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@matware/e2e-runner

The AI-native E2E test runner that writes, runs, and debugs tests for you.

npm version node version npm downloads Docker pulls GitHub stars license MCP compatible AI native OpenCode compatible Agent Skills


E2E Runner lets you test your web app without writing test code. Tests are plain JSON — and you don't even have to write that yourself: just ask Claude Code.

🎬 Write a test by asking — then watch it run

Live dashboard streaming screenshots as a test suite runs
The live dashboard while a suite runs — every step streams a screenshot into the feed, in real time.

With the built-in MCP server, creating a test is a conversation — no docs, no syntax to memorize:

You: Create an E2E test for the login flow and run it.

Claude Code: writes the test, runs it in a real browser, and reports back —login-flow passed in 2.3s · screenshot saved · no network errors.

Behind the scenes Claude just wrote and ran this. A test is just JSON — an ordered list of what a user does:

[
  { "name": "login-flow", "actions": [
    { "type": "goto", "value": "/login" },
    { "type": "type", "selector": "#email", "value": "user@test.com" },
    { "type": "type", "selector": "#password", "value": "secret" },
    { "type": "click", "text": "Sign In" },
    { "type": "assert_text", "text": "Welcome back" },
    { "type": "screenshot", "value": "logged-in.png" }
  ]}
]

No imports, no describe/it, no build step. If you can read it you can write it — or just ask.

Connect it to Claude Code (2 commands):

claude plugin marketplace add fastslack/mtw-e2e-runner
claude plugin install e2e-runner@matware

Now say "create a test for X and run it" — Claude gets 17 MCP tools, slash commands, and specialized agents.

Using a different agent (Cursor, Codex, Copilot, 40+ more)? Install the skill: npx skills add fastslack/mtw-e2e-runner


📖 Contents

Section What's inside
🚀 Install & first test npm setup · run with your own Chrome (no Docker), Obscura, or a Docker pool
What you get feature overview at a glance
✍️ Writing tests test format · full action catalog · retries · serial · modules · auth · hooks
🤖 AI integration Claude Code · OpenCode · 17 MCP tools · visual verification · issue-to-test
📊 Dashboard & insights live dashboard · learning system · network logs · screenshot capture
🌐 Browser drivers browserless · cdp · lightpanda · obscura · steel
⚙️ CLI, config & CI commands · flags · e2e.config.js · GitHub Actions · programmatic API

🚀 Install — it's tiny

npm install --save-dev @matware/e2e-runner
npx e2e-runner init        # scaffolds e2e/ with a sample test + config

Then pick how to run the browser. You don't need Docker unless you want the parallel pool:

Option 1 · Use the Chrome you already have — no Docker ⭐

Launch any Chromium browser with a debugging port, then point the runner at it:

google-chrome --headless=new --remote-debugging-port=9222 &   # or brave / chromium / msedge
CHROME_POOL_URL=http://localhost:9222 POOL_DRIVER=cdp npx e2e-runner run --all

Or bake it into e2e.config.js so you never repeat it:

export default {
  baseUrl: 'http://localhost:3000',     // your app — plain localhost, no docker hostname
  poolUrls: ['http://localhost:9222'],
  poolDriver: 'cdp',
};

Nothing to install beyond npm, and baseUrl is just localhost (the browser is on your machine).

Option 2 · Obscura — one tiny binary, no Docker

A single ~30 MB binary with built-in anti-detection. Install once, run it, point the runner at it:

obscura serve --port 9222 --stealth &
CHROME_POOL_URL=http://localhost:9222 POOL_DRIVER=obscura npx e2e-runner run --all

npx e2e-runner pool start (with poolDriver: 'obscura' in your config) prints the exact install command for your OS.

Option 3 · Docker pool — parallel, for CI & big suites

A shared, queue-managed Chrome pool that runs many tests at once:

npx e2e-runner run --all     # the first run auto-starts the Docker pool for you

Requires Docker. Set baseUrl: 'http://host.docker.internal:3000' so the containerized Chrome can reach your app.

