mtw-e2e-runner

E2E Runner lets you test your web app without writing test code. Tests are plain JSON — and you don't even have to write that yourself: just ask Claude Code.

🎬 Write a test by asking — then watch it run

With the built-in MCP server, creating a test is a conversation — no docs, no syntax to memorize:

You: Create an E2E test for the login flow and run it.

Claude Code: writes the test, runs it in a real browser, and reports back — ✅ login-flow passed in 2.3s · screenshot saved · no network errors.

Behind the scenes Claude just wrote and ran this. A test is just JSON — an ordered list of what a user does:

[
  { "name": "login-flow", "actions": [
    { "type": "goto", "value": "/login" },
    { "type": "type", "selector": "#email", "value": "user@test.com" },
    { "type": "type", "selector": "#password", "value": "secret" },
    { "type": "click", "text": "Sign In" },
    { "type": "assert_text", "text": "Welcome back" },
    { "type": "screenshot", "value": "logged-in.png" }
  ]}
]

No imports, no describe/it, no build step. If you can read it you can write it — or just ask.

Connect it to Claude Code (2 commands):

claude plugin marketplace add fastslack/mtw-e2e-runner
claude plugin install e2e-runner@matware

Now say "create a test for X and run it" — Claude gets 17 MCP tools, slash commands, and specialized agents.

Using a different agent (Cursor, Codex, Copilot, 40+ more)? Install the skill: npx skills add fastslack/mtw-e2e-runner

Related MCP server: Limetest MCP Server

📖 Contents

🚀 Install — it's tiny

npm install --save-dev @matware/e2e-runner
npx e2e-runner init        # scaffolds e2e/ with a sample test + config

Then pick how to run the browser. You don't need Docker unless you want the parallel pool:

Option 1 · Use the Chrome you already have — no Docker ⭐

Launch any Chromium browser with a debugging port, then point the runner at it:

google-chrome --headless=new --remote-debugging-port=9222 &   # or brave / chromium / msedge
CHROME_POOL_URL=http://localhost:9222 POOL_DRIVER=cdp npx e2e-runner run --all

Or bake it into e2e.config.js so you never repeat it:

export default {
  baseUrl: 'http://localhost:3000',     // your app — plain localhost, no docker hostname
  poolUrls: ['http://localhost:9222'],
  poolDriver: 'cdp',
};

Nothing to install beyond npm, and baseUrl is just localhost (the browser is on your machine).

Option 2 · Obscura — one tiny binary, no Docker

A single ~30 MB binary with built-in anti-detection. Install once, run it, point the runner at it:

obscura serve --port 9222 --stealth &
CHROME_POOL_URL=http://localhost:9222 POOL_DRIVER=obscura npx e2e-runner run --all

npx e2e-runner pool start (with poolDriver: 'obscura' in your config) prints the exact install command for your OS.

Option 3 · Docker pool — parallel, for CI & big suites

A shared, queue-managed Chrome pool that runs many tests at once:

npx e2e-runner run --all     # the first run auto-starts the Docker pool for you

Requires Docker. Set baseUrl: 'http://host.docker.internal:3000' so the containerized Chrome can reach your app.

With the Docker pool, Chrome runs inside a container, so localhost there means the container — not your machine. host.docker.internal bridges to your host. On Linux (Docker Engine, not Docker Desktop) add --add-host=host.docker.internal:host-gateway, or use your LAN IP. Options 1 & 2 don't have this — the browser is local, so plain localhost just works.

Write your first test

Open e2e/tests/sample.json — a flow is an ordered list of actions:

[
  { "name": "homepage loads", "actions": [
    { "type": "goto", "value": "/" },
    { "type": "assert_text", "text": "Welcome" },
    { "type": "screenshot", "value": "home.png" }
  ]}
]

Run it with npx e2e-runner run --all. Results — pass/fail, timing, screenshots, network errors — print to your terminal and to the web dashboard if it's open.

cp node_modules/@matware/e2e-runner/opencode.json ./
mkdir -p .opencode && cp -r node_modules/@matware/e2e-runner/.opencode/* .opencode/

See OPENCODE.md for details.

