Record a journey

Recording is the fastest way to create a long test case. You go through the journey once, add checks for what should be true, and Autonomy turns the recording into outcome steps you review before saving.

The recording itself is never replayed. It's only used to draft the steps; the agent then reaches each outcome on the live product in every run, however the product looks that day.

Where to record

In the new test case wizard, choose Record it once. If the test case has more than one platform, pick one under Record on. Then pick where:

Recording works on Web and Android. Recording on iOS follows when iOS testing is available. An API-only test case has nothing to record: write or describe its steps.

Record in a hosted browser

1. In the Record step of the wizard, check the Environment and its Start URL, and pick a Viewport.
2. Click Start recording. Autonomy finds a runner, starts Chrome on your environment, creates a test inbox and phone number, and streams the browser to your tab.
3. Go through the journey in the streamed browser. Every click, keystroke and scroll is captured with a screenshot.
4. As you go, use the toolbar:
   • Add check: what should be true now, such as "“Email verified” is showing". Checks become the outcomes.
   • Validate network: a request that should succeed, such as "The sign-up request succeeds".
   • Add comment: context for the draft, such as "The welcome email can take a minute on QA".
5. Click End & review. Autonomy drafts the steps and takes you back to the wizard.

Pause stops capturing without ending the session. Discard deletes everything captured and doesn't create the test case.

Test identity

The side panel shows the session's test email address and phone number, with copy buttons. Use them when the journey asks for an email or a phone number.

When an email arrives, the panel shows it. If it holds a code, you see the code while you record, so you can finish a verification step. Only you see it, and it's never stored in the recording or the test case: other people see only that a code arrived.

The hosted browser can't reach your app

The hosted browser runs on Autonomy's runner, so it can't open localhost, a private IP or a VPN-only host. Use a preview or staging URL, or record in your own Chrome tab.

Record in your own Chrome tab

1. Install the Autonomy Chrome extension and sign in to Autonomy in the same Chrome.
2. Open your app in Chrome. Click the Autonomy icon, then Record a test.
3. Pick the Project and the Environment. If no environment of the project has this site yet, one is created for it when you start.
4. Under Start signed in as, pick one of the project's sign-ins, or record signed out. If you're already signed in to the site, you can save that login as a new sign-in of the project and record from there.
5. Click Start recording and go through the journey. Steps appear in the side panel as outcomes as you go: fix their wording, and use Add a check for what should be true.
6. Click Finish recording, name the test, and click Open in Autonomy to review the draft in the project's wizard.

If you signed in while recording, the extension asks which account it was before you finish. The project's sign-in for that account is used, or the account is saved as a new project sign-in. Its password is never kept in the test case. The draft starts with a sign-in step that attaches that account.

If a recording with a sign-in reaches the wizard before you chose the account, the wizard shows Waiting for an account. Pick the sign-in that holds the account and click Sign in as, or click Remove the sign-in steps.

Record on Android

For an Android test case, Record it once starts a hosted Android emulator, installs your environment's app on it, and streams it to your tab.

1. In Where to record, choose Hosted emulator. Its tag says Emulator online when one is free, or No emulator online.
2. In Where to start, check the Environment, its App and the Device. The environment needs an Android build.
3. Click Start recording. Autonomy finds a runner with a free device, starts it, installs the app from your environment and opens it.
4. Use the streamed device: click to tap, drag to swipe, hold to long-press, and type to enter text. Back, Home and Restart app sit under the device. Every tap, keystroke and swipe is captured with a screenshot.
5. Use Add check and Add comment as on web. Network checks aren't offered on a device.
6. Click End & review. The draft is the same kind of outcome steps as a web recording.

If no device is free, the wizard says "No runner has an Android emulator free right now. Write or describe the steps, or try again in a few minutes." If the environment has no Android build, it says so and links to Environments.

If a session stops

A hosted session ends with one of these sentences:

From recording to steps

When you end a recording, Autonomy groups what you did into outcome steps and writes each one as a result to check:

• Each check you added becomes an Exact value the step must confirm, so checks are never dropped.
• Text you typed becomes test data. A value you didn't keep, such as a new password or a fresh email, becomes a generated value or a fresh inbox.
• Codes you received aren't kept: the step attaches the inbox instead, and the agent reads the code itself in each run.
• Values you filled from the environment stay {{env.NAME}} references.
• If you started signed in, the draft opens with a sign-in step that attaches that account.

You land in the steps editor with the note "Drafted from your recording". Edit the steps, then continue to review and save. If the draft went wrong, click Record again.

Practical notes

• Keep one recording to one journey. A session that wanders through several journeys drafts steps nobody wants to review.
• Add checks at the moment you see what you want to guarantee. A check added in context makes a better step than one written later.
• Re-recording is often quicker than repairing a draft. If the journey went wrong halfway, discard and start again.