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Capabilities

Capabilities are a series of key-value pairs that allow you to configure your Selenium tests on the BrowserStack Selenium grid.

Use our Capabilities Generator to configure your Selenium test suite in the language of your choice. The capabilities generator let's you select from a comprehensive set of options you can use to customize your tests on the BrowserStack Selenium grid. Start by selecting your desired capabilities below.

You can also find out more about each capability by scrolling to our Capabilities Reference section.

Learn about the key changes coming with Version 4 of Selenium and the changes you need to make to your test suite. Refer more here.

Capabilities Generator

Configure capabilities
Code
Select core capabilities
Operating System
iOS
Browser
Windows XP
Device
iOS
Resolution
1024 x 768
IE Specific capabilities
Edge Specific capabilities
Safari specific capabalities
Firefox and Geckodriver capabilities
Chrome Specific capabilities
Project details (Project, Build & Session Name)
Specify a name for a logical group of builds
Specify a name for a logical group of tests
Specify an identifier for the test run
Test Configuration
Test localhost / internal servers in your network
Generate screenshots at various steps in your test
Enable video recording during your test

Capabilities Reference

Browserstack-specific capabilities

Capability Values
userName
For running your Selenium and Appium tests on BrowserStack it, requires a username and an access key for authenticating the user. This capability can be used to set the username.		 You can find your username and access key on the Settings page under the Automate section.

Example: { "bstack:options": { "userName": "<BROWSERSTACK_USERNAME>" } }
accessKey
For running your Selenium and Appium tests on BrowserStack it, requires a username and an access key for authenticating the user. This capability can be used to set the access key.		 You can find your username and access key on the Settings page under the Automate section.

Example: { "bstack:options": { "accessKey": "<BROWSERSTACK_ACCESSKEY>" } }
os

OS you want to test.

 Windows, OS X
osVersion

OS version you want to test.

 Windows: XP, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10
OS X: Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, Yosemite, El Capitan, Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave

Test configuration capabilities:

Capability Values
projectName

Allows the user to specify a name for a logical group of builds.

 Example: loginformproject
Default: Untitled Project
buildName

Allows the user to specify a name for a logical group of tests.

 Example: build 4.5
Default: Untitled Build
sessionName

Allows the user to specify an identifier for the test run.

 Example: logintest
local

Use this capability to test your locally hosted websites on BrowserStack by setting the value to true. To enable access to the local machine you need to setup BrowserStack Local binary.

 true, false
Default: false

Example: { "bstack:options": { "local": true } }
localIdentifier
Use this capability to specify the unique Local Testing connection name in your test.		 String
Example: local_connection_name
debug

Required if you want to generate screenshots at various steps in your test.

 true, false
Default: false
consoleLogs

Required if you want to capture browser console logs at various steps in your test. Console Logs are available for Selenium tests on Desktop Chrome, Desktop Firefox, Mobile Chrome (Android devices) and Mobile Safari (iOS devices).

 disable, errors, warnings, info, verbose
Default: errors

disable: stops capturing the console logs
errors: shows only error output in console
warnings: shows warning and error output in the console
info: shows info statement, warning and error output in the console
verbose: shows all console output
networkLogs

Required if you want to capture network logs for your test. Network Logs are supported for all desktop browsers, Android and iOS devices with a few exceptions - IE 10 on any OS; IE 11 on Windows 7 / 8.1 and any browser on MacOS High Sierra and Mojave.

 true, false
Default: false
Note: You may experience minor reductions in performance when testing with Network Logs turned on with Desktop sessions.
appiumLogs

Required if you want to capture raw appium logs for your test.

 true, false
Default: true
video

Required if you want to enable video recording during your test.

 true, false
Default: true
seleniumLogs

Required if you want to enable selenium logs for your desktop browser tests.

 true, false
Default: true
geoLocation

Use this capability to simulate website and mobile behavior from different locations. Traffic to your website or mobile app will originate from an IP address hosted in the country you have chosen.

Note: This capability is available with enterprise plans only.

 "CN" for China, "FR" for France, "IN" for India and "US" for United States of America and so on.
Complete list of over 90+ countries can be found here.

Example: { "bstack:options": { "geoLocation": "CN" } }
timezone

Use this capability to run your tests on a custom timezone.

Note: The supported operating systems are Windows, macOS, and Android.		 New_York for America/New_York, London for Europe/London, Kolkata for Asia/Kolkata.
Set the city name as value.
You can view the complete list of timezones on Wikipedia.

Example: { "bstack:options": { "timezone": "New_York" } }
resolution

Set the resolution of VM before beginning of your test.