Updating

Each install method updates separately — bump the one(s) you use:

# npm dependency (per project)
npm install --save-dev @matware/e2e-runner@latest

# Claude Code plugin
claude plugin update e2e-runner@matware

# MCP-only install (npx caches the package — pin @latest to force a refresh)
claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope user e2e-runner \
  -- npx -y -p @matware/e2e-runner@latest e2e-runner-mcp

✨ What you get

🧪 Zero-code tests — JSON files that anyone on your team can read and write. No JavaScript, no compilation, no framework lock-in.

🤖 AI-powered testing — Claude Code creates, executes, and debugs tests natively through 17 MCP tools. Ask it to "test the checkout flow" and it builds the JSON, runs it, and reports back.

🐛 Issue-to-Test pipeline — Paste a GitHub or GitLab issue URL. The runner fetches it, generates E2E tests, runs them, and tells you: bug confirmed or not reproducible.

👁️ Visual verification — Describe what the page should look like in plain English. The AI captures a screenshot and judges pass/fail against your description. No pixel-diffing setup needed.

🧠 Learning system — Tracks test stability across runs. Detects flaky tests, unstable selectors, slow APIs, and error patterns — then surfaces actionable insights.

⚡ Parallel execution — Run N tests simultaneously against a shared browser pool (browserless, raw CDP, Lightpanda, Obscura, or Steel). Serial mode available for tests that share state.

🎯 Pluggable browser drivers — Pick the engine that fits each test: real Chrome via browserless, Lightpanda or Obscura for fast lightweight runs, Steel for managed sessions. Set driver per test or override the whole run with --driver.

📊 Real-time dashboard — Live execution view, run history with pass-rate charts, screenshot gallery with hash-based search, expandable network request logs.

🔁 Smart retries — Test-level and action-level retries with configurable delays. Flaky tests are detected and flagged automatically.

📦 Reusable modules — Extract common flows (login, navigation, setup) into parameterized modules and reference them with $use.

🏗️ CI-ready — JUnit XML output, exit code 1 on failure, auto-captured error screenshots. Drop-in GitHub Actions example included.

🌐 Multi-project — One dashboard aggregates test results from all your projects. One Chrome pool serves them all.

🐳 Portable — Chrome runs in Docker, tests are JSON files in your repo. Works on any machine with Node.js and Docker.

✍️ Writing tests

Everything about authoring tests — the file format, the full action vocabulary, retries, state isolation, and reuse. Expand what you need:

Each .json file in e2e/tests/ contains an array of tests. Each test has a name and sequential actions:

[
  {
    "name": "homepage-loads",
    "actions": [
      { "type": "goto", "value": "/" },
      { "type": "assert_visible", "selector": "body" },
      { "type": "assert_url", "value": "/" },
      { "type": "screenshot", "value": "homepage.png" }
    ]
  }
]

Suite files can have numeric prefixes for ordering (01-auth.json, 02-dashboard.json). The --suite flag matches with or without the prefix, so --suite auth finds 01-auth.json.

Click by text — when click uses text instead of selector, it searches across common interactive and content elements:

button, a, [role="button"], [role="tab"], [role="menuitem"], [role="option"],
[role="listitem"], div[class*="cursor"], span, li, td, th, label, p, h1-h6

{ "type": "click", "text": "Sign In" }

These actions handle common patterns in React/MUI apps that normally require verbose evaluate boilerplate:

// Before: 5 lines of evaluate boilerplate
{ "type": "evaluate", "value": "const input = document.querySelector('#search'); const nativeSet = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(window.HTMLInputElement.prototype, 'value').set; nativeSet.call(input, 'term'); input.dispatchEvent(new Event('input', {bubbles: true})); input.dispatchEvent(new Event('change', {bubbles: true}));" }

// After: 1 action
{ "type": "type_react", "selector": "#search", "value": "term" }

All subsequent actions run in the active tab:

{ "type": "click", "text": "Open report" }
{ "type": "wait_for_tab", "text": "report" }
{ "type": "assert_text", "text": "Quarterly results" }
{ "type": "close_tab" }

Test-level retry — retry an entire test on failure. Set globally via config or per-test:

{ "name": "flaky-test", "retries": 3, "timeout": 15000, "actions": [...] }

Tests that pass after retry are flagged as flaky in the report and learning system.

