Automate login test and run it on GitHub Actions

Preconditions (3)

Step 1: Open the login page at 'https://example.com/login'

Step 2: Enter 'testuser@example.com' in the email input field with id 'email'

Step 3: Enter 'TestPass123!' in the password input field with id 'password'

Step 4: Click the login button with id 'login-button'

Step 5: Wait until the URL changes to 'https://example.com/dashboard'

Step 6: Verify that the page contains an element with id 'welcome-message' that is visible

✅ Expected Result: User is successfully logged in, dashboard page loads, and welcome message is visible

Automation Requirements - Selenium with Python

Assertions Needed:

Assert current URL is 'https://example.com/dashboard'

Assert element with id 'welcome-message' is displayed

Best Practices:

Use explicit waits instead of sleep

Use By.ID locator strategy for elements

Structure test with setup and teardown methods

Use GitHub Actions workflow to run tests on push

Automated Solution

Selenium Python

import unittest
from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait
from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC

class LoginTest(unittest.TestCase):
    def setUp(self):
        options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
        options.add_argument('--headless')
        self.driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=options)
        self.driver.implicitly_wait(5)

    def test_login(self):
        driver = self.driver
        driver.get('https://example.com/login')

        email_input = WebDriverWait(driver, 10).until(
            EC.visibility_of_element_located((By.ID, 'email'))
        )
        email_input.send_keys('testuser@example.com')

        password_input = driver.find_element(By.ID, 'password')
        password_input.send_keys('TestPass123!')

        login_button = driver.find_element(By.ID, 'login-button')
        login_button.click()

        WebDriverWait(driver, 10).until(
            EC.url_to_be('https://example.com/dashboard')
        )

        self.assertEqual(driver.current_url, 'https://example.com/dashboard')

        welcome_message = WebDriverWait(driver, 10).until(
            EC.visibility_of_element_located((By.ID, 'welcome-message'))
        )
        self.assertTrue(welcome_message.is_displayed())

    def tearDown(self):
        self.driver.quit()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    unittest.main()

This test script uses Python's unittest framework and Selenium WebDriver.

In setUp, we start Chrome in headless mode for GitHub Actions compatibility.

The test opens the login page, waits explicitly for the email input to be visible, then enters the email and password.

It clicks the login button and waits until the URL changes to the dashboard URL.

Assertions check that the URL is correct and the welcome message is visible.

Finally, tearDown closes the browser.

This structure allows easy integration with GitHub Actions by running python -m unittest in the workflow.

Common Mistakes - 4 Pitfalls

Using time.sleep() instead of explicit waits

Using brittle XPath locators instead of stable IDs

Not running browser in headless mode in CI environment

Not quitting the browser after tests

Bonus Challenge

Now add data-driven testing with 3 different sets of login credentials (valid and invalid).

Show Hint