Grid architecture (hub and node) in Selenium Python - Build an Automation Script

Verify Google Search on Selenium Grid Hub and Node

Preconditions (3)

Step 1: Open a remote Chrome browser session via Selenium Grid Hub

Step 2: Navigate to https://www.google.com

Step 3: Enter 'Selenium Grid' in the search input field

Step 4: Submit the search form

Step 5: Wait for the search results page to load

Step 6: Verify the page title contains 'Selenium Grid'

✅ Expected Result: The remote browser controlled via Selenium Grid performs a Google search and the page title contains 'Selenium Grid', confirming the test ran on the Grid setup.

Automation Requirements - Selenium WebDriver with Python

Assertions Needed:

Page title contains the search term 'Selenium Grid'

Best Practices:

Use Remote WebDriver to connect to Selenium Grid Hub

Use explicit waits to wait for page elements or title

Use By locators with clear identifiers

Close the browser session after test

Automated Solution

Selenium Python

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

# URL of the Selenium Grid Hub
hub_url = 'http://localhost:4444/wd/hub'

# Desired capabilities for Chrome browser
capabilities = {
    'browserName': 'chrome'
}

# Create Remote WebDriver session
with webdriver.Remote(command_executor=hub_url, desired_capabilities=capabilities) as driver:
    wait = WebDriverWait(driver, 10)
    # Step 1: Navigate to Google
    driver.get('https://www.google.com')

    # Step 2: Find the search input field
    search_box = wait.until(EC.presence_of_element_located((By.NAME, 'q')))

    # Step 3: Enter search term and submit
    search_term = 'Selenium Grid'
    search_box.send_keys(search_term + Keys.RETURN)

    # Step 4: Wait for title to contain search term
    wait.until(EC.title_contains(search_term))

    # Step 5: Assert title contains search term
    assert search_term in driver.title, f"Expected '{search_term}' in title but got '{driver.title}'"

    # Browser will close automatically due to 'with' context

This script connects to the Selenium Grid Hub running locally on port 4444 using webdriver.Remote. It requests a Chrome browser session on a registered Node.

We use explicit waits (WebDriverWait) to wait for the Google search input to appear and then for the page title to update after submitting the search.

The assertion checks that the page title contains the search term 'Selenium Grid', confirming the search worked and the test ran on the Grid.

Using the with statement ensures the browser session closes cleanly after the test.

Common Mistakes - 4 Pitfalls

Using local WebDriver instead of Remote WebDriver to connect to Grid

Hardcoding implicit sleeps instead of using explicit waits

Using brittle locators like absolute XPath for search input

Not closing the browser session after test

Bonus Challenge

Now add data-driven testing with 3 different search terms: 'Selenium Grid', 'Python testing', 'WebDriver automation'

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