Action-level retry — retry a single action without rerunning the entire test. Useful for timing-sensitive clicks and waits:

{ "type": "click", "selector": "#dynamic-btn", "retries": 3 }
{ "type": "wait", "selector": ".lazy-loaded", "retries": 2 }

Set globally: actionRetries in config, --action-retries <n> CLI, or ACTION_RETRIES env var. Delay between retries: actionRetryDelay (default 500ms).

Tests that share state (e.g., two tests modifying the same record) can race when running in parallel. Mark them as serial:

{ "name": "create-patient", "serial": true, "actions": [...] }
{ "name": "verify-patient-list", "serial": true, "actions": [...] }

Serial tests run one at a time after all parallel tests finish — preventing interference without slowing down independent tests.

The simplest approach — log in via the UI like a real user:

{
  "hooks": {
    "beforeEach": [
      { "type": "goto", "value": "/login" },
      { "type": "type", "selector": "#email", "value": "test@example.com" },
      { "type": "type", "selector": "#password", "value": "test-password" },
      { "type": "click", "text": "Sign In" },
      { "type": "wait", "selector": ".dashboard" }
    ]
  },
  "tests": [...]
}

For SPAs with JWT, skip the login form by injecting the token directly:

{ "type": "set_storage", "value": "accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIs..." }

Or set it globally in config:

// e2e.config.js
export default {
  authToken: 'eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIs...',
  authStorageKey: 'accessToken',
};

Each test runs in a fresh browser context, so auth state is automatically clean between tests.

More strategies: Cookie-based auth, HTTP header injection, OAuth/SSO bypasses, reusable auth modules, and role-based testing — see docs/authentication.md

Extract common flows into parameterized modules:

// e2e/modules/login.json
{
  "$module": "login",
  "description": "Log in via the UI login form",
  "params": {
    "email": { "required": true, "description": "User email" },
    "password": { "required": true, "description": "User password" }
  },
  "actions": [
    { "type": "goto", "value": "/login" },
    { "type": "type", "selector": "#email", "value": "{{email}}" },
    { "type": "type", "selector": "#password", "value": "{{password}}" },
    { "type": "click", "text": "Sign In" },
    { "type": "wait", "value": "2000" }
  ]
}

Use in tests:

{
  "name": "dashboard-loads",
  "actions": [
    { "$use": "login", "params": { "email": "user@test.com", "password": "secret" } },
    { "type": "assert_text", "text": "Dashboard" }
  ]
}

Modules support parameter validation (required params fail fast), conditional blocks ({{#param}}...{{/param}}), nested composition, and cycle detection.

Run actions at lifecycle points. Define globally in config or per-suite:

{
  "hooks": {
    "beforeAll": [{ "type": "goto", "value": "/setup" }],
    "beforeEach": [{ "type": "goto", "value": "/" }],
    "afterEach": [{ "type": "screenshot", "value": "after.png" }],
    "afterAll": []
  },
  "tests": [...]
}

Important: beforeAll runs on a separate browser page that is closed before tests start. Use beforeEach for state that tests need (cookies, localStorage, auth tokens).

Skip exploratory or draft tests from --all runs:

// e2e.config.js
export default {
  exclude: ['explore-*', 'debug-*', 'draft-*'],
};

Individual suite runs (--suite) are not affected by exclude patterns.

🤖 AI integration

The whole point: your agent writes, runs, and verifies tests for you.

claude plugin marketplace add fastslack/mtw-e2e-runner
claude plugin install e2e-runner@matware

This gives Claude 17 MCP tools, a workflow skill, 4 slash commands (/e2e-runner:run, /e2e-runner:create-test, /e2e-runner:verify-issue, /e2e-runner:capture), and 3 specialized agents (test-analyzer, test-creator, test-improver).

MCP-only install (tools only, no skill/commands/agents):

claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope user e2e-runner \
  -- npx -y -p @matware/e2e-runner e2e-runner-mcp

cp node_modules/@matware/e2e-runner/opencode.json ./
mkdir -p .opencode && cp -r node_modules/@matware/e2e-runner/.opencode/* .opencode/

See OPENCODE.md for details.

