home / skills / pluginagentmarketplace / custom-plugin-qa / automation
This skill helps you design production-grade test automation across web, mobile, and API tests with reliable patterns and CI/CD integration.
npx playbooks add skill pluginagentmarketplace/custom-plugin-qa --skill automationReview the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.
---
name: automation
description: Production-grade test automation skill covering Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, Appium with POM architecture, retry logic, and CI/CD integration
sasmp_version: "1.3.0"
bonded_agent: qa-expert
bond_type: PRIMARY_BOND
version: "2.1.0"
---
# Test Automation Skill
## Overview
Enterprise-grade test automation capabilities for web, mobile, and API testing with production-ready patterns.
## Input Schema
```json
{
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"action": {
"type": "string",
"enum": ["create_test", "debug_test", "optimize", "migrate", "generate_report"],
"description": "Automation action to perform"
},
"framework": {
"type": "string",
"enum": ["selenium", "cypress", "playwright", "appium", "webdriverio"],
"description": "Target automation framework"
},
"language": {
"type": "string",
"enum": ["javascript", "typescript", "python", "java", "csharp"],
"default": "typescript"
},
"test_type": {
"type": "string",
"enum": ["e2e", "integration", "component", "visual", "accessibility"]
},
"target": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"url": {"type": "string", "format": "uri"},
"selector": {"type": "string"},
"page_name": {"type": "string"}
}
}
},
"required": ["action", "framework"]
}
```
## Output Schema
```json
{
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"status": {"type": "string", "enum": ["success", "partial", "failed"]},
"code": {"type": "string", "description": "Generated test code"},
"file_path": {"type": "string"},
"dependencies": {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "string"}},
"setup_commands": {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "string"}},
"warnings": {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "string"}},
"best_practices": {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "string"}}
}
}
```
## Parameter Validation
```yaml
framework:
required: true
validate:
- type: enum
values: [selenium, cypress, playwright, appium, webdriverio]
- type: compatibility_check
with: language
language:
required: false
default: typescript
validate:
- type: enum
values: [javascript, typescript, python, java, csharp]
target.url:
required: false
validate:
- type: format
pattern: "^https?://"
- type: reachability_check
timeout_ms: 5000
target.selector:
required: false
validate:
- type: selector_syntax
formats: [css, xpath, data-testid]
```
## Error Handling
```yaml
retry_config:
strategy: exponential_backoff
max_retries: 5
base_delay_ms: 1000
max_delay_ms: 30000
jitter: true
retryable_errors:
- ELEMENT_NOT_FOUND
- TIMEOUT
- STALE_ELEMENT
- NETWORK_ERROR
error_categories:
locator_errors:
- ELEMENT_NOT_FOUND
- ELEMENT_NOT_VISIBLE
- ELEMENT_NOT_INTERACTABLE
recovery: suggest_alternative_locators
timing_errors:
- TIMEOUT
- STALE_ELEMENT
- ANIMATION_NOT_COMPLETE
recovery: increase_wait_add_retry
framework_errors:
- DRIVER_NOT_FOUND
- BROWSER_CRASH
- SESSION_EXPIRED
recovery: restart_session
environment_errors:
- NETWORK_ERROR
- SSL_ERROR
- PROXY_ERROR
recovery: check_environment_config
```
## Capabilities
### Selenium WebDriver
```yaml
languages: [java, python, javascript, csharp]
browsers: [chrome, firefox, safari, edge]
features:
- Cross-browser testing
- Grid support
- Mobile emulation
- Screenshot capture
- Video recording (with plugins)
```
### Cypress
```yaml
languages: [javascript, typescript]
browsers: [chrome, firefox, edge, electron]
features:
- Time-travel debugging
- Automatic waiting
- Network stubbing
- Component testing
- Visual testing (plugins)
```
### Playwright
```yaml
languages: [javascript, typescript, python, java, csharp]
browsers: [chromium, firefox, webkit]
features:
- Multi-browser parallel
- Auto-wait
- Tracing
- Mobile emulation
- API testing
```
### Appium
```yaml
languages: [java, python, javascript]
platforms: [ios, android]
features:
- Native app testing
- Hybrid app testing
- Mobile web testing
- Gestures support
```
## Code Templates
### Page Object Model (TypeScript/Playwright)
```typescript
// pages/BasePage.ts
export abstract class BasePage {
constructor(protected page: Page) {}
async waitForPageLoad(): Promise<void> {
await this.page.waitForLoadState('networkidle');
}
protected async click(selector: string): Promise<void> {
await this.page.click(selector, { timeout: 10000 });
}
protected async fill(selector: string, value: string): Promise<void> {
await this.page.fill(selector, value);
}
protected async getText(selector: string): Promise<string> {
return await this.page.textContent(selector) || '';
}
}
// pages/LoginPage.ts
export class LoginPage extends BasePage {
private selectors = {
email: '[data-testid="email-input"]',
password: '[data-testid="password-input"]',
submit: '[data-testid="login-button"]',
error: '[data-testid="error-message"]'
};
async login(email: string, password: string): Promise<void> {
await this.fill(this.selectors.email, email);
await this.fill(this.selectors.password, password);
await this.click(this.selectors.submit);
}
