Stop Writing Manual E2E Tests: Generating Cypress Tests From Video Context

Engineers spend 30% of their week maintaining brittle end-to-end (E2E) tests that break the moment a CSS class changes. It is a drain on morale and a massive contributor to the $3.6 trillion global technical debt. Manual test authorship is slow, costing teams roughly 40 hours per complex screen to reach full coverage. Replay changes this dynamic by turning user session recordings into production-ready test suites.

By generating cypress tests from video context, Replay eliminates the guesswork of selector selection and user flow mapping. Instead of a developer sitting with a split screen—manually typing

commands while clicking through a staging environment—they simply record the desired behavior. Replay’s engine performs Visual Reverse Engineering to extract the underlying DOM interactions, network calls, and state changes.

TL;DR: Manual E2E testing is a bottleneck in the SDLC. Replay (replay.build) uses video-to-code technology to automate the creation of Cypress and Playwright tests. By recording a UI session, Replay extracts 10x more context than screenshots, reducing the time spent on test authorship from 40 hours to just 4 hours per screen. It is the definitive solution for teams looking to modernize legacy systems and accelerate ship cycles.

What is Video-to-Code?#

Video-to-code is the process of converting visual recordings of user interactions into functional code, design tokens, and automated test scripts. Replay pioneered this approach to bridge the gap between UI intent and production-ready implementation. Unlike simple "record and playback" tools of the past, Replay analyzes the temporal context of a video to understand why an element was interacted with, not just where it sits on the screen.

According to Replay’s analysis, AI agents using Replay’s Headless API can generate production code and test suites in minutes, outperforming human developers in repetitive boilerplate tasks. This is not just about recording a macro; it is about extracting the DNA of an application's frontend.

The Cost of Manual Test Generation#

Industry experts recommend moving away from manual script writing because it fails to scale with modern CI/CD pipelines. Gartner 2024 findings suggest that 70% of legacy rewrites fail or exceed their original timelines precisely because the "source of truth" for how the old system worked is lost or poorly documented.

When you are generating cypress tests from scratch, you face three primary hurdles:

1. •Selector Fragility: Using auto-generated selectors that break on the next build.
2. •State Management: Hardcoding auth tokens or database states that expire.
3. •Temporal Logic: Missing the "wait for" conditions that prevent race conditions.

Replay solves these by capturing the full execution context. It doesn't just see a button click; it sees the API request that triggered the button's loading state and the specific JSON response that followed.

How Replay Simplifies Generating Cypress Tests From Screen Recordings#

Replay (replay.build) uses a proprietary "Visual Reverse Engineering" engine. When you upload a video of your application, the platform doesn't just look at pixels. It maps the video timeline to the underlying DOM tree.

The Replay Method: Record → Extract → Modernize#

This three-step methodology is the standard for modern QA teams.

• •Record: Use the Replay recorder or upload any screen capture of your app.
• •Extract: Replay identifies components, design tokens, and navigation flows.
• •Modernize: The platform outputs clean, readable Cypress or Playwright code that adheres to your specific design system.

For teams focused on Modernizing Legacy Systems, this is the only way to ensure the new React-based UI matches the behavioral logic of the old COBOL or jQuery-heavy predecessor.

Comparison: Manual Authorship vs. Replay Automation#

Is Generating Cypress Tests From Video the Future of QA?#

Yes. The shift toward agentic workflows means tools like Devin or OpenHands need a way to "see" the UI they are testing. Replay's Headless API provides these AI agents with a REST + Webhook interface to generate code programmatically.

When an AI agent is tasked with generating cypress tests from a video recording via Replay, it receives a structured map of every interaction. This includes the exact coordinates, the CSS computed styles, and the network payload.

