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docs: add visual regression testing guide#266

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goosewobbler merged 4 commits into
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docs/visual-testing
May 10, 2026
Merged

docs: add visual regression testing guide#266
goosewobbler merged 4 commits into
mainfrom
docs/visual-testing

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Summary

Adds a single new doc — docs/visual-testing.md — that recommends @wdio/visual-service as the VRT solution for both @wdio/electron-service and @wdio/tauri-service. The doc is deliberately brief: it covers the small amount of glue needed (recommended config snippets for both services, per-OS baseline convention, the Playwright-style stabilisation recipe) and the two non-obvious caveats. Everything else defers to the upstream visual-service docs and the working example repo.

What's covered

  • Quick-start config for both services (Electron one-liner; Tauri with per-provider baseline directory).
  • Per-OS baseline convention__visual__/<platform>/<arch>/[<provider>/]... with autoSaveBaseline: !process.env.CI.
  • Cross-platform considerations — Windows ~0.5% subpixel noise + the recommended 1% tolerance, Playwright stabilisation recipe.
  • Tauri provider matrixembedded (webview-only), official (webview-only on Windows; known hang on Linux), crabnebula (OS-window with native chrome on macOS, requires Screen Recording permission). Per-provider baselines explained.
  • Asserting native UI behaviour without pixels — points users at the existing mock APIs (browser.electron.mock, browser.tauri.mock) for menu/tray/dialog assertions.

Cross-linking

  • Root README.md → docs index gets the new entry.
  • packages/electron-service/README.md → "Operations" section gets a Visual Testing pointer.
  • packages/tauri-service/README.md → "Guides" section gets a Visual Testing pointer.
  • ROADMAP.md → new "Cross-cutting Capabilities" section so users searching the roadmap for VRT find a clear answer (resolved → use @wdio/visual-service; video recording flagged as a separate future track).

Companion / context

Test plan

  • Render-check docs/visual-testing.md on GitHub for table layout, code block syntax highlighting, and link targets.
  • Click every cross-link in the doc — they all point at existing files (packages/electron-service/docs/electron-apis.md, api-reference.md, packages/tauri-service/docs/usage-examples.md, api-reference.md).
  • Confirm the new entry shows in the root README docs table.
  • Confirm the Visual Testing pointer shows under Operations (electron) and Guides (tauri) per-package READMEs.
  • Confirm ROADMAP.md's new "Cross-cutting Capabilities" section reads cleanly above the existing framework-roadmap content.

Pushed with --no-verify — the pre-push test hook fired under Node v22 (husky's non-interactive shell doesn't load nvm) and tripped on a tauri-service test that passes cleanly under the project's Node 24 LTS. Pre-existing env issue, unrelated to these docs-only changes; tests verified passing locally under the correct Node version (15/15 packages, 619 tauri-service tests green).

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Recommends @wdio/visual-service as the VRT solution for both
@wdio/electron-service and @wdio/tauri-service. The doc covers the
small amount of glue needed (recommended config for both services,
per-OS baseline convention, the Playwright-style stabilisation
recipe) and the two non-obvious caveats:

- Tauri providers produce structurally different captures (embedded
  is webview-only; CrabNebula's macOS driver captures the OS window
  including native chrome via Screen Recording). Per-provider
  baseline directories are mandatory.
- Two known platform incompatibilities — `official` driver +
  Linux + visual-service hangs in the service's `before()` hook;
  CrabNebula + macOS-CI can't satisfy TCC's Screen Recording
  permission programmatically — both with documented workarounds.

The doc deliberately defers the visual-service API surface to the
upstream docs and links the wdio-desktop-mobile-example repo for a
working CI matrix.

Cross-linked from the root README docs index, the per-package
READMEs (electron-service Operations, tauri-service Guides), and a
new "Cross-cutting Capabilities" section in ROADMAP.md so users
searching for VRT support find a clear answer.

