Browser Bug Testing Workflow

Overview

This skill provides a structured workflow for automated browser testing during UI bug investigation. It combines tmux session management for server processes with Playwright browser automation to create reproducible testing scenarios without manual intervention.

When to Use

Use when:

•Debugging interactive UI components (checkboxes, forms, buttons)
•Testing multi-step user workflows
•Verifying expected behaviors after code changes
•Reproducing browser-specific bugs
•Testing responsive design interactions
•Validating form submissions and dialog behaviors

Especially useful for:

•Auto-mode checkbox testing
•Form validation workflows
•Dynamic content loading
•Modal/dialog interactions
•State-dependent UI elements

Core Workflow Pattern

•Setup Phase: Start server in tmux session
•Navigation Phase: Open browser and navigate to target page
•Interaction Phase: Perform UI interactions (click, type, select)
•Verification Phase: Check expected outcomes and behaviors
•Cleanup Phase: Capture results and clean up sessions

Quick Reference

Step	Action	Example
Start Server	tmux new-session -d -s server "npm run dev"	`tmux new-session -d -s webapp "python -m http.server 8000"`
Navigate	playwright_browser_navigate	`playwright_browser_navigate "http://localhost:8000"`
Interact	playwright_browser_click/type/select	`playwright_browser_click "checkbox" "ref"`
Wait	playwright_browser_wait_for	`playwright_browser_wait_for text="Loading complete"`
Verify	playwright_browser_snapshot	`playwright_browser_snapshot`
Capture	playwright_browser_take_screenshot	`playwright_browser_take_screenshot`

Implementation

Phase 1: Server Setup with Tmux

REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: Use skills:run-long-running-processes-in-tmux

bash

# Start development server in detached tmux session
tmux new-session -d -s webserver "npm run dev"

# Verify server is running
tmux capture-pane -t webserver -S - -p | grep "Server running"

# Wait for server to be ready
sleep 3

Phase 2: Browser Navigation

javascript

// Navigate to the application
await playwright_browser_navigate("http://localhost:3000");

// Wait for page to load
await playwright_browser_wait_for(time: 2);

// Take initial snapshot for baseline
await playwright_browser_snapshot();

Phase 3: UI Interaction Patterns

Checkbox Testing Pattern

javascript

// Find and click checkbox
await playwright_browser_click("auto mode checkbox", "checkbox-ref");

// Verify state change
await playwright_browser_wait_for(text="Auto mode enabled");

// Click action button that depends on checkbox
await playwright_browser_click("start button", "start-ref");

Form Interaction Pattern

javascript

// Fill form fields
await playwright_browser_fill_form({
  fields: [
    { name: "username", type: "textbox", ref: "user-input", value: "testuser" },
    { name: "email", type: "textbox", ref: "email-input", value: "test@example.com" },
    { name: "remember", type: "checkbox", ref: "remember-check", value: true }
  ]
});

// Submit form
await playwright_browser_click("submit button", "submit-ref");

Dropdown Selection Pattern

javascript

// Select dropdown option
await playwright_browser_select_option("country dropdown", "country-ref", ["United States"]);

// Verify selection was applied
await playwright_browser_wait_for(text="United States selected");

Phase 4: Verification and Validation

Content Verification

javascript

// Check for expected text/content
await playwright_browser_wait_for(text="Operation completed successfully");

// Take screenshot for documentation
await playwright_browser_take_screenshot(filename="test-result.png");

// Get current page state
await playwright_browser_snapshot();

Dialog/Modal Testing

javascript

// Trigger dialog
await playwright_browser_click("delete button", "delete-ref");

// Handle confirmation dialog
await playwright_browser_handle_dialog(accept: true);

// Verify dialog result
await playwright_browser_wait_for(textGone="Are you sure?");

Error State Testing

javascript

// Trigger error condition
await playwright_browser_click("invalid action", "invalid-ref");

// Check for error message
await playwright_browser_wait_for(text="Error: Invalid input");

// Capture error state
await playwright_browser_take_screenshot(filename="error-state.png");

Phase 5: Cleanup and Results

bash

# Capture server logs for debugging
tmux capture-pane -t webserver -S - -p > server-logs.txt

# Clean up tmux session
tmux kill-session -t webserver

# Close browser
await playwright_browser_close();

Common Testing Scenarios

Scenario 1: Auto-Mode Checkbox Bug

javascript

// 1. Navigate to page
await playwright_browser_navigate("http://localhost:3000/settings");

