Debugging options

You can use various logging options to debug your failed test cases and fix them with ease.

If you are still using the older dashboard, see the documentation for the old dashboard.

This document explains the capabilities for enabling the different debugging options that BrowserStack supports. Learn how to debug the running as well as the executed tests on BrowserStack.

Text logs are retained for 60 days, while all other logs mentioned on this page are available on the BrowserStack dashboard for 30 days. Logs are automatically deleted after their respective retention periods, starting from the day they are generated.

BrowserStack SDK
Non-SDK Integration

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

Text logs

These are a comprehensive record of your test. They are used to identify all the steps executed in the test and troubleshoot errors for the failed step. Text Logs are accessible both from the Automate dashboard, as well as via our REST API to access text logs.

You don’t need to set any options for text logs, as these are enabled by default, and cannot be disabled.

Visual logs

These contain the screenshots that are auto-generated at every Selenium command that your code executes. Visual logs help with debugging the exact step and how the page was rendered when the failure occurred. They also help identify any layout or design related issues with your web pages on different browsers.

Visual logs are disabled by default. You can enable them by using the debug capability.

Capability	Description	Expected values
`debug`	Enable visual logs	A string. Defaults to `false` `true` if you want to enable the visual logs. `false` otherwise.

For example, this is how you enable visual logs:

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Video logs

Every test run on the BrowserStack Selenium grid is recorded exactly as it is executed on our remote machine. This feature is particularly helpful whenever a browser test fails, so you can see the entire test in action. You can access these videos from the Automate dashboard for each session. You can also download the videos from the Dashboard or retrieve a link to download the video using our REST API.

Video logs are enabled by default. Note that video recording increases the text execution time slightly. You can disable them by using the video capability.

Capability	Description	Expected values
`video`	Enable video recording	A string. Defaults to `true` `true` if you want to enable the video recording. `false` otherwise.

For example, this is how you disable video logs:

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Selenium logs

Selenium logs capture information about every Selenium command in your test script along with the browser preferences that you have configured. These logs provide insight into anything that might have led to your tests to fail. On the Automate dashboard, click the Other Logs tab to view the Selenium logs. You can also use the REST API to access Selenium logs.

Selenium Logs

Selenium logs are enabled by default. Set the seleniumLogs capability to false to disable Selenium logs.

Capability	Description	Expected values
`seleniumLogs`	Enable Selenium logs	A string. Defaults to `true`. Set to `false` to disable Selenium logs.

For example, this is how you disable Selenium logs:

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Appium logs

The Appium server generates Appium logs, which contain a detailed record of your Appium test session execution. If your test session fails, the logs can assist you in troubleshooting any errors. On the Automate dashboard, click the Other Logs tab to view the Appium logs. Appium logs can also be accessed via the REST API.

Appium Logs

Appium logs are enabled by default. To disable Appium logs, set the appiumLogs capability to false.

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Console logs

Console Logs capture the browser’s JS console output at various steps of the test to troubleshoot JavaScript issues. You can retrieve Console logs using both the Automate dashboard, as well as the REST API to access console logs. Currently, this works only for Chrome browsers, and we will roll this out to other browsers soon.

Console Logs

Console logs are enabled by default and are set to errors. You can disable them, or change verbosity options by using the console capability.

Capability	Description	Expected values
`console`	Level of console logs to capture	A string. Defaults to `errors` `disable` to disable console logs. `errors` to capture errors. `warnings` to capture warnings and errors. `info` to capture info, warnings and errors. `verbose` to capture everything

For example, this is how you disable console logs:

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Console logs are not supported on macOS, iOS, and Safari. You can test this in the Capability Generator tool.

Network logs

Network Logs capture the browser’s performance data such as network traffic, latency, HTTP requests and responses in the HAR format. You can download network logs using both the Automate dashboard, as well as the REST API to access network logs. You can visualize HAR files using the HAR Viewer.

When you run a test without the Network log settings, the Network Logs tab on the dashboard shows the following message: Network Logs Disabled

Enable Network Logs

To enable Network Logs use the networkLogs capability.

