In the world of automation testing, dealing with authentication pop-ups is a common challenge faced by most developers. These pop-ups can occur when accessing protected resources on a website. In such instances, the users are required to enter credentials such as a username and password. Although manually handling these pop-ups might be straightforward, automating this process requires a more sophisticated approach.
This is because the developers have to consider various factors like the nature of the pop-up, the device on which it is being accessed, and the intention for the overall application while designing the test scripts. The automation testing framework will also have a decisive role in understanding the approach for the handling process.
So, with this article, we will understand how application developers can handle authentication pop-ups with Playwright, a powerful automation library. We will also go through some common challenges the testers will face while automating authentication pop-ups with Playwright. Finally, we will wrap up our discussion with some of the best practices to help in this process.
Understanding Playwright
We can define Playwright as a versatile and modern automation library developed and maintained by Microsoft. This library allows the developers to automate interactions with web apps, including Mozilla Firefox, WebKit, and Chromium. Unlike any other automation tools available in the present market, Playwright provides a unified API that supports multiple browsers.
Thus, it becomes the ideal choice for executing cross-browser testing and web scraping tasks. Another valuable feature of Playwright is its ability to handle complex scenarios, including authentication pop-ups seamlessly. Using Playwright’s robust API and built-in functionalities, testers can easily automate the authentication process. It also helps them improve the reliability and efficiency of the automation test scripts.
Understanding Authentication of Pop-ups
Before understanding how testers can implement methods for the authentication of pop-ups, we need to have a basic understanding of these pop-ups and how they function. So, authentication pop-ups are a type of dialogue box that appears when accessing protected resources on a web application.
These pop-ups prompt users to enter their credentials, including username and password. Using these credentials, the users will authenticate themselves and gain access to the restricted content on the website. Authentication pop-ups can be triggered in various scenarios, including accessing password-protected web pages and performing basic authentication over HTTP and API endpoints.
In the modern application development industry, these pop-ups are commonly used for securing sensitive information and preventing unauthorized access to resources due to data breaches.
Challenges in Automating Handling Authentication Pop-ups
As the developers try to integrate automation testing with authentication pop-ups, they will face several challenges, mainly due to the asynchronous nature and the lack of direct browser support for handling these elements. Moreover, the traditional automation tools struggle to interact with authentication pop-ups effectively. This instance also leads to brittle and unreliable automation test scripts.
To help the new developers and testers, we have mentioned some of the common challenges related to automating authentication pop-ups:
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Lack of Browser Support
Most of the available web browsers do not provide native support for automating the authentication pop-up testing process. This instance makes it very challenging to interact with these elements programmatically during the application testing process.
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Asynchronous Behavior
Most authentication pop-ups appear asynchronously in response to specific actions or requests. Thus, the developers must handle them dynamically in the automation test scripts considering the user actions, device type, or any other parameter.
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Security Restrictions
Some of the advanced authentication mechanisms, such as HTTP basic authentication, rely on browser-based dialogues for the initiation and execution process. These dialogues are subject to security restrictions, which makes them difficult to automate. It is also important to remember that the rendering process for the browser also impacts these restrictions.
How to Handle Authentication Pop-ups while Using Playwright
Playwright provides robust support for handling authentication pop-ups natively. It achieves this goal using its powerful API and comprehensive feature set. Now, let us explore some of the most effective approaches to automating authentication pop-ups while using Playwright:
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Implementing ‘context.authenticate()’ method:
Playwright’s ‘context.authenticate()’ method allows the testers to provide custom authentication credentials when accessing protected resources. The testers can use this method to automate essential authentication pop-ups by specifying the username and password programmatically within the automation test scripts. Using this data, the system can automatically enter the required information during the test execution process.
The following code snippet will show how the testers can implement this method while using Playwright.
By using the ‘httpCredentials’ option with the ‘newContext()’ method, testers can supply all the necessary authentication details and eliminate the need for manual intervention during the execution process.
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Handling ‘dialog’ Events:
Another practical approach to automate authentication pop-ups in Playwright is by handling the ‘dialog’ events. These events are triggered whenever a new browser dialog, such as a prompt alert or authentication pop-up, appears during the automation process. By entering the following command in the terminal window or Playwright, developers can initiate this process.
By listening to the ‘dialog’ command and providing the necessary credentials using the ‘accept()’ method, testers can automate the authentication process seamlessly during the execution process.
