Lastest

Free, open-source visual regression testing with AI-generated tests

Record it. Test it. Ship it.

Website • Wiki • Features • Quick Start • How It Works • Why Lastest • Comparison • Commands • Config

The Problem

Visual regression testing is either expensive, flaky, or painful to maintain.

• Cloud tools: per-screenshot pricing, cloud-only, no self-hosting
• Enterprise tools: steep learning curve, locked to specific frameworks
• Open-source tools: free but no dashboard, no collaboration, no AI, or in maintenance mode

Meanwhile, you just need to know: "Did my last commit break the UI?"

The Solution

Lastest is a free, self-hosted visual regression testing platform that records your tests, writes them with AI, runs them anywhere, and fixes them when they break — all in one tool.

1. Point it at your app
2. Record your user flows (point-and-click, no code)
3. AI generates resilient test code with multi-selector fallback
4. Every test runs inside an Embedded Browser container (EB stack required)
5. Screenshots compared with 3 diff engines (pixelmatch, SSIM, Butteraugli)
6. Review and approve visual changes — or let AI auto-classify them

When self-hosted, your data stays on your server and your screenshots never leave your infra.

Three Ways to Work

Lastest adapts to how you want to build tests — from fully manual to fully autonomous.

1. AI-Free (Manual Recording)

Open the recorder, click through your app, hit stop. Lastest captures every interaction and generates deterministic Playwright code — no AI involved, no API keys needed. You own the test code and can edit it by hand.

Best for: Teams that don't want AI, air-gapped environments, simple flows.

2. AI-Assisted (Human-in-the-Loop)

AI generates, fixes, or enhances tests — but you review and approve before anything is saved. Feed it a URL and get a test back. Import OpenAPI specs or user stories and AI extracts test cases. When a test breaks, AI proposes a fix and you decide whether to accept it.

Best for: Day-to-day development, iterating on tests, fixing breakages fast.

3. Full Autonomous (Play Agent)

One click kicks off an 11-step pipeline: check settings, select repo, set up environment, scan routes & apply testing template, plan functional areas, review plan, generate tests, run them, fix failures (up to 3 attempts per test), re-run, and report results. Uses specialized sub-agents (Orchestrator, Planner, Scout, Diver, Generator, Healer). The agent pauses and asks for help only when it hits something it can't resolve on its own. You resume and it picks up where it left off.

Best for: Onboarding a new project, generating full coverage from scratch, CI bootstrapping.

One Way to Run: Embedded Browser

Every test runs inside an Embedded Browser (EB) pod — a containerized Chromium with live CDP streaming back to the UI. There is no local-Playwright fallback and no remote-runner daemon anymore: the host never launches its own browser, and if an EB is unavailable a test fails rather than falling back. The EB stack is therefore required for every run and recording, even in local development.

• System-managed (default) — EB pods are provisioned automatically: into a local k3d cluster in dev, or your Kubernetes cluster in production, from an on-demand pool (worker-pool per build, warm-pool keep-alive, egress-restricted). One EB per test.
• Bring-your-own (BYO) — run the lastest-eb container yourself (docker run … -p 9223:9223 -p 9224:9224) and register it in Settings → Runners to get a token. This is the replacement for old "remote runners": you bring a browser on the machine/network/OS you want, not a Playwright daemon.

EB pods handle both running and recording. Builds can be triggered manually (click Run), by webhook (PR opened/updated), from CI/CD (GitHub Action or the @lastest/runner CLI, which only triggers a build and polls — execution still happens in the EB pool), or on a schedule (cron-based automation). Smart Run analyzes git diffs to run only affected tests.

Migrating from remote runners? The standalone runner daemon that executed Playwright on remote machines has been retired. To run tests on your own machine/network, register a BYO Embedded Browser instead. The @lastest/runner npm package lives on as a lightweight, browser-free CI trigger client only.

Build Once, Run Forever

Tests are recorded or generated once, then stored as code. Every subsequent run re-executes the same code, captures new screenshots, and diffs them against approved baselines.

• First run: screenshot becomes the baseline
• Every run after: new screenshot is SHA256-hashed — if it matches the baseline, instant pass (no pixel comparison needed). If it differs, the diff engine runs and you review the change.
• AI costs are one-time: AI is only used during test creation and fixing. Running tests uses zero AI — it's pure Playwright execution.
• No per-screenshot pricing on self-hosted: every run is unlimited regardless of volume.

Create tests (one-time)          Run tests (forever)
┌──────────────────────┐         ┌──────────────────────┐
│ Manual recording     │         │ Execute Playwright    │
│   — or —             │  ────▶  │ Capture screenshots   │
│ AI generation        │  save   │ Diff against baseline │
│   — or —             │         │ Review changes        │
│ Play Agent autonomy  │         │ Approve/reject        │
└──────────────────────┘         └──────────────────────┘
  AI may be used here              No AI needed here

Features

Core