// 2. Find auto-mode checkbox
await playwright_browser_snapshot(); // Initial state

// 3. Click checkbox
await playwright_browser_click("auto mode checkbox", "auto-checkbox");

// 4. Click start button
await playwright_browser_click("start button", "start-btn");

// 5. Wait for output
await playwright_browser_wait_for(text="Auto mode started");

// 6. Verify behavior
await playwright_browser_snapshot();

Scenario 2: Form Validation Testing

javascript

// 1. Navigate to form
await playwright_browser_navigate("http://localhost:3000/register");

// 2. Submit empty form
await playwright_browser_click("submit", "submit-btn");

// 3. Check validation errors
await playwright_browser_wait_for(text="Name is required");

// 4. Fill valid data
await playwright_browser_fill_form({
  fields: [
    { name: "name", type: "textbox", ref: "name-input", value: "John Doe" },
    { name: "email", type: "textbox", ref: "email-input", value: "john@example.com" }
  ]
});

// 5. Submit again
await playwright_browser_click("submit", "submit-btn");

// 6. Verify success
await playwright_browser_wait_for(text="Registration successful");

Scenario 3: Dynamic Content Loading

javascript

// 1. Navigate to page
await playwright_browser_navigate("http://localhost:3000/dashboard");

// 2. Trigger data load
await playwright_browser_click("load data", "load-btn");

// 3. Wait for loading indicator
await playwright_browser_wait_for(text="Loading...");

// 4. Wait for content
await playwright_browser_wait_for(textGone="Loading...");

// 5. Verify data loaded
await playwright_browser_wait_for(text="Data loaded successfully");

Integration with Required Skills

Tmux Integration

REQUIRED: Always use tmux for server processes to enable:

•Background server execution
•Log capture for debugging
•Clean session management
•Process isolation between tests

Playwright Tool Integration

This skill leverages these Playwright functions:

•playwright_browser_navigate - Page navigation
•playwright_browser_click - Element interaction
•playwright_browser_type - Text input
•playwright_browser_fill_form - Form completion
•playwright_browser_select_option - Dropdown selection
•playwright_browser_wait_for - Timing synchronization
•playwright_browser_snapshot - State verification
•playwright_browser_take_screenshot - Visual documentation
•playwright_browser_handle_dialog - Dialog management
•playwright_browser_close - Cleanup

Common Mistakes

•Not using tmux for servers: Leads to hanging processes and lost logs
•Missing wait conditions: Race conditions between UI and test actions
•Not capturing baseline snapshots: Hard to verify what changed
•Skipping cleanup: Leaves resources running between tests
•Not handling dialogs: Tests hang waiting for user interaction
•Wrong element references: Use exact refs from snapshots, not descriptions

Best Practices

•Always capture before/after snapshots for state comparison
•Use specific wait conditions instead of arbitrary timeouts
•Capture server logs when tests fail for debugging
•Clean up tmux sessions to prevent resource leaks
•Document test scenarios with screenshots and logs
•Test both positive and negative cases for comprehensive coverage

Screenshot Storage Guidelines

IMPORTANT: All screenshots must be stored in the retrospective's screenshots directory:

code

.sgai/retrospectives/<retrospective-id>/screenshots/

When taking screenshots:

•Get the current retrospective ID from .sgai/state.json (field: retrospectiveSession or from .sgai/PROJECT_MANAGEMENT.md header)
•Create the screenshots directory if it doesn't exist
•Store screenshots with descriptive names

Example:

javascript

// Create screenshots directory in the retrospective folder
await bash("mkdir -p .sgai/retrospectives/2025-01-15-09-30.abc1/screenshots");

// Take screenshot and save to the correct location
await playwright_browser_take_screenshot({
  filename: ".sgai/retrospectives/2025-01-15-09-30.abc1/screenshots/before-fix.png"
});

// After making changes
await playwright_browser_take_screenshot({
  filename: ".sgai/retrospectives/2025-01-15-09-30.abc1/screenshots/after-fix.png"
});

This ensures all visual evidence is properly organized and preserved with the retrospective session for future analysis.

Visual Verification Priority

CRITICAL: Always prefer taking Playwright screenshots over CSS evaluation for visual verification.

