To ensure that the Makefile is always up-to-date, @dcmcand suggested using it in CI. Creating Makefile with steps followed in .github/workflows/test_local_integration.yaml would be an excellent place to start.
We can initially introduce the following make commands:

1. make init: This defaults to local deployment.
   a. If the OS is Mac, it verifies that the docker-mac-net-connect service is running.
   b. Install Nebari and playwright - link.
   c. Initilizes Nebari like in CI for local deployment link
2. make deploy:
   a. Deploy Nebari link.
   b. Basic kubectl checks after deployment - link.
   c. Check nebari url resolves - like.
   d. Curl jupyterhub login page - link
   e. Create example-user - link.
3. make test:
   a. setup-node - link
   b. make run-cypress-tests - link.
   c. make run-playwright-tests link.
   d. make run-unit-tests link.
4. make clean:
   a. Cleanup nebari deployment - link.
   b. kind delete clusters test-cluster

In later PRs, we can extend the same for other providers like GCP, DO, and AWS. For example:
make init --provider=AWS
Other commands can remain the same, except they will run against cloud instances determined by local environment variables. This should let us run cloud-based integration tests.

good point, @pt247; I was only considering including the playwright/cypress installation and test execution commands. But its a really neat idea to also incorporate the deploy/init structures.

Let's use this issue as a super issue to track progress on Nebari Makefile sub-issues/tasks.
Renaming the issue to Nebari Makefile.

Thanks @pt247, I was about to assign you to this as well 😄

Update: The following Git Gist contains the Makefile and the Nebari config I am using to create the Nebari cluster locally.

https://gist.github.com/pt247/b17e3bec1dd25421082d109328a938b4

Update

With the above git gist, we can now spin up a local cluster for testing using the Makefile.
It still uses Cloudflare for the DNS-01 challenge so that Letsencrypt can generate trusted certificates.

The main issue with this setup is that it needs Cloudflare setup for usable certificates.

There are requirements:

1. UI: Ability to log in and create environments and notebooks. (<-- this needs certificates)
2. Run integration tests locally. (<-- this does not need certificates)

Some links worth exploring to find alternatives for Cloudflare:

1. https://cert-manager.io/docs/configuration/selfsigned/
2. https://skarlso.github.io/2023/10/25/self-signed-locally-trusted-certificates-with-cert-manager/

Limiting the scope of this ticket

We should focus on local certificates while we are working on #2238.
In this ticket, we will focus on replace CI tests in Makefile.

Updated gist with the latest Makefile with playwright tests.

This issue is still up for grabs. #2554 was closed as it had gotten stale, but can serve as a reference for future work