diff --git a/tools/compat-testing/playwright.config.js b/tools/compat-testing/playwright.config.js
index a1106472..03d47783 100644
--- a/tools/compat-testing/playwright.config.js
+++ b/tools/compat-testing/playwright.config.js
@@ -74,8 +74,20 @@ export default defineConfig({
 
   webServer: {
     command: 'deno task dev:vite',
+    // Playwright is invoked with cwd = tools/compat-testing/ (via `working-directory`
+    // in .github/workflows/e2e-playwright.yml). Without `cwd: '../..'`, vite starts
+    // with process.cwd() = tools/compat-testing/, which has no index.html and no
+    // public/ — Vite walks up to find vite.config.js but still treats the spawn
+    // directory as project root, so /assets/main/ui.webp.json 404s and
+    // PixiJS Loader fails during preload bundle init.
+    //
+    // Setting cwd to the repo root (two levels up from tools/compat-testing/)
+    // makes vite serve public/, raw-assets/, src/, index.html correctly.
+    cwd: '../..',
     port: 1984,
     reuseExistingServer: true,
     timeout: 60000,
+    stdout: 'pipe',
+    stderr: 'pipe',
   },
 });