diff --git a/test/ui-e2e/tests/admin-login.spec.ts b/test/ui-e2e/tests/admin-login.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..581c47ed846
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/ui-e2e/tests/admin-login.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
+import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
+
+test('Log into Argo CD as local admin', async ({ browser }) => {
+  let rawOutput: string;
+  let routeUrl: string;
+
+  try {
+    rawOutput = execSync(
+      'oc extract secret/openshift-gitops-cluster -n openshift-gitops --keys=admin.password --to=-',
+      { timeout: 15000, stdio: 'pipe' }
+    ).toString();
+  } catch (error) {
+    throw new Error("Failed to extract admin password. Please check your cluster connection and oc CLI.");
+  }
+  
+  //get credentials
+  const password = rawOutput.split('\n').map(l => l.trim()).filter(l => l && !l.startsWith('#'))[0];
+
+  try {
+    routeUrl = execSync(
+      'oc get route openshift-gitops-server -n openshift-gitops -o jsonpath="{.spec.host}"',
+      { timeout: 15000, stdio: 'pipe' }
+    ).toString().trim();
+  } catch (error) {
+    throw new Error("Failed to fetch Argo CD route. Please check your cluster connection and oc CLI.");
+  }
+
+  //Fresh context to avoid any cached state issues
+  const context = await browser.newContext({ 
+    storageState: { cookies: [], origins: [] },
+    ignoreHTTPSErrors: true 
+  });
+  
+  try {
+      //Navigate and wait for the page to be loaded
+      const page = await context.newPage();
+      const loginUrl = `https://${routeUrl}/login?dex=none`;
+      await page.goto(loginUrl, { waitUntil: 'load' });
+
+      const userField = page.getByLabel(/username/i);
+      await userField.waitFor({ state: 'visible', timeout: 20000 });
+
+      //Fill and Sign In
+      await userField.fill('admin');
+      await page.locator('input[type="password"]').fill(password);
+      await page.getByRole('button', { name: /sign in/i }).click();
+
+      //Verify we're logged in
+      await expect(page.locator('.sidebar, [data-testid="sidebar"]').first()).toBeVisible({ timeout: 20000 });
+    } finally {
+      // This guarantees the context closes even if an assertion fails above!
+      await context.close();
+    }
+  });
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