Install serve explicitly to ensure we don't have an npx timeout when npm just gives up (#34932)

* Explicitly install serve

* Add ignore to knip

* lint

Author: Half-Shot

apps/web/package.json

@@ -201,6 +201,7 @@
         "postcss-simple-vars": "7.0.1",
         "process": "^0.11.10",
         "semver": "^7.5.2",
+        "serve": "catalog:",
         "shared-types": "workspace:*",
         "source-map-loader": "^5.0.0",
         "stylelint": "^17.0.0",

apps/web/playwright.config.ts

@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ export default defineConfig<{}, WorkerOptions>({
         trace: "on-first-retry",
     },
     webServer: {
-        command: process.env.CI ? "npx serve -p 8080 -L ./webapp" : "nx --outputStyle stream start",
+        command: process.env.CI ? "pnpm exec serve -p 8080 -L ./webapp" : "nx --outputStyle stream start",
         url: `${baseURL}/config.json`,
         reuseExistingServer: true,
         timeout: (process.env.CI ? 30 : 120) * 1000,

knip.ts

@@ -84,6 +84,9 @@ export default {
                 // `@vitest/browser/matchers` to resolve under pnpm's strict node_modules.
                 // See apps/web/tsconfig.browser-test.json.
                 "@vitest/browser",
+
+                // Used by Playwright to serve the built web app.
+                "serve",
             ],
         },
         "apps/desktop": {
@@ -104,6 +107,10 @@ export default {
         },
         "modules": {
             project: ["**/*.{js,cjs,mjs,jsx,ts,cts,mts,tsx,pcss}!", "!playwright/**!"],
+            ignoreDependencies: [
+                // Used by Playwright to serve the built web app.
+                "serve",
+            ],
         },
         "modules/*": {
             entry: ["src/index.ts{x,}!"],

modules/package.json

@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@
         "test:playwright:screenshots": "nx test:playwright:screenshots --"
     },
     "devDependencies": {
-        "@element-hq/element-web-playwright-common": "workspace:*"
+        "@element-hq/element-web-playwright-common": "workspace:*",
+        "serve": "catalog:"
     },
     "private": true
 }

modules/playwright.config.ts

@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ export default defineConfig<Options>({
     },
     webServer: {
         command: process.env.WEBAPP_PATH
-            ? `npx serve -p 8080 -L ${process.env.WEBAPP_PATH}`
+            ? `pnpm exec serve -p 8080 -L ${process.env.WEBAPP_PATH}`
             : "docker run --rm -p 8080:80 ghcr.io/element-hq/element-web:develop",
         url: `${baseURL}/config.json`,
         reuseExistingServer: true,