View network logs for Appium tests

If you are using BrowserStack SDK, you can set the following capability within the browserstack.yml file:

Network log configurations

By default, network logs record request and response metadata but not response bodies. To capture the response payload shown under the Response tab, set captureContent to true within networkLogsOptions. The following table describes the capability:

Use the following example code snippet to set the network log configurations:

Download network logs

You can view network logs from the test session details page on the App Automate dashboard. To view or download the logs, select Raw Logs.

Example network logs:

Import network logs using REST API

You can import the network logs from your test session using REST API:

curl -u "YOUR_USERNAME:YOUR_ACCESS_KEY" \
-X GET "https://api-cloud.browserstack.com/app-automate/builds/<build-id>/sessions/<session-id>/networklogs"

Handling certificate pinning issues

App developers may use certificate pinning techniques to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks and thus enhance the app’s security. Using certificate pinning, the app developer can associate (or “pin”) a remote host or service with its certificate or public keys at the time of development. When the app makes a network request to a remote host, it compares the pinned certificate with the remote server’s certificate to verify its identity.

However, on BrowserStack, if you have enabled network logs, your tests could fail if your app uses certificate pinning. This is because BrowserStack uses a MITM proxy to capture the network logs, causing network requests between the app and pinned hosts to fail.

BrowserStack provides you additional capabilities to fix certificate pinning errors. Using these capabilities, you can bypass BrowserStack’s MITM proxy while making requests to certificate-pinned remote hosts.

networkLogsExcludeHosts

Pass this parameter at the top level, not inside networkLogsOptions. For example, this excludes capturing of logs for any requests made to google.com:

networkLogsIncludeHosts

Pass this parameter at the top level, not inside networkLogsOptions. For example, this captures logs only for requests made to google.com:

Use the following code snippet to set the Network logs capability to true:

DesiredCapabilities capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
HashMap<String, Object> browserstackOptions = new HashMap<String, Object>();
browserstackOptions.put("networkLogs", "true");
capabilities.setCapability("bstack:options", browserstackOptions);

var capabilities = {
	'bstack:options' : {
		"networkLogs" : "true",
	},
}

AppiumOptions capabilities = new AppiumOptions();
Dictionary<string, object> browserstackOptions = new Dictionary<string, object>();
browserstackOptions.Add("networkLogs", "true");
capabilities.AddAdditionalCapability("bstack:options", browserstackOptions);

$caps = array(
    'bstack:options' => array(
        "networkLogs" => "true",
    ),
)

desired_cap = {
	'bstack:options' : {
		"networkLogs" : "true",
	},
}

capabilities = {
    'bstack:options' => {
        "networkLogs" => "true",
    },
}

DesiredCapabilities capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
capabilities.setCapability("browserstack.networkLogs", "true");

var capabilities = {
	'browserstack.networkLogs' : 'true',
}

AppiumOptions capabilities = new AppiumOptions();
capabilities.AddAdditionalCapability("browserstack.networkLogs", "true");

$caps = array(
    "browserstack.networkLogs" => "true"
)

desired_cap = {
	'browserstack.networkLogs' : 'true'
}

caps = Selenium::WebDriver::Remote::Capabilities.new
caps["browserstack.networkLogs"] = "true"

Network log configurations

By default, network logs record request and response metadata but not response bodies. To capture the response payload shown under the Response tab, set captureContent to true within browserstack.networkLogsOptions. The following table describes the capability:

Use the following example code snippet to set the network log configurations:

DesiredCapabilities capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
HashMap<String, Boolean> networkLogsOptions = new HashMap<>();
networkLogsOptions.put("captureContent", true);
capabilities.setCapability("browserstack.networkLogs", true);
capabilities.setCapability("browserstack.networkLogsOptions", networkLogsOptions);

var capabilities = {
 "browserstack.networkLogs" : "true",
 "browserstack.networkLogsOptions": {
   "captureContent": "true"
 }
}

AppiumOptions capabilities = new AppiumOptions();
HashMap<String, Boolean> networkLogsOptions = new HashMap<>();
networkLogsOptions.Add("captureContent", "true");
capabilities.AddAdditionalCapability("browserstack.networkLogs", "true");
capabilities.AddAdditionalCapability("browserstack.networkLogsOptions", networkLogsOptions);

$caps = array(
 "browserstack.networkLogs" => "true",
 "browserstack.networkLogsOptions" => array (
   "captureContent" => "true"
 )
);

desired_cap = { 
"browserstack.networkLogs" : "true",
"browserstack.networkLogsOptions": {
    "captureContent": "true"
  }
}

Download network logs

The network logs can be viewed from the test sessions details page on the App Automate Dashboard. You can view or download network logs using the Raw Logs.