Why host.docker.internal (Docker option only)?

With the Docker pool, Chrome runs inside a container, so localhost there means the container — not your machine. host.docker.internal bridges to your host. On Linux (Docker Engine, not Docker Desktop) add --add-host=host.docker.internal:host-gateway, or use your LAN IP. Options 1 & 2 don't have this — the browser is local, so plain localhost just works.

Write your first test

Open e2e/tests/sample.json — a flow is an ordered list of actions:

[
  { "name": "homepage loads", "actions": [
    { "type": "goto", "value": "/" },
    { "type": "assert_text", "text": "Welcome" },
    { "type": "screenshot", "value": "home.png" }
  ]}
]

Run it with npx e2e-runner run --all. Results — pass/fail, timing, screenshots, network errors — print to your terminal and to the web dashboard if it's open.

Add OpenCode (optional)
cp node_modules/@matware/e2e-runner/opencode.json ./
mkdir -p .opencode && cp -r node_modules/@matware/e2e-runner/.opencode/* .opencode/

See OPENCODE.md for details.

Updating

Each install method updates separately — bump the one(s) you use:

# npm dependency (per project)
npm install --save-dev @matware/e2e-runner@latest

# Claude Code plugin
claude plugin update e2e-runner@matware

# MCP-only install (npx caches the package — pin @latest to force a refresh)
claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope user e2e-runner \
  -- npx -y -p @matware/e2e-runner@latest e2e-runner-mcp

Note

Two gotchas: (1) npx prefers a copy found in the project's node_modules over its own cache — if a project pins an old version, the MCP server and dashboard run that old version, so update the project dependency too. (2) Already-running processes keep the old code in memory: after updating, restart the dashboard and reconnect the MCP server (/mcpe2e-runner → Reconnect, or restart your session).


✨ What you get

🧪 Zero-code tests — JSON files that anyone on your team can read and write. No JavaScript, no compilation, no framework lock-in.

🤖 AI-powered testing — Claude Code creates, executes, and debugs tests natively through 17 MCP tools. Ask it to "test the checkout flow" and it builds the JSON, runs it, and reports back.

🐛 Issue-to-Test pipeline — Paste a GitHub or GitLab issue URL. The runner fetches it, generates E2E tests, runs them, and tells you: bug confirmed or not reproducible.

👁️ Visual verification — Describe what the page should look like in plain English. The AI captures a screenshot and judges pass/fail against your description. No pixel-diffing setup needed.

🧠 Learning system — Tracks test stability across runs. Detects flaky tests, unstable selectors, slow APIs, and error patterns — then surfaces actionable insights.

Parallel execution — Run N tests simultaneously against a shared browser pool (browserless, raw CDP, Lightpanda, Obscura, or Steel). Serial mode available for tests that share state.

🎯 Pluggable browser drivers — Pick the engine that fits each test: real Chrome via browserless, Lightpanda or Obscura for fast lightweight runs, Steel for managed sessions. Set driver per test or override the whole run with --driver.

📊 Real-time dashboard — Live execution view, run history with pass-rate charts, screenshot gallery with hash-based search, expandable network request logs.

🔁 Smart retries — Test-level and action-level retries with configurable delays. Flaky tests are detected and flagged automatically.

📦 Reusable modules — Extract common flows (login, navigation, setup) into parameterized modules and reference them with $use.

🏗️ CI-ready — JUnit XML output, exit code 1 on failure, auto-captured error screenshots. Drop-in GitHub Actions example included.

🌐 Multi-project — One dashboard aggregates test results from all your projects. One Chrome pool serves them all.

🐳 Portable — Chrome runs in Docker, tests are JSON files in your repo. Works on any machine with Node.js and Docker.