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Intercepting Network Requests:
Furthermore, Playwright allows testers to intercept and modify network requests using request and response interception mechanisms. Using this mechanism, the testers can automate authentication pop-ups by injecting custom headers or credentials into the outgoing requests.
The testers can begin this process by simply entering the following command in the terminal window of Playwright.
In this command, the system will clear existing codes and set HTTP credentials using the ‘setHTTPCredentials()’ method. The testers can also ensure that subsequent requests are authenticated automatically so that they can bypass the need for human intervention.
Best Practices for Automating Authentication Pop-ups Using Playwright
Although we discussed the basic process for implementing automation of authentication pop-ups using Playwright, the developers and testers must implement some of the practices that can help them utilize the full potential of their automation testing environment. For this process, we have mentioned some of the most essential additions in this segment:
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Integration of Real Device Testing
As we already mentioned earlier, authentication pop-ups are dynamic elements that change their behavior based on user interactions or device type. So, it is crucial for the developers to verify the functioning of these pop-ups on real devices. This process will help them understand the influence of physical parameters on the pop-up functioning.
However, a real device testing lab consists of thousands of expensive devices that are also hectic to update. Instead, the testers can integrate cloud platforms that provide access to similar test benches using remote servers. These servers can not only be accessed from anywhere in the world but also store legacy devices that are no longer available in the market for better test compatibility.
LambdaTest is an AI-powered test orchestration and execution platform that can execute automated Playwright test cases on more than fifty browsers and devices at the same time. It also integrates artificial intelligence and machine learning to organize and execute test instances properly. Finally, this platform boosts test execution using comprehensive test reports and live test activity logs.
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Use of Community Support
Since Playwright is an open-source tool, it has a massive community of enthusiastic developers and testers who are working hard to improve the testing experience with this tool. This community not only develops new features, documentation, and guides but is also ready to help newcomers whenever they are stuck with any feature of Playwright.
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Analyzing and Improving the Test Code
After rolling out the application, the testers must remember that it will go through continuous changes to integrate more elements, including authentication pop-ups. So, the testers must constantly monitor these test scripts and ensure that they stand up to the expectations of the users and the current market standards. It is also advisable to integrate page object models to improve the scalability and maintainability of these test scripts.
It is also essential to keep proper references for all the bugs and errors that have been deleted in the application infrastructure. This information will allow the developers and testers to avoid previously known errors in future iterations. This is especially useful when the developers are executing automated regression testing on the web apps.
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Going Through the Official Documentation
Although we mentioned all the relevant steps for automating authentication pop-ups with Playwright, we advise the developers to go through Playwright’s official documentation. This is because this documentation will provide information about additional methods and features that might be useful depending on the needs of the application development project.
Moreover, the official website explains the functioning of all the frameworks using sample test cases to improve the new developers’ understanding. In this regard, we also advise the testers to download all the frameworks, tools, and other dependencies from the official website to avoid any data leak or malicious attack.
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Use of Parallel Testing
In modern applications, there are multiple authentication pop-ups available for different purposes. So, if the developers and testers try to verify the functioning of all these elements individually, it would take them several weeks to complete the process. Instead, they can integrate parallel testing to simultaneously initiate multiple such testing instances on different parameters and devices.
Many experts believe that the proper integration of parallel testing with automated authentication pop-ups can complete the entire testing infrastructure within just a few days.
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Implementation of Descriptive Test Names
As mentioned earlier, multiple authentication pop-ups are available on modern websites. So, while creating the automation test scripts for these pop-ups, the developers must name them according to the target elements to avoid any confusion. Moreover, these descriptive test names will also provide adequate information to the non-technical members of the team for proper coordination and collaboration.
The Bottom Line
Conclusively, we explored various techniques for handling authentication pop-ups while using Playwright automation. Using Playwright’s robust API and built-in functionalities, the testers can automate the authentication process effectively and improve the reliability and scalability of the automation test scripts.
So, whether the testers are using the ‘context.authenticate()’ method, handling ‘dialogue’ events, or intercepting network requests, Playwright provides robust and flexible solutions for automating authentication pop-ups in web apps. By incorporating these techniques into the automation workflows, testers can streamline the testing process and ensure reliable and consistent results across different environments and browsers.
Finally, since Playwright allows developers to build maintainable and resilient automation solutions for modern web apps, it becomes an invaluable tool for any automation engineer or quality assurance professional.
