Getting Started

Add visual regression testing to your existing test suite in under 5 minutes. TestivAI works with any framework that controls Chrome — no framework-specific SDK required.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• Chrome browser (local or in CI)
• Your existing test suite (Cypress, Selenium, WebdriverIO, pytest, JUnit, etc.)

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1. Install the CLI

npm install -g @testivai/witness

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2. Run the Setup Wizard

npx testivai init

The interactive wizard asks two questions and generates helper files for your framework:

  ╔══════════════════════════════════════╗
  ║   TestivAI Visual Regression Setup   ║
  ╚══════════════════════════════════════╝

? Select your language:   › JavaScript / TypeScript
? Select your test framework:   › Cypress
? Where are your test files?   › cypress/e2e

  ✓ Created: cypress/support/testivai-witness.js
  ✓ Created: cypress/support/testivai-plugin.js
  ✓ Created: cypress/e2e/visual-example.cy.js
  ✓ Created: testivai.config.ts

Playwright users

If Playwright is detected, testivai init will direct you to the dedicated Playwright SDK: @testivai/witness-playwright

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3. Authenticate

Get your API key from the TestivAI Dashboard and export it in your shell:

export TESTIVAI_API_KEY=your-api-key

To make it permanent, add the export to your shell profile (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc).

For the Witness SDK, you can also store the key locally:

npx testivai auth <your-api-key>

Shell environment variables only

TestivAI SDKs read configuration from shell environment variables only. Do not use .env files or dotenv — the SDKs will not load them.

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4. Add a Capture Call

The wizard generates an example file. The key call is witness('name') — add it anywhere in your test at the moment you want a snapshot:

Cypress

it('homepage looks correct', () => {
  cy.visit('/');
  cy.witness('homepage');
});

Selenium (JS)

const { witness } = require('../testivai-witness');

it('homepage looks correct', async () => {
  await driver.get('http://localhost:3000');
  await witness(driver, 'homepage');
});

pytest

from testivai_witness import witness

def test_homepage(driver):
    driver.get('http://localhost:3000')
    witness(driver, 'homepage')

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5. Run

Wrap your normal test command with testivai run:

# Cypress
testivai run "cypress run --browser chrome"

# pytest
testivai run "pytest tests/ -v"

# JUnit (Maven)
testivai run "mvn test"

That's it. TestivAI captures screenshots and metadata automatically — then runs REVEAL Engine™ analysis in the cloud.

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What Happens Next

First run	Baselines are created — no diff yet
Subsequent runs	Each snapshot is compared against the baseline
Visual change detected	Dashboard shows side-by-side diff with AI analysis
You approve/reject	Baseline is updated or the change is flagged

→ See how it works under the hood