Pool start/stop are CLI-only — not exposed via MCP.

Describe what the page should look like — AI judges pass/fail from screenshots:

{
  "name": "dashboard-loads",
  "expect": "Patient list with at least 3 rows, no error messages, sidebar with navigation links",
  "actions": [
    { "type": "goto", "value": "/dashboard" },
    { "type": "wait", "selector": ".patient-list" }
  ]
}

After test actions complete, the runner auto-captures a verification screenshot. The MCP response includes the screenshot hash — Claude Code retrieves it and visually verifies against your expect description. No API key required.

Turn GitHub and GitLab issues into executable E2E tests. Paste an issue URL and get runnable tests — automatically.

How it works:

1. Fetch — Pulls issue details (title, body, labels) via gh or glab CLI

2. Generate — AI creates JSON test actions based on the issue description

3. Run — Optionally executes the tests immediately to verify if a bug is reproducible

# Fetch and display
e2e-runner issue https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/42

# Generate a test file via Claude API
e2e-runner issue https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/42 --generate

# Generate + run + report
e2e-runner issue https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/42 --verify
# -> "BUG CONFIRMED" or "NOT REPRODUCIBLE"

In Claude Code, just ask:

"Fetch issue #42 and create E2E tests for it"

Bug verification logic: Generated tests assert the correct behavior. Test failure = bug confirmed. All tests pass = not reproducible.

Auth: GitHub requires gh CLI, GitLab requires glab CLI. Self-hosted GitLab is supported.

📊 Dashboard & insights

e2e-runner dashboard                  # Start on default port 8484
e2e-runner dashboard --port 9090      # Custom port

Live execution — monitor tests in real-time with step-by-step progress, durations, and active worker count.

Test suites — browse all suites across projects. Run a single suite or all tests with one click.

Run history — track pass-rate trends with the built-in chart. Click any row to expand full detail.

Run detail — PASS/FAIL badges, screenshot thumbnails with copyable hashes (ss:77c28b5a), formatted console errors, and network request logs.

Screenshot gallery — browse all captured screenshots with hash search (action, error, and verification captures).

Pool status — Chrome pool health: available slots, running sessions, memory pressure.

The runner learns from every test run — building knowledge about your test suite over time. Query insights via the e2e_learnings MCP tool:

Storage & export:

• SQLite (~/.e2e-runner/dashboard.db) — default, zero setup

• Neo4j knowledge graph — optional, for relationship-based analysis. Manage via e2e_neo4j MCP tool or docker compose

• Markdown report (e2e/learnings.md) — auto-generated after each run

Test narration: Each test run generates a human-readable narrative of what happened step by step, visible in the CLI output and the dashboard.

Explicit assertion — place assert_no_network_errors after critical page loads:

{ "type": "goto", "value": "/dashboard" },
{ "type": "wait", "selector": ".loaded" },
{ "type": "assert_no_network_errors" }

Global flag — set failOnNetworkError: true to automatically fail any test with network errors:

e2e-runner run --all --fail-on-network-error

When disabled (default), the runner still collects and reports network errors — the MCP response includes a warning when tests pass but have network errors.

Full network logging — all XHR/fetch requests are captured with URL, method, status, duration, request/response headers, and response body (truncated at 50KB). Viewable in the dashboard with expandable request detail rows.

MCP drill-down flow:

1. e2e_run          → compact networkSummary + runDbId
2. e2e_network_logs(runDbId)                     → all requests (url, method, status, duration)
3. e2e_network_logs(runDbId, errorsOnly: true)   → only failed requests
4. e2e_network_logs(runDbId, includeHeaders: true) → with headers
5. e2e_network_logs(runDbId, includeBodies: true)  → full request/response bodies

The e2e_run response stays compact (~5KB) regardless of how many requests were captured. Use e2e_network_logs with the returned runDbId to drill into details on demand.

Capture screenshots of any URL on demand — no test suite required:

e2e-runner capture https://example.com
e2e-runner capture https://example.com --full-page --selector ".loaded" --delay 2000

Via MCP, the e2e_capture tool supports authToken and authStorageKey for authenticated pages — it injects the token into localStorage before navigating.