async getErrorMessage(): Promise<string> {
return await this.getText(this.selectors.error);
}
}
```
### Test with Retry Pattern
```typescript
// utils/retry.ts
export async function withRetry<T>(
fn: () => Promise<T>,
options: {
maxRetries?: number;
baseDelayMs?: number;
maxDelayMs?: number;
} = {}
): Promise<T> {
const { maxRetries = 3, baseDelayMs = 1000, maxDelayMs = 10000 } = options;
let lastError: Error;
for (let attempt = 0; attempt < maxRetries; attempt++) {
try {
return await fn();
} catch (error) {
lastError = error as Error;
const delay = Math.min(baseDelayMs * Math.pow(2, attempt), maxDelayMs);
await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, delay));
}
}
throw lastError!;
}
```
## Troubleshooting
### Issue: Element Not Found
```yaml
symptoms:
- TimeoutError waiting for selector
- Element not visible
- Stale element reference
diagnosis:
1. Check selector validity in browser DevTools
2. Verify element exists in DOM
3. Check if element is in iframe
4. Verify page has fully loaded
5. Check for dynamic content loading
solutions:
- Use data-testid attributes
- Add explicit waits
- Handle iframes properly
- Wait for network idle
- Use more specific selectors
```
### Issue: Flaky Tests
```yaml
symptoms:
- Intermittent failures
- Works locally, fails in CI
- Random timeout errors
diagnosis:
1. Identify timing dependencies
2. Check for race conditions
3. Review parallel execution conflicts
4. Analyze failure patterns
solutions:
- Replace implicit with explicit waits
- Add retry logic
- Isolate test data
- Use deterministic selectors
- Add proper cleanup
```
### Issue: Slow Test Execution
```yaml
symptoms:
- Tests taking > 30 seconds each
- CI pipeline timeout
- Resource exhaustion
diagnosis:
1. Profile test execution
2. Identify slow operations
3. Check network latency
4. Review wait times
solutions:
- Parallelize test execution
- Mock slow APIs
- Optimize selectors
- Reduce unnecessary waits
- Use headless mode
```
## Best Practices
```yaml
locators:
- Prefer data-testid over CSS classes
- Avoid XPath when possible
- Use semantic HTML attributes
- Keep selectors short and specific
waits:
- Always use explicit waits
- Wait for specific conditions
- Avoid Thread.sleep/setTimeout
- Set reasonable timeouts
architecture:
- Implement Page Object Model
- Separate test data from tests
- Use fixtures for setup/teardown
- Create reusable utilities
ci_integration:
- Run tests in parallel
- Use retry on failure
- Generate detailed reports
- Archive screenshots on failure
```
## Unit Test Template
```typescript
// tests/automation.skill.test.ts
describe('Automation Skill', () => {
describe('Input Validation', () => {
it('should reject invalid framework', async () => {
const result = await automationSkill.invoke({
action: 'create_test',
framework: 'invalid'
});
expect(result.status).toBe('failed');
expect(result.error).toContain('Invalid framework');
});
it('should accept valid input', async () => {
const result = await automationSkill.invoke({
action: 'create_test',
framework: 'playwright',
language: 'typescript'
});
expect(result.status).toBe('success');
});
});
describe('Code Generation', () => {
it('should generate POM structure', async () => {
const result = await automationSkill.invoke({
action: 'create_test',
framework: 'playwright',
test_type: 'e2e',
target: { page_name: 'LoginPage' }
});
expect(result.code).toContain('class LoginPage');
expect(result.code).toContain('extends BasePage');
});
});
});
```
## Logging & Observability
```yaml
log_events:
- skill_invoked
- validation_complete
- code_generated
- error_occurred
- retry_attempted
metrics:
- invocation_count
- success_rate
- generation_time_ms
- error_distribution
trace_context:
- request_id
- user_session
- framework_version
- timestamp
```
## Version History
| Version | Date | Changes |
|---------|------|---------|
| 2.1.0 | 2025-01 | Production-grade with full error handling |
| 2.0.0 | 2024-12 | SASMP v1.3.0 compliance |
| 1.0.0 | 2024-11 | Initial release |
This skill provides production-grade test automation guidance and code generation for Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, Appium, and WebdriverIO using Page Object Model, retry logic, and CI/CD integration. It targets web, mobile, and API test suites with templates, error-handling patterns, and observability recommendations to reduce flakiness and speed execution. The focus is pragmatic: reproducible tests, maintainable architecture, and smooth CI pipelines.
The skill validates requested framework and language, then generates framework-specific POM templates, retry utilities, and setup commands. It inspects target inputs (URL, selector, page name) and adds reachability and selector syntax checks. The output includes generated test code, dependency lists, setup steps, warnings for potential issues, and best-practice recommendations.
Which frameworks and languages are supported?
Supported frameworks: selenium, cypress, playwright, appium, webdriverio. Languages include javascript, typescript, python, java, and csharp with compatibility checks applied.
How does retry and error handling work?
A configurable exponential-backoff retry strategy is suggested for retryable errors (ELEMENT_NOT_FOUND, TIMEOUT, NETWORK_ERROR). Error categories include locator, timing, framework, and environment issues with concrete recovery actions.