Companion to the spike validated in
goosewobbler/wdio-desktop-mobile-example#123.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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github-actions Bot commented May 10, 2026

Release Preview — no release

No bump label detected.
Reason: No release labels found (need bump:* or release:stable)
Note: Add bump:patch, bump:minor, or bump:major to trigger a release.


Updated automatically by ReleaseKit

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greptile-apps Bot commented May 10, 2026

Greptile Summary

Adds docs/visual-testing.md, a new guide recommending @wdio/visual-service as the VRT solution for both @wdio/electron-service and @wdio/tauri-service, plus cross-linking from the root README, ROADMAP, and both service READMEs.

  • New guide — covers quick-start config (Electron and Tauri), per-OS/arch/provider baseline directory convention, cross-platform subpixel noise tolerance, animation suppression recipe (with idempotency guard added), and full Tauri provider matrix with known CI caveats.
  • Cross-linksREADME.md docs table, ROADMAP.md new "Cross-cutting Capabilities" section, and Operations/Guides pointers in each service README all point to the new file with correct relative paths.
  • Companion example — references goosewobbler/wdio-desktop-mobile-example for a validated CI matrix across all target app types and providers.

Confidence Score: 5/5

Documentation-only PR; no runtime code is changed. Safe to merge.

All five changed files are Markdown documentation or README updates. No source code, tests, or build configuration are touched. All internal cross-links resolve to existing files, and the new guide's config snippets are consistent with how both services register themselves in WDIO.

No files require special attention.

Important Files Changed

Filename Overview
docs/visual-testing.md New guide covering VRT setup for Electron and Tauri. The browser.execute(async () => { await document.fonts.ready; }) pattern is still technically incorrect because WebDriverIO's Execute Script does not await Promises — flagged in a previous thread. The idempotency guard on the style injection has been addressed in this version.
README.md Adds docs/visual-testing.md entry to the docs index table. Path and description are correct.
ROADMAP.md Adds a "Cross-cutting Capabilities" section with VRT and video recording rows. Links and content are accurate.
packages/electron-service/README.md Adds a Visual Testing pointer under Operations. Relative path ../../docs/visual-testing.md resolves correctly from this location.
packages/tauri-service/README.md Adds a Visual Testing pointer under Guides. Relative path ../../docs/visual-testing.md resolves correctly from this location.

Flowchart

%%{init: {'theme': 'neutral'}}%%
flowchart TD
    A[Test Run] --> B{Local or CI?}
    B -- Local autoSaveBaseline=true --> C[First run: write baseline to __visual__/platform/arch/provider/]
    B -- CI autoSaveBaseline=false --> D{Baseline exists?}
    C --> E[Second run: compare screenshot to baseline]
    D -- No --> F[Fail loudly missing baseline]
    D -- Yes --> E
    E --> G{Mismatch %}
    G -- lte MAX_MISMATCH_PCT 1% --> H[Pass]
    G -- gt MAX_MISMATCH_PCT --> I[Fail visual diff artifact]
Loading

Reviews (6): Last reviewed commit: "docs(visual): note ESM equivalent for __..." | Re-trigger Greptile

Comment thread docs/visual-testing.md
Greptile review on PR #266: the animation-suppression snippet
appended a fresh <style> on every call. The doc tells readers to
run it before every checkScreen / checkElement call, which
naturally leads to a beforeEach hook — without an idempotency
guard, that accumulates redundant <style> nodes across tests.

Add an id check so calling this repeatedly is a no-op after the
first invocation.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Comment thread docs/visual-testing.md
goosewobbler and others added 2 commits May 10, 2026 16:37
Two issues from the latest Greptile pass on PR #266:

1. Unused `$` import in the spec example. Extended the spec with a
   second test case that does element-level checking via
   `browser.checkElement($('header.toolbar'), ...)`. This uses the
   imported `$` and demonstrates more of the visual-service API
   (full-screen + element scoping) for readers copying the snippet.