Example network logs:

Import network logs using REST API

You can import the network logs from your test session using REST API:

curl -u "YOUR_USERNAME:YOUR_ACCESS_KEY" \
-X GET "https://api-cloud.browserstack.com/app-automate/builds/<build-id>/sessions/<session-id>/networklogs"

Handling certificate pinning issues

App developers may use certificate pinning techniques to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks and thus enhance the app’s security. Using certificate pinning, the app developer can associate (or “pin”) a remote host or service with its certificate or public keys at the time of development. When the app makes a network request to a remote host, it compares the pinned certificate with the remote server’s certificate to verify its identity.

However, on BrowserStack, if you have enabled network logs, your tests could fail if your app uses certificate pinning. This is because BrowserStack uses a MITM proxy to capture the network logs, causing network requests between the app and pinned hosts to fail.

BrowserStack provides you additional capabilities to fix certificate pinning errors. Using these capabilities, you can bypass BrowserStack’s MITM proxy while making requests to certificate-pinned remote hosts.

browserstack.networkLogsExcludeHosts

DesiredCapabilities capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
HashMap<String, Object> browserstackOptions = new HashMap<String, Object>();
browserstackOptions.put("networkLogsExcludeHosts", new String[]{"api.example.com", "google.com"});
capabilities.setCapability("bstack:options", browserstackOptions);

var capabilities = {
	'bstack:options' : {
		'networkLogsExcludeHosts': ['api.example.com', 'google.com'],
	}
}

AppiumOptions capabilities = new AppiumOptions();
Dictionary<string, object> browserstackOptions = new Dictionary<string, object>();
browserstackOptions.Add("networkLogsExcludeHosts", new[] {'api.example.com', 'google.com'});
capabilities.AddAdditionalCapability("bstack:options", browserstackOptions);

$caps = array(
	'bstack:options' => array(
		"networkLogsExcludeHosts" => ["api.example.com", "google.com"],
	),
)

desired_cap = {
	'bstack:options' : {
		'networkLogsExcludeHosts': ['api.example.com', 'google.com']
	}
}

capabilities = {
    'bstack:options' => {
        'networkLogsExcludeHosts': ['api.example.com', 'google.com']
    }
}

DesiredCapabilities capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
HashMap<String, Object> browserstackOptions = new HashMap<String, Object>();
browserstackOptions.put("networkLogsExcludeHosts", "^(.+\.)?example.com");
capabilities.setCapability("bstack:options", browserstackOptions);

var capabilities = {
	'bstack:options' : {
		'networkLogsExcludeHosts': '^(.+\.)?example.com',
	}
}

AppiumOptions capabilities = new AppiumOptions();
Dictionary<string, object> browserstackOptions = new Dictionary<string, object>();
browserstackOptions.Add("networkLogsExcludeHosts", "^(.+\.)?example.com");
capabilities.AddAdditionalCapability("bstack:options", browserstackOptions);

$caps = array(
	'bstack:options' => array(
		"networkLogsExcludeHosts" => "^(.+\.)?example.com",
	),
)

desired_cap = {
	'bstack:options' : {
		'networkLogsExcludeHosts': '^(.+\.)?example.com'
	}
}

capabilities = {
    'bstack:options' => {
        'networkLogsExcludeHosts': '^(.+\.)?example.com'
    }
}

DesiredCapabilities desiredCapabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
desiredCapabilities.setCapability("browserstack.networkLogsExcludeHosts", new String[]{"api.example.com", "google.com"});

var capabilities = {
	'browserstack.networkLogsExcludeHosts': ['api.example.com', 'google.com'],
}

DesiredCapabilities capability = new DesiredCapabilities();
capability.SetCapability("browserstack.networkLogsExcludeHosts", new[] {'api.example.com', 'google.com'});

$capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
$capabilities->setCapability("browserstack.networkLogsExcludeHosts", ["api.example.com", "google.com"]);

desired_cap = {
	'browserstack.networkLogsExcludeHosts': ['api.example.com', 'google.com']
}

desired_caps = {
    'browserstack.networkLogsExcludeHosts': ['api.example.com', 'google.com']
}

DesiredCapabilities desiredCapabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
desiredCapabilities.setCapability("browserstack.networkLogsExcludeHosts", "^(.+\.)?example.com");

var capabilities = {
	'browserstack.networkLogsExcludeHosts': '^(.+\.)?example.com',
}

