Hide Sensitive Data

Learn how to prevent sensitive test data from appearing in the logs of Selenium tests in BrowserStack Automate.

Introduction

To execute some test scenarios, you use commands that send or retrieve data like email ID, cookies, credentials, etc. to or from remote browsers. In Automate, this data may appear in session logs, text, video, screenshots, and Selenium or Appium logs.

This guide shows you how to prevent this data from appearing in the session logs by:

Masking values in text and raw session logs.
Disabling specific logs (video, visual, and Selenium or Appium logs).

Masking sensitive data in text and raw logs

Selenium 4 W3C
Selenium Legacy JSON

BrowserStack’s maskCommands capability hides data that you send to or retrieve from the remote browsers through the following commands:

Capability	Value
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 sent 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

The following sample shows how to configure your Selenium or Appium tests using maskCommands capability:

DesiredCapabilities capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
HashMap<String, Object> browserstackOptions = new HashMap<String, Object>();
browserstackOptions.put("maskCommands", "setValues, getValues, setCookies, getCookies");
capabilities.setCapability("bstack:options", browserstackOptions);

var capabilities = {
 	'bstack:options' : {
        "maskCommands" : {
            'setValues, getValues, setCookies, getCookies'
        }
 	}
 }

Dictionary<string, object> browserstackOptions = new Dictionary<string, object>();
browserstackOptions.Add("maskCommands", "setValues, getValues, setCookies, getCookies");
capabilities.AddAdditionalOption("bstack:options", browserstackOptions);

$caps = array(
 	'bstack:options' => array(
        "maskCommands" => "setValues, getValues, setCookies, getCookies",
 	)
 )

desired_cap = {
 	'bstack:options' : {
        "maskCommands" : "setValues, getValues, setCookies, getCookies",
 	}
 }

capabilities = {
 	'bstack:options' => {
 		"maskCommands" => "setValues, getValues, setCookies, getCookies",
 	}
}

This will replace all keystrokes and other values with REDACTED in your Automate session logs (text and raw). Image of Raw logs where sendkeys input is shown as redacted

Important: It is recommended that you disable the Selenium logs since the maskCommands capability masks only the sensitive data from Text & Raw Logs. The sensitive information from Selenium Logs remains unmasked.

BrowserStack’s maskCommands capability hides data that you send to or retrieve from the remote browsers through the following commands:

Capability	Value
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 sent 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

The following sample shows how to configure your Selenium or Appium tests using browserstack.maskCommands capability:

caps.setCapability("browserstack.maskCommands", "setValues, getValues, setCookies, getCookies");

capabilities['browserstack.maskCommands'] = 'setValues, getValues, setCookies, getCookies'

caps.SetCapability("browserstack.maskCommands", "setValues, getValues, setCookies, getCookies");

$caps["browserstack.maskCommands"] = "setValues, getValues, setCookies, getCookies";

caps["browserstack.maskCommands"] = "setValues, getValues, setCookies, getCookies"

caps["browserstack.maskCommands"] = "setValues, getValues, setCookies, getCookies"

This will replace all keystrokes and other values with REDACTED in your Automate session logs (text and raw). Image of Raw logs where sendkeys input is shown as redacted

Important: It is recommended that you disable the Selenium logs since the browserstack.maskCommands capability masks only the sensitive data from Text & Raw Logs. The sensitive information from Selenium Logs remains unmasked.

Disable specific logs

Apart from text and raw session logs, BrowserStack Automate also has videos, visuals, and the standard Selenium or Appium logs. These logs can not be masked.

To prevent sensitive information from appearing in these logs, you’ll need to disable them individually.

By default, video logs are enabled for all Automate sessions. Use the following capability to disable it.

Capability	Value
video Use this capability to enable or disable video log of your Automate test.	`true`, `false` Default: `true`

The sample below shows how to use video capability to disable video recording in your test:

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

var capabilities = {
 	'bstack:options' : {
 		"video" : "false",
 	}
}

Dictionary<string, object> browserstackOptions = new Dictionary<string, object>();
browserstackOptions.Add("video", "false");
capabilities.AddAdditionalOption("bstack:options", browserstackOptions);

$caps = array(
'bstack:options' => array(
  "video" => "false"
     )
);

desired_cap = {
 	'bstack:options' : {
 		"video" : "false",
 	}
}

capabilities = {
 	'bstack:options' => {
 		"video" => "false",
 	}
}

By default, video logs are enabled for all Automate sessions. Use the following capability to disable it.

Capability	Value
browserstack.video Use this capability to enable or disable video log of your Automate test.	`true`, `false` Default: `true`

The sample below shows how to use browserstack.video capability to disable video recording in your test:

caps.setCapability("browserstack.video", "false");

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

caps.SetCapability("browserstack.video", "false");

$caps["browserstack.video"] = "false";

caps["browserstack.video"] = "false"

caps["browserstack.video"] = "false"

Disabling visual logs (screenshots)

Selenium 4 W3C
Selenium Legacy JSON

BrowserStack provides a visual log for Automate sessions. These are screenshots generated at different steps in your test script.

