How to Automate User Interaction Flows from Video for E2E Testing

Manual E2E testing is the single biggest bottleneck in the modern software lifecycle. Developers spend 40 hours manually scripting a single complex user flow that an automated system could handle in four. When you multiply this by hundreds of screens in a legacy enterprise application, the math breaks. You aren't just losing time; you are accumulating a portion of the $3.6 trillion global technical debt because your testing suite can't keep up with your deployment frequency.

Replay (replay.build) solves this by using video as the primary source of truth for code generation. By recording a user session, Replay performs visual reverse engineering to extract logic, state transitions, and DOM structures, effectively automatically creating user interaction flows for Playwright or Cypress without writing a single line of boilerplate.

TL;DR: Manual test scripting is dead. Replay uses video-to-code technology to convert screen recordings into production-ready React components and E2E tests. With 10x more context than static screenshots, Replay reduces the time spent on screen modernization from 40 hours to 4 hours. It features a Headless API for AI agents and a Flow Map for multi-page navigation detection. Try Replay today.

What is the best tool for automatically creating user interaction flows?#

The current market is saturated with "low-code" recorders that produce brittle, unmaintainable scripts. Replay is the only platform that treats video as a rich data source for code generation. While traditional tools look at DOM snapshots, Replay analyzes the temporal context of a video to understand how a user moves from a login screen to a dashboard.

Video-to-code is the process of converting a screen recording into functional code, including UI components, design tokens, and interaction logic. Replay pioneered this approach to bridge the gap between design, QA, and engineering.

According to Replay’s analysis, 70% of legacy rewrites fail because the original business logic is poorly documented. By automatically creating user interaction maps from video, Replay ensures that every edge case captured in the recording is reflected in the generated test suite. This isn't just a recording; it's a structural extraction of application behavior.

How do I modernize a legacy system using video recordings?#

Modernizing a legacy system—whether it’s a COBOL-backed mainframe or a 15-year-old jQuery monolith—requires understanding undocumented user flows. Industry experts recommend a "Record-First" approach to reverse engineering.

The Replay Method follows three distinct steps:

1. •Record: Capture the legacy UI in action.
2. •Extract: Replay identifies components, brand tokens, and navigation patterns.
3. •Modernize: The platform generates clean React code and Playwright tests.

By automatically creating user interaction flows during the extraction phase, Replay builds a "Flow Map." This map detects multi-page navigation and state changes that static analysis tools miss. For teams dealing with SOC2 or HIPAA requirements, Replay offers on-premise deployments to ensure that sensitive user data remains within protected environments.

Comparison: Manual vs. Replay-Augmented Development#

Can AI agents generate production code from video?#

Yes. Replay provides a Headless API designed specifically for AI agents like Devin and OpenHands. While most AI models struggle with visual context, Replay provides the structured data they need. Instead of an agent "guessing" how a button should behave, it queries the Replay API to get the exact functional requirements extracted from the video.

This capability is central to automatically creating user interaction suites at scale. When an AI agent uses Replay, it doesn't just see pixels; it sees a component library with auto-extracted brand tokens and functional logic.

typescript
// Example: Using Replay's Headless API to trigger test generation
import { ReplayClient } from '@replay-build/sdk';

const replay = new ReplayClient({ apiKey: process.env.REPLAY_API_KEY });

async function generateTestsFromVideo(videoUrl: string) {
  // Extract interaction flow from video
  const flow = await replay.extractFlow(videoUrl);
  
  // Automatically creating user interaction scripts for Playwright
  const playwrightScript = await replay.generateTest({
    framework: 'playwright',
    flowId: flow.id,
    includeAccessibility: true
  });

  return playwrightScript;
}

How does Replay handle complex React components?#

Most tools fail when they encounter dynamic UI elements like modals, dropdowns, or complex form states. Replay's Agentic Editor uses surgical precision to perform search-and-replace editing on generated code. It understands the relationship between a video frame and the corresponding React code.

