Show HN: Autogenerate Playwright and Puppeteer test scripts from the browser

mikeshi42 · on Feb 16, 2022

Hey everyone! DeploySentinel Recorder is a Chrome/Firefox extension that generates Playwright or Puppeteer browser automation scripts by automatically capturing input events (types, clicks, scrolls) as well as generating actions such as hover, await/assert text, and screenshots. This allows you to author browser automation tests incredibly quickly, but outputs clean code for you to easily adjust/edit afterwards. (No reliance on awkward helper functions!)

I put together the DeploySentinel Recorder because I really wanted a quick browser automation/test-authoring tool that can do 80% of the script authoring for me, with a really smooth developer workflow and output maintainable code.

If you’re wondering how this compares with a few other awesome recording tools out there - I’ve put together a breakdown down on the Readme: https://github.com/DeploySentinel/Recorder#alternatives-comp...

I've gotten some really great feedback from early users so far on the extension. Would love to hear any and all feedback from the HN community! :)

Direct Links:

Chrome Ext: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/deploysentinel-rec... Firefox Add-On: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/deploysentine... Github: https://github.com/DeploySentinel/Recorder

itsming · on Feb 16, 2022

how does this compare with the experimental chrome built-in recorder?

mikeshi42 · on Feb 16, 2022

I've tried using the built-in recorder myself a bit while it was in Canary, and here's my take:

- The experimental Chrome recorder is only for Puppeteer, so if you like Playwright, you're out of luck. (imo Playwright's ergonomics are way more refined than Puppeteer has and is the way we'd want to be writing tests in the future)

- The Chrome recorder introduces a _ton!_ of boilerplate code that's really bulky to work around if you want to maintain the tests yourself afterwards. I'm not sure what workflow the creators envisioned when they initially created the test generation system.

- You have to save the code to a file with the built-in recorder, you can't just copy and paste it into your editor, which is frustrating to me, especially if you're trying to record 1 new test into an existing file with a suite of tests.

- It lacks a few events you can create using the DeploySentinel recorder such as hover events, capturing screenshots, awaiting/asserting on text.

I think there's a few pros/cons to different tools out there, I've put together a side-by-side comparison here: https://github.com/DeploySentinel/Recorder#alternatives-comp...

The chrome built-in recorder is finally on Chrome stable recently, I'd say you should try it out, and then try out DeploySentinel recorder.

If you love the Chrome built-in one more, I'd love to hear what you think is missing!