Writing Tests

Alerts & Windows

Handle dialogs, notifications, popups, tabs, and multi-window flows with predictable waits.

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Documentation goal: this page is written as practical product documentation, with enough context to help a real QA engineer decide how to use the feature in a maintainable test suite.

Dialogs

Native alerts and confirm dialogs pause page execution. Tests should register the expected dialog behavior before triggering the action that opens it.

Popups and tabs

When a click opens a new tab or window, capture that new page explicitly. Avoid assuming the browser automatically switches to the page you intended.

Notifications

Browser notifications depend on permission state. Set permissions deliberately in setup so the test is about product behavior, not browser prompting.

await orbit.acceptDialog(async () => {
  await orbit.click('Delete project');
});

const popup = await orbit.waitForPopup(async () => {
  await orbit.click('Open invoice');
});
expect(await popup.hasText('Invoice')).toBe(true);

Practical checklist

Keep the workflow readable enough that a QA engineer, developer, or product teammate can understand the intent without opening application source code.
Prefer user-visible names, stable configuration, and clear evidence over hidden assumptions or brittle implementation details.
Run the smallest useful check locally before adding it to CI, then verify that failures produce screenshots, logs, traces, or reports that explain what happened.
Review this part of the suite regularly so outdated examples, stale setup, and obsolete workarounds do not reduce trust in the automation.

Common mistakes to avoid

Do not add automation only to increase test count. Each page and test should protect a clear user journey, release risk, or debugging need.
Do not hide important behavior inside helpers so deeply that the test no longer explains what the user is doing.
Do not rely on fixed sleeps when the application can expose a meaningful ready state such as visible text, URL change, element availability, or completed evidence capture.
Do not ignore failing artifacts. A report, screenshot, trace, or log entry should feed back into better product code, better waits, or clearer test data setup.

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