✍️ Writing tests

Everything about authoring tests — the file format, the full action vocabulary, retries, state isolation, and reuse. Expand what you need:

Test format & file layout

Each .json file in e2e/tests/ contains an array of tests. Each test has a name and sequential actions:

[
  {
    "name": "homepage-loads",
    "actions": [
      { "type": "goto", "value": "/" },
      { "type": "assert_visible", "selector": "body" },
      { "type": "assert_url", "value": "/" },
      { "type": "screenshot", "value": "homepage.png" }
    ]
  }
]

Suite files can have numeric prefixes for ordering (01-auth.json, 02-dashboard.json). The --suite flag matches with or without the prefix, so --suite auth finds 01-auth.json.

Action catalog — navigation, input & interaction
Action Fields Description
goto value Navigate to URL (relative to baseUrl or absolute)
click selector or text Click by CSS selector or visible text content. Text mode also takes scope: "dialog", visible: true, last: true
type / fill selector, value Clear field and type text
wait selector, text, gone, or value (ms) Wait for element/text to appear, for gone to disappear (spinner/dialog), or fixed delay. Prefer conditions over fixed value sleeps
screenshot value (filename) Capture a screenshot
select selector, value Select a dropdown option
clear selector Clear an input field
press value Press a keyboard key (Enter, Tab, etc.)
scroll selector or value (px) Scroll to element or by pixel amount
hover selector Hover over an element
evaluate value Execute JavaScript in the browser context
navigate value Browser navigation (back, forward, reload)
clear_cookies Clear all cookies for the current page
wait_network_idle optional value (idle ms, default 500), timeout Wait until the network has been idle for value ms — useful after actions that trigger background requests
set_storage value ("key=val"), optional selector: "session" Set a localStorage key (or sessionStorage with selector: "session")
gql value (query), optional text (variables JSON), optional selector (assertion) Run a GraphQL query/mutation via in-page fetch, with the auth token read from localStorage. Fails on GraphQL errors. selector is a JS expression asserted against the response r (e.g. "r.data.users.length > 0"). Installs window.__e2eGql for later evaluate steps

Click by text — when click uses text instead of selector, it searches across common interactive and content elements:

button, a, [role="button"], [role="tab"], [role="menuitem"], [role="option"],
[role="listitem"], div[class*="cursor"], span, li, td, th, label, p, h1-h6
{ "type": "click", "text": "Sign In" }
Assertions — verify text, elements, URLs, counts & network
Action Fields Description
assert_text text Assert text exists anywhere on the page (substring)
assert_no_text text Assert text does NOT appear anywhere on the page — opposite of assert_text
assert_text_in selector, text, optional value: "exact" Assert text inside a scoped container. text is a case-insensitive regex by default; value: "exact" switches to case-sensitive substring
assert_element_text selector, text, optional value: "exact" Assert element's text contains (or exactly matches) the expected text
assert_url value Assert current URL path or full URL. Paths (/dashboard) compare against pathname only
assert_visible selector Assert element exists and is visible
assert_not_visible selector Assert element is hidden or doesn't exist
assert_attribute selector, value Check attribute: "type=email" for value, "disabled" for existence
assert_class selector, value Assert element has a CSS class
assert_input_value selector, value Assert input/select/textarea .value contains text
assert_matches selector, value (regex) Assert element text matches a regex pattern
assert_count selector, value Assert element count: exact ("5"), or operators (">3", ">=1", "<10")
assert_no_network_errors Fail if any network requests failed (e.g. ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED)
assert_storage value ("key" or "key=expected"), optional selector: "session" Assert a localStorage/sessionStorage key exists or has a specific value
assert_visual value (golden image), optional selector, text (max diff, e.g. "0.02"), fullPage, maskRegions, threshold Visual regression: compare a screenshot against a golden reference. The first run saves the golden; later runs fail if more pixels differ than the threshold (default 2%) and write a diff image
get_text selector Extract element text (non-assertion, never fails). Result: { value: "..." }
Framework-aware actions — React/MUI without evaluate boilerplate