Windows (XP,7): 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x800, 1280x1024, 1366x768, 1440x900, 1680x1050, 1600x1200, 1920x1200, 1920x1080, 2048x1536

Windows (8,8.1,10): 1024x768, 1280x800, 1280x1024, 1366x768, 1440x900, 1680x1050, 1600x1200, 1920x1200, 1920x1080, 2048x1536

OS X: 1024x768, 1280x960, 1280x1024, 1600x1200, 1920x1080

Default: 1024x768
seleniumVersion

Use this capability to set the Selenium WebDriver version in test scripts.

 "3.7.0", "3.7.1", "3.8.0", "3.8.1", "3.9.0", "3.9.1", "3.10.0", "3.11.0", "3.12.0", "3.13.0", "3.14.0", "3.141.0", "3.141.5", "3.141.59", "4.0.0-alpha-1", "4.0.0-alpha-2"
Note: Latest jar might not be compatible with older browsers.
browserstack.maskCommands
Use this capability to mask the data sent or retrieved by certain commands.

Note: You can pass multiple commands in a single array, separated by commas.		 Default: Empty Array

setValues
All the text send via sendKeys command will be redacted.

getValues
All the text retrieved via get command will be redacted.

setCookies
All the cookies which are set by the addCookie command will be redacted.

getCookies
All the cookie values obtained using the getCookies and getCookieNamed command will be redacted.

Example:
browserstackOptions.put("maskCommands", "setValues, getValues, setCookies, getCookies");
Note: Sensitive data in certain logs (like Selenium, Appium, video, etc.) cannot be masked. View our documentation to disable these logs instead.
idleTimeout
BrowerStack triggers BROWSERSTACK_IDLE_TIMEOUT error when a session is left idle for more than 90 seconds. This happens as BrowserStack by default waits for the timeout duration for additional steps or commands to run, if we do not receive any command during that time, the session is stopped, changing the session status to TIMEOUT on the Automate dashboard.

This capability can be used to modify the timeout value.		 0 to 300 seconds
Default: 90 seconds

Example: { "bstack:options": { "idleTimeout": 30 } }
maskBasicAuth
If you use basic authentication in your test cases, the username and password would be visible in text logs. Use this capability to mask those credentials.		 true, false
Default: false

To mask the credentials set the capability to "true".
Example: { "bstack:options": { "maskBasicAuth": true } }
autoWait

Use this capability to specify a custom delay between the execution of Selenium commands.

 Default: 20 seconds

Example: { "bstack:options": { "autoWait": 35 } }
hosts

Use this capability to add host entry (/etc/hosts) in remote BrowserStack machine.

For example, if you use staging.website.com in test cases but do not have a DNS entry for the domain and the public IP, you can use this capability to add host entry in the machine.

Note: Supported only on desktop machines.

 <IP_address Domain_name>

Example: { "bstack:options": { "hosts": "1.2.3.4 staging.website.com" } }
bfcache

IE 11 browser uses cached pages when you navigate using the backward or forward browser buttons. You can use this capability to disable the use of cached pages.

 0 and 1
Default: 0

To disable page caching set value as 1
Example: { "bstack:options": { "bfcache": 1 } }
wsLocalSupport

Chrome browser v71 and above have changed the way PAC files are supported. Use this capability to enable WSS (WebSocket Secure) connections to work with Network Logs on Chrome browser v71 and above.

If you are using localhost in your test, change it to bs-local.com

Note: This capability is only valid for Chrome browsers v71 and above.

 true, false
Default: false

Example: { "bstack:options": { "wsLocalSupport": true } }

Mobile capabilities:

Capability Values
deviceName

Specifies a particular mobile device for the test environment.

 You can find a full list of supported devices here
realMobile

Use this flag to test on a physical mobile device.

true, false
Default: false

Real Android devices are now available for Automated testing. View Documentation
appiumVersion

Use this capability to set the Appium version in your test scripts.

 Android: 1.6.5 (default), 1.7.1 , 1.7.2 , 1.8.0 , 1.9.1 , 1.10.1 , 1.11.1 , 1.12.1 , 1.13.0 , 1.14.0 , 1.15.0 , 1.16.0 , 1.17.0
iOS: 1.6.5 , 1.7.0 (default), 1.7.1 , 1.7.2 , 1.8.0 , 1.9.1 , 1.10.1 , 1.11.1 , 1.12.1 , 1.13.0 , 1.14.0 (default on iOS 12 & 13), 1.16.0 , 1.17.0

Note: All values are strings.
os

OS you want to test.

 ios, android
deviceOrientation

Set the screen orientation of mobile device.

 portrait, landscape
Default: portrait
customNetwork

Required if you want to simulate the custom network condition.

Note: The supported operating systems are iOS and Android.		 Example ('1000', '1000', '100', '1')
download speed (kbps), upload speed (kbps), latency (ms), packet loss (%)
networkProfile

Required if you want to simulate different network conditions.

Note: The supported operating systems are iOS and Android.		 Example: 2g-gprs-good, 2g-gprs-lossy, 3g-umts-good etc.
Complete list of network profiles can be found here.

