Create Browser Tests Directly From Datadog RUM Session Replay | Datadog

Create browser tests directly from Datadog RUM Session Replay

Author Hugo Puceat
Author Jamie Milstein
Author Mallory Mooney

Published: September 11, 2023

Testing is a key part of application development and helps you maintain a reliable experience for your users. But the process can be difficult to scale and is often siloed to a single team or individual that does not have broad knowledge of your application’s UI. This can lead to organizations investing in sizable test suites that do not accurately represent real user behavior.

To address these challenges, we’re excited to announce that you can now create Synthetic Browser tests directly from Datadog RUM and Session Replay. This allows you to create tests that accurately reflect the behavior of your users as they interact with your application. It also increases collaboration in building your organization’s testing workflows instead of limiting them to the responsibility of one team. Now any team within your organization can easily build the tests they need to verify the functionality of their own services. Together, these capabilities ensure that you have the most accurate and thorough tests for your application, which can significantly improve your return on investment for the testing process.

Create brand-new tests with one click

Creating new tests from Datadog Session Replay is fast and simple. To create a test, navigate to a session replay and click the “Generate Synthetic Browser Test” button.

Generate a Synthetic Browser test from a Session Replay

This will automatically clone the events captured within a session replay, such as user clicks and page loads, into individual steps for a new browser test. You can further customize your tests and test steps to suit your needs, just as you would for any other browser test. For instance, you can add additional test steps (such as assertions), adjust the frequency of your tests’ runs, and customize their notifications.

Add instant value to your testing workflows

Datadog RUM’s Session Replay helps eliminate the guesswork when creating browser tests. Instead of needing extensive knowledge of your application’s UI or users, your teams can instantly create valuable tests based on recorded sessions. This allows you to catch issues that you may have otherwise overlooked, including:

  • New or unexpected ways that your users interact with your application
  • Users running into critical errors while interacting with an application feature
  • New features that introduce bugs into production

As with all tests, the ones you create from a replay are deeply integrated with the rest of the Datadog platform. For example, Datadog RUM and Synthetic Monitoring can give you a better picture of test coverage and untested workflows so you can determine which tests will add the most value to your application.

View test coverage for Datadog Synthetic Browser tests

Streamline your testing workflows

With the ability to create browser tests directly from Datadog RUM’s Session Replay, you can develop testing workflows that accurately reflect user behavior. This allows you to ship new features faster and with confidence, foster collaboration among teams, and maintain reliable applications. Check out our documentation to learn more. If you don’t already have a Datadog account, you can sign up for a .