frequently asked questions

Which browser does Taiko support? #

Taiko can be used to automate the latest versions of

• Chrome/Chromium
• Microsoft Edge
• Opera (unverified)
• Firefox (experimental)

The following browsers are NOT supported

• Safari

Can I use Taiko to test mobile applications? #

No. Taiko can only test web applications using chromium/chrome based browsers. If you are looking to test chrome browser on android you can try the Taiko android plugin.

Can I write Taiko tests in a language other than Javascript? #

Taiko is a Node.js library and Taiko tests can only be written Javascript or languages that compile to Javascript for example Typescript.

Can I skip downloading Taiko's bundled chromium browser while installing or running Taiko? #

To skip downloading chromium you can set the TAIKO_SKIP_CHROMIUM_DOWNLOAD environment variable for example

TAIKO_SKIP_CHROMIUM_DOWNLOAD=true npm install -g taiko

or set the following property in .npmrc file

taiko_skip_chromium_download=true

I have a few issues launching the browser instance in Linux #

Taiko bundles the latest Chromium browser binary. Linux distributions used in docker may need installation of chromium dependencies for it to launch and work. If you have trouble launching the browser instance use the ldd command on Taiko's chromium download in the node_modules folder to list missing dependencies for example

ldd node_modules/taiko/.local-chromium/linux-xxxxxx/chrome-linux/chrome | grep 'not found'
libX11-xcb.so.1 => not found
libXtst.so.6 => not found
libnss3.so => not found
libnssutil3.so => not found
libsmime3.so => not found
libnspr4.so => not found
libXss.so.1 => not found
libasound.so.2 => not found
libatk-bridge-2.0.so.0 => not found
libatspi.so.0 => not found
libgtk-3.so.0 => not found
libgdk-3.so.0 => not found

Make sure you install these missing dependencies using linux distributions package manager like apt

How do I run Taiko on a Raspberry PI (Raspbian)? #

Taiko's bundled chromium instance is not built for arm platforms like the Raspberry PI. For raspbian please install the package chromium-browser and skip Taiko's browser download

apt install chromium-browser
TAIKO_SKIP_CHROMIUM_DOWNLOAD=true npm install -g taiko
`TAIKO_BROWSER_PATH=$(which chromium-browser)` taiko

How do I launch chrome in sandbox mode on headless environments? #

If you have issues running taiko in headless mode in dockerized or virtualized linux environments. You might need to configure a sandbox using one of the following ways

• Enable user namespace cloning:

  sudo sysctl -w kernel.unprivileged_userns_clone=1
  

• Or using a setuid sandbox

To disable sandboxing launch chromium with below arguments:

await openBrowser({args: ['--no-sandbox', '--disable-setuid-sandbox']}); 

Disabling sandbox is not recommended unless you trust the content being loaded.

How do I intercept request with method options? #

To ensure CORS security browser sends requests with method OPTIONS for cross-orgin resource access and currently there is no way to intercept such requests

As a workaround security can be disabled like below,

await openBrowser({ args: ["--disable-web-security"] });

How can I optimize chrome instances for parallel runs? #

To improve load time when running tests in parallel on cloud, following chromium command line args are recommended

await openBrowser({args: [
                    '--disable-gpu',
                    '--disable-dev-shm-usage',
                    '--disable-setuid-sandbox',
                    '--no-first-run',
                    '--no-sandbox',
                    '--no-zygote']}); 

How do I enable debug log events? #

Run with below env to enable debug logs

env DEBUG="taiko:*" taiko code.js

How can I customize Taiko's wait events? #

By default, Taiko waits for any network requests triggered as part of an action, frame load, frame navigation and new target navigation. Navigation actions like goto, reload wait for loadEventFired.

There can be scenarios where Taiko might miss an action that takes time to trigger events. Below are few where waiting for appropriate events will improve performance and reduce flakiness in tests.

• firstMeaningfulPaint - Wait for this event if an action can trigger a page load which has heavy image or fonts to loaded.
• targetNavigated - Wait for this event if there is a new tab/window open or close that happens because of an action.
• loadEventFired - Wait for this event if an action triggers a page load which is not instantaneous.

For example

await click(link('open new tab'),{waitForEvents:['targetNavigated']})