Robot Framework Browser Recorder

A Python package that records browser interactions using Playwright's codegen feature and automatically converts them to Robot Framework test cases using the Browser library.

Features

• 🎥 Record browser interactions using Playwright's powerful codegen tool
• 🤖 Automatic conversion to Robot Framework test syntax
• 🌐 Multi-browser support: Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit
• 🎯 Simple CLI for quick test generation
• 📝 Clean, readable output with simplified selectors (e.g., data-test=login instead of [data-test="login"])

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8 or higher
• Playwright (installed automatically with the package)

Install the package

pip install robotframework-browser-recorder

Install Playwright browsers

After installing the package, you need to install Playwright browsers:

playwright install  # Install all browsers
# OR install specific browsers:
playwright install chromium
playwright install firefox
playwright install webkit

Install Robot Framework Browser library

pip install robotframework-browser
rfbrowser init

Quick Start

Basic Recording

Record browser interactions and generate a Robot Framework test:

rfbrowser-record --url https://example.com

This will:

1. Open a browser window with the Playwright inspector (Chromium by default)
2. Navigate to the specified URL
3. Record all your interactions (clicks, typing, etc.)
4. Generate a recorded_test.robot file when you close the browser

Run Your Test

After recording, run your test with:

robot recorded_test.robot

Usage

Command Line Interface

rfbrowser-record [OPTIONS]

Options

Option	Short	Description	Default
--url	-u	Initial URL to navigate to	None
--browser	-b	Browser to use (chromium, firefox, webkit)	chromium
--output	-o	Output file path	recorded_test.robot
--test-name	-n	Name of the test case	Recorded Test
--version		Show version

Examples

Record with Firefox

rfbrowser-record --browser firefox --url https://example.com

Record with custom output file

rfbrowser-record --url https://example.com --output my_test.robot

Supported Actions

The converter supports the following Playwright actions:

Interactions

Playwright Action	Robot Framework Keyword
page.goto(url)	New Page url
page.click(selector) or .click()	Click selector
page.fill(selector, value) or .fill(value)	Type Text selector value
page.press(selector, key)	Keyboard Key press key
page.check(selector) or .check()	Check Checkbox selector
page.uncheck(selector) or .uncheck()	Uncheck Checkbox selector
page.select_option(selector, value) or .select_option(value)	Select Options By selector value value
page.set_input_files(selector, file) or .set_input_files(file)	Upload File By Selector selector file
page.hover(selector) or .hover()	Hover selector
page.dblclick(selector) or .dblclick()	Click selector clickCount=2
page.screenshot(path=path)	Take Screenshot path
page.wait_for_load_state(state)	Wait For Load State state

Assertions / Verifications

Playwright Assertion	Robot Framework Keyword
expect(locator).to_be_visible()	Get Element States selector validate visible
expect(locator).to_have_text(text)	Get Text selector == text
expect(locator).to_contain_text(text)	Get Text selector == text
expect(locator).to_have_value(value)	Get Property selector value == value
expect(locator).to_be_checked()	Get Checkbox State selector == checked
expect(page).to_have_url(url)	Get Url == url
expect(page).to_have_title(title)	Get Title == title

Example Output

After recording interactions on a website, you'll get a clean Robot Framework test:

*** Settings ***
Library    Browser


*** Test Cases ***
Login Test
    New Browser    chromium    headless=False
    New Context    viewport={'width': 1920, 'height': 1080}
    New Page    https://example.com
    Click    data-test=nav-sign-in
    Type Text    data-test=email    test@test.nl
    Type Text    data-test=password    SuperSecretPassword!
    Click    data-test=login-submit

Notice how selectors are simplified:

• [data-test="nav-sign-in"] becomes data-test=nav-sign-in
• [id="submit"] becomes id=submit

Development

Setup Development Environment

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/robotframework-browser-recorder.git
cd robotframework-browser-recorder

# Create virtual environment
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

# Install in development mode
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Install Playwright
playwright install chromium

Running Tests

pytest tests/

Code Formatting

black robotframework_browser_recorder/

Troubleshooting

Playwright not found

If you get an error about Playwright not being installed:

pip install playwright
playwright install chromium

Browser library not found

Make sure the Robot Framework Browser library is installed:

pip install robotframework-browser
rfbrowser init chromium

Recording produces no output

Make sure you actually perform some interactions in the browser before closing it. The recorder only captures actions like clicks, typing, navigation, etc.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

Apache License 2.0

Related Projects

• Robot Framework
• Robot Framework Browser Library
• Playwright

Acknowledgments

This project builds upon the excellent work of:

• The Robot Framework community
• The Playwright team at Microsoft
• The Browser library maintainers