Flaky Selector Scan
Find the selectors that will break on the next redesign. No signup required.
Prerequisites
- None. Pure Claude Code — reads the test files directly, no MCP required.
Trigger
- "Scan my tests for flaky selectors"
- "Which locators are brittle?"
- "Why do my UI tests keep breaking?"
Workflow
- Find UI test files (Playwright
*.spec.ts, Cypress *.cy.js, Selenium page objects, etc.).
- Extract locators from
page.locator(...), getBy*, $(...), find_element(...), cy.get(...).
- Classify each by fragility:
Fragility classes
| Class |
Example |
Why it's flaky |
| Absolute XPath |
/html/body/div[2]/div[1]/button |
Breaks on any DOM reshuffle |
| Positional CSS |
.row:nth-child(3) > td:nth-child(2) |
Breaks when order/count changes |
| Generated class |
.css-1a2b3c, .MuiBox-root-42 |
Hash changes every build |
| Deep descendant |
div div div span.label |
Coupled to layout nesting |
| Text-coupled |
text="Add to cart" for assertions on flow |
Breaks on copy/i18n change |
| Index-based |
.locator('button').nth(4) |
Breaks when buttons are added |
Stable (good): getByRole('button', { name }), data-test/data-testid,
getByLabel, id (if stable), ARIA roles.
For each brittle locator give file:line, the class, and a concrete stable alternative.
Output:
## Flaky Selector Scan — 12 spec files, 140 locators
**Brittle: 23 (16%) · Stable: 117**
### Highest risk
- `checkout.spec.ts:31` — `.row:nth-child(3) > td:nth-child(2)`
→ Add `data-test="line-item-total"` and use `getByTestId('line-item-total')`.
- `login.spec.ts:12` — `page.locator('button').nth(2)`
→ `getByRole('button', { name: 'Sign in' })`.
- `nav.spec.ts:8` — `.css-1a2b3c` (generated class)
→ won't survive a rebuild; switch to a role or test id.
### By file
checkout.spec.ts ......... 7 brittle
login.spec.ts ............ 4 brittle
nav.spec.ts .............. 3 brittle
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