Every screenshot gets a deterministic hash (ss:a3f2b1c9). Use e2e_screenshot to retrieve any screenshot by hash — it returns the image with metadata (test name, step, type).

🌐 Browser drivers

The runner can talk to multiple browser engines through different drivers. The default is auto — it probes each pool URL and picks the right driver per pool.

{
  "tests": [
    {
      "name": "checkout flow (heavy JS, real Chrome)",
      "driver": "browserless",
      "actions": [...]
    },
    {
      "name": "scrape product page (lightweight)",
      "driver": "obscura",
      "fallbackDriver": "cdp",
      "actions": [...]
    }
  ]
}

driver is optional. If set, only pools whose detected driver matches become candidates. fallbackDriver is explicit opt-in — without it, a missing target driver fails the test with a clear message. Pool busyness does not trigger fallback; the runner waits inside the filtered set.

Force a driver for a whole run (CLI overrides win over per-test fields — useful for A/B benchmarks):

e2e-runner run --all --driver obscura
e2e-runner run --all --driver obscura --fallback-driver cdp

# browserless (default) — managed by `pool start`
e2e-runner pool start

# Lightpanda — pool start uses templates/docker-compose-lightpanda.yml
e2e-runner pool start                 # with poolDriver: 'lightpanda' in config

# Obscura — install the binary and run it yourself
curl -LO https://github.com/h4ckf0r0day/obscura/releases/latest/download/obscura-x86_64-linux.tar.gz
tar xzf obscura-x86_64-linux.tar.gz
./obscura serve --port 9222 --stealth
# then point the runner at it: poolUrls: ['http://localhost:9222'], poolDriver: 'obscura'

⚙️ CLI, config & CI

# Run tests
e2e-runner run --all                  # All suites
e2e-runner run --suite auth           # Single suite
e2e-runner run --tests path/to.json   # Specific file
e2e-runner run --inline '<json>'      # Inline JSON

# Pool management (CLI only, not MCP)
e2e-runner pool start                 # Start Chrome container
e2e-runner pool stop                  # Stop Chrome container
e2e-runner pool status                # Check pool health

# Issue-to-test
e2e-runner issue <url>                # Fetch issue
e2e-runner issue <url> --generate     # Generate test via AI
e2e-runner issue <url> --verify       # Generate + run + report

# Dashboard
e2e-runner dashboard                  # Start web dashboard

# Other
e2e-runner list                       # List available suites
e2e-runner capture <url>              # On-demand screenshot
e2e-runner init                       # Scaffold project

Create e2e.config.js in your project root:

export default {
  baseUrl: 'http://host.docker.internal:3000',
  concurrency: 4,
  retries: 2,
  actionRetries: 1,
  testTimeout: 30000,
  outputFormat: 'both',
  failOnNetworkError: true,
  exclude: ['explore-*', 'debug-*'],

  hooks: {
    beforeEach: [{ type: 'goto', value: '/' }],
  },

  environments: {
    staging: { baseUrl: 'https://staging.example.com' },
    production: { baseUrl: 'https://example.com', concurrency: 5 },
  },
};

Config priority (highest wins):

1. CLI flags

2. Environment variables

3. Config file (e2e.config.js or e2e.config.json)

4. Defaults

When --env <name> is set, the matching profile overrides everything.

e2e-runner run --all --output junit

jobs:
  e2e:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npx e2e-runner pool start
      - run: npx e2e-runner run --all --output junit
      - uses: mikepenz/action-junit-report@v4
        if: always()
        with:
          report_paths: e2e/screenshots/junit.xml

import { createRunner } from '@matware/e2e-runner';

const runner = await createRunner({ baseUrl: 'http://localhost:3000' });

const report = await runner.runAll();
const report = await runner.runSuite('auth');
const report = await runner.runFile('e2e/tests/login.json');
const report = await runner.runTests([
  { name: 'quick-check', actions: [{ type: 'goto', value: '/' }] },
]);

Requirements

• Node.js >= 20

• Docker — only for Option 3 (the parallel Chrome pool). Options 1 & 2 don't need it.

License

Copyright 2026 Matias Aguirre (fastslack) — Matware

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See LICENSE for details.