Capability	Description	Expected values
`networkLogs`	Enable network logs	A string. Defaults to `false` `true` if you want to enable network logs. `false` otherwise.

For example, this is how you enable network logs:

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If you set the networkLogs capability to true, you will see the following result on the dashboard: Network Logs Enabled

Network Log configurations

Apart from capturing the Network logs, you can also capture the request and response payload of your test session. You must set the networkLogsOptions capability and the captureContent configuration as true.

The response data is not captured for Android devices.

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

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The following table provides information about the capability:

Capability	Configuration	Expected values
`networkLogsOptions`	`captureContent`	Defaults to `false`. By default, network logs do not capture request and response payload. Set `captureContent` to `true` Note: If the captureContent capability is set to false, the Response tab is not displayed.

Handling excessive network logs in Automate sessions

When you run tests on BrowserStack Automate, each session generates detailed log data, including network logs. These logs are accessible through the Automate dashboard and REST APIs, and are often used for debugging test failures.

However, the volume of network logs can be excessively large, often exceeding 1 GB per session. This makes it difficult to open or analyze the logs using tools like standard text editors.

BrowserStack supports the following log filtering capabilities in Automate.

networkLogsExcludeHosts

For example, this will exclude capturing of logs for any requests made to api.example.com and google.com:

Capability	Description	Value
`networkLogsExcludeHosts`	Use this capability to specify a list of certificate pinned hosts that should bypass BrowserStack MITM proxy while capturing network logs. By doing so, your tests can execute successfully while still capturing network logs for all other remaining hosts.	List of certificate pinned hosts (Array) or regex value (String)

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Only HTTPS URLs will be ignored for the specified hosts

networkLogsIncludeHosts

For example, this will capture logs only for network requests made to api.example.com and google.com

Capability	Description	Value
`networkLogsIncludeHosts`	Use this capability if you wish to capture network logs only for specific hosts. Traffic for all other remaining hosts will bypass BrowserStack MITM proxy and won’t be captured in network logs.	List of hosts (Array) or regex value (String)

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Both HTTP and HTTPS URLs will be captured for the specified hosts

Network logs filtering is not supported for Internet Explorer versions 10 and 11.

Terminal logs

BrowserStack allows you to upload and view your Selenium terminal logs using REST API. On the Automate dashboard, click the Other Logs tab to view the Selenium terminal logs.

You can upload the terminal logs for specific sessions or the entire build using the Session API or the Build API, respectively. When you upload terminal logs using build API, the terminal logs will be uploaded for all the sessions associated with the build.

For terminal logs, BrowserStack supports .txt, .json, .xml, and .log file formats. The maximum file size you can upload is 2 MB.

After you upload the logs, click the Other Logs tab on the Automate dashboard to view them.

Terminal Logs

Telemetry logs

BrowserStack provides access to the Selenium server in a standalone mode to run multiple tests in parallel, and each test may contain several requests. With Selenium 4 and OpenTelemetry support, you get greater visibility into the tracing of requests and event logs for each request. Tracing keeps track of the lifecycle of a request and stores information about the crucial operations performed by the request. You can use these insights to troubleshoot your sessions and improve performance.

Handling several requests, tracing logs, or troubleshooting any request failures becomes a complex task in the case of a distributed environment. For such complex scenarios, telemetry logs can be integrated with Jaeger to visualize and query the request traces. To learn how to visualize request traces using Jaeger, check out the Visualize telemetry logs using Jaeger section.

Supported Frameworks and OS

The following table lists the supported framework and OS where you can enable telemetry logs.

Framework/OS	Version
Selenium	4.0.0-alpha-6 and above
Windows	Windows 7 and above
macOS	OS X Sierra and above

Enable Telemetry logs

Telemetry logs of your sessions in BrowserStack are disabled by default. To enable them, use the telemetryLogs capability and set it to true in your test script.