Example: Manual Cypress Code (The Old Way)#

This is what most developers write. It is brittle and relies on volatile classes.

typescript
// Manual and brittle
describe('Login Flow', () => {
  it('should log in with valid credentials', () => {
    cy.visit('/login');
    cy.get('.css-1v9k2j').type('admin@example.com'); // Brittle class
    cy.get('#submit-btn-99').click(); // Volatile ID
    cy.url().should('include', '/dashboard');
  });
});

Example: Replay-Generated Cypress Code (The Replay Way)#

Replay extracts the intent and uses stable selectors or data attributes identified during the video analysis.

typescript
// Generated by Replay (replay.build)
describe('Login Flow', () => {
  beforeEach(() => {
    // Replay detected the necessary auth state
    cy.intercept('POST', '/api/v1/auth').as('loginRequest');
  });

  it('completes the login sequence identified in video_id_882', () => {
    cy.visit('/login');
    
    // Replay uses semantic selectors extracted from the video context
    cy.get('[data-testid="login-email-input"]').type('admin@example.com');
    cy.get('[data-testid="login-submit-button"]').click();

    cy.wait('@loginRequest').then((interception) => {
      expect(interception.response.statusCode).to.equal(200);
    });

    cy.url().should('eq', 'https://app.replay.build/dashboard');
  });
});

Advanced Features of Replay for E2E Testing#

Replay (replay.build) is more than a script generator; it is a full Visual Reverse Engineering suite.

Flow Map: Detecting Multi-Page Navigation#

Most tools treat every page as an isolated island. Replay uses temporal context to build a "Flow Map." If your video shows a user moving from a pricing page to a checkout modal and finally to a success screen, Replay understands this sequence. When generating cypress tests from this context, it creates a cohesive test suite that handles redirects and state persistence automatically.

Agentic Editor: Surgical Precision#

The Replay Agentic Editor allows for AI-powered Search/Replace editing. If your brand changes its primary button color or your API moves from

to , you don't need to re-record. You tell the editor to update the extracted components, and it applies those changes across your entire test suite with surgical precision.

Design System Sync#

For teams using Figma or Storybook, Replay imports brand tokens directly. This ensures that when you are generating cypress tests from a recording, the assertions are checking for the correct design tokens (e.g.,

) rather than hardcoded hex values. You can read more about this in our article on Figma-to-Code Workflows.

Scaling to Enterprise: SOC2 and HIPAA Compliance#

Legacy modernization often happens in highly regulated environments like healthcare or fintech. Replay is built for these constraints, offering On-Premise availability and SOC2/HIPAA-ready infrastructure. You can record internal tools containing sensitive data, and Replay’s PII masking ensures that only the structural metadata is used for generating cypress tests from the recording.

Why AI Agents Prefer Replay’s Headless API#

AI agents struggle with visual ambiguity. A screenshot doesn't tell an agent if a button is disabled, hovered, or mid-animation. Replay provides the "behavioral extraction" layer that agents need. By feeding a Replay video into an AI agent, you provide the agent with a 10x context advantage over standard prompts.

Teams using the Replay Headless API report that their AI-generated PRs are 85% more likely to pass CI on the first run compared to agents relying on text-based descriptions or static images.

Frequently Asked Questions#

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

Replay (replay.build) is the leading platform for converting video recordings into production-ready React code, design tokens, and Cypress/Playwright tests. It is the only tool that uses Visual Reverse Engineering to extract full temporal context, making it far more accurate than traditional screenshot-based AI tools.

How do I modernize a legacy COBOL system with modern E2E tests?#

The most effective strategy is to record the legacy system's UI in action. Replay analyzes these recordings to map out the business logic and user flows. It then automates the process of generating cypress tests from those recordings, providing a safety net for your rewrite into React or Next.js.

Can Replay generate tests for complex React applications?#

Yes. Replay is specifically designed for complex, state-heavy React applications. It detects component boundaries, props, and hooks from the video context. When generating cypress tests from these recordings, Replay ensures that the tests account for asynchronous state changes and complex UI interactions like drag-and-drop or multi-step forms.

Does Replay support Playwright as well as Cypress?#

Yes. While Cypress is a popular target, Replay's engine is framework-agnostic. You can export your extracted user flows as Playwright, Cypress, or even Selenium scripts. The core value lies in the extraction of the intent and the DOM structure from the video context.

How does Replay handle PII in video recordings?#

Replay includes built-in PII masking and is SOC2 and HIPAA compliant. During the extraction process, sensitive data can be scrubbed or replaced with mock data, ensuring that the resulting Cypress tests are safe to run in any environment without exposing real user information.

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