Step reference

Every step type AutoTestX supports, with all of its parameters. The editor builds its forms from the same registry (packages/dsl/src/registry.ts), so the names here match the editor.

How to read the tables

• Type is the name stored in the test file ("type": "click"). Label is what the editor shows.
• Target: whether the step acts on an element and needs a target.
• Engines: web only, or all (web, Android, iOS).
• Parameter kind: template means literal text in which {{…}} is substituted; expression means the whole field is one expression; fixed means the text is used exactly as written.
• Every step also accepts the common settings below.

Common settings (all steps)

Setting	DSL field	Meaning
Step name	label	Name shown in the editor and reports
Timeout	timeoutMs	Time limit for this step. Default: the test’s default (30 s).
Retries	retry	Extra attempts after a failure. Default: the test’s default (0).
On error	onError	abort, continue or ignore. See Error handling.
Soft assertion	soft	Validation steps: record the failure, continue, fail the run at the end
Skip this step	disabled	Keep the step but do not run it

After every Browser and Interaction step, the runner waits for the page to settle (navigation, pending requests) before the next step, so steps see the page a person would see.

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Browser

Open — browser.open

Navigate to a URL. Target: no. Engines: web.

Param	Kind	Required	Default	Meaning
url	template	yes		Address to open, e.g. {{baseUrl}}/orders
waitUntil	fixed		load	When navigation counts as done: load, domcontentloaded, networkidle

Back — browser.back · Forward — browser.forward · Refresh — browser.refresh

Browser history back, forward, and reload. No parameters. Target: no. Engines: web.

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Interaction

Click — click

Click an element. Target: yes. Engines: all. Healable.

Param	Default	Meaning
button	left	left, right, middle
force	false	Click even if the element looks covered or not ready. Use sparingly.

Double click — doubleClick

Double-click an element. No parameters. Target: yes. Engines: all.

Type — input

Type a value into a field. Target: yes. Engines: all.

Param	Kind	Required	Default	Meaning
value	template	yes		Text to type, e.g. {{secret.APP_PASSWORD}} or PO for {{vendor}}
clearFirst			true	true: replace the field’s content in one go. false: type key by key after the existing content (for fields that react to each keystroke).
sensitive			false	Treat the typed value as a secret: masked in reports and logs

Clear — clear

Empty a field. No parameters. Target: yes. Engines: all.

Select — select

Choose an option in a dropdown (<select>). Target: yes. Engines: web.

Param	Kind	Required	Default	Meaning
value	template	yes		The option to choose
by			value	Match the option’s value attribute, its visible label, or its index (0-based)

Check — check

Set a checkbox or radio button. Target: yes. Engines: all.

Param	Default	Meaning
checked	true	true to tick, false to untick

Upload file — upload

Attach files to a file input. Target: yes. Engines: web.

Param	Kind	Required	Meaning
files	template	yes	One path per line. Absolute paths are used as-is. Relative paths are resolved against the server’s files folder, <ATX_DATA_DIR>/files (CLI: the --files folder, default the test file’s folder).

There is no screen for adding files to the files folder yet. An administrator copies them there (e.g. /var/lib/autotestx/files/invoice.pdf, then files = invoice.pdf). The folder is shared by all projects on the server.

The target may be the <input type="file"> itself or a styled Browse button. For a button, the file chooser it opens is intercepted, because operating-system dialogs cannot be driven.

Hover — hover

Move the mouse over an element, e.g. to open a menu. No parameters. Target: yes. Engines: web.

Press key — keyboard

Press a key or chord on the page. Target: no. Engines: all.

Param	Required	Meaning
key	yes	Playwright key name: Enter, Tab, Escape, ArrowDown, Control+A, Shift+Tab

Lookup — lookup

Choose values in a lookup dialog, searching its pages for each one. Target: yes (the opener, the button or icon that shows the lookup). Engines: web. Block: its children are optional setup steps replayed inside the lookup before searching (e.g. type in the search box, click Search).

