dashfront/test/README.md

Visual testing rig

Dummy backend + frozen fixtures + screenshot reference/compare. No npm deps beyond the repo (uses system Chrome at /usr/bin/google-chrome).

Workflow

# Build reference screenshots from live data (:4208 must run in dashback).
# Collects fixtures, then captures 21 routes × 2 viewports into
# test/screenshots/reference/ (committed to git).
npm run rig:reference

# Capture fresh screenshots and compare against reference (all in one).
# Fails when > 0.1% of pixels differ; diffs → test/screenshots/diff/
npm run rig:compare

Viewports

• 1920x1200, 1280x960 (see test/routes.mjs)

Files

File	Role
test/routes.mjs	Route + viewport definitions (concrete ids: ART-000001, delivery 6, entity 1)
test/collect.mjs	Fixture collector (mints JWT via dashback env + signing lib)
test/dummyBackend.mjs	Always-authed stub serving test/fixtures/snapshot.json + images/
test/cdp.mjs	Zero-dep CDP client (fresh page target per shot, settle wait, PNG capture)
test/capture.mjs	Orchestrates dummy + vite + Chrome
test/compare.mjs	Zero-dep PNG decoder + comparator (0.1% tolerance, red diff PNGs)
test/fixtures/	Committed snapshot + binary thumbs (2.5 MiB)
test/screenshots/reference/	Committed reference PNGs (7.5 MiB)

Notes

• vite.config.js honors RIG_API_TARGET for the /api proxy (default http://localhost:4208), so the rig runs alongside live dev servers on :4208/:4209.
• The dummy holds /api/events open with heartbeats and never emits — fixtures stay frozen.
• Mutations (POST/PATCH/PUT/DELETE) echo fixtures so UI actions don't crash mid-run.
• GET /api/history and GET /api/article/history don't exist in the backend yet (frontend already renders empty grids); the collector stores empty fixtures for them.
• Capture waits for #root content > 20 KB with zero [role=progressbar] spinners, plus a settle delay, then hides carets/scrollbars for determinism.