Use the Recorder
Record a browser journey and turn the captured steps into reviewable Gherkin in TestVibe.
The recorder helps you capture a real browser journey and convert it into Gherkin you can review before saving.
Use it when describing a flow from memory would be slower than performing the flow once.
When To Use The Recorder
The recorder is useful for:
A flow has many clicks or fields
Recording captures the journey while you perform it.
The UI labels are hard to remember
The recorded flow can help produce more concrete steps.
You are documenting an existing workflow
You can walk through the product and review the output.
You want a first draft
The generated Gherkin can be edited before saving.
Do not treat recorder output as final without review. It is a starting point.
Start Recording
Open the Test Suite.
Select or create the feature you want to author.
Open the feature editor.
Choose Record.
Install the TestVibe Recorder extension if prompted.
In the recorder window, pick which environment to record against (if the project has more than one configured) and click Begin recording.
Interact with the target site — click, type, and navigate as a user would. Each action streams live into the drawer's timeline back in TestVibe.
Choose Finish in TestVibe to turn the steps into a reviewable Gherkin scenario.
TestVibe updates the timeline live while recorder events are received. Full-page and cross-origin navigation during recording is captured, not lost — the navigation itself becomes a step, and recording keeps going after the page changes.
If a recording finishes with no actionable steps (only scrolling or navigating, no clicks or typed input), TestVibe says so honestly and offers Discard or Record again — it never presents an empty result as something to save.
Review The Output
Before saving, check that the Gherkin:
Feature name
It should describe the user journey, not the recording session.
Scenario focus
It should cover one behavior, not every action you tried.
Step wording
Steps should be readable and user-facing.
Assertions
The scenario should include clear Then outcomes.
Sensitive data
Passwords, tokens, and private values should not be saved in plain text.
Edit the preview before saving when the wording needs cleanup.
Save the recording
When you finish, the drawer offers three ways to keep the recording:
Save Gherkin only
Saves the reviewed Gherkin as the feature; generate Playwright code separately.
Use code as-is
Turns the recorded steps straight into a runnable spec — no AI generation, no replay.
Verify
Replays each recorded step against the live site and swaps any flaky selector for the most stable one that resolves, then lets you Run to verify.
While Verify is running, each step's chip updates in place with its selector outcome:
selector OK
The recorded selector resolved as-is — nothing needed to change.
AI updated
AI picked a better selector for this step.
updated
The step's selector was swapped for a more stable match.
needs review
The step's selector didn't resolve; review it before relying on the test.
These are per-step selector outcomes, not a per-step "verified" claim — verification itself is a whole-recording result, reported once the replay finishes (for example "Verified against your site — passing").
Closing the drawer while Verify is running
The drawer is never a cage: closing it (the X, clicking outside, or Esc) while Verify is in flight does not lose your work or cancel the check. TestVibe immediately saves the recorded steps and Gherkin as-is and closes the drawer; the verification keeps running in the background, and if it finds a better selector, the saved feature is updated automatically — you'll see the result next time you open it. The same escape is available as an explicit button: Use steps without verifying.
Recording Tips
Start from a stable page.
Use a test account, not a personal account.
Pause and plan the journey before clicking.
Avoid exploratory clicks that do not belong in the final test.
Add or improve final assertions after recording.
Remove any accidental sensitive text before saving.
Save And Generate
After reviewing the recorded Gherkin:
Save the feature.
Generate Playwright code.
Run the test.
Use results to refine the feature.
If the generated test does too much, split the recorded journey into smaller scenarios.
Related Pages
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