When verifying UI appearance:

•FIRST: Take a screenshot with playwright_browser_take_screenshot
•SECOND: Examine the screenshot visually to verify the expected result
•ONLY IF NEEDED: Use CSS evaluation (playwright_browser_evaluate) for specific CSS property checks

Why screenshots are preferred:

•Screenshots capture the ACTUAL rendered appearance, including browser-specific rendering
•CSS evaluation only shows computed values, not visual reality
•Color contrasts, font rendering, element overlap are only visible in screenshots
•Screenshots provide evidence for retrospective analysis
•Human reviewers can verify screenshots but not CSS evaluation results

Anti-pattern (DON'T):

javascript

// Checking CSS properties alone doesn't show visual reality
await playwright_browser_evaluate({
  function: "() => getComputedStyle(document.querySelector('.button')).backgroundColor"
});

Preferred pattern (DO):

javascript

// Take screenshot to verify visual appearance
await playwright_browser_take_screenshot({
  filename: ".sgai/retrospectives/<id>/screenshots/button-styling.png"
});

// Then examine the screenshot to verify colors, spacing, alignment are correct

Button Group Consistency Guidelines

When testing or implementing UI with button groups, ensure all buttons in the same group have consistent sizing and alignment:

Requirements for Button Groups

•Same Width: All buttons in a group should have equal width
•Same Height: All buttons in a group should have equal height
•Internal Text Horizontal Alignment: Text inside buttons should be aligned consistently (centered, left, or right)
•External Text Horizontal Alignment: The buttons themselves should be aligned consistently within their container

Verification Checklist

When testing button groups:

javascript

// Take a screenshot of the button group
await playwright_browser_take_screenshot({
  filename: ".sgai/retrospectives/<id>/screenshots/button-group.png"
});

// Visually verify in the screenshot:
// 1. All buttons have the same width
// 2. All buttons have the same height
// 3. Text inside buttons is consistently aligned
// 4. Buttons are properly aligned as a group

CSS Guidelines for Button Groups

If implementing button groups, ensure:

css

/* All buttons in a group should use consistent sizing */
.button-group button {
  min-width: 100px;           /* Consistent minimum width */
  height: 40px;               /* Consistent height */
  text-align: center;         /* Consistent internal text alignment */
}

/* Use flexbox or grid for external alignment */
.button-group {
  display: flex;
  gap: 0.5rem;
  align-items: center;        /* Vertical alignment */
  justify-content: flex-start; /* Horizontal alignment */
}

Common Issues to Catch

•Buttons with different widths due to varying text length (use min-width)
•Buttons with different heights due to padding inconsistencies
•Text not centered within buttons
•Button group not properly aligned in its container

Real-World Impact

From actual debugging sessions:

•Manual checkbox testing: 5-10 minutes per iteration
•Automated workflow: 30 seconds per test run
•Bug reproduction consistency: 100% vs variable manual testing
•Test coverage expansion: 10x more scenarios tested in same time

Example Complete Workflow

javascript

// Complete auto-mode checkbox test
async function testAutoModeCheckbox() {
  try {
    // Phase 1: Start server (tmux)
    await bash("tmux new-session -d -s testserver 'npm run dev'");
    await bash("sleep 3");

    // Phase 2: Navigate
    await playwright_browser_navigate("http://localhost:3000");
    await playwright_browser_wait_for(time: 2);

    // Phase 3: Baseline
    await playwright_browser_snapshot();

    // Phase 4: Interact
    await playwright_browser_click("auto mode checkbox", "auto-checkbox");
    await playwright_browser_click("start button", "start-btn");

    // Phase 5: Verify
    await playwright_browser_wait_for(text="Auto mode activated");
    await playwright_browser_snapshot();
    await playwright_browser_take_screenshot("auto-mode-result.png");

    // Phase 6: Cleanup
    await bash("tmux capture-pane -t testserver -S - -p > test.log");
    await bash("tmux kill-session -t testserver");
    await playwright_browser_close();

    console.log("Test completed successfully");
  } catch (error) {
    console.error("Test failed:", error);
    // Capture debug info
    await bash("tmux capture-pane -t testserver -S - -p > error.log");
    await playwright_browser_take_screenshot("error-state.png");
  }
}

This workflow transforms manual UI debugging into automated, reproducible test scenarios that can be run repeatedly during development.