Open a Live Web Session from a Link

You can link straight to a live session on a specific browser, version and operating system, with your URL already loaded. Use it in a pull request to open the preview deploy in the browser that needs checking, or in a bug report to reproduce on the exact browser it was reported on.

https://testingbot.com/members/manual/start?url=<url>&browserName=chrome&version=latest&platform=WIN11

Parameters

browserName, version and platform take the same values as the capabilities of an automated test, so you can copy them from your Selenium or Playwright configuration or from GET /v1/browsers.

Parameter	Description
`url`	The page to open. URL-encode it. `https://` is added when the scheme is left off.
`browserName`	For example `chrome`, `firefox`, `microsoftedge` or `safari`.
`version`	A version such as `155` (any 155.x) or `>=150`, or `latest`, `latest-1`, `latest-2` and so on. Defaults to `latest`.
`platform`	The operating system, for example `WIN11`, `WIN10`, `TAHOE`, `SEQUOIA` or `LINUX`.
`browser`	Instead of the three above: the numeric `id` of a browser from GET /v1/browsers.

Examples:

https://testingbot.com/members/manual/start?url=https%3A%2F%2Fexample.com&browserName=safari&version=latest&platform=TAHOE
https://testingbot.com/members/manual/start?url=https%3A%2F%2Fexample.com&browserName=firefox&version=latest-2&platform=WIN10

What happens on click

Opening the link never starts a session by itself. It shows a confirmation page with the URL and the browser. Click Start session to begin.

If you are not logged in, you are asked to log in first and then return to the confirmation page.
The session runs under the account of the person who clicks the link.
If no browser matches the link, or the URL cannot be opened, the page says so and offers the browser picker instead.
To test a local or staging URL, start TestingBot Tunnel before opening the link.

Post a link on pull requests

If your CI deploys a preview of each pull request, comment a link that opens the preview in the browsers you care about. A GitHub Actions example:

- name: Comment live test links
  run: |
    URL=$(jq -rn --arg u "$PREVIEW_URL" '$u|@uri')
    BASE="https://testingbot.com/members/manual/start?url=$URL"
    gh pr comment ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }} --body "Check this preview live:
    - [Safari on macOS Tahoe]($BASE&browserName=safari&version=latest&platform=TAHOE)
    - [Chrome on Windows 11]($BASE&browserName=chrome&version=latest&platform=WIN11)
    - [Firefox on Windows 10]($BASE&browserName=firefox&version=latest&platform=WIN10)"
  env:
    PREVIEW_URL: ${{ steps.deploy.outputs.preview_url }}
    GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}

Notes

Use latest rather than a fixed version in links that stay around: browser versions are retired over time.
Your plan's limits apply as usual, for example the number of parallel live sessions.
To open a real device with one of your uploaded apps instead, see Live App Testing: Start from a Link.