Capability	Description	Expected values
`telemetryLogs`	Enable telemetry logs for a session.	`true`, `false` Default: `false`

Use the following code snippets to set the telemetryLogs capability in your test script:

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You can use either Selenium 4 or Selenium Legacy JSON to organize your tests.

BrowserStack SDK is a plug-n-play solution that takes care of all the integration steps for you. Using the BrowserStack SDK is the recommended integration method for your project. To know more, visit the SDK core concepts page.

Text logs

You don’t need to set any options for text logs, as these are enabled by default, and cannot be disabled.

Visual logs

Visual logs are disabled by default. You can enable them by using the browserstack.debug capability.

Capability	Description	Expected values
`browserstack.debug`	Enable visual logs	A string. Defaults to `false` `true` if you want to enable the visual logs. `false` otherwise.

For example, this is how you enable visual logs:

// Enabling visual logs

DesiredCapabilities caps = new DesiredCapabilities();
caps.setCapability("browserstack.debug", "true");

// Enabling visual logs

var capabilities = {
 "browserstack.debug" : "true"
}

// Enabling visual logs

DesiredCapabilities caps = new DesiredCapabilities();
caps.SetCapability("browserstack.debug", "true");

# Enabling visual logs

$caps = array(
 "browserstack.debug" => "true"
);

# Enabling visual logs

capabilities = {
 "browserstack.debug" : "true"
}

# Enabling visual logs

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

# Enabling visual logs

my $capabilities = {
 "browserstack.debug" => "true"
}

Video logs

Video logs are enabled by default. Note that video recording increases the text execution time slightly. You can disable them by using the browserstack.video capability.

Capability	Description	Expected values
`browserstack.video`	Enable video recording	A string. Defaults to `true` `true` if you want to enable the video recording. `false` otherwise.

For example, this is how you disable video logs:

// Disabling video logs

DesiredCapabilities caps = new DesiredCapabilities();
caps.setCapability("browserstack.video", "false");

// Disabling video logs

var capabilities = {
 "browserstack.video" : "false"
}

// Disabling video logs

DesiredCapabilities caps = new DesiredCapabilities();
caps.SetCapability("browserstack.video", "false");

# Disabling video logs

$caps = array(
 "browserstack.video" => "false"
);

# Disabling video logs

capabilities = {
 "browserstack.video" : "false"
}

# Disabling video logs

caps = Selenium::WebDriver::Remote::Capabilities.new
caps["browserstack.video"] = "false"

# Disabling video logs

my $capabilities = {
 "browserstack.video" => "false"
}

Selenium logs

Selenium Logs

Selenium logs are enabled by default. Set the browserstack.seleniumLogs capability to false to disable Selenium logs.

Capability	Description	Expected values
`browserstack.seleniumLogs`	Enable Selenium logs	A string. Defaults to `true`. Set to `false` to disable Selenium logs.

Appium logs

Appium Logs

Appium logs are enabled by default. To disable Appium logs, set the browserstack.appiumLogs capability to false.

DesiredCapabilities desiredCapabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
desiredCapabilities.setCapability("browserstack.appiumLogs", "false");

var capabilities = {
	'browserstack.appiumLogs': 'false',
}

DesiredCapabilities capability = new DesiredCapabilities();
capability.SetCapability("browserstack.appiumLogs", "false");

$capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
$capabilities->setCapability("browserstack.appiumLogs", "false");

desired_cap = {
	'browserstack.appiumLogs': 'false'
}

desired_caps = {
    'browserstack.appiumLogs': 'false'
}

Console logs

Console Logs

Console logs are enabled by default and are set to errors. You can disable them, or change verbosity options by using the browserstack.console capability.

Capability	Description	Expected values
`browserstack.console`	Level of console logs to capture	A string. Defaults to `errors` `disable` to disable console logs. `errors` to capture errors. `warnings` to capture warnings and errors. `info` to capture info, warnings and errors. `verbose` to capture everything

For example, this is how you disable console logs

// Disabling console logs

DesiredCapabilities caps = new DesiredCapabilities();
caps.setCapability("browserstack.console", "disable");