testdriver:redraw

Overview

The redraw system waits for the screen to become stable after an interaction. Then it continues. It finds when animations, page loads, and network requests are complete. This stops actions on a screen that changes.

<Note> **Redraw is disabled by default from v7.3.** Enable it if your tests interact with applications that have many animations or load states. </Note>

How It Works

Redraw uses a two-phase detection method:

Change Detection. TestDriver compares the present frame to the first screenshot from after the action. If the pixel diff is more than 0.1%, the screen changed.
Stability Detection — TestDriver compares frames that come after each other with z-score analysis. When the diff between frames is less than 0.1%, or the z-score is negative (the present diff is less than the average), the screen is complete.

The screen is complete when both phases finish: the screen changed from the first state AND the frames that come after each other are now stable.

flowchart TD
    A[Action performed] --> B{Phase 1: Change Detection\ndiffFromInitial > 0.1%?}
    B -- "Yes (screen changed)" --> C{Phase 2: Stability\nz-score < 0 or\ndiffPercent < 0.1%?}
    C -- "Yes (frames stable)" --> D[Screen settled ✓]
    B -- "No (waiting...)" --> B
    C -- "No (waiting...)" --> C

Polling

The system polls at 500ms intervals, comparing screenshot frames. This reduces WebSocket traffic while still providing responsive detection.

Pixel Comparison

Uses pixelmatch for per-pixel comparison with a threshold of 0.1 for pixel sensitivity. A frame diff above 0.1% of total pixels indicates the screen has changed.

Z-Score Analysis

Screen stability uses statistical analysis of the last 10 measurements:

Calculate the mean and standard deviation of consecutive frame diffs
Compute the z-score: (currentDiff - mean) / stddev
Screen is stable when diffPercent < 0.1% or z-score < 0 (current diff is below the average)

This approach adapts to the specific animation patterns of your application rather than using a fixed threshold.

Per-Command Timeouts

Each command type has a specific redraw timeout:

Command	Timeout	Reason
`click`	5000ms	Page navigations, modal openings
`hover` (within click)	5000ms	Same as click
`hover` (standalone)	2500ms	Tooltip animations
`scroll`	5000ms	Lazy-loaded content
`type`	5000ms	Autocomplete, validation
`pressKeys`	5000ms	Keyboard shortcuts may trigger changes
`focusApplication`	1000ms	Window focus animations

If the timeout is reached before the screen settles, the command continues anyway. The timeout event is available via the redraw:complete event.

Configuration

Constructor Options

const testdriver = new TestDriver({
  // Shorthand: enable/disable
  redraw: true,    // enable with defaults
  redraw: false,   // disable (default since v7.3)

  // Full configuration
  redraw: {
    enabled: true,
    screenRedraw: true,       // enable screen pixel diff detection
    networkMonitor: false,    // enable network settling detection
  },
});

<ParamField path="redraw" type="RedrawConfig | boolean" default={false}> Redraw configuration. Pass `true`/`false` for shorthand, or an object for fine-grained control. <Expandable title="properties"> <ParamField path="enabled" type="boolean" default={false}> Enable or disable the redraw system. Default changed to `false` in v7.3. </ParamField>

<ParamField path="screenRedraw" type="boolean" default={true}>
  Enable pixel-diff-based screen change detection. If both `screenRedraw` and `networkMonitor` are `false`, redraw auto-disables.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="networkMonitor" type="boolean" default={false}>
  Enable network traffic monitoring for settling detection. Monitors WebSocket traffic on the sandbox to detect when network activity subsides.
</ParamField>

</Expandable> </ParamField>

Per-Command Override

Override redraw settings for individual commands:

// Enable redraw for a specific click
await testdriver.find('load more').click({
  redraw: { enabled: true },
});

// Disable redraw for a fast interaction
await testdriver.find('checkbox').click({
  redraw: false,
});

Network Settling

When networkMonitor is enabled, the system also monitors sandbox network traffic:

Polls for totalBytesReceived and totalBytesSent from the sandbox
Keeps the last 60 measurements
Calculates z-scores for both RX and TX byte rates
Network is settled when both RX and TX z-scores are negative (traffic is below average)
Has a 10-second timeout for network polling
Non-critical: network errors are logged but never throw

The final settling condition requires both screen AND network to be settled (when both are enabled).

Events

The redraw system emits events through the SDK emitter. See Events for the full event reference.

Event	Description
`redraw:status`	Emitted on each poll with current screen diff, network stats, and timeout info
`redraw:complete`	Emitted when redraw resolves (settled or timed out)

testdriver.emitter.on('redraw:status', (status) => {
  console.log(`Screen: ${status.redraw.text}`);
  console.log(`Network: ${status.network.text}`);
  console.log(`Timeout: ${status.timeout.text}`);
});

testdriver.emitter.on('redraw:complete', (result) => {
  if (result.isTimeout) {
    console.warn(`Redraw timed out after ${result.timeElapsed}ms`);
  } else {
    console.log(`Screen settled in ${result.timeElapsed}ms`);
  }
});

When to Use Redraw

Enable redraw when:

Testing single-page applications (SPAs) with route transitions
Interacting with pages that lazy-load content on scroll
Clicking buttons that trigger animations or modals
Testing apps with significant network-driven UI updates

Keep redraw disabled when:

Tests are already stable without it
You want faster test execution
Your application has minimal animations
You're using explicit waits or assertions instead

Types

interface RedrawConfig {
  enabled?: boolean;              // Default: false (since v7.3)
  screenRedraw?: boolean;         // Default: true
  networkMonitor?: boolean;       // Default: false
}

interface RedrawStatusEvent {
  redraw: {
    enabled: boolean;
    settled: boolean;
    hasChangedFromInitial: boolean;
    consecutiveFramesStable: number;
    diffFromInitial: number;
    diffFromLast: number;
    text: string;
  };
  network: {
    enabled: boolean;
    settled: boolean;
    rxBytes: number;
    txBytes: number;
    text: string;
  };
  timeout: {
    isTimeout: boolean;
    elapsed: number;
    max: number;
    text: string;
  };
}

interface RedrawCompleteEvent {
  screenSettled: boolean;
  hasChangedFromInitial: boolean;
  consecutiveFramesStable: number;
  networkSettled: boolean;
  isTimeout: boolean;
  timeElapsed: number;
}