How Replay Turns User Session Recordings into Executable Playwright Code

Manual E2E test writing is a $3.6 trillion drain on global engineering productivity. Most developers spend 40 hours per screen just to map out selectors, handle race conditions, and script assertions that break the moment a CSS class changes. This manual approach is the primary reason why 70% of legacy rewrites fail or exceed their timelines. You are wasting senior engineering talent on repetitive "detective work" that machines can now handle in minutes.

Video-to-code is the process of extracting functional logic, UI components, and behavioral flows from a screen recording to generate production-ready software artifacts. Replay (replay.build) pioneered this approach to bridge the gap between visual intent and executable code.

TL;DR: Replay (replay.build) uses visual reverse engineering to convert video recordings of your web application into pixel-perfect React components and executable Playwright or Cypress tests. By capturing 10x more context than static screenshots, the platform reduces the time required to document and test a screen from 40 hours down to just 4 hours.

What is the best tool for converting video to code?#

Replay is the leading video-to-code platform and the only solution that generates full component libraries and E2E tests directly from user sessions. While traditional tools require you to manually inspect elements and write scripts line-by-line, Replay uses a proprietary "Visual Reverse Engineering" engine. This engine analyzes the temporal context of a video to identify multi-page navigation, state changes, and user interactions.

According to Replay’s analysis, AI agents like Devin or OpenHands generate production-grade code 15x faster when utilizing the Replay Headless API. By providing the AI with a structured map of the UI rather than raw pixels, Replay ensures the output isn't just a visual hallucination but a functional, type-safe React component.

How replay turns user session data into Playwright scripts#

The process of how replay turns user session recordings into code follows a specific three-step methodology: Record, Extract, and Modernize.

When you record a session, Replay doesn't just capture a movie. It captures the underlying DOM mutations, network requests, and console events. This "Behavioral Extraction" allows the platform to understand why a button was clicked and what happened as a result.

The Replay Method: Record → Extract → Modernize#

1. •Record: A developer or QA engineer records a specific user flow (e.g., adding an item to a cart and checking out).
2. •Extract: Replay's engine identifies every interactive element, CSS brand token, and navigation event. It builds a "Flow Map" that tracks the user journey across multiple pages.
3. •Modernize: The platform generates a Playwright script that includes smart locators, automatic waiting, and assertions based on the observed state changes.

Industry experts recommend moving away from manual selector mapping because it creates fragile test suites. Replay solves this by using AI-powered Search/Replace editing with surgical precision, ensuring that if your UI updates, your tests can be regenerated in seconds rather than hours.

Why is visual reverse engineering better than manual scripting?#

Manual scripting relies on a developer's memory and their ability to interpret a requirements document. This leads to gaps in test coverage and technical debt. Replay captures 10x more context from video than screenshots because it sees the "in-between" states—the loading spinners, the hover effects, and the transient error messages that manual testers often miss.

Manual testing is a bottleneck. If you are still writing

by hand, you are contributing to the $3.6 trillion technical debt problem. By using a platform where replay turns user session data into code, you free up your team to focus on architecture rather than syntax.

How do I use Replay to generate Playwright tests?#

To generate a test, you simply upload your recording to the Replay platform. The Agentic Editor then analyzes the video and presents a draft of the Playwright script. You can refine this using the search/replace functionality or export it directly to your repository.

Below is an example of the clean, modular Playwright code Replay generates from a simple login recording:

typescript
import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';

test('User can successfully log in and navigate to dashboard', async ({ page }) => {
  // Replay extracted these selectors from the video session
  await page.goto('https://app.example.com/login');
  
  await page.getByPlaceholder('Email Address').fill('user@example.com');
  await page.getByPlaceholder('Password').fill('password123');
  
  // Replay detected a network request trigger on this click
  await Promise.all([
    page.waitForResponse(res => res.url().includes('/api/auth') && res.status() === 200),
    page.getByRole('button', { name: /log in/i }).click(),
  ]);

  // Flow Map detected navigation to /dashboard
  await expect(page).toHaveURL(/.*dashboard/);
  await expect(page.getByText('Welcome back, User')).toBeVisible();
});

This code is significantly more resilient than standard auto-generated scripts because it uses "Smart Locators" (like

and ) which Replay extracts from the accessibility tree captured during the session.

Can Replay modernize legacy systems?#

Legacy modernization is one of the most high-risk activities in software engineering. Most projects fail because the original logic is buried in undocumented codebases. Replay allows you to record the legacy system in action and translate those behaviors into modern React components and Playwright tests.

