Introducing the Next Evolution of Carbonate: AI-Powered Test Recording
Last year, we introduced Carbonate with a novel approach: writing tests in plain English that AI would interpret into actions. Today, we're excited to announce a complete evolution of our platform that addresses the core challenges our users faced and introduces a more intuitive way to create reliable tests.
Learning From Our First Version
Our initial approach to AI-powered testing was unique: developers could write tests using plain English directly in their existing test framework. The AI would interpret these instructions and execute the corresponding actions. While this worked well for certain scenarios, we received consistent feedback that highlighted some fundamental challenges:
- It was difficult to ensure the AI would interpret instructions exactly as intended
- The lack of visual confirmation made it hard to trust the test behavior
- The time saved by using AI was often offset by the need to debug and adjust test instructions
These insights led us to completely reimagine how Carbonate works, focusing on visibility and control while maintaining the simplicity of natural language testing.
Introducing Test Recording
Rather than starting with written instructions, the new Carbonate lets you create tests by simply using your application. Here's how it works:
- Connect to our remote browser environment
- Interact with your application naturally while we record your actions
- See each action translated into plain English in real-time
- Review and customize the recorded steps as needed
- Get a complete test script that's automatically verified against your recording
This approach combines the best of both worlds: the simplicity of record-and-replay with the flexibility and power of AI-interpreted actions.
Keeping control of your tests
While our platform provides detailed insights and recordings when running tests, we understand the importance of integrating with existing CI/CD pipelines. Soon, you'll be able to download your tests and run them within your own CI environment. We're currently finalizing this feature and will notify users as soon as it's available.
A Partnership Approach to Quality
We believe that building great testing tools requires close collaboration with developers. When users encounter flaky or unreliable tests, our team investigates the root cause and implements platform-level improvements to prevent similar issues in the future. This approach has already led to significant reliability improvements that benefit our entire user community.
Some recent improvements that came directly from user feedback include:
- Enhanced timing detection for dynamic elements
- Smarter handling of shadow DOM interactions
- Improved resilience to minor UI changes
Looking Forward
This evolution of Carbonate represents a major step forward in our mission to make reliable testing accessible to every development team. We're excited to see how teams use these new capabilities to build more robust test suites with less effort.
Ready to try the new Carbonate? Sign up here and let us know what you think. We're always eager to hear your feedback and suggestions for how we can make testing even better.
Want to learn more about the technical implementation details or discuss specific testing challenges? Reach out to our team via our contact form.