Improved Browser Testing on Heroku with Chrome

Summary

Automated browser tests on Heroku can fail when installed Chrome and Chromedriver versions drift apart, producing a mismatch error that stops the suite. The post introduces the community Chrome for Testing Heroku Buildpack, created to address installation reliability as Chrome continuously receives updates rather than pinning a browser version that quickly becomes outdated. Apps should remove existing Chrome and Chromedriver buildpacks and add heroku-community/chrome-for-testing as the first buildpack. By default it downloads Google's latest Stable release, while GOOGLE_CHROME_CHANNEL can select Stable, Beta, Dev, or Canary. After deployment, chrome and chromedriver are placed on the dyno PATH for tools including Selenium WebDriver and Puppeteer, providing executables for browser automation.

Takeaways

1. 1

   The mismatch error occurs when Chromedriver supports one Chrome version while the installed browser is another.

2. 2

   The buildpack defaults to Google's latest Stable release and supports Stable, Beta, Dev, and Canary channels through GOOGLE_CHROME_CHANNEL.

3. 3

   After deployment, chrome and chromedriver executables are available on dyno PATH for browser automation tools such as Selenium WebDriver and Puppeteer.