testivai init

Scaffolds TestivAI in your project. In a Playwright project it sets up local mode with the dedicated reporter. For other frameworks it runs the interactive setup wizard.

Usage

npx testivai init [options]

Options

Flag	Description
-f, --force	Overwrite existing files (including .testivai/config.json)
-y, --yes	Skip prompts and auto-detect framework (non-Playwright projects)
--json	Print a machine-readable result to stdout (Playwright projects)

Detection Order

init checks for Playwright first, before any prompt or framework detection:

1. Playwright — if @playwright/test or playwright appears in your package.json dependencies or devDependencies, the command runs the local scaffold and exits. No prompts.
2. -y, --yes — skips the wizard, auto-detects the framework, and writes testivai.config.ts plus per-framework setup instructions.
3. Otherwise the interactive wizard runs.

Interactive Wizard

Without flags, in a non-Playwright project, the wizard asks:

1. Mode — choosing Local creates .testivai/config.json (mode: "local") and .testivai/baselines/, adds the .gitignore entries, and stops there
2. Language — JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, Java, or Ruby
3. Framework — framework choices based on language
4. Test directory — where to place generated example files

? Select mode:                 › Local — visual diffs on your machine, HTML reports
? Select your language:        › JavaScript / TypeScript
? Select your test framework:  › Cypress
? Where are your test files?   › cypress/e2e

Cancelling the wizard (Ctrl-C) prints Setup cancelled. and exits 0.

Generated Files

After the language/framework path of the wizard, the following are created in your project:

• A helper file (testivai-witness.js / testivai_witness.py / etc.) — the capture function wrapper
• An example test showing a complete working test with a witness() call
• testivai.config.ts — project configuration

Existing files are skipped and listed as ⚠ Skipped (exists) unless --force is passed.

For Cypress, the wizard also creates cypress.config.js with the required plugin for remote debugging port injection — or, if one already exists, prints the setupNodeEvents snippet for you to paste in.

Playwright Projects

If @playwright/test or playwright is detected in your package.json, testivai init scaffolds the local reporter flow:

• Creates .testivai/config.json with mode: "local" (skipped if a config already exists, unless --force is set)
• Creates the .testivai/baselines/ directory
• Adds .gitignore entries for .testivai/temp/ and visual-report/
• Prints the reporter snippet to add to playwright.config.ts plus a capture example

The command is idempotent — existing config is left untouched without --force — and always exits 0.

--json Output (Playwright)

npx testivai init --json
# {"framework":"playwright","mode":"local","created":[".testivai/config.json",".testivai/baselines/",".gitignore"]}

What You See

✓ TestivAI is set up for Playwright (local mode).
✓ .testivai/config.json
✓ .testivai/baselines/
✓ .gitignore

1. Add the reporter to playwright.config.ts:
    reporter: [['list'], ['@testivai/witness-playwright/reporter']],

2. Capture a snapshot in a test:
    import { witness } from '@testivai/witness-playwright';
    await witness(page, testInfo, 'homepage');

3. Run, review, approve:
    npx playwright test
    open visual-report/index.html
    npx testivai approve --all   # then commit .testivai/baselines/