Turn real user flows into Playwright tests
Record a journey once in the browser. Understudy cleans the noise, scrubs secrets, and generates an executable spec with assertions, ready to run and ship as a PR.
The problem
E2E coverage is the most valuable testing and the hardest to keep alive.
Hand-written tests rot
Every UI change breaks selectors and assertions. Keeping suites green costs more than writing them.
Recorders ship noise
Click-by-click replays full of sleeps, coordinates, and redundant steps, brittle on the next deploy.
Secrets block sharing
Real sessions contain passwords and PII, so recordings can't leave the laptop, let alone land in a repo.
How Understudy helps
One flow, end to end: record in the browser, get a spec out.
Record anywhere
Enable the extension per site, including cross-origin stores, and click through the real journey.
Clean the noise
Thousands of raw events collapse into a handful of episodes; secrets are redacted, never dropped.
Generate the spec
Episodes become a Playwright test with assertions derived from observed mutations. No extra input.
Run & publish
Run from the portal, then publish the sanitized test as a PR in the client repo.
Why we're unique
Not another click recorder: semantics in, maintainable tests out.
- Semantic episodes, not raw clicksModals, facets, gallery swaps, form submits, scrolls and carousels are classified, so assertions target meaning, not coordinates.
- Replay-safe PII redactionSecrets are redacted so required-field replay still works; recordings stay shareable and committable.
- Cross-origin recordingThe extension records real third-party storefronts from your own server, with per-project onboarding.
- Trace-to-PR publishingA deterministic sanitizer plus final scan gates every publication. Recording alone never publishes.
Requirements to start dogfooding
Two things, and you can record your first flow.
A GitHub repo
Generated tests publish as PRs in a registered client repo. Recording works without one, publishing needs it.
A website to record
Any site you can open in the browser. Enable the extension for it and click through the journey.