# Playwright E2E Test Timeout Fix - Feature Flags Endpoint

## 1. Introduction

### Overview
This plan addresses systematic timeout failures in Playwright E2E tests for the feature flags endpoint (`/feature-flags`) occurring consistently in CI environments. The tests in `tests/settings/system-settings.spec.ts` are failing due to timeouts when waiting for API responses during feature toggle operations.

### Problem Statement
Four tests are timing out in CI:
1. `should toggle Cerberus security feature`
2. `should toggle CrowdSec console enrollment`
3. `should toggle uptime monitoring`
4. `should persist feature toggle changes`

All tests follow the same pattern:
- Click toggle → Wait for PUT `/feature-flags` (currently 15s timeout)
- Wait for subsequent GET `/feature-flags` (currently 10s timeout)
- Both operations frequently exceed their timeouts in CI

### Root Cause Analysis
Based on comprehensive research, the timeout failures are caused by:

1. **Backend N+1 Query Pattern** (PRIMARY)
   - `GetFlags()` makes 3 separate SQLite queries (one per feature flag)
   - `UpdateFlags()` makes additional individual queries per flag
   - Each toggle operation requires: 3 queries (PUT) + 3 queries (GET) = 6 DB operations minimum

2. **CI Environment Characteristics**
   - Slower disk I/O compared to local development
   - SQLite on CI runners lacks shared memory optimizations
   - No database query caching layer
   - Sequential query execution compounds latency

3. **Test Pattern Amplification**
   - Tests explicitly set lower timeouts (15s, 10s) than helper defaults (30s)
   - Immediate GET after PUT doesn't allow for state propagation
   - No retry logic for transient failures

### Objectives
1. **Immediate**: Increase timeouts and add strategic waits to fix CI failures
2. **Short-term**: Improve test reliability with better wait strategies
3. **Long-term**: Document backend performance optimization opportunities
