diff --git a/tests/e2e/ui/constants.ts b/tests/e2e/ui/constants.ts
index 236909384b0..ad20be0bf32 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/ui/constants.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/ui/constants.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,19 @@
+// Target base URL for the proxy and its admin UI. Derived from the environment
+// so the suite can run against a deployed proxy as well as a local one; the
+// previous hardcoded http://localhost:4000 made it local-only.
+export const BASE_URL = (process.env.LITELLM_PROXY_URL ?? "http://localhost:4000").replace(/\/+$/, "");
+
+// Where Playwright storage state is written. cwd is read-only in the e2e runner
+// image (readOnlyRootFilesystem), so allow redirecting it there while keeping
+// the repo-relative default for local runs.
+export const STATE_DIR = (process.env.PLAYWRIGHT_STATE_DIR ?? ".").replace(/\/+$/, "");
+
 // Storage state paths for each role
-export const ADMIN_STORAGE_PATH = "admin.storageState.json";
-export const ADMIN_VIEWER_STORAGE_PATH = "adminViewer.storageState.json";
-export const INTERNAL_USER_STORAGE_PATH = "internalUser.storageState.json";
-export const INTERNAL_VIEWER_STORAGE_PATH = "internalViewer.storageState.json";
-export const TEAM_ADMIN_STORAGE_PATH = "teamAdmin.storageState.json";
+export const ADMIN_STORAGE_PATH = `${STATE_DIR}/admin.storageState.json`;
+export const ADMIN_VIEWER_STORAGE_PATH = `${STATE_DIR}/adminViewer.storageState.json`;
+export const INTERNAL_USER_STORAGE_PATH = `${STATE_DIR}/internalUser.storageState.json`;
+export const INTERNAL_VIEWER_STORAGE_PATH = `${STATE_DIR}/internalViewer.storageState.json`;
+export const TEAM_ADMIN_STORAGE_PATH = `${STATE_DIR}/teamAdmin.storageState.json`;
 
 // Seeded user identities (match seed.sql)
 export const E2E_PROXY_ADMIN_USER_ID = "e2e-proxy-admin";
diff --git a/tests/e2e/ui/fixtures/users.ts b/tests/e2e/ui/fixtures/users.ts
index 7d6d356cefb..f82ad07d3fd 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/ui/fixtures/users.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/ui/fixtures/users.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import { STATE_DIR } from "../constants";
+
 export enum Role {
   ProxyAdmin = "proxy_admin",
   ProxyAdminViewer = "proxy_admin_viewer",
@@ -30,9 +32,9 @@ export const users: Record<Role, { email: string; password: string }> = {
 };
 
 export const STORAGE_PATHS: Record<Role, string> = {
-  [Role.ProxyAdmin]: "admin.storageState.json",
-  [Role.ProxyAdminViewer]: "adminViewer.storageState.json",
-  [Role.InternalUser]: "internalUser.storageState.json",
-  [Role.InternalUserViewer]: "internalViewer.storageState.json",
-  [Role.TeamAdmin]: "teamAdmin.storageState.json",
+  [Role.ProxyAdmin]: `${STATE_DIR}/admin.storageState.json`,
+  [Role.ProxyAdminViewer]: `${STATE_DIR}/adminViewer.storageState.json`,
+  [Role.InternalUser]: `${STATE_DIR}/internalUser.storageState.json`,
+  [Role.InternalUserViewer]: `${STATE_DIR}/internalViewer.storageState.json`,
+  [Role.TeamAdmin]: `${STATE_DIR}/teamAdmin.storageState.json`,
 };
diff --git a/tests/e2e/ui/globalSetup.ts b/tests/e2e/ui/globalSetup.ts
index ef892870268..2291c543622 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/ui/globalSetup.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/ui/globalSetup.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,41 @@
 import { chromium, expect, request } from "@playwright/test";
 import { users, Role, STORAGE_PATHS } from "./fixtures/users";
+import { BASE_URL } from "./constants";
 import * as fs from "fs";
 
