The mabl Trainer is highly secure and built to accommodate a wide range of network and application configurations. However, some environments with complex configurations or strict security policies might need additional configuration to train tests and run them locally.
If you encounter unexpected browser behavior during a Trainer session or a local run via the Desktop App, you can troubleshoot by applying advanced browser overrides. Advanced browser overrides can be accessed from the menu bar in the mabl app: Edit > Preferences > Browser.
Important considerations for advanced browser overrides
- These settings bypass the default browser configuration in Trainer sessions and local runs via the Desktop App. They do not affect cloud runs.
- If applied incorrectly, these settings may break test training and local execution. Do not add advanced browser overrides unless you fully understand the impact of the flag you are adding. We recommend working with a mabl TAM or support engineer.
Extensions enabled
By default, the Trainer launches a “clean” browser instance with no extensions or add-ons active. This configuration ensures that your tests aren’t accidentally interfered with by external software. However, if you are unable to launch the Trainer, it may be due to an enterprise security policy that requires browser extensions to be active. This issue manifests itself as an error message that appears when launching the Trainer for the first time:
[Create Test error]
There was an issue starting the Training session:
Unable to start browser session
The Extensions enabled setting in browser preferences tells the Trainer to launch the browser using your local Chrome profile’s extensions.
Only enable this if your organization requires specific extensions for browser access. Active extensions can sometimes cause unexpected behavior or slowdowns during test recording and playback.
Run trainer in application context
By default, the Trainer context is isolated from the web app to ensure that Trainer functionality isn’t impacted by any custom JavaScript in the web app. If it appears as though the Trainer has stopped working, it may be the result of the web app “killing” the Trainer context. Notably, this issue has been known to occur in web apps that have many iframes.
Enabling Run trainer in application context can resolve this issue. This configuration runs the Trainer in the application context instead of in an isolated context.
If you enable this setting, be aware that it could affect Trainer functionality if your web application overrides the default behavior of JavaScript libraries.
Content-Security-Policy bypass enabled
When you create or edit a browser test, the mabl Trainer runs scripts to record and play back steps, which interact with your web app. If your web app has a very strict Content Security Policy, it may identify the mabl Trainer as “unauthorized” and prevent it from loading or recording certain actions.
Enabling Content-Security-Policy bypass enabled tells the browser to ignore these restrictive headers during training sessions and local runs.
This setting bypasses a standard browser security feature. It should only be used for troubleshooting and testing purposes in non-production environments.
Block single sign-on
By default, the mabl Trainer and local executions launch a fresh browser instance with no saved credentials or cache, similar to an incognito window. However, if you notice that the browser automatically logs you into your application via SSO during training or local runs, it could be due to your enterprise network automatically sending system-level credentials to the web app via “SSO headers”. This configuration can cause the browser to automatically log you into the application during a test, even if you want to test the login screen itself.
When Block Single Sign-On is enabled, training sessions and local runs use a local proxy server to block these specific headers from being sent or received. This configuration prevents unwanted automatic logins and ensures you can interact with the application’s login flow as a new user.
Additional browser launch arguments
If you encounter unexpected behavior during training sessions and local runs that cannot be resolved by standard methods, reach out to mabl support to troubleshoot the issue. In rare cases, a support engineer may suggest adding an additional browser launch argument to isolate or work around the issue.
Additional browser launch arguments pass specific command-line arguments (flags) directly to the browser instance launched for training and local runs. These settings can modify the browser’s behavior during training and local execution. They do not affect cloud runs.
Additional browser launch arguments should only be added under the guidance of mabl support or technical account manager. Incorrectly formatted or unsupported arguments can break test training or local execution.