These actions handle common patterns in React/MUI apps that normally require verbose evaluate boilerplate:

Action Fields Description
type_react selector, value, optional blur, waitAfter Type into React controlled inputs using the native value setter. Dispatches input + change events so React state updates correctly. blur: true commits on blur; waitAfter: "<ms>" waits after (debounced autocomplete).
click_regex text (regex), optional selector, optional value: "last" Click element whose textContent matches a regex (case-insensitive). Default: first match. Use value: "last" for last match.
click_option text Click a [role="option"] element by text — common in autocomplete/select dropdowns.
select_combobox text, optional selector, filter, openWait/filterWait/waitAfter Open a MUI Autocomplete/Select, optionally type filter, then click the option matching text. Falls back across [role="option"], .MuiAutocomplete-option, li.MuiMenuItem-root.
focus_autocomplete text (label text) Focus an autocomplete input by its label text. Supports MUI and generic [role="combobox"].
click_chip text Click a chip/tag element by text. Searches [class*="Chip"], [class*="chip"], [data-chip].
click_icon value (icon id), optional selector (scope) Click an icon by data-testid/data-icon/aria-label/class fragment or SVG <title> — MUI, FontAwesome, Heroicons, etc. Clicks the nearest clickable ancestor (button, link, tab).
click_menu_item text, optional selector (scope) Click a menu item by text across [role="menuitem"], .dropdown-item, .menu-item, MUI MenuItem.
click_in_context text (container text), selector (child) Click a child element inside the smallest container matching text — e.g. the delete button of one specific card/row.
// Before: 5 lines of evaluate boilerplate
{ "type": "evaluate", "value": "const input = document.querySelector('#search'); const nativeSet = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(window.HTMLInputElement.prototype, 'value').set; nativeSet.call(input, 'term'); input.dispatchEvent(new Event('input', {bubbles: true})); input.dispatchEvent(new Event('change', {bubbles: true}));" }

// After: 1 action
{ "type": "type_react", "selector": "#search", "value": "term" }
Multi-tab actions — popups, OAuth windows & cross-tab flows
Action Fields Description
open_tab value (URL), optional text (label) Open a new tab and navigate to the URL (relative to baseUrl or absolute). Label defaults to tab-<n>
switch_tab value Switch the active tab by label, numeric index, or title/URL match (regex or substring). "default" returns to the original tab
wait_for_tab optional text (label), timeout Wait for a new tab/popup opened by the app (window.open, target="_blank") and make it the active tab
assert_tab_count value Assert the number of open tabs: exact ("2") or operators (">=2")
close_tab optional value (label) Close the current (or named) tab and switch back to the last remaining one

All subsequent actions run in the active tab:

{ "type": "click", "text": "Open report" }
{ "type": "wait_for_tab", "text": "report" }
{ "type": "assert_text", "text": "Quarterly results" }
{ "type": "close_tab" }
Retries & flaky detection

Test-level retry — retry an entire test on failure. Set globally via config or per-test:

{ "name": "flaky-test", "retries": 3, "timeout": 15000, "actions": [...] }

Tests that pass after retry are flagged as flaky in the report and learning system.

Action-level retry — retry a single action without rerunning the entire test. Useful for timing-sensitive clicks and waits:

{ "type": "click", "selector": "#dynamic-btn", "retries": 3 }
{ "type": "wait", "selector": ".lazy-loaded", "retries": 2 }

Set globally: actionRetries in config, --action-retries <n> CLI, or ACTION_RETRIES env var. Delay between retries: actionRetryDelay (default 500ms).

Serial tests — for tests that share state

Tests that share state (e.g., two tests modifying the same record) can race when running in parallel. Mark them as serial:

{ "name": "create-patient", "serial": true, "actions": [...] }
{ "name": "verify-patient-list", "serial": true, "actions": [...] }

Serial tests run one at a time after all parallel tests finish — preventing interference without slowing down independent tests.

