From video to validated test

What happens after you upload, from AI analysis and the validation run in a real browser to the questions ReplayQA may ask and what to do if a step fails.

2 min read · updated October 29, 2026

After you upload a video, ReplayQA turns it into a saved test in two stages: analysis and validation. Most of the time you only watch. This page explains each stage and what to do when ReplayQA needs you.

Stage 1: Analysis

ReplayQA's AI watches the video once and drafts the test:

  • the page it starts on,
  • each action: going to a page, clicking, typing, choosing options, ticking boxes, pressing keys and picking dates,
  • what each action was done to, described by the words on screen ("the Checkout button", "the Email field"), and
  • a check at the end based on the result shown in the video.

This usually takes under a minute. The recording's status moves from Processing to Analyzed, and a draft test appears.

Steps the AI wasn't sure about are marked uncertain, and steps that look like they change or delete something are marked destructive.

Stage 2: Validation in a real browser

ReplayQA then repeats the draft in Chromium on your site. This is the validation run:

  • Open the test and press Watch it live to see the browser as it works.
  • If an element can't be found exactly as described, ReplayQA tries again using the element's role, label, nearby text and position, and only uses AI as a last resort.
  • If every step and check passes, the draft is approved automatically and the test is ready to Play.

When ReplayQA asks you something

Validation pauses with One thing before ReplayQA can repeat your video when the video can't answer something:

  • A password or other secret. The video shows dots, not the password. Enter the one for your test account. It's stored encrypted for this site and never shown again. See Test logins and passwords.
  • Destructive steps. For steps like "Delete project" or "Place order", tick each box to confirm that it's fine to really do them on this site.

Press Continue and validation carries on.

If the video starts on a page that needs you to be signed in, ReplayQA explains how to add a sign-in test for the site. See Signing in before every test.

When validation fails

If a step can't be repeated, the test shows ReplayQA couldn't repeat the whole video:

  1. Press See where it stopped. The run page shows the failing step, a screenshot of what the browser saw, and the frame from your video for comparison.
  2. Press Fix steps to open the editor and correct that step, for example by changing the text it looks for. See Reviewing and editing steps.
  3. Press Try again.

Common causes: the site changed since the video was recorded, a label was cut off or misread, or the flow needs data that only existed when you recorded it.

Who can validate

Validation saves an approved test, so it needs someone who can approve tests (QA Engineer, Admin or Owner). Developers can upload videos, and the test waits with "Someone who can approve tests needs to start this." See Team and roles.