Refining steps in the Action History
Reorder, filter, comment and fine-tune recorded steps, without recording again.
The Action History lists every step as a card, in order.
Panel header
- Counters: total steps, act (interactions), nav (navigations), ast (assertions).
- Undo (Ctrl+Z) and Redo (Ctrl+Shift+Z or Ctrl+Y), up to 50 changes.
- Collapse all / Expand all cards.
- Filter actions... searches step text, values, URLs, comments and locators; the dropdown filters by All, Interactions, Navigations, Assertions. Reordering is disabled while a filter is active.
- Data opens the test’s data table, to run the test once per row (see Test data). A DATA N badge shows how many rows it has.
Step card
| Element | What it does |
|---|---|
| Checkbox | Selects the step (Shift+click selects a range). |
| Drag handle | Drag to reorder. The first step always stays first. |
| Chevron | Collapses or expands the card. |
| Number, icon, title | Position and readable description, e.g. Click Sign in, Type “demo@shop.test”. Passwords show as ••••••. |
| Value | The value of a typed field, a dropdown choice or an assertion, editable right on the card. The { } button inserts dynamic data, saved variables, test data columns and secrets; an e.g. preview shows a sample value, and a ⚠ warns about a {{name}} that is not recognized. |
| Dropdown option | On a dropdown step: Fixed, Random, First or Last (see Random dropdown options). |
| Save as variable | On a typed field or dropdown step: save the value under a name to reuse it later as {{name}} (see Variables). |
| Optional | Skips the step when its element does not appear within the seconds you set (default 3) — see Optional steps. |
| Box icon | Adds the step’s element to the current Page Object, or removes it (see Page Objects). |
| Duplicate Action | Copies the step right below. |
| Delete Action | Removes the step. |
| Badges | NOT / SOFT on negated or soft assertions; dynamic (dice icon) when the value changes at each run; .* for a regular-expression check; → {{name}} when the step saves a variable; OPTIONAL 3s on optional steps. |
| BDD keyword | The Gherkin keyword for this step: the first step is always Given, the last is always Then; steps in between can be set to When, Then or And (by default: assertions get Then, the step just before an assertion gets When, the others And). |
| Locator health dot + dropdown | Green = strong (3+ alternative locators), amber = fair or fragile (2 or 1), red = none. The dropdown chooses which locator the code uses — if the page changes, switch locator instead of re-recording. |
| Dice button | Only on clicks in a repeating list: click a random, the first or the last item at each run instead of the recorded one (see Repeating lists). |
| Add a comment... | Free text. Appears as a comment in the code, a note in Manual Steps and a comment in Gherkin. |
Hovering a card highlights the element in the browser and the matching line in all three output views.
Working with several steps
Select cards with their checkboxes to show the selection bar:
- All visible / Clear — select all filtered steps / clear the selection.
- Set BDD… — apply When, Then or And to all selected steps.
- Pin / Unpin — pinned steps stay visible even when they don’t match the filter.
- To method — turns the selected steps into a Page Object method (see Methods).
- Delete — deletes the selected steps.
Inserting steps
Hover the thin gap between two cards (or below the last one) and click +:
- Record from here — sets the insert point for the next recording (see Editing an existing test).
- Insert wait — adds a pause of 500ms, 1s, 2s or 5s.
- Page health check — checks for console errors, failed requests and broken images (see Page health check).
Something unclear or missing? Write to info@actify-studio.com.