Record browser tests — video, steps, HAR & console

When your test drives a real browser, a pass/fail number does not tell you enough. You need to see what the browser did. For every browser load test, MaxoPerf records four things per browser instance and shows them together on the run-detail Video tab:

• Video: a recording of the browser, without the “controlled by automated test software” infobar.
• Steps: the ordered actions the test took (navigate, find element, click, type, …). Each step has a timestamp and is synced to the video.
• HAR: the full network waterfall (requests, responses, status, size, timing).
• Console: the browser console output (logs, warnings, errors).

Tip

Recording is automatic for browser tests. You do not edit your test script, add logging, or configure a proxy. MaxoPerf instruments the browser on the runner for you.

Create a browser test.

What counts as a browser test

A browser test is any test whose executor drives a real browser through Selenium WebDriver. That includes a Taurus YAML scenario with requests:/actions: and your own Python Selenium script (webdriver.Chrome(...)). Capture is on by default. Non-browser (API/protocol) tests are not affected and carry zero overhead.

Today: Chrome/Chromium gets full fidelity (video, steps, HAR, console). Firefox and the other browser engines are on the roadmap. See Coverage.

View it on a run

1. Open the run, then the Video tab.

2. If the run used more than one browser instance (several virtual users, or a test that relaunches the browser on each iteration), pick one from the browser selector. Each instance has its own steps, HAR, and console.

3. Watch the step timeline. MaxoPerf highlights the step that was running at the current video time. Click any step to move the video to that moment. For example, click “type into #password” to watch the form being filled.

   

   Run detail Video tab. The step timeline follows the recording; click a step to move the video to that moment.

4. Open the HAR view for the network waterfall. You can filter by type or status, inspect request and response headers, timing, and sizes, or download the raw HAR.

5. Open the Console view for the browser’s logs. You can filter by level (error/warning/info/log/debug), search the text, or download it as text/JSON.

Recording layout (tiled vs solo)

When a browser test runs several browsers on one runner, you choose the video layout when you create the run. The account has a default:

• Tiled (default): all browsers in one video, in a grid.
• Solo: one browser fills the whole recording.

Clean video, no script edits

MaxoPerf hides the Chrome “automated test software” infobar. It also forces the browser into headful mode so it renders into the recording. Neither change touches your test. Your script can still request headless, and MaxoPerf still captures it.

Coverage

Capability	Chrome / Chromium	Firefox
Video	✅	✅
Steps (navigate/click/type/…)	✅	✅
Network HAR	✅	Roadmap (WebDriver BiDi)
Console logs	✅	Roadmap (WebDriver BiDi)

Note

Steps and video work in any browser. Full network and console capture uses Chrome’s DevTools today. The Firefox equivalents (through WebDriver BiDi) are in progress. Playwright tests use Playwright’s own tracing and reporter.

Troubleshooting

• Only video, no steps, HAR or console: the run probably used a non-browser executor, or a browser engine that is still on the roadmap. Check that the test uses Selenium + Chrome.
• Fewer browser rows than virtual users: a test that calls driver.quit() on each iteration produces one browser instance per iteration. That is expected. MaxoPerf also caps capture per runner to keep the overhead low.
• A step jump lands slightly off: jumps are accurate to within one video segment boundary.