microsoft/playwright · error · Error

"not" engine expects non-empty selector list

Error message

"not" engine expects non-empty selector list

What it means

Error ""not" engine expects non-empty selector list" thrown in microsoft/playwright.

Source

Thrown at packages/injected/src/selectorEvaluator.ts:439

  query(context: QueryContext, args: (string | number | Selector)[], evaluator: SelectorEvaluator): Element[] {
    if (args.length !== 0)
      throw new Error(`"scope" engine expects no arguments`);
    const actualScope = context.originalScope || context.scope;
    if (actualScope.nodeType === 9 /* Node.DOCUMENT_NODE */) {
      const root = (actualScope as Document).documentElement;
      return root ? [root] : [];
    }
    if (actualScope.nodeType === 1 /* Node.ELEMENT_NODE */)
      return [actualScope as Element];
    return [];
  },
};

const notEngine: SelectorEngine = {
  matches(element: Element, args: (string | number | Selector)[], context: QueryContext, evaluator: SelectorEvaluator): boolean {
    if (args.length === 0)
      throw new Error(`"not" engine expects non-empty selector list`);
    return !evaluator.matches(element, args, context);
  },
};

const lightEngine: SelectorEngine = {
  query(context: QueryContext, args: (string | number | Selector)[], evaluator: SelectorEvaluator): Element[] {
    return evaluator.query({ ...context, pierceShadow: false }, args);
  },

  matches(element: Element, args: (string | number | Selector)[], context: QueryContext, evaluator: SelectorEvaluator): boolean {
    return evaluator.matches(element, args, { ...context, pierceShadow: false });
  }
};

const visibleEngine: SelectorEngine = {
  matches(element: Element, args: (string | number | Selector)[], context: QueryContext, evaluator: SelectorEvaluator): boolean {
    if (args.length)
      throw new Error(`"visible" engine expects no arguments`);

View on GitHub (pinned to c8fc3bf8d3)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at packages/injected/src/selectorEvaluator.ts:439 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of microsoft/playwright@c8fc3bf8d3 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f7b21058b7b9f318. Report an issue: GitHub.