Testing authenticated apps

The simplest approach — log in via the UI like a real user:

{
  "hooks": {
    "beforeEach": [
      { "type": "goto", "value": "/login" },
      { "type": "type", "selector": "#email", "value": "test@example.com" },
      { "type": "type", "selector": "#password", "value": "test-password" },
      { "type": "click", "text": "Sign In" },
      { "type": "wait", "selector": ".dashboard" }
    ]
  },
  "tests": [...]
}

For SPAs with JWT, skip the login form by injecting the token directly:

{ "type": "set_storage", "value": "accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIs..." }

Or set it globally in config:

// e2e.config.js
export default {
  authToken: 'eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIs...',
  authStorageKey: 'accessToken',
};

Each test runs in a fresh browser context, so auth state is automatically clean between tests.

More strategies: Cookie-based auth, HTTP header injection, OAuth/SSO bypasses, reusable auth modules, and role-based testing — see docs/authentication.md

Reusable modules — extract common flows with $use

Extract common flows into parameterized modules:

// e2e/modules/login.json
{
  "$module": "login",
  "description": "Log in via the UI login form",
  "params": {
    "email": { "required": true, "description": "User email" },
    "password": { "required": true, "description": "User password" }
  },
  "actions": [
    { "type": "goto", "value": "/login" },
    { "type": "type", "selector": "#email", "value": "{{email}}" },
    { "type": "type", "selector": "#password", "value": "{{password}}" },
    { "type": "click", "text": "Sign In" },
    { "type": "wait", "value": "2000" }
  ]
}

Use in tests:

{
  "name": "dashboard-loads",
  "actions": [
    { "$use": "login", "params": { "email": "user@test.com", "password": "secret" } },
    { "type": "assert_text", "text": "Dashboard" }
  ]
}

Modules support parameter validation (required params fail fast), conditional blocks ({{#param}}...{{/param}}), nested composition, and cycle detection.

Hooks — beforeAll / beforeEach / afterEach / afterAll

Run actions at lifecycle points. Define globally in config or per-suite:

{
  "hooks": {
    "beforeAll": [{ "type": "goto", "value": "/setup" }],
    "beforeEach": [{ "type": "goto", "value": "/" }],
    "afterEach": [{ "type": "screenshot", "value": "after.png" }],
    "afterAll": []
  },
  "tests": [...]
}

Important: beforeAll runs on a separate browser page that is closed before tests start. Use beforeEach for state that tests need (cookies, localStorage, auth tokens).

Exclude patterns — skip drafts from --all

Skip exploratory or draft tests from --all runs:

// e2e.config.js
export default {
  exclude: ['explore-*', 'debug-*', 'draft-*'],
};

Individual suite runs (--suite) are not affected by exclude patterns.


🤖 AI integration

The whole point: your agent writes, runs, and verifies tests for you.

Claude Code — plugin install & MCP-only install
claude plugin marketplace add fastslack/mtw-e2e-runner
claude plugin install e2e-runner@matware

This gives Claude 17 MCP tools, a workflow skill, 4 slash commands (/e2e-runner:run, /e2e-runner:create-test, /e2e-runner:verify-issue, /e2e-runner:capture), and 3 specialized agents (test-analyzer, test-creator, test-improver).

MCP-only install (tools only, no skill/commands/agents):

claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope user e2e-runner \
  -- npx -y -p @matware/e2e-runner e2e-runner-mcp
OpenCode
cp node_modules/@matware/e2e-runner/opencode.json ./
mkdir -p .opencode && cp -r node_modules/@matware/e2e-runner/.opencode/* .opencode/

See OPENCODE.md for details.