Chrome specific capabilities:

Capability Values
driver

Use this capability to specify the chromedriver version.

The supported values are "2.43", "2.44", "2.45", "2.46", "73.0.3683.68", "74.0.3729.6", "75.0.3770.8", "75.0.3770.90", "75.0.3770.140", "76.0.3809.68", "77.0.3865.40", "78.0.3904.70", "79.0.3945.16", "80.0.3987.16", "81.0.4044.69", "83.0.4103.14", "83.0.4103.39".
Example: { "bstack:options": { "chrome": { "driver": "<value>" } } }

Default: Browserstack automatically selects the chromedriver version based on the browser version provided.

IE/Edge capabilities:

Capability Values
IE noFlash

Use this capability to disable flash on Internet Explorer.

true, false
Example: { "bstack:options": { "ie": { "noFlash": "<value>" } } }

Default: false
IE compatibility

Use this capability to set Internet Explorer Compatibility View.

The supported values are 11001, 11000, 10001, 10000, 9999, 9000, 8888, 8000 and 7000.
Example: { "bstack:options": { "ie": { "compatibility": "<value>" } } }

Refer to this Internet Explorer documentation for an explanation on these values.
IE arch

Use this capability to specify the IE WebDriver architecture.

The supported values are "x32" for 32-bit and "x64" for 64-bit.
Example: { "bstack:options": { "ie": { "arch": "<value>" } } }

Default: Browserstack automatically selects the IE WebDriver architecture based on the browser version provided.
IE driver

Use this capability to specify the IE WebDriver version.

The supported values are "3.13.0", "3.14.0", "3.141.0", "3.141.5", "3.141.59".
Example: { "bstack:options": { "ie": { "driver": "<value>" } } }

Default: Browserstack automatically selects the IE WebDriver version based on the browser version provided.
IE enablePopups

Use this capability to enable the popups in IE.

true, false
Example: { "bstack:options": { "ie": { "enablePopups": "<value>" } } }

Default: false
Edge enablePopups

Use this capability to enable the popups in Edge.

true, false
Example: { "bstack:options": { "edge": { "enablePopups": "<value>" } } }

Default: false
browserstack.sendKeys

Set the capability to ‘True’ while using sendKeys on IE 11 browser.

 true, false
Default: false
Example: capabilities.setCapability("browserstack.sendKeys", "true");
Note: Refer to the complete documentation here.

Safari capabilities:

Capability Values
enablePopups

Safari browser disables pop-ups by default, that is, any action that triggers a popup window is disabled in Safari. Use this capability to enable popups in Safari.

 true, false
Default: false
This capability enables the popup by setting the value to true.

Example: { "bstack:options": { "safari": { "enablePopups": true } } }
allowAllCookies

Use this capability to enable all cookies in Safari.

true, false
Example: { "bstack:options": { "safari": { "allowAllCookies": "<value>" } } }

Default: false
driver

Use this capability to specify the Safari WebDriver version.

"2.45", "2.48"
Example: { "bstack:options": { "safari": { "driver": "<value>" } } }

Default: 2.45

Firefox and Gecko driver capabilities:

Capability Values
driver

Use this capability to specify the version of geckodriver.

"0.20.0", "0.20.1", "0.21.0", "0.22.0", "0.23.0", "0.24.0", "0.25.0", "0.26.0"
Example: { "bstack:options": { "firefox": { "driver": "<value>" } } }

Default: “0.21.0”

Selenium capabilities

Capability Values
browserName

Run your tests on a specific browser by setting the browser name as the value.

 Firefox, Safari, IE, Chrome, Opera, Edge

Example: { "browserName": "Chrome" }
browserVersion

Run your tests on a specific browser version by setting the browser version as the value.

 View the list of browser versions here.
Default: Latest stable version of browser is used.

Example: { "browserVersion": "79.0" }
acceptSslCerts

Use this capability to ignore invalid certificate error in your test.

 true, false
Default: false

Deprecated capabilities

The following capabilities are deprecated and will not work in the near future. Please use the alternate capability instead of deprecated capability.

Deprecated capability Alternate capability
geckodriver

This capability specifies the geckodriver version to be used with the Firefox browser.

 firefox.driver
ie.alternateProxy

This capability is used to set a proxy on the Internet Explorer browser.

 local
tunnel

This capability is used to test your locally hosted websites on BrowserStack. To enable access to the local machine you need to setup BrowserStack Local binary.

 local
maskSendKeys

The input provided in the test would be visible in text logs. This capability is used to mask these input keys.

 maskCommands
selenium.jar.version

This capability is used to set the Selenium WebDriver version in test scripts.

 seleniumVersion

Parameter override rules

  • osVersion can only be defined when os has been defined.
  • Default browser is chrome when no browser is passed by the user or the selenium API (implicitly).
  • If consoleLogs is enabled it will take precedence over Logging Preferences of type BROWSER that you may have set in your test script

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