CodeceptJS Page Exploration

Authoring a test, debugging a failure, and refactoring a stale locator share one task: open a page, find the right element, pick a stable locator. This is that playbook.

Tools

• run_code — runs CodeceptJS code, returns produced values, captures console.*, saves a final-state snapshot. For do something and look at the result.
• snapshot — captures state without acting (URL, cookies, localStorage, HTML, ARIA, screenshot, console). For "what's on the page right now".

Artifact sources, in preference order:

1. ARIA snapshot — structured, no styling noise, easy duplicate/accessibility-name scanning
2. Screenshot — visual confirmation; catches layout breaks ARIA can't show
3. HTML — only when ARIA lacks context (custom widgets without accessible names, attribute-driven behaviour)

Inspect an element

I.grabWebElement(locator) → one WebElement; I.grabWebElements(locator) → array. Same cross-helper API on Playwright / Puppeteer / WebDriver.