape instead, which is the better choice when the number changes between environments.
On the login page, the test fills Work email itself and then checks that the value stuck. This catches fields that reformat or reject input.

Checking a value you read yourself, as in expect(await email.inputValue()).toBe(...), is a non-retrying assertion: it checks once. Use toHaveValue() so the check waits.

value.spec.js(https://practice.learnplayforge.com)

import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';

test('reading what an input holds', async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto('/index.html?mock=static&seed=42');
  await expect(page.getByLabel('Report reference')).toHaveValue('RPT-0093');
  await expect(page.getByLabel('Report reference')).toHaveValue(/^RPT-\d{4}$/);

  await page.goto('/login.html?mock=static&seed=42');
  const email = page.getByLabel('Work email');
  await email.fill('ops@meridian.test');
  await expect(email).toHaveValue('ops@meridian.test');
});

Output

1 passed (1.5s)

Test yourself

After await email.fill('ops@meridian.test'), which assertion confirms what the field holds?

AI can write the test now. The job is knowing whether it checks anything. That's what the course teaches, one chapter at a time.

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How do I check the value of an input field in Playwright?

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