Automatic retry mechanism in Cypress - Build an Automation Script

Verify login with automatic retry on failure

Preconditions (2)

Step 1: Enter 'testuser' in the username input field with id 'username'

Step 2: Enter 'Test@1234' in the password input field with id 'password'

Step 3: Click the login button with id 'loginBtn'

Step 4: Wait for the dashboard page to load

Step 5: Verify the URL contains '/dashboard'

Step 6: Verify the welcome message with id 'welcomeMsg' contains text 'Welcome, testuser'

✅ Expected Result: User is successfully logged in and dashboard page is displayed with welcome message

Automation Requirements - Cypress

Assertions Needed:

URL contains '/dashboard'

Welcome message contains 'Welcome, testuser'

Best Practices:

Use Cypress automatic retry feature for assertions

Use data-test attributes or stable selectors for locating elements

Avoid hard waits; rely on Cypress built-in retries and commands

Use beforeEach hook to set up preconditions if needed

Automated Solution

Cypress

describe('Login Test with Automatic Retry', () => {
  beforeEach(() => {
    cy.visit('/login');
  });

  it('should login successfully and show dashboard with welcome message', () => {
    cy.get('#username').type('testuser');
    cy.get('#password').type('Test@1234');
    cy.get('#loginBtn').click();

    // Cypress automatically retries assertions until they pass or timeout
    cy.url().should('include', '/dashboard');
    cy.get('#welcomeMsg').should('contain.text', 'Welcome, testuser');
  });
});

This test uses Cypress to automate the login process. The beforeEach hook ensures the login page is loaded before each test.

The test types the username and password into their respective fields and clicks the login button.

After clicking, Cypress automatically retries the cy.url().should('include', '/dashboard') assertion until the URL contains '/dashboard' or the default timeout is reached.

Similarly, the welcome message assertion retries until the expected text appears.

This automatic retry mechanism helps handle delays in page loading or rendering without needing explicit waits.

Common Mistakes - 3 Pitfalls

Using fixed waits like cy.wait(5000) before assertions

Using unstable selectors like CSS classes that change frequently

Not verifying the URL or page content after login

Bonus Challenge

Now add data-driven testing with 3 different sets of valid credentials to verify login success for each user.

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