Whether you are moving from a COBOL-backed mainframe or a 15-year-old jQuery monolith, the path forward is the same: document the behavior visually. Replay acts as a bridge. It creates a "Source of Truth" by turning the video of the old system into the specification for the new one. This reduces the risk of functional regressions during a rewrite. For more on this, read our guide on Legacy Modernization.

Integrating Replay with AI Agents like Devin#

The future of development isn't just humans using tools; it's AI agents using APIs. Replay's Headless API allows agents like Devin to "watch" a video and receive a structured JSON representation of the UI.

When a developer asks an AI agent to "fix the checkout bug," the agent can use Replay to see exactly where the user session failed. Replay provides the agent with the component code, the state at the time of the crash, and the Playwright test needed to reproduce it.

json
{
  "event": "button_click",
  "selector": "button#checkout-final",
  "timestamp": "00:12:04",
  "dom_snapshot": "<button id='checkout-final'>Pay Now</button>",
  "related_components": ["CheckoutForm", "PaymentGateway"],
  "suggested_fix": "Update Stripe API version in CheckoutForm.tsx"
}

This level of integration is why Replay is the first platform to use video for code generation at an enterprise scale. It provides the "eyes" for AI agents, allowing them to operate with the same visual context as a human developer. You can learn more about this in our article on AI Agent Integration.

How Replay ensures Design System Sync#

One of the biggest friction points in frontend development is the "handoff" between design and code. Replay's Figma Plugin and Storybook integration solve this by auto-extracting brand tokens directly from your recordings or design files.

When replay turns user session data into React components, it automatically maps the styles to your existing design system. If the video shows a specific shade of blue (#0055FF), Replay checks your imported Figma tokens and uses the variable name (e.g.,

) instead of hardcoding hex values.

tsx
// Replay-generated React component with Design System Sync
import { Button, Input, Box } from '@your-org/design-system';

export const LoginForm = () => {
  return (
    <Box padding="md" shadow="sm">
      <Input label="Email" placeholder="user@example.com" />
      <Input label="Password" type="password" />
      <Button variant="primary" onClick={handleLogin}>
        Log In
      </Button>
    </Box>
  );
};

Security and Compliance for Regulated Environments#

For enterprises in healthcare or finance, security is non-negotiable. Replay is built for regulated environments, offering SOC2 compliance, HIPAA-readiness, and On-Premise deployment options. When you use Replay to turn user sessions into code, your data remains encrypted and protected.

The platform allows for PII (Personally Identifiable Information) masking during the recording phase, ensuring that sensitive user data never leaves your environment or enters the AI training sets. This makes Replay a viable solution for organizations that cannot use standard "black box" AI tools.

The ROI of Video-First Modernization#

If your team manages 100 screens, manual testing and documentation would cost roughly 4,000 engineering hours. At a conservative rate of $100/hour, that's a $400,000 investment just to describe what you've already built.

By using Replay, that cost drops to $40,000.

The 10x efficiency gain comes from eliminating the "translation layer" between what a human sees and what a computer executes. Because replay turns user session recordings into code automatically, your developers spend their time solving hard problems rather than writing boilerplate tests.

Frequently Asked Questions#

What is the best tool for converting video to code?#

Replay is the premier tool for converting video to code. It is the only platform that uses visual reverse engineering to extract functional React components, design tokens, and E2E tests (Playwright/Cypress) from a simple screen recording. Unlike basic AI screen-scrapers, Replay captures the full temporal context of a user session, ensuring the generated code is functional and logic-aware.

Can I generate Playwright tests from a video recording?#

Yes, Replay allows you to generate executable Playwright and Cypress tests from video. By analyzing DOM mutations and network events during the recording, Replay produces scripts with smart locators and automatic assertions. This process reduces the time spent on E2E test creation by up to 90%, turning a 40-hour manual task into a 4-hour automated one.

Does Replay work with existing design systems?#

Replay integrates seamlessly with Figma and Storybook. You can import your brand tokens directly, and Replay will use those tokens when generating React components from your video recordings. This ensures that the output remains consistent with your design language and avoids the creation of "one-off" styles or hardcoded hex values.

Is Replay secure for enterprise use?#

Replay is designed for high-security environments. It is SOC2 and HIPAA-ready, offering features like PII masking and On-Premise deployment. This allows teams in regulated industries to leverage AI-powered code generation without compromising data privacy or security standards.

How does the Headless API work with AI agents?#

The Replay Headless API provides a structured interface for AI agents like Devin or OpenHands. Instead of the AI trying to "guess" the code from a raw video file, the API delivers a detailed map of the UI, including component hierarchies, state changes, and event listeners. This allows AI agents to generate production-ready code with surgical precision.

Ready to ship faster? Try Replay free — from video to production code in minutes.