The 17 MCP tools
Tool Description
e2e_run Run tests (all, by suite, or by file)
e2e_list List available test suites
e2e_create_test Create a new test JSON file
e2e_create_module Create a reusable module
e2e_pool_status Check Chrome pool health
e2e_app_pool_status Inspect the app environment pool (forks, ports, drivers)
e2e_screenshot Retrieve a screenshot by hash
e2e_capture Capture screenshot of any URL
e2e_analyze Extract page structure (interactive elements, forms, headings) and emit test scaffolds
e2e_dashboard_start Start web dashboard
e2e_dashboard_stop Stop web dashboard
e2e_dashboard_restart Restart the dashboard (new project dir/port, clear stale sessions)
e2e_issue Fetch issue and generate tests
e2e_network_logs Query network logs for a run
e2e_learnings Query stability insights
e2e_vars Manage SQLite-backed {{var.KEY}} project variables
e2e_neo4j Manage Neo4j knowledge graph

Pool start/stop are CLI-only — not exposed via MCP.

Visual verification — describe the page, AI judges it

Describe what the page should look like — AI judges pass/fail from screenshots:

{
  "name": "dashboard-loads",
  "expect": "Patient list with at least 3 rows, no error messages, sidebar with navigation links",
  "actions": [
    { "type": "goto", "value": "/dashboard" },
    { "type": "wait", "selector": ".patient-list" }
  ]
}

After test actions complete, the runner auto-captures a verification screenshot. The MCP response includes the screenshot hash — Claude Code retrieves it and visually verifies against your expect description. No API key required.

Issue-to-test — turn a bug report into a runnable test

Turn GitHub and GitLab issues into executable E2E tests. Paste an issue URL and get runnable tests — automatically.

How it works:

  1. Fetch — Pulls issue details (title, body, labels) via gh or glab CLI
  2. Generate — AI creates JSON test actions based on the issue description
  3. Run — Optionally executes the tests immediately to verify if a bug is reproducible
# Fetch and display
e2e-runner issue https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/42

# Generate a test file via Claude API
e2e-runner issue https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/42 --generate

# Generate + run + report
e2e-runner issue https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/42 --verify
# -> "BUG CONFIRMED" or "NOT REPRODUCIBLE"

In Claude Code, just ask:

"Fetch issue #42 and create E2E tests for it"

Bug verification logic: Generated tests assert the correct behavior. Test failure = bug confirmed. All tests pass = not reproducible.

Auth: GitHub requires gh CLI, GitLab requires glab CLI. Self-hosted GitLab is supported.


📊 Dashboard & insights

e2e-runner dashboard                  # Start on default port 8484
e2e-runner dashboard --port 9090      # Custom port
Web dashboard tour — live view, history, gallery, pool status

Live execution — monitor tests in real-time with step-by-step progress, durations, and active worker count.

Dashboard - Live test execution

Test suites — browse all suites across projects. Run a single suite or all tests with one click.

Dashboard - Test suites grid

Run history — track pass-rate trends with the built-in chart. Click any row to expand full detail.

Dashboard - Run history

Run detail — PASS/FAIL badges, screenshot thumbnails with copyable hashes (ss:77c28b5a), formatted console errors, and network request logs.

Dashboard - Run detail

Screenshot gallery — browse all captured screenshots with hash search (action, error, and verification captures).

Dashboard - Screenshot gallery

Pool status — Chrome pool health: available slots, running sessions, memory pressure.

Dashboard - Pool status

Learning system — flaky tests, unstable selectors, slow APIs

The runner learns from every test run — building knowledge about your test suite over time. Query insights via the e2e_learnings MCP tool:

Query Returns
summary Full health overview: pass rate, flaky tests, unstable selectors, API issues
flaky Tests that pass only after retries
selectors CSS selectors with high failure rates
pages Pages with console errors, network failures, load time issues
apis API endpoints with error rates and latency (auto-normalized: UUIDs, hashes, IDs)
errors Most frequent error patterns, categorized
trends Pass rate over time (auto-switches to hourly when all data is from one day)
test:<name> Drill-down history for a specific test
page:<path> Drill-down history for a specific page
selector:<value> Drill-down history for a specific selector

Storage & export:

  • SQLite (~/.e2e-runner/dashboard.db) — default, zero setup
  • Neo4j knowledge graph — optional, for relationship-based analysis. Manage via e2e_neo4j MCP tool or docker compose
  • Markdown report (e2e/learnings.md) — auto-generated after each run

Test narration: Each test run generates a human-readable narrative of what happened step by step, visible in the CLI output and the dashboard.