DesiredCapabilities capability = new DesiredCapabilities();
capability.SetCapability("browserstack.networkLogsExcludeHosts", "^(.+\.)?example.com");

$capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
$capabilities->setCapability("browserstack.networkLogsExcludeHosts", "^(.+\.)?example.com");

desired_cap = {
	'browserstack.networkLogsExcludeHosts': '^(.+\.)?example.com'
}

desired_caps = {
    'browserstack.networkLogsExcludeHosts': '^(.+\.)?example.com'
}

browserstack.networkLogsIncludeHosts

DesiredCapabilities capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
HashMap<String, Object> browserstackOptions = new HashMap<String, Object>();
browserstackOptions.put("networkLogsIncludeHosts", new String[]{"api.example.com", "google.com"});
capabilities.setCapability("bstack:options", browserstackOptions);

var capabilities = {
	'bstack:options' : {
		'networkLogsIncludeHosts': ['api.example.com', 'google.com'],
	}
}

AppiumOptions capabilities = new AppiumOptions();
Dictionary<string, object> browserstackOptions = new Dictionary<string, object>();
browserstackOptions.Add("networkLogsIncludeHosts", new[] {'api.example.com', 'google.com'});
capabilities.AddAdditionalCapability("bstack:options", browserstackOptions);

$caps = array(
	'bstack:options' => array(
		"networkLogsIncludeHosts" => ["api.example.com", "google.com"],
	),
)

desired_cap = {
	'bstack:options' : {
		'networkLogsIncludeHosts': ['api.example.com', 'google.com']
	}
}

desired_caps = {
    'bstack:options' => {
        'networkLogsIncludeHosts': ['api.example.com', 'google.com']
    }
}

DesiredCapabilities capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
HashMap<String, Object> browserstackOptions = new HashMap<String, Object>();
browserstackOptions.put("networkLogsIncludeHosts", "^(.+\.)?example.com");
capabilities.setCapability("bstack:options", browserstackOptions);

var capabilities = {
	'bstack:options' : {
		'networkLogsIncludeHosts': '^(.+\.)?example.com',
	}
}

AppiumOptions capabilities = new AppiumOptions();
Dictionary<string, object> browserstackOptions = new Dictionary<string, object>();
browserstackOptions.Add("networkLogsIncludeHosts", "^(.+\.)?example.com");
capabilities.AddAdditionalCapability("bstack:options", browserstackOptions);

$caps = array(
	'bstack:options' => array(
		"networkLogsIncludeHosts" => "^(.+\.)?example.com",
	),
)

desired_cap = {
	'bstack:options' : {
		'networkLogsIncludeHosts': '^(.+\.)?example.com'
	}
}

desired_caps = {
    'bstack:options' => {
        'networkLogsIncludeHosts': '^(.+\.)?example.com'
    }
}

DesiredCapabilities desiredCapabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
desiredCapabilities.setCapability("browserstack.networkLogsIncludeHosts", new String[]{"api.example.com", "google.com"});

var capabilities = {
	'browserstack.networkLogsIncludeHosts': ['api.example.com', 'google.com'],
}

DesiredCapabilities capability = new DesiredCapabilities();
capability.SetCapability("browserstack.networkLogsIncludeHosts", new[] {'api.example.com', 'google.com'});

$capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
$capabilities->setCapability("browserstack.networkLogsIncludeHosts", ["api.example.com", "google.com"]);

desired_cap = {
	'browserstack.networkLogsIncludeHosts': ['api.example.com', 'google.com']
}

desired_caps = {
    'browserstack.networkLogsIncludeHosts': ['api.example.com', 'google.com']
}

DesiredCapabilities desiredCapabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
desiredCapabilities.setCapability("browserstack.networkLogsIncludeHosts", "^(.+\.)?example.com");

var capabilities = {
	'browserstack.networkLogsIncludeHosts': '^(.+\.)?example.com',
}

DesiredCapabilities capability = new DesiredCapabilities();
capability.SetCapability("browserstack.networkLogsIncludeHosts", "^(.+\.)?example.com");

$capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
$capabilities->setCapability("browserstack.networkLogsIncludeHosts", "^(.+\.)?example.com");

desired_cap = {
	'browserstack.networkLogsIncludeHosts': '^(.+\.)?example.com'
}

desired_caps = {
    'browserstack.networkLogsIncludeHosts': '^(.+\.)?example.com'
}