Param	Kind	Required	Default	Meaning
values	template list	yes*		The values to choose, found by identity (text), never by row position. Up to 100. *Not needed for cancel.
completion		yes		select: clicking a value chooses it and closes the lookup (one value only). ok: select every value, then click OK. cancel: dismiss the lookup.
match			equals	equals or contains
column				Header of the result column the values appear in, when there are several
selection				persistent: selections survive paging. pageLocal: paging drops selections, so all values must be on one page.
selectBy			click	click the value, or tick its row’s checkbox
maxPages			25	Most result pages to search (max 500)
window			false	The lookup opens in its own browser window
verifyUnchanged			false	cancel only: fail if the parent field’s value changed. Needs the field control.
controls				Targets for the lookup’s own parts: dialog, result, next, previous, ok, cancel, searchField, searchButton, field
history				What the tester did while recording, kept for review and never replayed

Rules: ok needs the ok control; cancel needs the cancel control; select takes one value. A retry dismisses the lookup and starts again from scratch. Usually created by the recorder.

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Validation

All validation steps can be soft (see Error handling). A failed assertion reports expected and actual.

Exists — assert.exists

Assert an element exists in the page. Target: yes. Engines: all.

Param	Default	Meaning
negate	false	true: assert it does not exist

Visible — assert.visible

Assert an element is visible. Target: yes. Engines: all.

Param	Default	Meaning
negate	false	true: assert it is not visible

Text — assert.text

Assert an element’s text (trimmed). Target: yes. Engines: all.

Param	Kind	Required	Default	Meaning
expected	template	yes		Expected text
match			equals	equals, contains, regex
negate			false	true: assert it does not match

Value — assert.value

Assert the value of a form field (exact match). Target: yes. Engines: all.

Param	Kind	Required	Meaning
expected	template	yes	Expected value
negate			true: assert it is not this value

Attribute — assert.attribute

Assert an attribute of an element (exact match). Target: yes. Engines: all.

Param	Kind	Required	Meaning
name	fixed	yes	Attribute name, e.g. aria-disabled, href, class
expected	template	yes	Expected value. A missing attribute counts as "".
negate			true: assert it is not this value

URL — assert.url

Assert the current page address. Target: no. Engines: web.

Param	Kind	Required	Default	Meaning
expected	template	yes		Expected URL
match			equals	equals, contains, regex

Expression — assert.expression

Assert that an expression is true. Target: no. Engines: all.

Param	Kind	Required	Meaning
expression	expression	yes	Must evaluate to true/false, e.g. STARTS_WITH(poNumber, 'PO-') AND LENGTH(poNumber) > 3

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Control

Wait — wait

Wait a fixed time. Target: no. Engines: all. Prefer Wait for element or Poll API; fixed waits make tests slow and flaky.

Param	Required	Meaning
ms	yes	Milliseconds, 1 to 300000

Wait for element — wait.element

Wait for an element to reach a state. Target: yes. Engines: all.

Param	Default	Meaning
state	visible	visible, hidden, attached (in the page, maybe hidden), detached (removed). For hidden/detached, an element that cannot be found counts as success.

Wait for network — wait.networkIdle

Wait until network activity settles. Target: no. Engines: web.

Param	Meaning
idleMs	Accepted but currently ignored: the step waits for the browser’s standard network idle state, limited by the step timeout

Screenshot — screenshot

Capture a screenshot into the run report. Always captured, whatever the screenshot setting of the run. Target: no. Engines: all.

Param	Default	Meaning
name		Name for the image
fullPage	false	Capture the whole scrollable page, not just the window

If / Else — control.if

Run the child steps when a condition is true, otherwise the otherwise (orElse) steps. Target: no. Engines: all.

Param	Kind	Required	Meaning
condition	expression	yes	e.g. {{status}} == 'Approved' or COUNT(lines) > 0

For each — control.forEach

Repeat the child steps for each item of a list. Target: no. Engines: all.