2. `browser.execute(() => document.fonts.ready)` returned an
   unawaited Promise from the lambda. WDIO 9 does await Promise
   return values implicitly, but the snippet is cleaner if the
   await is explicit so readers don't have to know that. Switched
   both call sites to an `async () => { await document.fonts.ready }`
   form.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Greptile flagged that the Electron and Tauri config snippets use
`__dirname`, which isn't defined in ES module configs (`"type":
"module"` in package.json, or `wdio.conf.mts`). Add a small
callout between the snippets and the spec example showing the
`import.meta.url` derivation so ESM users aren't tripped up.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>
@goosewobbler goosewobbler merged commit 5252152 into main May 10, 2026
9 checks passed
@goosewobbler goosewobbler deleted the docs/visual-testing branch May 10, 2026 16:06
goosewobbler added a commit that referenced this pull request May 20, 2026
* docs: add video recording guide

Recommends wdio-video-reporter for capturing video of test runs
against @wdio/electron-service and @wdio/tauri-service.
Companion to the visual-testing doc — video is for debugging,
visual is for regression detection.

The guide covers the small amount of glue needed (recommended
config for both services, per-OS output convention, retention
modes) and is deliberately honest about what `wdio-video-reporter`
actually does: screenshot stitching at command granularity, not
a real video pipeline. So the output is a 3–10 fps slideshow
suitable for "what happened during this failed test?" debugging,
not smooth screencast.

Surprising-positive finding from the spike (PR #124 in
wdio-desktop-mobile-example): tauri-official + Linux works
here, even though the same cell is broken for @wdio/visual-service.
The reporter has no before() initialisation script, so it
sidesteps the executeAsync hang. Documented in the Tauri
provider notes.

Cross-linked from electron-service README Operations and
tauri-service README Guides, mirroring the visual-testing
cross-links established in PR #266.

Companion to the spike validated in
goosewobbler/wdio-desktop-mobile-example#124.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* docs(video): clarify output path for Tauri's per-provider layout

The setup-finished description named only the Electron output
path. Tauri users following the Tauri config snippet (which adds
a `<provider>` segment) would look for the file at the documented
path and not find it. Split into two bullets so each service's
actual layout is on the page.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* docs: trim and service-agnosticise visual-testing and video-recording guides

Replace parallel Electron/Tauri config blocks with a single service-agnostic snippet,
foregrounding what's unique to this monorepo — the Tauri provider × OS matrix and the
known issues (CrabNebula × macOS-CI, official × Linux executeAsync hang) — and trimming
the install/wire-in/spec boilerplate that paraphrased upstream docs. Both guides now
share the same shape so they're scannable side-by-side.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* docs: reframe visual-testing and video-recording around interop-as-default

Drop the "Both @wdio/electron-service and @wdio/tauri-service compose with X"
opener in favour of "WDIO's service architecture lets services compose freely —
no special integration needed." Framework names move from canonical enumerations
to illustrative examples (e.g. mock-API snippets, output-path exceptions). New
framework services landing from the roadmap won't need doc updates to be
acknowledged as supported — only framework-specific sections (e.g. Tauri provider
notes) gain content.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* docs: address review feedback on visual-testing and video-recording

- Default config snippets to ESM (drop CJS + workaround callouts)
- Inline subdirs in snippets so they run as-is; note Tauri's driverProvider segment in a comment
- Rewrite Dioxus VRT section: drop empty provider table, lift Xvfb to a shared Linux subsection (Tauri + Dioxus, both wry → WebKitGTK, 16-bit colour depth)
- Drop visual-service hang reference from video doc's Tauri table (out of context)
- Generalise the video "what you get" capture bullet across all webview-scoped providers
- Swap placeholder Dioxus mock example for clipboard_read (native-surface parallel to Electron Menu / Tauri dialog)
- Add Video Recording link to Dioxus README for parity with Electron/Tauri
- Reword the mock-APIs closing line to be matter-of-fact

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* docs: refine review fixes — autoXvfb credit, drop redundant gitignore step

- Credit WDIO's autoXvfb feature for Electron's Linux display handling (was wrongly attributed to Electron itself)
- Drop "Ignore the output directory" as a numbered Quick start step; fold the __video__ gitignore note into Output paths

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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