+// The suite historically relied on fixtures/seed.sql, which only exists on a
+// locally provisioned database. Create the password users through the proxy API
+// instead so the suite can run against any target, seeded or not.
+//
+// /user/new accepts a `password` field but does not persist it (login then
+// reports "User has no password set"), so the password is set in a follow-up
+// /user/update. Both calls are tolerant of the user already existing, which
+// keeps repeat runs and parallel shards idempotent.
+async function ensurePasswordUser(
+  api: Awaited<ReturnType<typeof request.newContext>>,
+  masterKey: string,
+  email: string,
+  password: string,
+  userRole: string,
+) {
+  const auth = { Authorization: `Bearer ${masterKey}` };
+  const userId = `e2e-${email.split("@")[0]}`;
+
+  // 400 here means the user already exists, which is fine.
+  await api.post(`${BASE_URL}/user/new`, {
+    headers: auth,
+    data: { user_id: userId, user_email: email, user_role: userRole },
+  });
+
+  const res = await api.post(`${BASE_URL}/user/update`, {
+    headers: auth,
+    data: { user_id: userId, password },
+  });
+  if (!res.ok()) {
+    throw new Error(`Setting the password for ${email} failed (${res.status()}): ${await res.text()}`);
+  }
+}
+
 async function globalSetup() {
   const browser = await chromium.launch();
   const rootPath = process.env.SERVER_ROOT_PATH ?? "";
@@ -12,7 +46,7 @@ async function globalSetup() {
   // the admin UI toggle does; the projects migration smoke needs the link.
   const masterKey = process.env.LITELLM_MASTER_KEY || "sk-1234";
   const api = await request.newContext();
-  const settingsRes = await api.patch(`http://localhost:4000${rootPath}/update/ui_settings`, {
+  const settingsRes = await api.patch(`${BASE_URL}${rootPath}/update/ui_settings`, {
     headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${masterKey}` },
     data: { enable_projects_ui: true },
   });
@@ -21,12 +55,27 @@ async function globalSetup() {
   }
   await api.dispose();
 
+  // ProxyAdmin logs in as "admin" with the master key and needs no user row;
+  // every other role is a real user that must exist with a password.
+  const seededRoles: Record<string, string> = {
+    [Role.ProxyAdminViewer]: "proxy_admin_viewer",
+    [Role.InternalUser]: "internal_user",
+    [Role.InternalUserViewer]: "internal_user_viewer",
+    [Role.TeamAdmin]: "internal_user",
+  };
+  const seedApi = await request.newContext();
+  for (const [role, userRole] of Object.entries(seededRoles)) {
+    const { email, password } = users[role as Role];
+    await ensurePasswordUser(seedApi, masterKey, email, password, userRole);
+  }
+  await seedApi.dispose();
+
   for (const role of Object.values(Role)) {
     const { email, password } = users[role];
     const storagePath = STORAGE_PATHS[role];
     const page = await browser.newPage();
     try {
-      await page.goto(`http://localhost:4000${rootPath}/ui/login`);
+      await page.goto(`${BASE_URL}${rootPath}/ui/login`);
       await page.getByPlaceholder("Enter your username").fill(email);
       await page.getByPlaceholder("Enter your password").fill(password);
       await page.getByRole("button", { name: "Login", exact: true }).click();
diff --git a/tests/e2e/ui/playwright.config.ts b/tests/e2e/ui/playwright.config.ts
index 8d586ce9503..fe0e1f188d5 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/ui/playwright.config.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/ui/playwright.config.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { defineConfig, devices } from "@playwright/test";
+import { BASE_URL } from "./constants";
 
 /**
  * See https://playwright.dev/docs/test-configuration.
@@ -20,7 +21,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
   /* Shared settings for all the projects below. See https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-testoptions. */
   use: {
     /* Base URL to use in actions like `await page.goto('/')`. */
-    baseURL: "http://localhost:4000",
+    baseURL: BASE_URL,
 
     /* Collect trace when retrying the failed test. See https://playwright.dev/docs/trace-viewer */
     trace: "on-first-retry",