tessl/npm-chromedriver

NPM wrapper for Selenium ChromeDriver that manages binary downloads and provides cross-platform browser automation support

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Files

Process Management

Name: tessl/npm-chromedriver
Author: tessl

Core functionality for starting and stopping ChromeDriver processes programmatically, with port detection and readiness checking.

Capabilities

Start ChromeDriver

Starts a ChromeDriver process with optional command line arguments and readiness checking.

/**
 * Start ChromeDriver process with optional arguments
 * @param {string[]} args - Command line arguments for ChromeDriver (optional)
 * @param {boolean} returnPromise - If true, returns Promise that resolves when ready (optional)
 * @returns {ChildProcess|Promise<ChildProcess>} - Process or Promise resolving to process
 */
function start(args, returnPromise);

Usage Examples:

const chromedriver = require('chromedriver');

// Basic start with default options
const process = chromedriver.start();

// Start with custom port
const processWithPort = chromedriver.start(['--port=9516']);

// Start with promise-based readiness checking
chromedriver.start(['--port=9515'], true)
  .then((process) => {
    console.log('ChromeDriver is ready and listening');
    // Run your tests here
  });

// Start with verbose logging
chromedriver.start(['--verbose', '--log-path=./chromedriver.log']);

Behavior:

Creates a child process spawning the ChromeDriver binary
Pipes stdout and stderr to the parent process
Stores the process instance in defaultInstance
If returnPromise is true, waits for the specified port to become available
Uses port 9515 by default, or extracts port from --port=XXXX argument
Falls back to global ChromeDriver binary if local binary is not found

Stop ChromeDriver

Stops the currently running ChromeDriver process.

/**
 * Stop the running ChromeDriver process
 * @returns {void}
 */
function stop();

Usage Examples:

const chromedriver = require('chromedriver');

// Start ChromeDriver
chromedriver.start();

// Run your tests...

// Stop ChromeDriver
chromedriver.stop();
console.log('ChromeDriver stopped');

Behavior:

Kills the process stored in defaultInstance
Sets defaultInstance to null
Safe to call even if no process is running

Process Instance Access

Access the currently running ChromeDriver process instance.

/**
 * Currently running ChromeDriver process instance
 * @type {ChildProcess|null}
 */
const defaultInstance;

Usage Examples:

const chromedriver = require('chromedriver');

// Start ChromeDriver
chromedriver.start();

// Check if process is running
if (chromedriver.defaultInstance) {
  console.log('ChromeDriver is running with PID:', chromedriver.defaultInstance.pid);
  
  // Listen to process events
  chromedriver.defaultInstance.on('exit', (code) => {
    console.log('ChromeDriver exited with code:', code);
  });
}

// Stop and verify
chromedriver.stop();
console.log('Is running:', chromedriver.defaultInstance !== null); // false

Error Handling

Binary Not Found

When the local ChromeDriver binary is not found, the system automatically falls back to the global binary:

// Automatic fallback behavior
if (!fs.existsSync(localBinaryPath)) {
  console.log('Could not find chromedriver in default path:', localBinaryPath);
  console.log('Falling back to use global chromedriver bin');
  // Uses global 'chromedriver' or 'chromedriver.exe'
}

Process Termination

The CLI wrapper handles SIGTERM signals for graceful shutdown:

// Automatic signal handling in CLI
process.on("SIGTERM", function() {
  childProcess.kill("SIGTERM");
  process.exit(1);
});

Install with Tessl CLI

npx tessl i tessl/npm-chromedriver

docs

binary-info.md

cli.md

index.md

installation-config.md

process-management.md

tile.json

tessl/npm-chromedriver