Skip to content

Python adapter docs understate what shipped: trace mode, A11y, and the pytest config surface #358

Description

@vishnuv688

Part of #330. Successor to #295, which put the Python adapter on the site; this
is about the site now understating what the adapter does.

Since #295 closed (2026-08-25) the adapter gained trace mode (#330), the dense
filmstrip (#290), the A11y tree and element overlay (#341), per-action element
capture, viewport metadata, command selectors, and a pytest CLI/ini config
surface (#339, PR #355). None of that reached the docs.

Two of the stale claims tell a reader a shipped feature does not exist, which is
worse than being merely out of date.

website/docs/devtools/Selenium.md (Python tab), webdriverio/webdriverio

line says reality
359 "Trace mode is not available for the Python adapter yet - it streams to the live dashboard and does not write a trace.zip" shipped; #330 closed
530 "Live mode only | No trace.zip is written yet, so Trace Mode, the offline player, and the dense filmstrip and A11y tab that come with them are not available." all three shipped
258 DEVTOOLS_ENABLE=1 pytest tests/ as the only invocation --devtools / --devtools-trace, or devtools / devtools_trace in [tool.pytest.ini_options]
331-335 "configured by environment variables rather than an options object" CLI -> ini -> env precedence
429 "the plugin drives all of this from DEVTOOLS_ENABLE=1" as above
463 "simply DEVTOOLS_ENABLE=1 in Python" as above

This repo

README.md and packages/selenium-devtools-py/README.md carry the same gaps.
CONTRIBUTING requires both sides to move together, so they are one piece of work.

Acceptance criteria

The Python tab documents trace mode (--devtools-trace / devtools_trace,
where the archive lands, what it contains), the config precedence, and the A11y
tree / element overlay support. The "Live mode only" limitation row is gone. The
two READMEs say the same thing as the site.

Why it blocks #294

Publishing to PyPI while the public docs deny a shipped feature is worse than
not publishing: the first thing a new user reads would tell them trace mode is
unavailable.

Depends on #355 (the config surface it documents). Size: S.

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    No labels
    No labels

    Type

    No type

    Projects

    No projects

      Milestone

      No milestone

      Relationships

      None yet

      Development

      No branches or pull requests

      Issue actions