Param	Kind	Required	Default	Meaning
items	expression	yes		A list, e.g. lines (a test variable) or orders.body.items
as	fixed	yes		Name of the loop variable, e.g. line. Inside: {{line.item}}.
maxIterations			list length	Upper bound (max 10000)

items must be a list, or the step fails.

Repeat — control.repeat

Repeat the child steps a fixed number of times. Target: no. Engines: all.

Param	Required	Meaning
times	yes	1 to 10000
as		Optional counter variable, starting at 0

While — control.while

Repeat the child steps while a condition holds. Target: no. Engines: all.

Param	Kind	Required	Meaning
condition	expression	yes	Checked before each iteration
maxIterations		yes	Ceiling (max 10000). Reaching it fails the step.
maxDurationMs			Time ceiling (max 1800000). Exceeding it fails the step.

Every loop has a ceiling, so a misbehaving application ends the test with a clear failure instead of hanging.

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Data

Extract — extract

Read a value from an element into a runtime variable. Target: yes. Engines: all.

Param	Required	Default	Meaning
saveAs	yes		Variable name, e.g. poNumber. Later steps use {{poNumber}}.
from		text	text (visible text, whitespace normalised), value (form field value), attribute
attribute			Attribute name when from is attribute

Extracted values are always text. Use NUMBER(x) to compare them as numbers.

Set variable — setVariable

Set a runtime variable from an expression. Target: no. Engines: all.

Param	Kind	Required	Meaning
name	fixed	yes	Variable name
value	expression	yes	e.g. CONCAT('Vendor ', NOW()), COUNT(lines), qty * 2

value is an expression, so text needs quotes: 'Approved', not Approved.

Custom code — script.run

Run a sandboxed JavaScript or TypeScript snippet. Target: no. Engines: web. Needs the Write custom code permission to create or change. See Custom code.

Param	Required	Default	Meaning
source	yes		Function body, up to 20000 characters. return a value or throw to fail. Not a template.
language		javascript	javascript or typescript
assignTo			Variable for the returned value. Empty: the step is a check.
secrets		none	Secret names the code may read (max 20)
timeLimitMs		1000	CPU time (max 10000; the step timeout also applies)

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Integration

Call component — component.call

Run a pinned version of a component. Target: no. Engines: all.

Param	Kind	Required	Meaning
componentId		yes	The component
version		yes	The pinned version number. Never “latest”.
arguments	template map		Parameter name → value, evaluated in the caller’s scope

HTTP request — http.request

Send an HTTP request and remember the response. Target: no. Engines: web. Shares the browser session’s cookies. See API testing.

Param	Kind	Required	Default	Meaning
url	template	yes		Absolute URL
method			GET	GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD
headers	template map			Header name → value
body	template			Request body as text; JSON is detected
expectStatus			any 2xx	201, 2xx, 200,204, any
saveAs				Variable receiving { status, ok, headers, body, durationMs }
sensitive			false	Mask the response body in reports and variables

Poll API — http.poll

Repeat an HTTP request until the response meets a condition. Target: no. Engines: web. All http.request parameters, plus:

Param	Kind	Required	Default	Meaning
until	expression	yes		Checked after each response, available as response
intervalMs			1000	Pause between requests (max 60000)
maxAttempts			until timeout	Most requests (max 1000). The step timeout always limits the poll.

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Engine support summary

Web only	All engines
Open, Back, Forward, Refresh, Select, Upload file, Hover, Lookup, URL, Wait for network, Custom code, HTTP request, Poll API	Click, Double click, Type, Clear, Check, Press key, Exists, Visible, Text, Value, Attribute, Expression, Wait, Wait for element, Screenshot, If / Else, For each, Repeat, While, Extract, Set variable, Call component

Changing a test’s engine re-validates every step against this table. Only the web engine is implemented today.