generating-browser-tests

Generating k6 Browser Tests

Generate browser-based E2E performance tests using the k6/browser module. Tests real browser interactions with Chromium, measures Web Vitals, and supports hybrid protocol+browser testing.

Quick Start

import { browser } from 'k6/browser';
import { check } from 'k6';

export const options = {
  scenarios: {
    ui: {
      executor: 'shared-iterations',
      iterations: 5,
      vus: 1,
      options: {
        browser: {
          type: 'chromium',
        },
      },
    },
  },
  thresholds: {
    browser_web_vital_lcp: ['p(90)<2500'],
    browser_web_vital_fcp: ['p(90)<1800'],
    browser_web_vital_cls: ['p(95)<0.1'],
  },
};

export default async function () {
  const page = await browser.newPage();

  try {
    await page.goto('https://example.com');
    await page.waitForLoadState('networkidle');

    const title = await page.title();
    check(null, { 'page title loaded': () => title !== '' });

    await page.screenshot({ path: 'screenshot.png' });
  } finally {
    await page.close(); // Always close pages
  }
}

Key Concepts

• All browser functions are async — use await and async function
• Always close pages — use try/finally to ensure page.close() is called
• Browser type — only 'chromium' is supported
• Browser scenario — requires options.browser.type in scenario config
• Avoid networkidle — waitForLoadState('networkidle') may never fire on chatty pages; prefer 'load' or locator.waitFor() when possible
• Resource intensive — browser VUs consume more resources; start with few VUs

Element Selection

Locator API (Recommended)

// CSS selector
const btn = page.locator('button.submit');

// Semantic selectors (preferred for resilience)
const submitBtn = page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Submit' });
const email = page.getByLabel('Email');
const search = page.getByPlaceholder('Search...');
const heading = page.getByText('Welcome');
const card = page.getByTestId('user-card');

Common Interactions

// Click
await page.locator('button').click();

// Fill text input
await page.getByLabel('Username').fill('testuser');

// Select dropdown option
await page.locator('select#country').selectOption('US');

// Checkbox
await page.getByRole('checkbox', { name: 'Terms' }).check();

// Type character by character (with key events)
await page.locator('#search').type('search query', { delay: 50 });

// Press key
await page.locator('#search').press('Enter');

// Hover
await page.locator('.menu-item').hover();

Query Element State

const isVisible = await page.locator('.modal').isVisible();
const isEnabled = await page.locator('button').isEnabled();
const text = await page.locator('.message').textContent();
const value = await page.locator('input').inputValue();
const count = await page.locator('li.item').count();

Web Vitals

k6/browser automatically collects Core Web Vitals:

Metric	Name	Good Threshold
browser_web_vital_lcp	Largest Contentful Paint	< 2500ms
browser_web_vital_fcp	First Contentful Paint	< 1800ms
browser_web_vital_cls	Cumulative Layout Shift	< 0.1
browser_web_vital_inp	Interaction to Next Paint	< 200ms
browser_web_vital_ttfb	Time to First Byte	< 600ms

export const options = {
  thresholds: {
    'browser_web_vital_lcp': ['p(90)<2500'],
    'browser_web_vital_fcp': ['p(90)<1800'],
    'browser_web_vital_cls': ['p(95)<0.1'],
    'browser_web_vital_inp': ['p(90)<200'],
  },
};

Common Test Patterns

Login Flow

export default async function () {
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  try {
    await page.goto('https://app.example.com/login');

    await page.getByLabel('Email').fill('test@example.com');
    await page.getByLabel('Password').fill('password123');
    await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Sign in' }).click();

    await page.waitForNavigation();

    check(null, {
      'redirected to dashboard': () => page.url().includes('/dashboard'),
    });
  } finally {
    await page.close();
  }
}

Form Submission

export default async function () {
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  try {
    await page.goto('https://app.example.com/contact');

    await page.getByLabel('Name').fill('Load Test User');
    await page.getByLabel('Email').fill('test@example.com');
    await page.getByLabel('Message').fill('Performance test submission');
    await page.locator('select#department').selectOption('support');
    await page.getByRole('checkbox', { name: 'Subscribe' }).check();

    await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Submit' }).click();
    await page.waitForLoadState('networkidle');

    const confirmation = await page.locator('.success-message').textContent();
    check(null, {
      'form submitted': () => confirmation.includes('Thank you'),
    });
  } finally {
    await page.close();
  }
}

Page Navigation with Screenshots

export default async function () {
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  try {
    await page.goto('https://app.example.com');
    await page.screenshot({ path: 'home.png', fullPage: true });

    await page.locator('a[href="/products"]').click();
    await page.waitForNavigation();
    await page.screenshot({ path: 'products.png' });

    await page.locator('.product-card').first().click();
    await page.waitForLoadState('networkidle');
    await page.screenshot({ path: 'product-detail.png' });
  } finally {
    await page.close();
  }
}

Hybrid Testing (Browser + Protocol)

Combine browser tests with protocol-level load tests:

import { browser } from 'k6/browser';
import http from 'k6/http';
import { check } from 'k6';

export const options = {
  scenarios: {
    // High-volume API load
    api_load: {
      exec: 'apiTest',
      executor: 'constant-arrival-rate',
      rate: 100,
      timeUnit: '1s',
      duration: '5m',
      preAllocatedVUs: 50,
    },
    // Low-volume browser tests (resource intensive)
    browser_test: {
      exec: 'browserTest',
      executor: 'constant-vus',
      vus: 2,
      duration: '5m',
      options: { browser: { type: 'chromium' } },
    },
  },
};

export function apiTest() {
  const res = http.get('https://api.example.com/products');
  check(res, { 'API 200': (r) => r.status === 200 });
}

export async function browserTest() {
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  try {
    await page.goto('https://app.example.com');
    // Browser interactions...
  } finally {
    await page.close();
  }
}

Advanced Features

For detailed API reference including BrowserContext, Keyboard, Mouse, Touchscreen, and advanced patterns:

See reference/browser-api.md — Complete Page, Locator, BrowserContext API with all methods and parameters

See reference/web-vitals.md — Web Vitals metrics explanation, threshold guidance, and custom performance measurement

Related Skills

• For protocol-level load tests (HTTP, gRPC, WebSocket): /k6:generating-api-load-tests
• For scenario and executor configuration: /k6:designing-test-scenarios
• For interpreting test results: /k6:analyzing-test-results