Browser Testing

Browser Testing Skill

Automated browser testing and debugging skill using Browser DevTools MCP.

Page structure: To understand what is on a page, use ARIA snapshot first (a11y_take-aria-snapshot or a11y_take-ax-tree-snapshot), not screenshot. Use screenshot only when you need to verify how something looks visually (e.g. design check, visual bug).

When to Use

This skill activates when:

• User asks to test a web page or application
• User wants to debug frontend issues
• User needs to verify UI behavior
• User asks about page performance or accessibility
• User wants to automate browser interactions

Capabilities

Ref-Based Workflow (Recommended)

1. ARIA snapshot first (a11y_take-aria-snapshot) — Returns refs (e1, e2, …) and a refs map. Options: interactiveOnly, cursorInteractive (for div/span buttons), selector (scope).
2. Use refs in interactions — Click, fill, hover, etc. accept CSS selector or ref (e.g. e1, @e1). Refs valid until next snapshot or navigation.
3. Annotated screenshot — content_take-screenshot with annotate: true overlays labels [1],[2],… mapping to e1,e2,…

Navigation & Interaction

• Navigate to URLs (navigation_go-to) — returns ARIA snapshot and refs by default; use response refs for interactions without calling a11y_take-aria-snapshot again
• Same for navigation_go-back-or-forward and navigation_reload (includeSnapshot: true)
• Click, fill, hover — selector or ref (e.g. e1, #submit)
• Press keys (interaction_press-key), scroll (interaction_scroll), drag (interaction_drag)

Content Capture

• Screenshots (content_take-screenshot) — optional annotate, annotateContent, cursorInteractive
• HTML/text content, PDF

Debugging & Observability

• Get console messages (o11y_get-console-messages)
• Monitor HTTP requests (o11y_get-http-requests)
• Get Web Vitals (o11y_get-web-vitals)
• OpenTelemetry tracing (o11y_get-trace-id, o11y_set-trace-id)

Accessibility

• ARIA snapshot (a11y_take-aria-snapshot) — returns refs; options: interactiveOnly, cursorInteractive, selector
• AX tree (a11y_take-ax-tree-snapshot) — bounding box, occlusion, styles

Mocking & Stubbing

• Intercept HTTP requests (stub_intercept-http-request)
• Mock HTTP responses (stub_mock-http-response)
• List stubs (stub_list)
• Clear stubs (stub_clear)

React DevTools

• Get React component for element (react_get-component-for-element)
• Get element for React component (react_get-element-for-component)

Code Execution

• Run JavaScript in browser: use execute with page.evaluate() (e.g. return await page.evaluate(() => document.title)). See commands/browser/execute.md for callTool and page.
• Run JavaScript in server VM: use execute (no page; use built-ins and callTool). On Node platform, execute runs in the session VM (callTool only).

Batch Execution (advanced)

• execute — Run custom JavaScript that can call multiple tools in one request via await callTool(name, input, returnOutput?). Use to batch click/fill/select/navigation and reduce round-trips. Code runs in async IIFE (no wrapper); browser platform exposes page (Playwright). Prefer when you have a fixed sequence of steps; use individual tools when you need to inspect results between steps. Also supported: browser-devtools-mcp CLI subcommand run execute, and daemon HTTP API (POST /call with toolName: "execute").

Best Practices

1. ARIA snapshot first — Do not use screenshot to understand page structure. After navigation, use the refs returned by go-to/go-back-or-forward/reload; otherwise call a11y_take-aria-snapshot, then use refs (e1, e2) in interactions or take annotated screenshots.
2. Wait for network idle after navigation before interacting
3. Use refs for interactions — Refs from ARIA snapshot are stable; prefer refs over CSS selectors when available
4. Annotated screenshots — Use annotate: true when you need visual labels that match refs for vision-driven actions
5. Re-snapshot after navigation — Refs are invalid after navigation or major DOM changes