Cypress Page Load Problem: “Cypress detected a cross-origin error on page load.”

Hari Mahesh

Encountering the message “Cypress detected a cross-origin error on page load” in Cypress generally happens when an effort is to engage with a web page from a different domain than the one where your Cypress test is active.

This stems from a built-in security measure of web browsers, the Same-Origin Policy. It is essentially the browser’s way of ensuring that web pages only communicate within their own domain, safeguarding against potential security issues.

In Cypress, this policy is enforced to ensure your tests run in a controlled environment. Still, it can lead to this error when testing scenarios that involve cross-origin interactions. To resolve this error, you must understand why it is happening and take appropriate action.

Let us dive deeper into the matter, breaking it down section by section, to guide you through resolving the issue:

Understanding the Cross-Origin Error

• What is Cross-Origin? Cross-origin refers to interactions between web pages from different domains. The Same-Origin Policy is a security feature implemented by web browsers to prevent malicious websites from making unauthorized requests to other domains.
• Why Cypress Detects It? Cypress runs your tests within its browser instance and enforces the Same-Origin Policy to ensure the test environment’s integrity. Cypress will detect this as a cross-origin error if your test code attempts to access a different domain.

Causes of Cross-Origin Errors

Several scenarios can lead to cross-origin errors in Cypress:

• Direct Cross-Origin Requests: If your Cypress test tries to engage with a site that is hosted on a separate domain.
• Opening New Tabs or Windows: Encountering issues when new tabs or windows are opened, and you are trying to interact with their content, especially if it is from a different domain.
• Diving into Iframes: If you interact with iframes on your site, things can get complicated, especially if they are serving up content from another neighborhood (domain).
• Cross-Origin Scripting: Loading scripts or assets (e.g., JavaScript, CSS, images) from a different domain in your tested page.

Resolving Cross-Origin Errors

So you have stumbled upon cross-origin roadblocks in Cypress? Here are some tricks to smooth things out:

• Mocking Cross-Origin Requests: Use cy.route() or cy.intercept() to mock network requests to external domains. This allows you to simulate responses without making actual cross-origin requests.
• Changing Your Application’s Code: If you have control over the application’s code, consider implementing a server-side proxy to forward requests to external domains through your server. This way, the requests originate from the same domain as your application.
• Disable Same-Origin Policy (Not Recommended for Production): You can disable the Same-Origin Policy in Cypress using the chromeWebSecurity option. However, this is not recommended for production tests as it may compromise security.
• Using Cypress Iframe Commands: If you are dealing with iframes, Cypress provides specific commands like cy.iframe() to interact with iframe content more easily.
• Cross-Origin Headers and CORS: Ensure that the external server’s response headers allow cross-origin requests by setting proper Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) configurations. This is necessary if your application relies on real cross-origin requests.
• Local Test Server: Host your application locally during testing to ensure it’s served from the same domain as your Cypress tests. You can use tools like cypress-localhost or cypress-testing-library to simplify this setup.

Best Practices using Cypress

Finally, here are some best practices to avoid cross-origin issues in your Cypress tests:

• Use Mock Data: Whenever possible, mocked responses for external API calls instead of making network requests during tests.
• Stub Network Requests: Stubbing network requests using cy.route() or cy.intercept() is a powerful technique to isolate your tests from external dependencies.
• Test Environment Setup: Ensure your test environment closely mimics your production environment regarding network configurations.
• Separate E2E and API Tests: If you have API tests, keep them different from your E2E tests to avoid cross-origin issues. API tests can run independently of the UI.

Intelligent Automation: The Next Level

Cypress has been lagging behind in the new-age automation tool race due to its tendency to produce a slew of errors. This has caused its popularity to wane among contemporary web frameworks. Enter tools like testRigor, which leverage cutting-edge AI algorithms to sidestep issues like timeout errors while being impressively user-friendly. Let us dig into some of testRigor’s standout features:

• Automatic Waits: Say goodbye to synchronization headaches. testRigor automatically waits as required, so you no longer have to manually input specific wait times. This feature takes care of those pesky ‘element not found’ errors, among others.
• Cloud-Based Setup: testRigor is a cloud-hosted automated tool that eliminates all the complexities associated with setting up the tool, creating the environment, and configuring the dependencies. Once you have signed-up, just log in and dive straight into testing- a real time-saver.
• Automatic Test Generation – Utilizing generative AI, testRigor facilitates the automatic creation of test scripts. Provide the test case title or description, and watch as the test steps are conjured up in mere moments.

• User-friendly Test Script Creation & Maintenance: testRigor enables the drafting of test scripts in simple English, bypassing the need for coding. This design ensures anyone can create, execute, or update test cases. Even your non-technical team members can participate in test creation and execution with testRigor’s simple, plain English test cases.

  Plus, with testRigor’s self-healing features, the scripts evolve automatically in line with UI or element attribute shifts, cutting down maintenance hassles.
• Wide-Ranging Compatibility: Whether you’re testing on different browsers, across various versions, or on multiple platforms, testRigor has got your back, ensuring smooth operations throughout.
• Intelligent Element Detection: testRigor does not lean on the inconsistent XPaths or CSS selectors. Instead, it harnesses a distinct AI-driven method for pinpointing elements. You can define the element either by the UI text you see on the screen or its location, such as:

  enter "Kindle" into "Search"
  enter enter
  click "Kindle"
  click "Add To Cart"
  check that page contains "Item Added To Cart"

Discover how testRigor stands as an exemplary replacement for Cypress.

Summing Up

While Cypress, with its initial promise, has been a recognized name in the industry, its frequent error-proneness and limitations have become more evident as the demands of modern web testing have grown. testRigor’s AI-powered algorithms, user-centric design that uses plain English, cloud-based architecture, and robust adaptability make it a tool for today and for the future.

Furthermore, its intuitive element detection and self-healing features drastically reduce maintenance time, translating to significant cost savings. All these advantages make testRigor a compelling and superior choice to elevate your test automation game in today’s fast-paced digital world.

To dive deeper, sign up for a free trial here.

“We spent so much time on maintenance when using Selenium, and we spend nearly zero time with maintenance using testRigor.”

Keith Powe VP Of Engineering - IDT