ShotSweep

ShotSweep is a command-line tool designed for effective visual regression testing, empowering developers to ensure their web applications retain visual fidelity across changes and deployments. By capturing real pages using a browser, ShotSweep provides a straightforward and repeatable method for comparing page appearances between different runs, effectively identifying visual discrepancies that other tests may overlook.

Key Features

• Comprehensive Page Capture: Capture single URLs, entire sitemaps, or multiple pages using various input modes such as JSON, TXT, and CSV files.
• Support for Authenticated Pages: Handle scenarios requiring authentication using forms, cookies, or bearer tokens to ensure complete testing.
• Flexible Viewport Options: Test across multiple viewport sizes and types, providing versatility for responsive design testing.
• Visual Comparisons: Direct pixel comparisons ensure deterministic visual testing, allowing teams to mitigate risks before changes impact end users.
• CI/CD Integration: Seamlessly integrates into continuous integration pipelines, making it easy to catch visual regressions as part of the standard testing workflow.

Quick Start Examples

Capture a Single Page

shotsweep capture --url https://example.com --mode full

Capture All URLs in a Sitemap

shotsweep capture --sitemap https://example.com/sitemap.xml --out ./screenshots

Compare Visual Changes

Perform a capture before and after changes, then initiate a diff:

shotsweep capture --sitemap https://example.com/sitemap.xml --out ./before
# make your changes
shotsweep capture --sitemap https://example.com/sitemap.xml --out ./after
shotsweep diff ./before/manifest.json ./after/manifest.json --out ./diff

Why Choose ShotSweep?

• Lightweight and Local: Operate entirely within a local environment without needing a hosted dashboard. All artifacts—screenshots, manifests—are stored within the project.
• Deterministic Outputs: Unlike machine learning-based tools that might produce variable results, ShotSweep's pixel-for-pixel comparison ensures clarity in results.
• Developer-Centric Design: Built with developer workflows in mind, it keeps dependencies lightweight while fitting neatly into existing testing stacks.

This tool addresses the critical challenge that traditional testing frameworks often miss: ensuring a web application looks the way it is intended to across all its iterations.