#Keyboard

page.keyboard sends native keyboard input to the currently focused element. Use it to test shortcuts, keyboard navigation, and interactions that move focus between elements.

Unlike locator.press(), which focuses the matching element first, page.keyboard uses the current focus without selecting an element. In headed mode, Rstest focuses the test's runner iframe before starting input if the outer test UI has taken focus. Moving focus outside the iframe can clear its focused element; focus the desired element explicitly before continuing to type.

Keyboard input shares the browser page's focus and modifier state. Run focus-dependent interactions sequentially, and await each press before changing focus or navigating. If another task moves focus or the runner reloads during a press, its remaining events follow the browser's current focus, including during headed watch updates. Run invalidation drops queued presses that have not started; it cannot cancel or roll back native input already in progress.

#press

• Type: (key: string, options?: BrowserKeyboardPressOptions) => Promise<void>

Press and release a key, or a combination such as Shift+ArrowLeft or ControlOrMeta+A. With the Playwright provider, key names follow Playwright keyboard syntax. ControlOrMeta resolves to Meta on macOS and Control on other platforms. Modifiers in a combination are released after the key press.

BrowserKeyboardPressOptions accepts:

• delay?: number: Time in milliseconds between keydown and keyup. Defaults to 0.

import { page } from '@rstest/browser';

await page.getByLabel('Search').focus();
await page.keyboard.press('ControlOrMeta+A');
await page.keyboard.press('Backspace');
await page.keyboard.press('Escape', { delay: 20 });

#tab

• Type: (options?: BrowserKeyboardTabOptions) => Promise<void>

Move focus using native Tab navigation. The browser determines focus order, including skipping disabled elements.

BrowserKeyboardTabOptions accepts:

• shift?: boolean: Move backwards with Shift+Tab. Defaults to false.

import { page } from '@rstest/browser';
import { expect } from '@rstest/core';

await page.getByLabel('Email').focus();
await page.keyboard.tab();
await expect.element(page.getByLabel('Password')).toBeFocused();
await page.keyboard.tab({ shift: true });
await expect.element(page.getByLabel('Email')).toBeFocused();

tab() is equivalent to press('Tab'); tab({ shift: true }) is equivalent to press('Shift+Tab'). Focus can leave a component or iframe when navigation reaches its boundary, following browser behavior.

BrowserKeyboard, BrowserKeyboardPressOptions, and BrowserKeyboardTabOptions are exported from @rstest/browser.