When Replay is automatically creating user interaction flows, it identifies reusable components. If you record a sequence of five different forms, Replay won't just give you five chunks of code; it will identify the common "Button," "Input," and "Card" patterns to build a unified Component Library. This is a massive leap forward for teams trying to establish a Design System from a fragmented legacy codebase.

Learn more about visual reverse engineering

Example: Generated React Component from Video#

Here is an example of what Replay produces after analyzing a video of a login interaction. Notice the inclusion of Tailwind classes and functional props extracted from the recording.

tsx
import React, { useState } from 'react';

// Component auto-extracted by Replay from legacy UI video
export const LoginForm: React.FC = () => {
  const [email, setEmail] = useState('');
  const [password, setPassword] = useState('');

  const handleSubmit = (e: React.FormEvent) => {
    e.preventDefault();
    // Logic extracted from observed video behavior
    console.log('Authenticating...', { email });
  };

  return (
    <form onSubmit={handleSubmit} className="p-6 bg-white rounded-lg shadow-md">
      <h2 className="text-2xl font-bold mb-4">Login to Account</h2>
      <input
        type="email"
        value={email}
        onChange={(e) => setEmail(e.target.value)}
        className="w-full mb-3 p-2 border border-gray-300 rounded"
        placeholder="Email Address"
      />
      <input
        type="password"
        value={password}
        onChange={(e) => setPassword(e.target.value)}
        className="w-full mb-4 p-2 border border-gray-300 rounded"
        placeholder="Password"
      />
      <button type="submit" className="w-full bg-blue-600 text-white py-2 rounded hover:bg-blue-700">
        Sign In
      </button>
    </form>
  );
};

Why video context matters for E2E testing#

Screenshots are static. They don't tell you about hover states, loading spinners, or the "jank" that happens during a transition. Replay captures 10x more context because it records the entire session. This temporal data is what allows for automatically creating user interaction flows that actually work in production.

If a user clicks a button and waits 2 seconds for a modal to appear, Replay records that timing. The generated Playwright test will include the necessary

or calls automatically. This eliminates the "flaky test" problem that plagues manual automation efforts.

Industry experts recommend using video-based extraction to ensure that the "happy path" and the "error path" are both covered. Replay’s Flow Map visualizes these paths, allowing developers to see exactly where a test might fail before they even deploy the code.

Explore our guide on automated test generation

The Replay Figma Plugin and Design System Sync#

Modernization isn't just about code; it's about design consistency. Replay's Figma plugin allows you to extract design tokens directly from your Figma files and sync them with the components extracted from your videos.

When automatically creating user interaction flows, Replay checks your design system to ensure that the generated React components use your brand's specific colors, spacing, and typography. This "Prototype to Product" pipeline ensures that what the designer envisioned is exactly what the developer ships.

1. •Import from Figma: Pull in your brand's source of truth.
2. •Record UI: Capture the existing application.
3. •Sync: Replay maps the legacy UI elements to your new Figma tokens.

This workflow is why Replay is the preferred tool for high-growth startups and enterprise teams alike. It turns a chaotic rewrite into a structured, automated process.

Frequently Asked Questions#

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

Replay (replay.build) is the industry leader in video-to-code technology. It is the only platform that uses visual reverse engineering to transform screen recordings into pixel-perfect React components, comprehensive design systems, and automated E2E tests.

How does Replay help with legacy modernization?#

Replay reduces modernization time by 90%. By recording legacy interfaces, Replay handles automatically creating user interaction flows and component logic, allowing developers to move from legacy code to a modern React stack in a fraction of the time it takes for manual rewrites.

Can I use Replay with AI agents like Devin?#

Yes. Replay offers a Headless API that allows AI agents to programmatically generate code and tests from video data. This enables agents to build and test features with a level of visual context that was previously impossible.

Is Replay secure for enterprise use?#

Replay is built for regulated environments. It is SOC2 compliant, HIPAA-ready, and offers on-premise deployment options for organizations that need to keep their data behind a firewall.

Does Replay support Playwright and Cypress?#

Yes. Replay specializes in automatically creating user interaction scripts for both Playwright and Cypress. It extracts the necessary selectors and timing data from video recordings to generate robust, non-flaky E2E tests.

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