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Actify Studio documentation

Turn manual browser testing into automated tests, without writing code.

What Actify Studio is

Actify Studio turns manual browser testing into automated tests without writing code. It is a desktop studio with a real Chromium browser built in. You open your web application inside the app and use it normally; every click, typed value, dropdown choice and key press is recorded as a step.

The steps are translated live into three formats: a runnable Playwright test, numbered Manual Steps in plain English, and a Gherkin (BDD) scenario. Saved tests run from the app itself on Chromium, Firefox and WebKit, and a whole project can be exported as a standalone Playwright project with a ready CI pipeline.

Actify Studio is a free Windows desktop app, available through the Microsoft Store. These guides describe version 1.2.0: AI agents, API testing and mocks, phones and tablets, several browsers, run history and traces, Reusable steps, bug reports and much more — see What’s new in 1.2.0.

New here? Start with Getting started: install the app, then record, save and run your first test in five minutes. To let an AI app such as Claude work with you, see AI agents.

Guides

Get started

Getting startedInstall Actify Studio, then record, save and run your first test in five minutes.What’s new in 1.2.0AI agents, API testing and mocks, phones and tablets, several browsers, run history, Reusable steps and bug reports.FAQQuick answers: what Actify Studio produces, where to get it, AI agents and where your tests live.

Recording

RecordingBrowser controls, what gets captured, downloads, new tabs, repeating lists, session video, custom headers and editing a saved test.DevicesRecord and run tests as a real phone, tablet or fixed desktop screen, with language, time zone, location and theme.Action HistoryReorder, filter, run, comment and fine-tune recorded steps, without recording again.ChecksChecks that make a test pass or fail, values saved for later, extra actions, network checks and page health checks.Generated outputEvery recording is translated live into a Playwright test, manual steps and a Gherkin scenario.Inspecting a pageExplore the DOM, network requests and console messages of the page you have open.

Dynamic & data-driven tests

Dynamic data & variablesRandom values at every run, random dropdown options, environment variables, and values saved in one step and reused in the next.Test dataAttach a data table to a test and run it once per row, each row with its own result.SecretsKeep passwords and tokens out of your tests: encrypted on your PC, per environment.Optional steps, hover, dialogs, uploadsElements that appear only sometimes, menus that open under the mouse, browser dialogs and file uploads.

API & network

API testingHTTP requests inside your tests, with checks on the response, values reused by later steps, cURL and Postman import, and API collections.Mocking requestsAnswer, fail or delay the requests you choose, to test server errors, empty lists and slow answers on demand.

Organize & reuse

The Project tabTests in folders, tags, suites, Pages, Reusable steps, API collections and files — the whole project in one place.PagesNamed elements of each screen, shared by every test: fix a changed element once and update the tests that use it.Reusable stepsRecord a login once, give it Inputs, and use it in every test. Change it in one place and every test follows.Projects & environmentsSeparate projects, environments with variables, secrets and HTTP auth, run settings, QA guidelines, and export with a CI pipeline.

Running

Running testsRun tests, folders, tags and suites on Chromium, Firefox and WebKit, read the results, and go back to any past run.DebuggingTrace viewer, breakpoints, running single steps, and self-healing locators.

AI agents

AI agents (MCP)Let an MCP-compatible AI app, such as Claude Code or Claude Desktop, record, run and fix tests in Actify Studio — while you watch every step.Bug reportsWrite bug reports with steps, screenshot, network calls and console errors, and copy them as Markdown for Jira, GitHub or email.

Reference

SettingsApp preferences, section by section, with their defaults.Shortcuts & UI mapThe keys that speed you up, the command palette, and where every control lives.Privacy & dataWhat stays on your PC, what an AI agent can see, and when the app uses the internet.Feedback & supportReport bugs and suggest improvements.

Key concepts

The words used across these guides, in plain language.

TermMeaning
Step (action)One thing the user did or checked: navigate, click, type, select, press a key, hover, drag, upload a file, answer a dialog, wait, a check, an API request or a mock.
LocatorHow the test finds an element on the page again (by test id, role and name, label, placeholder, text, CSS or XPath). Each step stores several alternatives.
Check (assertion)A step that makes the test pass or fail, e.g. “this button is visible” or “this text equals Welcome”.
PageA reusable description of one screen of your site: its named elements. Steps that use those elements are linked to them, so a changed element is fixed in one place.
Reusable stepsA group of steps recorded once — a login, adding a product to the cart — and used in many tests, with Inputs for the values that change.
SuiteA named group of tests you run together.
TagA label such as @smoke on a test, to find and run every test that has it.
ProjectA self-contained folder with its own tests, Pages, Reusable steps, API collections and settings.
EnvironmentA named server for a project (e.g. dev → http://localhost:3000), with its own variables and secrets. Switching environment runs the same tests against another server.
Headless / In-AppThe two run modes: in hidden background browsers, or visibly inside the app’s browser.
Dynamic valueA value generated at each run instead of a fixed one, written as {{…}} — e.g. {{email}} for a random email.
VariableA value saved by one step (a typed value, the text of an element, a value of an API response) and reused by later steps as {{name}}.
Test dataA table attached to a test: the test runs once per row, and each row gets its own result.
SecretA password or token stored encrypted on your PC, per environment, and used as {{secret:name}} — never written into the test.
AI agentAn MCP-compatible AI app on your PC (for example Claude Code or Claude Desktop) that you allow to read, record and run tests in Actify Studio.
Actify Studio documentation