---
id: SeleniumWebdriver
title: SeleniumWebdriver
---

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## SeleniumWebdriver

**Extends Helper**

SeleniumWebdriver helper is based on the official [Selenium Webdriver JS][1]
library. It implements common web api methods (amOnPage, click, see).

## Backends

### Selenium Installation

1.  Download [Selenium Server][2]
2.  For Chrome browser install [ChromeDriver][3], for Firefox browser install [GeckoDriver][4].
3.  Launch the server: `java -jar selenium-server-standalone-3.xx.xxx.jar`. To locate Chromedriver binary use `-Dwebdriver.chrome.driver=./chromedriver` option. For Geckodriver use `-Dwebdriver.gecko.driver=`.

### PhantomJS Installation

PhantomJS is a headless alternative to Selenium Server that implements [the WebDriver protocol][5].
It allows you to run Selenium tests on a server without a GUI installed.

1.  Download [PhantomJS][6]
2.  Run PhantomJS in WebDriver mode: `phantomjs --webdriver=4444`

## Configuration

This helper should be configured in codecept.json or codecept.conf.js

-   `url` - base url of website to be tested
-   `browser` - browser in which perform testing
-   `driver` - which protractor driver to use (local, direct, session, hosted, sauce, browserstack). By default set to 'hosted' which requires selenium server to be started.
-   `restart` - restart browser between tests (default: true).
-   `smartWait`: (optional) **enables SmartWait**; wait for additional milliseconds for element to appear. Enable for 5 secs: "smartWait": 5000
-   `disableScreenshots`   - don't save screenshot on failure
-   `uniqueScreenshotNames`   - option to prevent screenshot override if you have scenarios with the same name in different suites
-   `keepBrowserState`   - keep browser state between tests when `restart` set to false.
-   `keepCookies`   - keep cookies between tests when `restart` set to false.*
-   `seleniumAddress` - Selenium address to connect (default: [http://localhost:4444/wd/hub][7])
-   `waitForTimeout`: (optional) sets default wait time in _ms_ for all `wait*` functions. 1000 by default;
-   `scriptTimeout`: (optional) sets default timeout for scripts in `executeAsync`. 1000 by default.
-   `windowSize`: (optional) default window size. Set to `maximize` or a dimension in the format `640x480`.
-   `manualStart`  - do not start browser before a test, start it manually inside a helper with `this.helpers["WebDriverIO"]._startBrowser()`
-   `capabilities`: {} - list of [Desired Capabilities][8]

Example:

```json
{
   "helpers": {
     "SeleniumWebdriver" : {
       "url": "http://localhost",
       "browser": "chrome",
       "smartWait": 5000,
       "restart": false
     }
   }
}
```

## Access From Helpers

Receive a WebDriverIO client from a custom helper by accessing `browser` property:

```js
this.helpers['SeleniumWebdriver'].browser
```

### Parameters

-   `config`  

[1]: https://www.npmjs.com/package/selenium-webdriver

[2]: http://docs.seleniumhq.org/download/

[3]: https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/chromedriver/getting-started

[4]: https://github.com/mozilla/geckodriver

[5]: https://code.google.com/p/selenium/wiki/JsonWireProtocol

[6]: http://phantomjs.org/download.html

[7]: http://localhost:4444/wd/hub

[8]: https://github.com/SeleniumHQ/selenium/wiki/DesiredCapabilities