Network error handling — assertions, global flag, full logging

Explicit assertion — place assert_no_network_errors after critical page loads:

{ "type": "goto", "value": "/dashboard" },
{ "type": "wait", "selector": ".loaded" },
{ "type": "assert_no_network_errors" }

Global flag — set failOnNetworkError: true to automatically fail any test with network errors:

e2e-runner run --all --fail-on-network-error

When disabled (default), the runner still collects and reports network errors — the MCP response includes a warning when tests pass but have network errors.

Full network logging — all XHR/fetch requests are captured with URL, method, status, duration, request/response headers, and response body (truncated at 50KB). Viewable in the dashboard with expandable request detail rows.

MCP drill-down flow:

1. e2e_run          → compact networkSummary + runDbId
2. e2e_network_logs(runDbId)                     → all requests (url, method, status, duration)
3. e2e_network_logs(runDbId, errorsOnly: true)   → only failed requests
4. e2e_network_logs(runDbId, includeHeaders: true) → with headers
5. e2e_network_logs(runDbId, includeBodies: true)  → full request/response bodies

The e2e_run response stays compact (~5KB) regardless of how many requests were captured. Use e2e_network_logs with the returned runDbId to drill into details on demand.

Screenshot capture — snapshot any URL on demand

Capture screenshots of any URL on demand — no test suite required:

e2e-runner capture https://example.com
e2e-runner capture https://example.com --full-page --selector ".loaded" --delay 2000

Via MCP, the e2e_capture tool supports authToken and authStorageKey for authenticated pages — it injects the token into localStorage before navigating.

Every screenshot gets a deterministic hash (ss:a3f2b1c9). Use e2e_screenshot to retrieve any screenshot by hash — it returns the image with metadata (test name, step, type).


🌐 Browser drivers

The runner can talk to multiple browser engines through different drivers. The default is auto — it probes each pool URL and picks the right driver per pool.

Driver Engine Detection probe When to use
browserless Real Chromium via browserless /pressure returns JSON Default. Production-grade JS execution, screencast, full Chrome behavior
cdp Generic CDP-compatible (raw Chrome, etc.) /json/version reachable Fallback for any CDP server that isn't one of the others
lightpanda Lightpanda (Zig) /json/version Browser=lightpanda ~9× faster, ~16× less memory than headless Chrome — ideal for high-volume scrape-style tests
obscura Obscura (Rust + V8) /json/version Browser=obscura ~30 MB RAM footprint, built-in anti-detection (--stealth), stays close to real Chrome via Puppeteer
steel Steel Browser /v1/sessions returns JSON Managed session lifecycle, REST API for orchestration
Pick a driver per test / force one per run
{
  "tests": [
    {
      "name": "checkout flow (heavy JS, real Chrome)",
      "driver": "browserless",
      "actions": [...]
    },
    {
      "name": "scrape product page (lightweight)",
      "driver": "obscura",
      "fallbackDriver": "cdp",
      "actions": [...]
    }
  ]
}

driver is optional. If set, only pools whose detected driver matches become candidates. fallbackDriver is explicit opt-in — without it, a missing target driver fails the test with a clear message. Pool busyness does not trigger fallback; the runner waits inside the filtered set.