To prevent sensitive information from getting captured in these screenshots, make sure that visual logs are disabled. If not, set the debug capability to false.

Capability	Value
debug Use this capability to enable or disable visual log in your Automate session.	`true`, `false` Default: `false`

The sample below shows how to use debug capability to disable visual log in your test:

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

var capabilities = {
 	'bstack:options' : {
 		"debug" : "false",
 	}
}

Dictionary<string, object> browserstackOptions = new Dictionary<string, object>();
 browserstackOptions.Add("debug", "false");
 capabilities.AddAdditionalOption("bstack:options", browserstackOptions);

$caps = array(
 	'bstack:options' => array(
 		"debug" => "false",
 	)
 )

desired_cap = {
 	'bstack:options' : {
 		"debug" : "false"
 	}
}

capabilities = {
 	'bstack:options' => {
 		"debug" => "false",
 	}
}

BrowserStack provides a visual log for Automate sessions. These are screenshots generated at different steps in your test script.

To prevent sensitive information from getting captured in these screenshots, make sure that visual logs are disabled. If not, set the browserstack.debug capability to false.

Capability	Value
browserstack.debug Use this capability to enable or disable visual log in your Automate session.	`true`, `false` Default: `false`

The sample below shows how to use browserstack.debug capability to disable visual log in your test:

caps.setCapability("browserstack.debug", "false");

var capabilities = {
  'browserstack.debug' : 'false'
}

caps.SetCapability("browserstack.debug", "false");

$caps["browserstack.debug"] = "false";

caps["browserstack.debug"] = "false"

caps["browserstack.debug"] = "false"

Disabling the Selenium or Appium logs

Selenium 4 W3C
Selenium Legacy JSON

For every Automate session, you get Selenium or Appium logs by default. However, these logs can not be masked.

You can disable Selenium or Appium logs by using the following capabilities:

Capability	Value
seleniumLogs Use this capability to disable selenium logs for your desktop browser tests.	`true`, `false` Default: `true`
appiumLogs Use this capability to disable appium logs for your tests.	`true`, `false` Default: `true`

The sample below shows how to disable seleniumLogs and appiumLogs capabilities for your test:

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

var capabilities = {
 	'bstack:options' : {
 		"seleniumLogs" : "false",
        "appiumLogs": "false",
 	}
 }

Dictionary<string, object> browserstackOptions = new Dictionary<string, object>();
browserstackOptions.Add("seleniumLogs", "false");
browserstackOptions.Add("appiumLogs", "false");
capabilities.AddAdditionalOption("bstack:options", browserstackOptions);

$caps = array(
 	'bstack:options' => array(
 		"seleniumLogs" => "false",
        "appiumLogs" => "false",
 	)
 )

desired_cap = {
 	'bstack:options' : {
 		"seleniumLogs" : "false",
        "appiumLogs": "false",
 	}
 }

capabilities = {
 	'bstack:options' => {
 		"seleniumLogs" => "false",
        "appiumLogs" => "false",
 	}
 }

For every Automate session, you get Selenium or Appium logs by default. However, these logs can not be masked.

You can disable Selenium or Appium logs by using the following capabilities:

Capability	Value
browserstack.seleniumLogs Use this capability to disable selenium logs for your desktop browser tests.	`true`, `false` Default: `true`
browserstack.appiumLogs Use this capability to disable appium logs for your tests.	`true`, `false` Default: `true`

The sample below shows how to disable browserstack.seleniumLogs and browserstack.appiumLogs capabilities for your test:

caps.setCapability("browserstack.seleniumLogs", "false");
caps.setCapability("browserstack.appiumLogs", "false");

capabilities['browserstack.seleniumLogs'] = 'false';
capabilities['browserstack.appiumLogs'] = 'false';

caps.SetCapability("browserstack.seleniumLogs", "false");
caps.SetCapability("browserstack.appiumLogs", "false");

$caps["browserstack.seleniumLogs"] = "false";
$caps["browserstack.appiumLogs"] = "false";

caps["browserstack.seleniumLogs"] = "false"
caps["browserstack.appiumLogs"] = "false"

caps["browserstack.seleniumLogs"] = "false"
caps["browserstack.appiumLogs"] = "false"

Did this page help you?

We're sorry to hear that. Please share your feedback so we can do better

Contact our Support team for immediate help while we work on improving our docs.

We're continuously improving our docs. We'd love to know what you liked

This page has exactly what I am looking for
This content & code samples are accurate and up-to-date
The content on this page is easy to understand
Other (please tell us more below)

Any additional feedback?

Thank you for your valuable feedback

Is this page helping you?

Yes

We're sorry to hear that. Please share your feedback so we can do better

Contact our Support team for immediate help while we work on improving our docs.

We're continuously improving our docs. We'd love to know what you liked

This page has exactly what I am looking for
This content & code samples are accurate and up-to-date
The content on this page is easy to understand
Other (please tell us more below)

Any additional feedback?

Thank you for your valuable feedback!