browserstack-local

What is browserstack-local?

The browserstack-local npm package allows you to establish a secure connection between your local machine and the BrowserStack cloud. This enables you to test your web applications hosted on your local server or behind a firewall using BrowserStack's real device cloud.

What are browserstack-local's main functionalities?

Start Local Testing

This feature allows you to start a local testing connection with BrowserStack. You need to provide your BrowserStack access key to establish the connection. Once the connection is established, you can run your tests and then stop the connection.

const browserstack = require('browserstack-local');

const bs_local = new browserstack.Local();
const bs_local_args = { 'key': 'YOUR_ACCESS_KEY' };

bs_local.start(bs_local_args, function(error) {
  if (error) return console.log(error);
  console.log('Started BrowserStackLocal');

  // Your test code here

  bs_local.stop(function() {
    console.log('Stopped BrowserStackLocal');
  });
});

Stop Local Testing

This feature allows you to stop the local testing connection. It is important to stop the connection after your tests are completed to ensure that no unnecessary resources are being used.

bs_local.stop(function() {
  console.log('Stopped BrowserStackLocal');
});

Check Local Testing Status

This feature allows you to check if the local testing connection is currently running. It returns a boolean value indicating the status of the connection.

console.log(bs_local.isRunning());

Other packages similar to browserstack-local

ngrok

ngrok exposes local servers behind NATs and firewalls to the public internet over secure tunnels. It is similar to browserstack-local in that it allows you to test local applications, but it does not provide the same level of integration with a cloud-based testing platform like BrowserStack.

localtunnel

localtunnel allows you to easily share a web service on your local development machine without messing with DNS and firewall settings. It is similar to browserstack-local in that it provides a way to expose local servers, but it lacks the specific integration with BrowserStack's testing infrastructure.

serveo

serveo is an alternative to ngrok that allows you to expose local servers to the internet. It is similar to browserstack-local in that it provides a way to expose local servers, but it does not offer the same level of integration with a cloud-based testing platform like BrowserStack.

README

browserstack-local-nodejs

Nodejs bindings for BrowserStack Local.

Installation

npm install browserstack-local

Example

var browserstack = require('browserstack-local');

//creates an instance of Local
var bs_local = new browserstack.Local();

// replace <browserstack-accesskey> with your key. You can also set an environment variable - "BROWSERSTACK_ACCESS_KEY".
var bs_local_args = { 'key': '<browserstack-accesskey>' };

// starts the Local instance with the required arguments
bs_local.start(bs_local_args, function() {
  console.log("Started BrowserStackLocal");

  // check if BrowserStack local instance is running
  console.log(bs_local.isRunning());

  // stop the Local instance
  bs_local.stop(function() {
    console.log("Stopped BrowserStackLocal");
  });
});

Arguments

Apart from the key, all other BrowserStack Local modifiers are optional. For the full list of modifiers, refer BrowserStack Local modifiers. For examples, refer below -

Verbose Logging

To enable verbose logging -

bs_local_args = { 'key': '<browserstack-accesskey>', 'verbose': 'true' }

Note - Possible values for 'verbose' modifier are '1', '2', '3' and 'true'

Folder Testing

To test local folder rather internal server, provide path to folder as value of this option -

bs_local_args = { 'key': '<browserstack-accesskey>', 'f': '/my/awesome/folder' }

Force Start

To kill other running Browserstack Local instances -

bs_local_args = { 'key': '<browserstack-accesskey>', 'force': 'true' }

Only Automate

To disable local testing for Live and Screenshots, and enable only Automate -

bs_local_args = { 'key': '<browserstack-accesskey>', 'onlyAutomate': 'true' }

Force Local

To route all traffic via local(your) machine -

bs_local_args = { 'key': '<browserstack-accesskey>', 'forceLocal': 'true' }

Proxy

To use a proxy for local testing -

• proxyHost: Hostname/IP of proxy, remaining proxy options are ignored if this option is absent
• proxyPort: Port for the proxy, defaults to 3128 when -proxyHost is used
• proxyUser: Username for connecting to proxy (Basic Auth Only)
• proxyPass: Password for USERNAME, will be ignored if USERNAME is empty or not specified
• useCaCertificate: Path to ca cert file, if required

bs_local_args = { 'key': '<browserstack-accesskey>', 'proxyHost': '127.0.0.1', 'proxyPort': '8000', 'proxyUser': 'user', 'proxyPass': 'password', 'useCaCertificate': '/Users/test/cert.pem' }

Local Proxy

To use local proxy in local testing -

• localProxyHost: Hostname/IP of proxy, remaining proxy options are ignored if this option is absent
• localProxyPort: Port for the proxy, defaults to 8081 when -localProxyHost is used
• localProxyUser: Username for connecting to proxy (Basic Auth Only)
• localProxyPass: Password for USERNAME, will be ignored if USERNAME is empty or not specified

bs_local_args = { 'key': '<browserstack-accesskey>', 'localProxyHost': '127.0.0.1', 'localProxyPort': '8000', 'localProxyUser': 'user', 'localProxyPass': 'password' }

PAC (Proxy Auto-Configuration)

To use PAC (Proxy Auto-Configuration) in local testing -

• pac-file: PAC (Proxy Auto-Configuration) file’s absolute path

bs_local_args = { 'key': '<browserstack-accesskey>', 'pac-file': '<pac_file_abs_path>' }

Local Identifier

If doing simultaneous multiple local testing connections, set this uniquely for different processes -

bs_local_args = { 'key': '<browserstack-accesskey>', 'localIdentifier': 'randomstring' }

Additional Arguments

Binary Path

By default, BrowserStack local wrappers try downloading and executing the latest version of BrowserStack binary in ~/.browserstack or the present working directory or the tmp folder by order. But you can override these by passing the -binarypath argument. Path to specify local Binary path -

bs_local_args = { 'key': '<browserstack-accesskey>', 'binarypath': '/browserstack/BrowserStackLocal' }

Logfile

To save the logs to the file while running with the '-v' argument, you can specify the path of the file. By default the logs are saved in the local.log file in the present woring directory. To specify the path to file where the logs will be saved -

bs_local_args = { 'key': '<browserstack-accesskey>', 'verbose': 'true', 'logFile': '/browserstack/logs.txt' }

Contribute

Instructions

To run the test suite run, npm test.

Reporting bugs

You can submit bug reports either in the Github issue tracker.

Before submitting an issue please check if there is already an existing issue. If there is, please add any additional information give it a "+1" in the comments.

When submitting an issue please describe the issue clearly, including how to reproduce the bug, which situations it appears in, what you expect to happen, what actually happens, and what platform (operating system and version) you are using.

Pull Requests

We love pull requests! We are very happy to work with you to get your changes merged in, however, please keep the following in mind.

• Adhere to the coding conventions you see in the surrounding code.
• Include tests, and make sure all tests pass.
• Before submitting a pull-request, clean up the git history by going over your commits and squashing together minor changes and fixes into the corresponding commits. You can do this using the interactive rebase command.