Force a driver for a whole run (CLI overrides win over per-test fields — useful for A/B benchmarks):

e2e-runner run --all --driver obscura
e2e-runner run --all --driver obscura --fallback-driver cdp
Running each driver locally
# browserless (default) — managed by `pool start`
e2e-runner pool start

# Lightpanda — pool start uses templates/docker-compose-lightpanda.yml
e2e-runner pool start                 # with poolDriver: 'lightpanda' in config

# Obscura — install the binary and run it yourself
curl -LO https://github.com/h4ckf0r0day/obscura/releases/latest/download/obscura-x86_64-linux.tar.gz
tar xzf obscura-x86_64-linux.tar.gz
./obscura serve --port 9222 --stealth
# then point the runner at it: poolUrls: ['http://localhost:9222'], poolDriver: 'obscura'

⚙️ CLI, config & CI

CLI commands
# Run tests
e2e-runner run --all                  # All suites
e2e-runner run --suite auth           # Single suite
e2e-runner run --tests path/to.json   # Specific file
e2e-runner run --inline '<json>'      # Inline JSON

# Pool management (CLI only, not MCP)
e2e-runner pool start                 # Start Chrome container
e2e-runner pool stop                  # Stop Chrome container
e2e-runner pool status                # Check pool health

# Issue-to-test
e2e-runner issue <url>                # Fetch issue
e2e-runner issue <url> --generate     # Generate test via AI
e2e-runner issue <url> --verify       # Generate + run + report

# Dashboard
e2e-runner dashboard                  # Start web dashboard

# Other
e2e-runner list                       # List available suites
e2e-runner capture <url>              # On-demand screenshot
e2e-runner init                       # Scaffold project
CLI options
Flag Default Description
--base-url <url> http://host.docker.internal:3000 Application base URL
--pool-url <ws> ws://localhost:3333 Chrome pool WebSocket URL
--concurrency <n> 3 Parallel test workers
--retries <n> 0 Retry failed tests N times
--action-retries <n> 0 Retry failed actions N times
--test-timeout <ms> 60000 Per-test timeout
--timeout <ms> 10000 Default action timeout
--output <format> json Report: json, junit, both
--env <name> default Environment profile
--fail-on-network-error false Fail tests with network errors
--project-name <name> dir name Project display name
--driver <name> (per-test) Force pool driver for the run: browserless, cdp, lightpanda, obscura, steel
--fallback-driver <name> none Explicit fallback if no pool with --driver is reachable
Configuratione2e.config.js & priority

Create e2e.config.js in your project root:

export default {
  baseUrl: 'http://host.docker.internal:3000',
  concurrency: 4,
  retries: 2,
  actionRetries: 1,
  testTimeout: 30000,
  outputFormat: 'both',
  failOnNetworkError: true,
  exclude: ['explore-*', 'debug-*'],

  hooks: {
    beforeEach: [{ type: 'goto', value: '/' }],
  },

  environments: {
    staging: { baseUrl: 'https://staging.example.com' },
    production: { baseUrl: 'https://example.com', concurrency: 5 },
  },
};

Config priority (highest wins):

  1. CLI flags
  2. Environment variables
  3. Config file (e2e.config.js or e2e.config.json)
  4. Defaults

When --env <name> is set, the matching profile overrides everything.

CI/CD — JUnit XML & GitHub Actions
e2e-runner run --all --output junit
jobs:
  e2e:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npx e2e-runner pool start
      - run: npx e2e-runner run --all --output junit
      - uses: mikepenz/action-junit-report@v4
        if: always()
        with:
          report_paths: e2e/screenshots/junit.xml
Programmatic API
import { createRunner } from '@matware/e2e-runner';

const runner = await createRunner({ baseUrl: 'http://localhost:3000' });

const report = await runner.runAll();
const report = await runner.runSuite('auth');
const report = await runner.runFile('e2e/tests/login.json');
const report = await runner.runTests([
  { name: 'quick-check', actions: [{ type: 'goto', value: '/' }] },
]);

Requirements

  • Node.js >= 20
  • Docker — only for Option 3 (the parallel Chrome pool). Options 1 & 2 don't need it.

License

Copyright 2026 Matias Aguirre (fastslack) — Matware

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See LICENSE for details.