Capture your first State Card

Capture your first State Card

ScenarioDeck turns one bounded reproduction into a reusable State Card.

The creation flow is:

Prepare
→ Capture
→ Stop and review
→ Review
→ Save State Card

Manual Capture and the supported CodeceptJS Run & Capture path use different setup steps, then converge on the same Review and produce the same normal State Card.

1. Choose how to reach the state

Start from Create a State Card and choose the method that matches the work:

• Reproduce manually — open the application in ScenarioDeck’s managed browser and reach the useful state yourself.
• Run an automated test — choose one supported CodeceptJS browser test and let ScenarioDeck rerun it once under Capture.

CodeceptJS is the current direct test-runner integration. ScenarioDeck does not treat arbitrary test frameworks or CI systems as interchangeable Capture sources.

2. Prepare a manual Capture

For the normal manual path:

1. enter the application URL;
2. choose Development Profile for everyday browser continuity or Clean Session for a fresh isolated browser context;
3. review the compact Capture defaults;
4. add project/environment context only when it helps identify the State Card;
5. start browser Capture.

The State Card name can be edited before Save. You do not need to invent a perfect name before Capture begins.

Source environment is descriptive provenance. It helps identify where the state was observed; it does not choose the later current-code target and does not relax network, redaction, or safety policy.

ScenarioDeck does not copy your normal Chrome profile and does not infer that sensitive values should be retained merely because the managed browser is signed in.

3. Capture the reproduction

While Capture is active, use the application normally within the supported scope:

• navigate to the relevant route;
• switch roles, entities, flags, or other supported state;
• fill supported form controls;
• reproduce the bug or useful application state;
• create a manual checkpoint when a named intermediate state matters.

ScenarioDeck records approved semantic actions, checkpoints, supported browser/application state, replayable HTTP evidence, and selected browser console/page-error evidence according to the Capture policy.

When the useful state is ready, choose Stop and review.

If a limit, unsupported dependency, or finalization problem occurs, ScenarioDeck reports the typed state instead of silently truncating a healthy-looking State Card.

Automated-test Capture

For a supported CodeceptJS project:

1. choose the project and one browser test;
2. confirm the application origin used by the test;
3. choose Run & Capture;
4. let ScenarioDeck observe the runner-owned browser while that selected test executes once.

If the expected failure reproduces, the captured result enters the normal Review flow. A healthy counterpart or a failure that does not match the supported expected-failure contract must not silently become a false failure State Card.

ScenarioDeck does not need to modify the test project permanently to create the State Card.

4. Review before saving

Review answers the product questions that matter before Save:

• Saved state — which checkpoint/state will open directly;
• Journey — Full, Partial, or unavailable, including automatic steps and manual barriers;
• API replay — which supported exchanges are replayable;
• Console evidence — captured errors/warnings or the selected evidence state;
• Sharing readiness — whether an ordinary credential-free share is ready or blocked;
• Required decisions — only the decisions that must be resolved before Save.

Optional description, objective, Observed, and Expected context can be added when useful. Automated-test provenance remains separate from human bug context.

Healthy technical integrity stays quiet. If Review has a real blocker, Save explains exactly what still needs attention.

Protected local values

Sensitive values are excluded by default. When Capture identifies a supported protected candidate and you explicitly chose to retain candidates for Review, make one deliberate decision:

Keep locally

• the value stays in OS-protected machine-local storage;
• it can be used only on this device;
• each reproduction run that uses it requires explicit authorization;
• ordinary sharing remains unavailable while the saved workflow requires that retained value.

Discard and use a manual step

• ScenarioDeck confirms the protected local value was removed or already absent;
• the saved derived Session contains no reusable protected reference for that step;
• the Journey pauses there for manual input;
• ordinary credential-free sharing becomes available when no other blocker remains.

If secure storage cannot confirm deletion, ScenarioDeck does not claim the value was discarded and Save remains blocked until you choose a truthful recovery path.

5. Save the State Card

Choose Save State Card when Review accurately represents the reproduction you want to keep.

After a successful Save, ScenarioDeck opens the newly created State Card so you can immediately reproduce it against current code, inspect its evidence, or share it. The Library remains available for navigation and later discovery.

Saving a State Card in Free Capture does not start the 14-day Developer trial.

What becomes part of the saved reproduction

Within the supported Public Beta scope, a State Card may reference:

• safe semantic actions and checkpoints;
• route/navigation state;
• supported visible form/application state;
• approved non-auth browser state;
• selected redacted HTTP evidence;
• request occurrence/order information;
• browser console/page-error evidence under the selected policy;
• safe environment and authentication-requirement metadata;
• redaction, exclusion, integrity, compatibility, and provenance evidence;
• a partial Journey with explicit manual barriers when some steps cannot be replayed automatically.

Ordinary portable State Card material does not contain raw session cookies, bearer/access/refresh tokens, Authorization headers, your normal browser profile, uploaded-file bodies, or a database/server-memory/environment snapshot.

A supported sensitive value that you explicitly Keep locally is stored separately through the protected machine-local boundary rather than becoming ordinary portable State Card data.

Next step

Continue to Reproduce a saved State Card when you want to work from the saved reproduction against current code. That execution path is Developer functionality and starts trial time only after you explicitly enter Developer access.