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Cloud Testing Guide

Taflex JS provides native integration with industry-leading cloud testing platforms like BrowserStack and SauceLabs. This allows you to scale your test execution across a vast array of browser/OS combinations and real mobile devices without managing your own infrastructure.

🚀 Why Use Cloud Testing?​

  • Zero Infrastructure: No need to maintain local browser versions or mobile emulators.
  • Parallel Execution: Run tests simultaneously across multiple configurations.
  • Real Devices: Test your mobile applications on actual physical hardware.
  • Debugging Tools: Access video recordings, network logs, and screenshots of every test session.

🛠ī¸ Configuration​

To enable cloud execution, update your .env file with the following parameters:

Common Settings​

# Set the platform (local, browserstack, saucelabs)
CLOUD_PLATFORM=browserstack

# Your cloud credentials
CLOUD_USER=your_username
CLOUD_KEY=your_access_key

Web Execution​

For web automation, you can specify the target environment:

EXECUTION_MODE=web
BROWSER=chromium
BROWSER_VERSION=latest
OS=Windows
OS_VERSION=11

Mobile Execution​

For mobile automation, the framework automatically maps these settings to Appium capabilities:

EXECUTION_MODE=mobile
OS=Android
OS_VERSION=Google Pixel 7

🌩ī¸ Supported Providers​

BrowserStack​

When CLOUD_PLATFORM=browserstack is set, the framework uses the Playwright CDP (Chrome DevTools Protocol) endpoint for web tests and the BrowserStack Appium hub for mobile tests.

Specific capabilities included:

  • bstack:options are automatically generated.
  • Project and Build names are automatically tagged with "Taflex Framework" and the current date.

SauceLabs​

When CLOUD_PLATFORM=saucelabs is set, the framework connects to the SauceLabs US-West-1 data center.

Specific capabilities included:

  • sauce:options are automatically generated.
  • Standard W3C capabilities are enforced for maximum compatibility.

đŸ’ģ CLI Usage​

You can easily switch between local and cloud execution using environment variables in your command line:

# Run web tests locally
npm run test:web

# Run web tests on BrowserStack
CLOUD_PLATFORM=browserstack npm run test:web

# Run mobile tests on SauceLabs
CLOUD_PLATFORM=saucelabs EXECUTION_MODE=mobile npm run test:bdd

🔍 Debugging in the Cloud​

Once a test finishes, you can log in to your provider's dashboard to see:

  1. Video Recording: A full video of the test execution.
  2. Metadata: Detailed information about the browser, OS, and environment.
  3. Logs: Console logs and network traffic (HAR files).