Introduction to Browser Developer Tools for QA Engineers

Every modern web browser has a powerful built-in toolkit that most QA engineers underutilize - Browser Developer Tools (DevTools). If used properly, it can speed up your testing workflow, help you identify issues faster, and make writing test automation significantly easier.

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𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀?

Developer Tools are built-in features in browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari) that let you inspect, debug, and analyze web applications in real time.

Think of them as X ray vision for websites where you can see exactly what's happening under the hood.

QA Engineers can use it for:

Finding reliable element locators for test automation
Identifying JavaScript errors causing bugs
Monitoring network traffic and API calls
Testing responsive design across devices
Debugging performance issues

📌 Note: No installation required. These tools are already built into your browser.

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𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀

Method 1: Right click anywhere on a webpage → Select "Inspect"

Method 2: Keyboard shortcuts • Windows/Linux: F12 or Ctrl + Shift + I • Mac: Cmd + Option + I

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𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟯 𝗘𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗮𝗯𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗤𝗔 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀

🔍 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗧𝗮𝗯: 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿

➤ The Elements tab displays the Document Object Model (DOM), which is the HTML structure of the webpage.

➤ This is your go to tool for finding locators for test automation.

💡 Tip: Click the selector icon (top left corner) or press "Ctrl + Shift + C" to hover over and inspect any element on the page.

📟 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗯: 𝗝𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁 𝗘𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲

➤ The Console tab displays JavaScript errors, warnings, and logs.

➤ It's your first stop when something breaks.

➤ Plus, it allows you to test locators directly in the Console tab before putting them into your testing framework.

➤ Workflow:

Step 1: Use the Elements tab to find an element you want to use

Step 2: Switch to the Console tab and test that element's CSS selector

Examples:

</>┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈</>

// 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬

𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫(’#𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐭-𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐧’)

</>┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈</>

🌐 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗧𝗮𝗯: 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗔𝗣𝗜 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁

➤ The Network tab shows every HTTP request the browser makes:

API calls
Image, HTML, CSS & Script downloads

➤ The most common use case for QA Automation Engineers is monitoring API calls made by webpages. This is the easiest way to gather information for building realistic API tests.

Example:

Understanding a Login Flow

Open Network tab → Filter by "Fetch/XHR"
Click "Login" on the website
Find the POST request to something like "/api/auth/login"
Click it to inspect the request payload and response
Use this exact structure in your API automation tests

💡 Tip: Right click any request → 𝐂𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐔𝐑𝐋 or 𝐂𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐅𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡 to get ready to use code for making that API call.

𝐏.𝐒. 🚩 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝟑-𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 “𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐐𝐀 → 𝐒𝐃𝐄𝐓” 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩, 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢-𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐚𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐝-𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐒𝐃𝐄𝐓 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬.

Click Here to Start: https://www.skool.com/qa-automation-career-hub/classroom/078530b1

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